Theme Of Loyalty In Antigone

“Loyalty and devotion lead to bravery. Bravery leads to the spirit of self-sacrifice. The spirit of self-sacrifice creates trust in the power of love”. (Morihei Ueshiba) Loyalty and devotion are major themes in the play Antigone. Throughout the play, Antigone showed loyalty to her family and the Greek gods, while additionally staying loyal and true to herself. Her brother, Polynices, went against Creon’s laws and wishes by fighting against Thebes. Antigone was strong in her devotion to help her brother which concluded with her death at the end. Throughout the hardships and repercussions she faced, Antigone showed bravery in the face of Creon’s judgment. In Sophocles’ play, Antigone, Antigone’s loyalty and bravery were her greatest attributes,
At the beginning of the play, Antigone found her brother dead after a war and Creon refused to bury him. Antigone thought that she had to bury him to please the gods. She became angry at Creon’s decisions against her because she is the niece of him and part of the royal family; but Creon is still sending her away to die. Antigone especially displays her loyalty to her family “Last daughter of your royal house / Go I, his prisoner, because I honored / Those thing to which honour truly belongs” (Sophocles 151) This signifies that Antigone is over trying to try to gain Creon’s forgiveness because he is sending her away to die. This makes Antigone loyal since she defied the laws of Thebes to help her brother even though her own sister told her not to. Antigone displays a loyalty that expresses itself as selfless and bravery towards her family but, she doesn’t allow herself to benefit from the same qualities that she gives to everyone else. Although Antigone has been sentenced to death, she is accepting her fate. She is brave enough to know that she is going to die while knowing that there is a brighter side of the situation. Antigone reveals one idea about her fate by saying “If this is God’s will, I shall learn my lesson / in death” (Sophocles 150) Antigone is expresses how even though she is going in the path of death, she is accepting it as long as it’s the God’s wishes. Even though she knows that all her actions are going to result in her death, she still is not giving in to Creon’s views on the situation. Antigone shows bravery in the face of death by standing up to Creon by wishing him the same punishment for the wrongs he forced upon