Bridal Imagery of Antigone

            
             In the play Antigone, by Sophocles, the protagonist, Antigone, defies all of the beliefs held by the society she lives in, and breaks the king's law on account of her own morals. Originally, one of Antigone's two brothers was supposed to take control of the throne, however, in a duel over the crown, they both died. As a result of her brothers' deaths, her uncle, Creon, the antagonist in the play, is given control of throne of Thebes. "I now possess the throne and all its powers, by nearess of kinship to the dead."" (Oates/ O'Neill, 193) Creon held the belief that of Antigone's two brothers, Eteocles should have rightfully taken control of the throne, because he felt that her other brother, Polynices, had been disloyal to the city of Thebes. Polynices, therefore, was not given the honor of a formal burial, which was considered a very valued ritual in Thebes. "But for his brother, Polynices,- who came back from exile, and sought to consume utterly with fire to the city of his fathers and the shrines to lead the remnant into slavery;- touching this man, it hath been proclaimed to our people that none shall grace him with sepulture or lament, but leave him unburied, a corpse for birds and dogs to eat, a ghastly sight of shame- (Oates/ O'Neill, 194) Creon was in fact so intent on Polynices's not being buried, that he went as far as to make it a law punishable by death that anyone who try to entomb him, is to be buried alive. Antigone however, does not agree with her uncle's unjust laws, and decides to risk her life in order to give Polynices a proper burial. She is found out by the guards and sentenced to live burial by Creon himself. Antigone's sentence arises one of the four images in the play, the bridal image. In the play Antigone, the bridal image affects the characterization and the actions of Creon as a result of his conflicts of whether to put his own niece to death, the death of his son, Haemon, and the death of his wife, Eurydices.