God against man in Antigone In Sophocles' play, Antigone, there are many themes that can be traced. One of the predominant themes is that of God versus man, which appears not only in Antigone, but also in many of the classical Greek tragedies written in the time of Sophocles. Chorago: there is no happiness where there is no wisdom; there is no wisdom except in submission. to the gods. Great words are always punished, and proud men in old age learn to be wise. (158) The above quote serves as a moral for this tragedy, which includes an illustration of the theme as it was applied to the play. In the play Antigone, the theme of the internal struggle between fidelity to human and divine law can best be seen through Antigone's reverence for the gods in relation to her actions, Creon's realization of the effects of his selfish pride, and the people of Thebes Observations on Creon's decisions. Antigone is the one who struggles most directly with human law and a higher law in the play, for it is the application of this theme that decides her fate. Faced with the decision to defy the king and properly bury his brother, Polyneices, or leave his body unprepared for death as Creon desired, he chose to obey the wishes of the gods and bury him. At the time of the drama, the Greeks believed that a proper burial was essential for the soul to rest. Creon accused Polyneices of fighting against his homeland and forbade all citizens of Thebes from preparing his body. Instead he was left to rot on the field where he was killed. When Antigone first hears this news, she reacts immediately by telling her sister Ismene that she wants Polyneices' soul to rest, and that...... half of the paper ...... edited by Dudley, Lavinia P. et al. New York: Americana Corporation, 1957. vol. 2.Segal, Charles Paul. "Sophocles' Praise of Man and the Conflicts of Antigone." In Sophocles: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Thomas Woodard. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966. Sophocles. Antigone, trans. by Dudley Fitts and Robert Fitzgerald. Adventures in Appreciation/Pegasus Edition. Orlando: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, Publishers, 1989. “Sophocles” In Literature of the Western World, edited by Brian Wilkie and James Hurt. NewYork: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1984.Woodard, Thomas. Introduction. In Sophocles: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Thomas Woodard. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966. Watling, E.F. Introduction. In Sophocles: The Theban Comedies, translated by E. F. Watling. New York: Penguin Books, 1974.