Beginning of Essay
In Antigone, Sophocles examines the age-old conflict between the requirements of human and divine law. This universal problem is crystallized in the dispute about the burial of Polynices, in which Creon's understanding of the public welfare is opposed to Antigone ....

Middle of Essay
.... more difficult character to understand. Some have judged her to be guilty of the sin of pride and overwhelmed by an immature or masochistic desire to martyr herself. Others consider her a woman of innate nobility and idealism, unwilling to compromise the truth as she sees it, who suffers a cruel and undeserved punishment. In either case, it is important to realize that Antigone is driven by her principles and a reasoned analysis of the situation. The positions of Antigone and Creon are opposed, but both possess the same stubborn belief in their own righteousness. Thus, on the issue of the burial one is right and one is wrong, but to an extent both ....