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The play is called Antigone not because Antigone suffers the most, but because she suffers at all. The tragedy is befallen by both Antigone and Creon, yet the circumstances upon which they arrive there is where their similarities end. Antigones character is built on such a morally strong basis of fraternal love and reverence to the gods that she ends up choosing to die to protect the principles she stands for, evident in passages such as: I/Will bury him. I will have a noble death/And lie with him, a dear sister with a dear brother./Call it a crime of reverence, but I must be good to those/Who is below. (71-75). This quote illustrates how Antigone is willing to die in order to pay reverence to the gods and her brother through burial rights.
Playing the other side of the god vs. state dichotomy, Creon is a character motivated to ensure civil prosperity. He is rigid, arrogant, and holds worldly law above that of the gods. His arrogance reaches a fever pitch when he declares to Antigone: Go to Hades, then, and if you have to love, love someone dead./As long as I live, I will not be ruled by a woman. (524-525). Unfortunately, blinded by arrogance and hubris, he attempts to uphold the values of the state by misrepresenting the will of the gods. He punishes Antigone for burying Polyneices under the pretense that his lawsthe worldly lawshold precedence over the godly laws.
The two characters clearly represent the conflict between worldly law and godly law, or alternatively the conflict between law (in the political sense) and justice. Antigone, seemingly unfazed defends her actions by referencing the laws of which she abides: The gods below/Didnt lay down this law for human use. (452-453). By acting upon her principlesfully knowing the consequencesto abide by the laws of the gods and fulfill her moral and ethical duties to them, she illustrates free will in the face of Creons dictatorial reign.
Finally, at the end of the Fifth Stasimon when Antigone is already dead at the hands of Creons actions, it seems as if Creon faces far worse punishment with the death of not only his son but his wife as well. However, the reason that Antigone is the face of the tragedy revolves around the fact that Creon kills her for displaying her faith. She must pay homage to her brother, disregarding the laws of the state to satisfy the & gods unfailing,/Unwritten laws. (456-457). The point is, Antigones death is a true tragedy because she stayed true to her family and to the gods, choosing rather to die than abandon her principles. Creons punishmentwhat appears to be the real tragedy in the playis justified by the chorus’s last speech, Wisdom is supreme for a blessed life,/And reverence for the gods,/Must never cease./Great words, sprung from arrogance,/Are punished by great blows./So it is one learns, in old age, to be wise. (1348-1353).
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