In the Antigone story, a proper burial is very important. The reason for this is the way that, in this story, someone being buried is a symbol of honor. In this story Polynices and Eteocles are two brothers who fight on opposite sides in a war, both die and it is decided what to do with their bodies. Creon, the current king of Thebes, orders Eteocles to be honored and Polynices to be dishonored for not receiving a proper burial. Antígona is the brothers’ sister and she fights and argues that her brother should have a proper burial because she feels they are disrespecting her. This story reflects how this civilization viewed death and burial, the way it viewed it similarly to how we see it today. We still feel that a proper burial is a way to honor someone.

For example, when our last Pope died, they buried him in an expensive crypt. There would have been quite a commotion if we had placed it in a simple coffin and buried it in the ground. This is interesting because the Catholic religion does not mention anything about the meaning of where someone is buried. In fact, where someone is buried has no impact on what happens to the person after their death. In the Catholic religion, when someone dies, their spirit leaves their body instantly and the final judgment of where they end up is determined by God.

In this story, Tiresias is a blind prophet who predicts the fall of Creon by his evil ways. This representation shows how things come back to us, good and bad. This story suggests that when we do negative things to people, the negative things happen to us at a later time. This is very similar to the Christian religion in a sense because of the whole “you reap what you sow” theory. Our destiny is determined by our actions, and the wicked pay them for all their bad actions. It is a way of suggesting that everything in life is fair and equal. What I find interesting about many of these stories from Rome is that the rulers are always portrayed as evil beings who do things for the sole purpose of having a sense of unease.

Religion is discussed in this by mentioning the Greek gods, the punishments that happen to Creon are said to have been caused by the gods. It is the justice system of the gods that presents you with your destiny. Antigone feels a personal duty to bury her brother properly and to give him due respect. She is also not cunning in the way she does it, she is sincere when she makes her demand. The law conflicts with both, because the law was created by Creon. A social law is that if one is not properly buried, he is disgraced and shows disrespect.

It fascinates me how so many people, despite religion, are so concerned about how someone gets buried or disposed of. The Greeks believed in many gods, but they also did not believe that spirits remained trapped in bodies after people passed away. A good reflection of how the belief in spirits attached to deceased bodies is displayed throughout our culture is one of Michael Jackson’s biggest hits, the music video for the song Thriller. In this video, he is walking with his girlfriend past a grave yard when a hand begins to appear from under the ground and removes his own headstones. The idea that spirits stay where their body is is still a myth today, even though there are so many religions that disagree with this.