CONFLICT
Protagonist
Antigone is the resolute and strong-willed daughter of King Oedipus. She is determined to give her brother, Polynices, a decent burial. She consciously risks her life with this action, which violates both Creon’s unjust decree, as well as the ancient custom of denying burial to enemies of the state. She obeys only the laws of the gods and the dictates of familial loyalty and social decency.
Antagonist
King Creon regards only the requirement of political expediency. Soon after the civil strife between Eteocles and Polynices ends in their deaths, he announces a decree denying Polynices’ burial. He is unrelenting in his stance, as he wants Thebans to know that he is a firm ruler. Thus he sentences his own niece, Antigone, to death for defying his law