Conflict, Climax, and Resolution in AntigoneSophocles' tragic drama Antigone presents the reader with a full range of conflicts and their resolution after a climax. In Antigone, the protagonist, Antigone, is humble and pious before the gods and would not tempt the gods by leaving her brother's corpse unburied. She is not humble before her uncle Creon, because she prioritizes the laws of the gods higher than those of men; and because she feels closer to her brother Polynices than to her uncle. The drama begins with Antigone inviting Ismene before the palace gates to say to her privately: “What, has not Creon destined our brothers, one to an honored burial, the other to shame without burial? ? Antigone's offer to Ismene ("Will you help this hand to raise up the dead?") is quickly rejected, so that Antigone must bury Polyneices herself. The protagonist, Antigone, quickly develops into a well-rounded character, while Ismene interacts with her as a foil, opposing Creon's threat of stoning to death as punishment for violators of his decree regarding Polyneices. The main conflict observed so far is that which the reader sees emerging between Antigone and the king. Antigone is a religious person who is not afraid of death and who respects the laws of the gods more than those of men: to wither; but I will bury him: it is well that I die doing this. I will rest, a dear one, with the one I loved, without sin in my crime; for I owe a longer allegiance to the dead than to the living: in this world I will abide forever. But if you will, be guilty of the dishonorable laws which the gods have established in honor. Ismene is impervious to the reasoning and feelings of...... middle of paper ...... the omnipresent theme in Sophocles is justice. of the universe. We must understand that, in some sense, cosmic justice ultimately prevails (718). WORKS CITED Abrams, MH A Glossary of Literary Terms, 7th ed. New York: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1999. Segal, Charles Paul. “Sophocles’ Praise of Man and Antigone’s Conflicts.” In Sophocles: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Thomas Woodard. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966. Sophocles. Antigone. Translated by RC Jebb. The Classic Internet Archive. no pag.http://classics.mit.edu/Sophocles/antigone.html “Sophocles” in Literature of the Western World, edited by Brian Wilkie and James Hurt. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1984. Watling, E.F. Introduction. In Sophocles: The Theban Plays, translated by EF Watling. New York: books about penguins, 1974.