A girl has been sentenced to death, locked away in a cave, only to take her fate into her own hands by hanging herself. This is the fate of Antigone, the niece of the king of Thebes in the tragedy Antigone by Sophocles. How she arrives at this tragic ending is result of one of the most commonly said words in the English language: “No”. Even though this one word is just a single syllable, its implications and causes in Antigone give the play its source of conflict. The fact the play is still relevant today suggests that the stubbornness of one girl in ancient Greece is a quality that has remained in the human race for thousands of years. Antigone makes a stand against her uncle Creon by directly defying his edict to not bury Antigone’s brother. The willingness of Antigone and Creon to say “no” has a dramatic influence not only on the plot of the play, but also upon character development and illustrates the importance of rebellion against unjust state power. The entire plot of the play is result of Antigone’s refusal to back down from her uncle’s commands. Antigone boldly proclaims to Creon, the king of Thebes, that she knew of the edict…show more content… Now actually standing up in defiance of the king’s edict was due to Antigone’s pride and stubbornness, yet the argument of the superiority of the gods is there in her actions. Even though belief in the superiority of the god’s law may have been phased out over the centuries, what Antigone stood for hasn’t. The rebellious spirit that Antigone had is still burning brightly today. Antigone’s belief that Creon “has no right to keep [her] from [her] own” (118) can be translated as taking a stand against oppressive state power. The spirit of rebellion can be seen all throughout history, from the French Revolution to the Civil War. The issue of state power restricting the beliefs of the people is an inherent cause of rebellion throughout the ages, as seen in