Antigone: Divine Law versus Human Law Perhaps the most important theme in Sophocles' "Antigone" is the concept of divine law versus human law. In the story the two brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, killed each other in battle. The new king Creon, who took the throne after the death of Eteocles, decrees that, since Polyneices has committed treason against the king, he will not be buried, but instead "He will be left unburied for all to look upon. The corpse mutilated and eaten by carrion birds ". and by dogs" (Sophocles). Here lies the dilemma; in Greek culture, the spirit of a body that is not buried at sunset on the day it dies cannot find rest but is condemned to walk the earth. This is the crux of the theme, the conflict between the law of King Creon and the law of the gods. Indeed, according to Greek belief, Creon was ordained king by the gods, and therefore should not his law also be their law? This is the obstacle that Antigone must face; should she abide by Creon's law and let her brother rot, under penalty of death? Or should she ignore Creon's edict, follow the law of the gods and bury her brother Creon is a brother of Jocasta, and therefore the next in the line of succession to become king after Aetocles is killed in battle. The king is believed to be the chosen one of the gods and reigns in their place. Why then would the king attempt to punish Polyneices after his death thus blatantly violating the rules of the of the? However, Creon is the king, and the punishment for disobeying this law of his is very real and very brutal, death. On the other side of the issue, the law of the gods rules over everyone, even the king. The punishment for breaking the law of the gods is not death but, according to the Greeks, something much more eternal. Since it is the will of the gods that Creon should be king, shouldn't it therefore be their will that Polyneices be punished? Maybe not, because the Greek gods are very different from the God of modern religions. The Greek gods were not omnipotent, nor omniscient, they had their human flaws and were not preordained, in fact they spent much of their time arguing with each other. Another question is whether Creon ever thought or realized that he was breaking a divine edict with his decree to punish Polyneices..