The truth on political thought is rooted primarily from the rules of the law. Western European image of justice and order can agree that the importance of natural equality gives the law something to adhere to. Thus creates this inconsistency, that civil disobedience is not justified because of society’s accentuation on law and order. The understanding of law and civil disobedience illustrates itself in both readings of Sophocles ' Antigone and Plato 's Apology which suggests that they give both similar views with the existing idea of different higher authority in mind. Because of the unresolved feud between the law and civil disobedience it is prevailed adequately in Sophocles ' Antigone and Plato 's Apology. Antigone personifies that the will …show more content…
Antigone understands that honor and responsibility to one’s family have equal distribution in her defense. She clarifies that she doesn’t fear the condemning she is unfortunately sentenced to, but the penalties from the divine, if she does not act on the evil doings that besieges her poor life. She emphasizes on the notion, "But if I left that corpse, my mother 's son, dead and unburied I 'd have cause to grieve as now I grieve not" (Sophocles 123). It is obvious that Antigone is willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that her divine duty is fulfilled even if it leads to her own death.to Antigone death prevailed to be a far more attractive option. Because of this Antigone understands the idea of the law and civil disobedience and what it can do to her if she does not adhere to it, but she has to make a conscious decisions based on the merit that divine law supersedes that of civil disobedience, and burying her brother is the right thing to …show more content…
Antigone believes and upholds her beliefs in the gods and disobey the state law. While Socrates believes in divine law and civil disobedience, and by disobeying the order of the state would in fact disobey the gods. Socrates believes that solely because of him being raised by the state, civil disobedience would secure his path to goodness and to the Gods. Which subsequently allows us to see that the law must be obeyed from both ends of the story. Because of the law being so essential it allows us to have the assumption that any violation of the law whether divine or civil must hold consequences. Because of the contradiction between the two it is up to the individual to choose which law to adhere to, and to accept whatever consequences are to come with it. Socrates and Antigone chose to obey the law that illustrated an image of higher authority and because of this, it resulted with their demise. Which eventually lead to their acceptance of the consequences their actions lead to, thus allowed the rules of both divine and civil law to be upheld, despite their lack of obedience towards the
Exploration of Civil Disobedience in Sophocles' Antigone, King's Letter from Birmingham Jail, and Plato's From Crito
Antigone respects her blood relations, and she is driven by this to oppose the laws created by Kreon. Even though she recognizes the sin in which Oidipous bequeaths upon his kin, she refuses to abandon her brother is determined to "not be caught betraying him" (Sophocles, 58). Kreon's man made laws cannot "keep [her] from [her] own," and in this she accepts the blood line of her doomed oikos. Furthermore, Antigone justifies herself by honoring her brother above other relationships that she is capable of producing. Antigone states that she "would never have assumed this burden...if it had been [her] children or [her] husband who had died...no more brothers could ever be born- This was the law by which [she] honored [Polyneikes] above all others" (966-77). Using this reasoning, the death of Antigone’s brother means extinction of the blood line and proper burial is still needed, even if it the traitor was Eteokles. Antigone's breach of nomos is a necessary one, for the dead cannot be revived and must be honored, especially those that en...
Antigone decides to betray Kreon’s law in order to honor the gods and their greater law. She says “you [Kreon], who are human/to violate the lawful traditions/the gods have not written merely, but made infallible,” defending her decision to bury the out-casted Polyneices because the law that prohibits it was not proclaimed by Zeus. When Kreon asks Antigone why she honors Eteokles (her other brother who also dies in the battle in Thebes) and Polyneices equally, she responds “Death is a god/who wants his laws obeyed,” corroborating the motive of why she upheld divine law over Kreon’s law (Sophocles 41). Even Haimon, Kreon’s own son and Antigone’s betrothed, supports Antigone by saying “the gods implant intelligence in humans/…that is the supreme one” (Sophocles 48). However, Antigone’s superior motive in giving Polyneices an honorable death is love. While conferring her plan with her sister, Ismene, Antigone tells her “He’s my brother an yours too/ and whether you will or not, I’ll stand by him,” indicating her love to her brother (Sophocles 22). In addition, Antigone is most direct with her intentions when she says “I am different. I love my brother/and I’m going to go bury him, now” (Sophocles 24). After Kreon asks Antigone why she dared to break his law, knowing the repercussions, she expresses that “if I had left my own brother stay unburied/I would have suffered all the pain I do not feel now,” further denoting her unwavering devotion to Polyneices even during her own conviction. Richard Emil Braun, an highly praised writer, also believes Antigone’s primary motive to bury her brother was love, as he says “The second burial of Polyneices shows that Antigone…did the deed, and not for money, but for love…Antigone was prompted by her love to fulfill a religious duty.” Civil disobedience to Antigone is
Civil disobedience is the purposeful violation of a law to show that it is unconstitutional or morally defective. In the plays, Antigone and Trifles, the female main characters commit an act of civil disobedience. The plays are respectively written by Sophocles and Susan Glaspell. Antigone, the main character of Antigone, protects her dead brother's honor as she disobeys the laws of King Creon. Mrs. Hale, the main character of Trifles prevents a neighbor from being charged with homicide as she breaks the law in front of two lawmen-The Sheriff and the County Attorney. Both characters' crimes are similar; however, their differences lie in how they handle their violations. Antigone boldly and proudly breaks the law, does not care if she is caught, and loudly admits to the crime in front of her fellow Theban citizens. On the other hand, Mrs. Hale performs her crime artfully and quietly, does not want to be caught, and has no intentions of exposing her crime. Both characters accomplish their tasks, but Mrs. Hale's actions are carried out more effectively. She saves her neighbor and herself from imprisonment.
Both Antigone and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. engaged in civil disobedience as a means of eliciting a revolutionary societal change; however, Antigone never seemed to get past her own pride to see if she could have negotiated with Kreon. Antigone never intended to evoke change in the long term; in contrast, Martin Luther King Jr. used his moral argument to challenge the law in order to leave a long term change for future generations. Martin Luther King Jr.’s actions possessed more merit than Antigone’s actions because he attempted to negotiate. On the other hand, Antigone proceeded to break the law which ultimately led to her demise. Martin Luther King Jr. broke the law to leave a legacy behind him for not just himself, but for the masses, whereas
However, compliance is not enough for Antigone. The desire to honor her brother goes way beyond her instinct to protect herself. Antigone finally accepts that her sister is not going to help her in her mission: “Go be the person you’ve chosen to be./ I’ll bury Polyneices myself. I’ll do/ what’s honorable, and then I’ll die.” (Antigone lines 84-85) This statement proves that Antigone is aware of what the consequences for her actions will be. She comprehends that choosing to defy the government by honoring her brother will end in certain death, and she seems at peace with her decision. Antigone’s responsibility appears to be the driving force in her defiance. We see plenty of examples in the story where Antigone feels it is her job to preserve
The story of Antigone deals with Antigone’s brother who’s body has been left unburied because of crimes against the state. The sight of her brother being unburied drives Antigone to take action against the state and bury her brother regardless of the consequences. The concept of the Greek afterlife was far more important and sacred than living life itself. Everything they did while they were alive was to please the many gods they worshipped. They built temples for their Gods, made statues to symbolize their Gods, and had a different God to explain things that we now say are an act of mother nature. Antigone percieved her actions to be courageous and valid, and Kreone, the King, percieved them as blasphemous. The entire story focuses on deciding who’s right. The question arises, "Did Antigone take proper action?" Was it right to go against her Uncle Kreon’s wishes and go ahead and bury her brother that was to be left out for the vultures? Would it have been better just to leave the situation how it was? The fact is, Antigone did the right thing. She was acting out of divine influence so to speak. Since divinity and humanity are shown to be colliding forces where divinity out weighs humanity in ancient Greece. Antigone was justified in her actions.
Antigone shows the contrast between state law and divine law. Although the two have similarities, they are enforced in very different ways. The major conflict is this – according to divine law, Antigone’s brother must be buried, but, according to state law, Antigone’s brother is not to be buried due to his political standing. The divine law is a law that is the same for everyone and does not change, whereas the state...
In ancient Greece, “Remembrance of the dead was a very important civic and religious duty” (Burial) and considered to “elevate[d] to the concept of housia (holiness) to one 's relationship with the gods” (Burial). The Greeks insisted that “the dead must continually be remembered and respected in order for their souls to continue to exist in the afterlife” (Burial). In Antigone’s eyes the gods make the law when it comes to death, not a mortal king. She fights with all her might for what she believes in, even going as far as committing suicide and this ultimately makes her a martyr. In Kathryn Walker’s article, she states, “…that human behavior is not thoroughly governed by the pursuit of what is beneficial, [it] requires a revision of ethics” (Walker 204) which can be found to be true in Antigone when she risks her life for her brother, her beliefs, and how Antigone chooses to die. Antigone was being sentenced to death anyway, but she decided to take her own death in her hands and choose a quick death by hanging rather than a long drawn out death by starvation. It was her last “stick it” to the state.
Antigone is determined to bury her brother because of her loyalty to her family and to the gods. She believes that no mortal, such as Creon, has the right to keep her from her own. Even if Antigone must die during the burial, she will not disgrace the laws of the gods. She believes that she has to please the dead much longer than she has to please the living.
After a critical reading of all three of these texts, it becomes apparent that there is a clear hierarchy of the different forms of justice. In Sophocles’ Antigone, it is shown that in society it is often the ideal of human justice that is put into action, but to people divine justice would often take precedence. This idea is echoed in Plato’s Euthyphro and Apology where this human (or political) justice is eventually put into actions, while this theoretical higher form of justice – philosophical – is brushed aside. While it may not be the most relevant of these forms of justice, it is shown again and again that human/political justice will almost always be in opposition to forms of justice that supersede humanities ideals. This aforementioned
Antigone risks her own life to bury her brother, therefore, she goes against Kreon’s edict that Polyneices should be left unburied; she believes Polyneices deserves to reach the afterlife. Antigone tells Ismene, “I will bury him myself. If I die for doing that, good: I will stay with him, my brother; and my crime will be devotion” (Sophocles 23). Antigone is willing to risk her own life by disobeying the king’s authority; She stands up for her religious belief that Polyneices should be buried. Kreon tells Antigone before she takes her own life, “I won’t encourage you. You’ve been condemned” (Sophocles 57). Kreon believes that Antigone’s crime is severe, and righteousness should be used to justify her crime. At this point of the play, Antigone realizes she will be put to death, but she does not regret her act of loyalty. In Antigone’s last speech before she takes her own life, she exclaims, “Land of Thebes, city of my fathers… see what I suffer at my mother’s brother’s hand for an act of loyalty and devotion” (Sophocles 57). Here, Antigone addresses the nation’s leaders and declares that they should notice th...
The gods' laws come before mortal laws in Antigone's point-of-view, which is how I believe also. In death, you will answer to your god and no man will have control of your fate in the world that lies hereafter. Therefore by obeying the gods, hopefully, will result in a happy afterlife, which are what most people strive for in ancient times and now. If man does not honor you for noble efforts, your gods' will. Antigone's act was honorable. She stood up to the highest of powers so she could honor her brother, knowing the consequence would be death. Most likely she figured there is only a certain amount man can do to you, so she might as well stand up for not only her family and beliefs, but her gods as well (lines 377-389).
In the plays Antigone and the Crito the two lead characters, Antigone and Socrates, showed completely different ideas regarding their responsibilities to the State. Antigone believes in divine law and does what she thinks that the Gods would want her to do. Socrates, on the other hand, believes that he owes it to the State to follow their laws whether he thinks they are right or not.
Antigone welcomed death at the time of burying her brother; she was not concerned with the consequences. She saw her actions as being true to the gods and religion. “I myself will bury him. It will be good to die, so doing. I shall lie by his side, loving him as he loved me; I shall be a criminal but – a religious one.” (Antigone, lines 81-85) To Antigone, the honor of her brother, and her family was all that was important. She may be going against Creon, but if her actions were true in her heart then the gods would see her in a good light.