Divine Law vs. Law of Man

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“People, who start forbidding what God allows, will soon allow what God forbids”(Sophocles, 1355). This quote by Machin is a prime example of the quarrel between the understanding of God’s law versus human law, and how man can be corrupted by attempting altering God’s law. In Antigone by Sophocles, Antigone defies her uncle’s austere orders and buries Polyneices based on her perception that God’s law overpowers man’s law in all circumstances. The overall moral conflicts in the play are between Antigone and her religious beliefs about God’s law, and between Creon and Thebes’ justice system about human law.
When an individual is not allowed to be buried on the battlefield that means that the individual was given a dishonorable death punished by acts of treason, fraud, and unreasonable murder. In the play, Antigone decides to bury Polyneices, even though Creon decreed a law stating not to and punishable by death, due to her belief that God’s law will always triumph over human law. By Antigone disobeying Creon’s law, this shows that she believes Creon was unrightfully given the throne b...

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