Antigone- Bastion of Virtue

1445 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Plato's definition of happiness

Fellow Thebans, we gather today to determine the case of Antigone. She stands accused of treason for following the will of the gods by burying her own brother, Polynices. You may ask, why would the state carry a law that contradicts the demands of the gods? I tell you good people, Creon's decree, which forbade the burying of Polynices for fighting his home city will be met with stoning. The law was forged by impulse and anger. By disobeying the "laws the gods all hold in honor", Creon disintegrated his own virtue and the virtue of Thebes itself (Sophocles, Antigone). Therefore, the actions of Antigone should not be met with stoning, but with honor and praise. For she is fighting an injustice within our laws and preserving justice, "the bond of men" (Aristotle, Politics).
As Aristotle writes, the human soul is capable of understanding, free will, planning, and deliberation. Due to these rational functions, we are able to examine our life and determine our psyche (nature), and teloi (our function, purpose, end goal). With this foundational knowledge, we can use arête (virtue) to become properly developed (eudaimonia). This journey towards happiness does not only occur on the personal level. Thebes itself undergoes this quest towards harmony. It is the role of every citizen, especially the statesmen, to lead the state down the orthodox path. This task is essential because without a just society, human happiness is impossible (Aristotle, Ethics Book I).
You are all probably thinking, how can we attain happiness for ourselves and the state? The answer lies in virtue. In particular, "human good turns out to be activity of the soul in accordance with virtue," (Aristotle, Ethics Book I). While some may think wealth is the final end, i...

... middle of paper ...

...tuous actions performed our citizenry lead Thebes towards eudaimonia, any force to the contrary, even the actions of Creon (the sovereign), would deter from societies' happiness. Like Socrates professed in word and deed, our country's physical and moral well being takes precedence over all other matters. In this case, finding Antigone not guilty will protect both of these necessities towards a good life.
Countrymen, your decision on Antigone will determine the future of our great city. It is up to you to decide the moral battle waging within our walls. Will you side with Creon and risk the virtue of Thebes itself and our children? Or, will you take the harder path and defy the sovereign in order to uphold the city's integrity? Freeing Antigone is a key step in overcoming Theban intemperance and wrath. By crossing this hurdle, we are paving the way for eudaimonia.

Show More
Related

  • Antigone Deserves More Sympathy than Creon

    2545 Words  | 6 Pages

    In the Antigone, unlike the Oedipus Tyrannus, paradoxically, the hero who is left in agony at the end of the play is not the title role. Instead King Creon, the newly appointed and tyrannical ruler, is left all alone in his empty palace with his wife's corpse in his hands, having just seen the suicide of his son. However, despite this pitiable fate for the character, his actions and behavior earlier in the play leave the final scene evoking more satisfaction than pity at his torment. The way the martyr Antigone went against the King and the city of Thebes was not entirely honorable or without ulterior motives of fulfilling pious concerns but it is difficult to lose sight of the fact that this passionate and pious young woman was condemned to living imprisonment.

    Read More

  • Creon Debate Analysis

    496 Words  | 1 Pages

    The chaos and the destruction of social hierarchy would ruin all of Thebes, a much larger scale than the questionable fate of one criminal person. Equally important, Antigone needs to suffer consequences for her unwavering will, as she still has no qualms and does not consider the reasoning of the State. Antigone speaks, “You will remember what things I suffer, at what men’s hands, because I would not transgress the laws of heaven” (Sophocles 228). Even if she is considering morality on the overbearing religious scale of the gods, it does not excuse her thought process or sheer, impenetrable indignance. If she is freed from Creon’s ruling that she is to be placed in a vault, no one is to say that she will not bring her own will to challenger Creon again, threatening the hierarchy. Through Antigone may be morally driven on this specific issue, her insolence has to be attended to for the sake of the future of Thebes. Furthermore, Creon’s ruling is completely well-placed, as he is letting the gods have the final decision in the matter. By allowing the gods to choose, he respects that they have the more powerful and all encompassing say in the matter, and it shows that he is

    Read More

  • Antigone

    1762 Words  | 4 Pages

    He wants them to think that his laws should be followed before any other personal, moral, or religious belief. This is where the conflict of character occurs between Antigone and Creon. Antigone knows that the sacred laws held by heaven are far more important... ... middle of paper ... ... y exist within the two viewpoints, making a conclusion that much more difficult.

    Read More

  • Compare Antigone And The Bible

    762 Words  | 2 Pages

    Antigone, as a character, is extremely strong-willed and loyal to her faith. Creon is similarly loyal, but rather to his homeland, the city of Thebes, instead of the gods. Both characters are dedicated to a fault, a certain stubbornness that effectively blinds them from the repercussions of their actions. Preceding the story, Antigone has been left to deal with the burden of her parents’ and both her brothers’ deaths. Merely a young child, intense grief is to be expected; however, Antigone’s emotional state is portrayed as frivolous when it leads her to directly disobey Creon’s orders. She buries her brother Polynices because of her obedience to family and to the gods, claiming to follow “the gods’ unfailing, unwritten laws” (Sophocles 456-457). CONTINUE

    Read More

  • Antigone, by Sophocles

    857 Words  | 2 Pages

    Summing up, Antigone decides to express her discontent with what she considers to be the unethical new regime of King Creon by burying her brother's body. By taking this bold step, Antigone shows the strength that an individual’s actions hold in a democracy. Creon, with his stubborn attitude, shows how a democracy where peoples’ voices are not heard can be dysfunctional, and that laws should be made by taking other people into confidence and not on an individual basis. In the end, Antigone resolves to sacrifice her own life in the service of a greater justice. It is this kind of formidable resolve that changes the course of history, and that is something that we can respect equally in the 5th century B.C. and the 21st century A.D.

    Read More

  • Virtue and Happiness in Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics

    1147 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...it is necessary to examine human virtue. Something is considered to have reason in two senses: that which has reason in itself and that which listens to reason. These two senses are the origin of the distinction between intellectual and ethical virtues, respectively. The understanding of virtue and happiness is justified in the ideal that happiness is to be found in pleasure, others that it is to be found in honor, and others that it is to be found in contemplation. Happiness is not found in living for pleasure because such a life is slavish. Nor is it found in seeking honor because honor depends not on the person but on what others think of him. In order to be successful in an organization it is key to find a balance between two extremes that is an end within itself, that’s why Aristotle strongly believes that happiness is acquired through political organization.

    Read More

  • Antigone, by Sophocles

    1009 Words  | 3 Pages

    Antigone utilizes her moral foundations, her religious roots, and the events of her past to form a sophisticated argument. Despite being unable to convince Creon to reverse her punishment, Antigone is able to convince the people of Thebes that she was right in her actions. After Antigone’s death, and the deaths of several others, Creon reflects on this monologue and realizes the honest truth behind Antigone’s actions and words.

    Read More

  • Sophocles Antigone: The Allegory Of The Cave

    661 Words  | 2 Pages

    Paralleling ¨The Allegory of the Cave,¨ Creon, the king and antagonist of this play, foolishly believes that his opinion is infallible and the people of Thebes must blindly obey. Similar to how the cave dwellers naively accept the puppeteers images, the Thebans accept Creon's law for what it is, except for Antigone. Antigone is able to recognize that the law is incorrect, because she has seen the light and therefore the truth; this is the beginning of the unraveling of Creon’s reign. Creon rules as a King over those who remain in the dark; however, because Antigone has seen the light and can now recognize the truth, she stands in the path of Creon's leadership. Plato establishes that ¨ The state in which the rulers are most reluctant to govern is always the best. . . The state in which they are most eager, the worst;¨ contrastingly, Creon is represented as a power hungry tyrant ”declaring ¨Is not the city Held to be his who rules it?¨ Ultimately, Creon’s refusal to accept the truth leads to the death of his niece, son, and wife and the undermine of his rule as predicted by

    Read More

  • The Source of Conflict between Antigone and Creon in Sophocles' Antigone

    1274 Words  | 3 Pages

    In conclusion, the gods and the love of her family rule Antigone’s life. Creon’s life is ruled by what he thinks is good for his country and pride. Creon did not change his mind to free Antigone until a prophet told him he would suffer horribly for his actions. However, because Creon was so stubborn for so long and did not take heed to anyone’s advice sooner, he ultimately suffers in the end, as does everyone else in the play. This was all due to a man’s lack of good judgment, his selfish pride and his stubbornness.

    Read More

  • Civic Responsibility vs. Religious Duty in Antigone

    1123 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the play Antigone, Creon, king of Thebes faces a harsh conflict with himself, involving the values of family and religion verse the civic responsibility he must maintain for the city of Thebes that comes with being the new king. In theory no decision Creon makes is going to be the rite one. Although both Antigone and Creon have justified reasons for believing in there own laws only one can be upheld by the play and how Sophocles interoperates the play himself. Creon must decide whether to punish Antigone, a princess, daughter of king Oedipus, or fail at enforcing his own law and look weak in front of the citizens of Thebes as their new leader. The law stated that anybody who touched the corpse of Polyneices, a prince, and son of Oedipus would be stoned in the town square.

    Read More

  • Religion vs. State in “Antigone"

    829 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the play Creon goes against the Gods by making it illegal to bury Polyneices, Antigone’s brother because he is deemed a traitor. The burying of a dead body is seen as a necessity by all of Greece as it is an unspoken law of the Gods. Antigone goes to bury her brother so his afterlife will be better. She does it in spite of the law that Creon has made. “It is the dead, not the living, who make the longest demands” (192) She tries to explain to her sister, Ismene, that they must bury Polyneices, but even that close relationship has trouble because of the law. Ismene is unwilling to suffer the consequences of the law, to save her brother’s soul “Forgive me but I am helpless: I must yield to those in authority” (192) Even the two sisters who have just lost both of their brothers have different views on the matter. One will not stray from the law and what is deemed right by their king, while the other will accept any punishment, even death just to do what she believes is right.

    Read More

  • Antigone

    2995 Words  | 6 Pages

    The theme of Antigone is that when the law of the state is put above the religious law, it can corrupt and disfigure the minds of mankind. Th...

    Read More

  • Aristotle's Doctrine of the Mean

    1010 Words  | 3 Pages

    When we consider the questions of how we ought to live our lives, we often seek for some schematic that we can employ to help us categorize actions or qualities as good, bad, or indifferent. Such a means of organization would indeed make it easier to determine what the right thing to do is. Aristotle once attempted to formulate a similar plan. His ethics used a scheme by which characteristics could be measured and the right amount attained. Such an account is known as the doctrine of the mean. Aristotle’s doctrine is meant to illuminate the nature of eudaimonia, which can be briefly defined as succeeding or flourishing, the key to which is arête.

    Read More

  • Aristotle and Happiness of the Soul

    716 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of Aristotle’s conclusions in the first book of Nicomachean Ethics is that “human good turns out to be the soul’s activity that expresses virtue”(EN 1.7.1098a17). This conclusion can be explicated with Aristotle’s definitions and reasonings concerning good, activity of soul, and excellence through virtue; all with respect to happiness.

    Read More

  • Aristotle's Theory of the Good Life

    961 Words  | 2 Pages

    Happiness can be viewed as wealth, honour, pleasure, or virtue. Aristotle believes that wealth is not happiness, because wealth is just an economic value, but can be used to gain some happiness; wealth is a means to further ends. The good life, according to Aristotle, is an end in itself. Similar to wealth, honour is not happiness because honour emphases on the individuals who honour in comparison to the honouree. Honour is external, but happiness is not. It has to do with how people perceive one another; the good life is intrinsic to the...

    Read More

More about Antigone- Bastion of Virtue

Open Document