Relationship Between Politics And Justice In Antigone

1253 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The importance of value and ethics

Antigone is a play written by Sophocles and The Apology and Crito are two works written by Plato. Both these works bring up the notions and the relation between politics and justice. The Cambridge Dictionary defines politics “as the activities of the government, members of law-making organizations, or people who try to influence the way a country is governed, and the study of the ways in which a country is governed” (“Politics”). Justice can be defined as what is right, what can procur us the best outcome. However, as humans we have decided/been forced to live in a political community in order to live together in peace. In the interest of living and surviving as a whole, laws have to be applied. Laws by which humans who are part of this community
In these two stories, the two main characters, Antigone and Socrates both decide at one point to disobey a law because they consider it unjust. Disobeying these laws was the right thing to do according to them. Socrates disobeyed the law in favor of his ideas on how life should be lived, he defends a philosophical life driven by justice, vertu and truth. He consequently spends his time questioning the laws, the people around him … which unfortunately brings him a death sentence. In Antigone’s case, she decided to disobey Creon - the king of Thebes’s - because he refused to give her brother a proper funeral because he is a traitor. She goes ahead and gives him a proper funeral behind Creon’s back which destines her to a death sentence as well. Antigone ought to obey an unjust law because; politics and ethics are not compatible in society and she has a duty to obey the
He wants us to philosophize on life in the interest of having a philosophical life. He defends critical thinking. We can see in this text, Socrates go around the city and questions everyone, the merchants, the politicians … He questions the laws of society, the power that make the society function, challenges authority, wisdom, the common opinion, tradition and he questions god. This gives him the right to question their authority and accordingly their legitimacy as he finds out that authorities can be ranked; politics have authority and legitimacy but gods have more. Nonetheless, the ultimate form of authority and legitimacy would be an independent standard of right or wrong to which each one of us must obey to, first and foremost before anything else. You must live and act in a just and wise manner.
Following in the footsteps of Socrates, Antigone chooses to act upon what she believes is right which is saving her brother. She feels like she has a duty to her family that is higher than her duty to her political authority, her king. Political duties cannot be our highest ones. What she values the most in her life is doing the right thing for her brother - she values it more then her life in itself. We could pose the question of whether an ethical life is more important than life

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Civil Disobedience In Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

    1062 Words  | 3 Pages

    Antigone sought to do what she perceived to be right and just, and had no fear of consequences nor no desire to try to negotiate or protest. Antigone simply did her part of doing what she in her mind felt was right even though it was against what she was strictly forbidden to do. Antigone used these tactics differently from Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr. Antigone says to her sister Ismene “To me it’s fine to die performing such a deed” (Antigone 22). The “deed” Antigone is discussing is the deed that was forbidden by Kreon. Antigone truly believes in civil disobedience of directly disobeying in order to fight for justice for her dead brother. Antigone also exclaims “What I shall suffer will be far less dire than dying from an ignoble death” (Antigone 24). To Antigone, honoring the Greek gods, her brother, and her family is more important than following an unjust rule. Antigone believes that dying from the consequences of civil disobedience is far more worth dying for than dying without having ever fought for a cause. When addressing Kreon, Antigone discusses that she in face knew of his proclamation but felt that honoring her brother, and the laws of the Greek gods was more important than standing idle to her brother being unjustly forgotten and watching his life not be honored after his death. She says that death for her punishment was a profit because she was doing

    Read More

  • Analyzing Antigone and Creon

    1299 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the play, Sophocles examines the nature of Antigone and Creon who have two different views about life, and use those views against one another. Antigone who is depicted as the hero represents the value of family. According to Richard Braun, translator of Sophocles Antigone, Antigone’s public heroism is domestically motivated: “never does [Antigone] give a political explanation of her deed; on the contrary, from the start [Antigone] assumes it is her hereditary duty to bury Polynices, and it is from inherited courage that [Antigone] expects to gain the strength required for the task” (8). Essentially, it is Antigone’s strong perception of family values that drive the instinct to disobey Creon’s orders and to willingly challenge the King’s authority to dictate her role in society.

    Read More

  • Civil Disobedience in Antigone and Trifles

    1102 Words  | 3 Pages

    In both plays, the main characters break the laws for justifiable reasons. In Antigone, Antigone's dead brother, Polynices, is considered a traitor and King Creon "forbids anyone to bury him, mourn him" (Sophocles 88). She knows that all men deserve a proper burial and to not do so will be "an outrage sacred to the gods!" (Sophocles 95). Therefore, she "raise[s] a mound for him [Polynices]" (Sophocles 95) so that her city will not have to "face the retribution of the gods" (Sophocles512). She violates King Creon's decree to appease her gods. In Trifles, Mrs. Hale ...

    Read More

  • Antigone Quotes Analysis

    689 Words  | 2 Pages

    The play Antigone by Sophocles is about reason and opinion and reveals how people use their voice to be heard. Antigone uses reasoning and opinions to express their moral beliefs and state laws in the play. People manipulate each other by using these terms to get their way by speaking out and standing up for themselves.

    Read More

  • Socrates Crito Vs Antigone

    1386 Words  | 3 Pages

    When speaking to Crito about if we are mutilated by wrong actions and benefited by right ones, Socrates says, “What we ought to consider is not so much what people in general will say about us but how we stand with the expert in right and wrong, the one authority, who represents the actual truth.” (267, 68-71). Socrates believes we shouldn’t care about what people’s opinions are about our beliefs. We should focus on standing up to the authorities if they are going against our morals . I agree with Socrates that a person should stand up for justice because everyone is created with equal rights, and if authority abuses one’s right we should speak up. His statement will have a significant application when an authority imposes an immoral law or rule because in that moment one will have to stand up against the unjust action . Socrates thinks if authority treats an individual or group unequally, it is immoral because he thinks that people aren’t equal, however, he thinks people should be treated equally. In this case standing up to immorality is the right thing to do if the person thinks the higher power is wrong. Similarly, Antigone agrees with Socrates’s claim of people being treated equally because of her experience with one of her brothers, Polyneices, not having a burial while the other brother, Eteocles, did have a

    Read More

  • Sophocles´ Antigone and Euripides´ The Bacchae

    1058 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Sophocles’ Antigone, the most prominent theme is the concept of divine law versus human law. The play opens with the debate between the sisters Antigone and Ismene concerning which law comes first- the devout obligations of citizens, or civic duty. Antigone requests for Ismene to assist her in burying their brother Polyneices, though the new king Creon, has prohibited burial on pain of death. It can be argued that Creon’s edict, which deprived Polyneices of his funeral rites, is understandable. The young man had been killed perpetrating the most atrocious crime of which a citizen could be guilty, and Creon, as the responsible head of state, naturally supposed that exemplary punishment was the culprit’s right...

    Read More

  • Antigone: The Theme of Family Loyalty

    902 Words  | 2 Pages

    Although Antigone has a bad reputation with Creon, and possibly Ismene, for being insubordinate, she stays true to her values throughout the entire play by following the law of gods, not so that she could appease them, but because she admired its value of honor and respect to loved ones that have passed away. This devotion and determination to give her brother a proper burial shows the true essence of her being: that loyalty to family is in fact hold above all else.

    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

  • Antigone: Divine Law Vs. Human Law

    908 Words  | 2 Pages

    This is the Crux of the theme, the conflict between the law of King Creon, and the law of the gods. In fact, according to Greek belief, Creon would have been ordained by the gods to be king, and thus, should not his law be their law as well? This is the hurdle that Antigone has to face; should she abide by the law of Creon and leave her brother to rot, under penalty of death? Or should she disregard Creon's edict, follow the law of the gods and bury her brother? Creon is a brother to Jocasta, and thus next in line to become king after Etocles is killed in battle. The king is believed to be the chosen of the gods and to rule in their stead. Why then would the king attempt to punish Polyneices after death and so blatantly violate the rules of the gods? However, Creon is the king, and the penalty for disobeying this law of his is very real and very brutal, death.

    Read More

  • Religion vs. State in “Antigone"

    829 Words  | 2 Pages

    The play “Antigone” is a tragedy by Sophocles. One main theme of the play is Religion vs. the state. This theme is seen throughout the play. Antigone is the supporter of religion and following the laws of the gods and the king of Thebes, Creon, is the state. In the play Creon has made it against the law to bury Antigone’s brother, something that goes against the laws of the gods, this is the cause of most conflict in the story. This struggle helps to develop the tragic form by giving the reader parts of the form through different characters.

    Read More

  • Exploring Civil Disobedience: Sophocles and King Jr.

    1190 Words  | 3 Pages

    While Antigone’s acts can be seen as “disobedience”, when can an act be seen as justified? Antigone’s values are brought up in the first pages, and as she chooses her path, her conscious also knows that by doing this she will be “guilty of the holiest crime” (Antigone 82). The author also compares the stands between Ismene and her sister, as Ismene sees women as too weak to disobey the laws of the king and “[she] plead[s] compulsion and entreat the dead to pardon”(Antigone 107) in order to convince Antigone that women had neither strength nor voice in society. Thus, even knowing all this, Antigone disobeyed the king’s decree and it is seen burying her brother, even confronting the divine

    Read More

  • Political Authority in Sophocles' Antigone

    414 Words  | 1 Pages

    In Antigone, Sophocles suggests there is no basis for political authority: that Creon's citizens obey him out of fear of the consequences of disobedience. Ismene's obeys his edict is because she fears death. The soldier reports the attempted burial of Polyneices and brings the captured Antigone to Creon to "save his own sweet skin." The chorus believes no one would risk death out of political or moral or religious objectives. Antigone utterly rejects the authority of Creon: "these laws were not made in heaven," she says, and I do not have to obey the laws of human beings. She acts as she does because she does not respect authority and because she does not fear death. Haemon appeals to Creon on the basis of power - he suggests public opinion is against Creon and Creoin is at risk of losing his power as king. Only Creon and Tireseas ever acknowledge the issue of political authority. And with both, it is unclear whether authority can be the motivation, because in both situations, authority issues are tied to issues of power and personal gain. As the chorus comments - can one sublimate ones personal desires to the public good? If not then power is the only way to maintain public order.

    Read More

  • Antigone vs Lady Macbeth Essay

    712 Words  | 2 Pages

    Antigone shows throughout the play that she is always thinking that she must do what is best for other’s and not just herself. She is willing to do what is needed to follow the law of the gods, even if it is breaking the state law.... ... middle of paper ... ...

    Read More

  • Antigone Vs. Socrates

    667 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Notions of Justice in The Republic and Antigone

    1696 Words  | 4 Pages

    In both Antigone and The Republic, elements of death, tyranny, morality, and societal roles are incorporated into each work’s definition of justice. Both works address the notions of justice in a societal form, and an individual form. However, these definitions of justice differ with some elements, they are closely tied with others.

    Read More

More about Relationship Between Politics And Justice In Antigone

Open Document