Similarities Between Euthyphro And Apology

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

hierarchy of justice would fall as follows; human/political, as it is the most fickle; divine, as although it is subjective it still holds value; and philosophical, as it is the purest form of justice.
In Antigone, it is apparent that there is a disconnect between the ideology relating to human justice and that of divine justice as it is the driving force of the narrative.

While Antigone advocates the importance of divine justice taking precedence, Creon demands that human law and justice are to be followed. This interaction is paralleled in Plato’s Apology in that the individuals who judge Socrates put political justice in a higher regard than the true form of justice. This opposition to other forms of justice seems inherent in both human and political justice as it is an entirely subjective form of the idea. Both of these concepts are rooted firmly in an individuals’ beliefs as opposed to any actual idea of justice. Since they are both relatively arbitrary in that they differ from person to person, state to state, etc. they would be at the bottom of this justice hierarchy. As Antigone

states,
“The gods below didn’t lay down this law for human use. And I never thought your announcements could give you – a mere human being – power to trample the gods’ unfailing, unwritten laws.”
This quote goes to express the lack of power a human/political idea of justice holds when compared to any other form, in this case divine power.
While this idea of human/political justice is a changing concept, the idea of divine justice has a longer staying power in that religion and morality are less likely to differ over a large group of people where individual ideas might. The idea of divine justice implies that it is out of our (humanities) hands and would not be subject to a bias like human justice might. For that reason, it would be placed in higher regard comparatively. This concept would be further exemplified by the publics approval of Antigone’s choices, all of which were in the name of divine justice, while his own son Haemon chastises Creons’ choice to continue and push his human justice. This wide-spread approval of divine justice shows its importance in society and that most individuals would hold steadfast to those ideals before bending to human law created by another human (someone considered an equal.) While, in the Euthyphro, the idea of divine justice comes under siege, the fact that Euthyphro’s peers considered him to be incredibly wise. The main idea in these interactions seems to be that even though his beliefs in the divine can be refuted and challenged, they will not be changed. This concept that divine justice holds precedence in both an individual as well as a larger society would explain why it is more important than human/political justice, but its subjective nature in a holistic view shows why it is the top form on the hierarchy of justice.
This aforementioned top form would be the truest form of justice one could speak of: philosophical justice. This concept is the one which Socrates attempts to defend in the Apology when he is indicted for spreading his wisdom. As with any other philosophical form, it aims to encompass the concept in the most accurate and truthful manner. This would be entirely without subjectivity on the part of an individual and thus would make it the most accurate representation of the idea. In this theoretical hierarchy, it would be the top spot, as it clearly disassembles any illusion of divine justice being applicable, and since divine justice was shown in greater favor to the people than human/political justice, it would be reasonable to assume that philosophical justice would be the most accurate and thus best form of justice.
While some may argue that human justice would be the most relevant as in both situations it technically wins, with Antigone and Socrates being sentenced to death on their respective attempts to enforce their ideal of justice, divine and philosophical respectively, in the end human justice tends to lose.

In the case of Antigone, although the human punishment was doled out, a sort of divine punishment was given to Creon with his family committing suicide and his people likely turning on him. In the latter case, while Socrates was sentenced to death, his teachings continued on and the ideal he argued for could never truly be killed as ideas is all they were, while human justice is ever changing and thus

breakable.
In summation, all three of these texts touch on the idea of justice and their interactions; Human/political justice, an ever-changing idea that fulfils what those who make the laws decide; Divine justice, a set of ideas that hold true in agreement amongst a large group of people as well as in an individual; and Philosophical justice, the purest form which encompasses the base ideal of justice as opposed to an opinion influenced by society or religion. All three of these forms interact, but in the end, the first two are supplanted by the latter.