Sophocles' Antigone

Sophocles’ play “Antigone” illustrates the conflict between obeying human and divine law. The play opens after Oedipus’ two sons Eteocles and Polyneices have killed each other in a civil war for the throne of Thebes. Oedipus’ brother in law Creon then assumes the throne. He dictates that Eteocles shall receive a state funeral and honors, while Polyneices shall be left in the streets to rot away. Creon believes that Polyneices’ body shall be condemned to this because of his civil disobedience and treachery against the city. Polyneices’ sister, Antigone, upon hearing this exclaims that an improper burial for Polyneices would be an insult to the Gods. She vows that Polyneices’ body will be buried, and Creon declares that anyone who interferes with his body shall be punished. This is where the conflict begins. Thus the theme of this play becomes the priority of unwritten law. The question is whether duties to the gods are more essential then obedience of the state and law. Creon calls the rotting of Polyneices’ body an “obscenity” because he believes that burial of the dead is a necessity of human law and not of a citizen. . There is no compromise between the two – both believe in the absolute truth of their obedience.

Antigone believes that the unwritten and natural law supercedes any form of human written law. Honor and a principled responsibility to gods and family are given equal weight in her self-defense. She says that she fears, not men's condemnation, but penalties from the gods if she does not act The painful evils that beset her life (the loss of mother, father, and brothers) make death a gain in her eyes By contrast, if she had left her mother's son unburied, she would have grieved She expects to win glory for her gesture to the gods. Antigone displays the characteristic trait of pride in the way she justifies and carries out her decisions. She is obstinate in her beliefs, and throughout the play refuses to listen to advice. This poses a danger because it causes her to overlook the limitations of her own powers. Antigone’s ethics derive from a dual responsibility to the unwritten laws and the gods’ will and to family relations and care for others. Even though Antigone exhibits a blamable pride and hunger for glory, her vices are less serious than Creon’s. Antigone’s mistakes only harm herself, where as Creon’s mistakes h...

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...rior, by contrast, is to follow the orders of the expert. Socrates does not, despite appearances, advocate "following orders" -- even when the orders are legal; he believes one ought to follow orders only if they are in one's judgment, just. He therefore declares that throughout his life he had been the sort of man who never conceded anything to anyone contrary to the just. He will not obey Crito, instead he obeys nothing of his own but the logos that seems best to him upon reasoning. Yet he insists, in the Crito as in the Apology, that when there is an expert, the expert must be obeyed. Thus Socrates in the Crito recognizes the validity of, exercising one's own moral judgment when it results from careful reasoning from philosophy -- as well as following the opinion of the expert or government, if there is one. Socrates will not, therefore, obey Crito unless Crito produces a principle superior to his. If Crito does not have a superior principle, as Creon does not deliver a superior argument than Antigone, Crito has no claim to be obeyed: on moral questions, only the best logos and the moral expert deserve his obedience. Thus Socrates delivers the better logical argument.