In the play Antigone, there is a conflict between Creon and Antigone over which principle of
law to comply with in regards to Antigone attempting to bury her brother, the law of the state or
the law of God. It is a dispute between a human law and law of the Gods. Antigone believes in
following God’s laws, even if it signifies transgressing the law of the state, a law set by Creon,
which states that Antigone’s brother Polyneices is not to have a burial and no one can touch
his corpse. Antigone believes that God’s law demands that she should bury him while Creon
believes that no one should break the laws of the state.
In the first scene of the play, Antigone makes quite clear that she is going to bury her brother,
against the laws of the state.1
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I beg the dead to forgive me, but I am helpless: I must yield to those in ascendancy.” Antigone
replies that she is still going to bury her brother and says to Ismene, “Apparently the laws of the
Gods denote nothing to you.” Antigone believes that it is her right by the laws of the Gods for
her to bury her brother. She believes that the laws of the Gods are higher than the laws of the
state and that she is doing right by following the laws of the Gods.
Antigone broke the laws of the state because she believed in the higher law of Gods that she had
the right to bury her brother, despite what the law made by Creon had stated.2
the laws of the Gods are higher than the laws of the King. The laws of King are strong, but they
are weak against the laws of the Gods. The laws of the Gods will always be higher than the laws
of the
Her uncle King Kreon enacts a law that enemies of the battle will not be buried this includes Polyneices (203-210). Antigone must honor her brother and
In this moment, Antigone knows that her moral law should be above the decree of the king. Antigone shows this when she says, “What Creon says is quite irrelevant. He is my brother. I will bury him (Sophocles 4)”. Antigone is set on the fact that she will bury her brother even if it is against the law.
In the play Antigone, the female main character finally returns home from a lifetime of wandering with her father only to come home to find out that her brothers die, and that she has to bury them. The only exception is that her brother Polyneices has been denied a burial by Creon; yet she still goes against the law and buries Polyneices anyway. This is ultimately Antigone’s downfall because she is unable to accept the burial is illegal, and to add more turmoil she ends up getting locked in a cave as punishment.
Human Laws v. Divine Laws The central conflict in Antigone is the conflict of “laws of the land vs. laws of the gods. " In "Antigone," by Sophocles, this presents itself when King Creon endeavors to force his power upon the people in a manner consummately different to those of the divine laws. This battle of morals places Antigone and Ismene in a position where they must choose between following the recently composed laws of King Creon or those established by their gods many years ago. In "Antigone," a battle between brothers Eteocles and Polynices ends in their demises.
Creon meant to clarify to his son that anyone who commits a crime should be punished - even if the criminal is a member of one's family. Creon's doctrine says that once the state decides something, the law applies to everybody. Therefore, he sees no alternative other than to leave the body unburied for the state. Creon would do anything for the sake of the community whereas Antigone is devoted to her family. The situations mentioned above create tensions in the play because Antigone and Creon are bi-polar in their beliefs.
When Antigone accuses her of not caring about the laws of the gods, she replies, “They mean a great deal to me, but I have no strength to break laws that were made for the public good” (Prologue.62-63). Creon’s law comes first, before the laws of the gods, perhaps because of the immediate punishment for disobedience. She is more fearful of the direct consequences of breaking the law rather than being concerned with whether the law is morally right. In contrast, Antigone has little fear of disobeying the law if doing so is a moral decision. Antigone and Ismene’s opposite personalities create tension between the two and make it difficult for them to understand each other’s point of
Antigone ignores the idea of civic responsibility and puts her family first. Her family is more important to her than the law because she finds religion more powerful than Creon. “The ancient Greeks were polytheistic, they believed in many different gods and goddesses. The Greeks believed that these gods and goddesses controlled everything, from the waves in the ocean to the winner of a race.” (Richmond)
Here king declares that she knowingly went against the passed law and hence she is liable for breaking the law. Finally she was jailed. Here Antigone differentiates the law of god and the law of man and she claims that the traditional law which is dedicated in honor of god is above any law which is made by man. It shows her love in morality. It shows that she believes in humanity and ready to sacrifice for the sake of
Antigone’s disregard of the law displays her nonconformity. She is stubborn about her decision to bury Polyneices. When Ismene
The play entitled Antigone was written by a man named Sophocles, a scholarly author of philosophy and logic. The play Antigone is probably one of the most prominent interpretations of a tragic drama. The two main characters of the play are Antigone and Creon. There is much conflict between Antigone and Creon throughout the play, both of them having their own ideas and opinions regarding divine law versus human law. The theme that I am going to analyze is the conflict of divine law vs. human law. The reason for this is because this theme seems to control the whole play. It is an issue of which law is the "right" law, and if Creon's and Antigone's acts were justifiable.<br><br>The play Antigone can be summarized by the following: King Creon
Antigone believes she failed to procure the chorus' acceptance, because the chorus' last words spoken to Antigone are that of reproach. "Your own blind will, your passion has destroyed you" (962). Antigone goes to her grave a broken woman and in her mind, forever stigmatized as the wretched child of a vile father (420). However, Antigone receives some redemption, in the chorus' eyes, when she is lead away to be executed.
Moreover, Antigone and Socrates relied on the belief that what they were doing was in accordance with the divine and just. After she was convicted of her brother’s burial, in response to Creon, Antigone said, “Nor did that Justice, dwelling with the gods beneath the earth, ordain such laws for men. Nor did I think your edict had such force that you, a mere mortal, could override the gods, the great unwritten, unshakeable traditions.” (Antigone, 82). In this reaction to Creon’s claim that she was breaking the law, Antigone expressed her belief that the laws of human beings do not compare with those of the divine. It is clear that Antigone thought that what she did was the right thing to do as she was following the traditions and customs of the gods. By burying her brother, Antigone was simply honoring the desires of the divine through an act of justice. If Antigone had not given her brother a proper burial, she would have been
The argument between the law of the state and the law of the gods, or religious, is mentioned many times throughout the story. Creon refers to Antigone's brother as one who betrayed his city and he upholds an order for Thebes, forbidding Antigone's brother to be buried. Antigone refers to burying her brother as a moral responsibility. Creon is astonished when he finds that she has disobeyed his
Other character like Ismene told Antigone in starting of the play that what she is doing is wrong. Ismene thinks that laws of the Creone is stronger than that of God. In reply Antigone told that
In Antigone a law is made where she (or anyone for that matter) is not allowed to bury the body of her brother and anyone who breaks this law will be put to death. This quickly causes a conflict between human law and divine law for Antigone. Burying her brother is part of her divine role as a woman and is necessary for the progression of her brother’s spirit. So if Antigone decides to go ahead and break the law and buries her brother she will be put to death, but if she doesn’t break