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How Does Antigone Break The Law

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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 …show more content…

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

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