The Themes Of Antigone And A Letter From A Birmingham Jail

In Sophocles’ piece, King Kreon prohibited the burial of Polynices, Antigone’s brother, because he was seen as a traitor to his country. Antigone blatantly disobeyed King Kreon’s proclamation because she thought that Polynices ought to be buried not only because he was blood- family, but because the gods law states that burial is a necessary ceremony. Her sister, Ismene, tried to warn her of the trouble she could find herself in, if King Kreon finds out that it was Antigone who had buried her brother, the traitor. (Blondell, 21). In addition, Antigone does not hesitate to admit to this illegal deed when the guards catch her in the act (Blondell, 37,38). While she acted out of respect for her brother and the gods, it was selfish in the fact that she was only thinking of herself. She did not hesitate to disregard King Kreon’s law and did not take any factor into consideration. Antigone accepted that her life was the price to pay for her civil disobedience, but her actions also, unintentionally, led to the death of two other people. Although, in the end, King Kreon sees that Antigone was right, the reason for which she had fought, and ultimately lost her life for, had no significant positive effect on anyone else.

One has the capability to determine from right and wrong and having the determination to stand up for what one believes in, no matter what the price is. In Sophocles’ Antigone, a written dramatic play, Sophocles portrays the theme that at times of one’s life, it is necessary to follow moral law and ignore political law. In the play, a determined and courageous woman named Antigone is loyal to her beloved brother by granting him a proper burial and having to suffer the consequences for revolting. Throughout Antigone, several incidents occurred where the political law was of no importance to the individual. Conflicts between Antigone and Ismene and then with Creon and Antigone are examples of the theme. The theme also ties with the

While Antigone followed her belief of burying Polyneices for religious reasons, she went against the law of Kreon. Antigone new that the punishment for burying Polyneices was a stoning by the city’s people (Sophocles 36), but she chose to bury her brother anyway, claiming, “He has no business keeping me from what is mine” (Sophocles 49). Antigone’s lack of negotiation is why her civil disobedience is a failure. Her choice to bury Polyneice’s body without any attempt of finding common ground with Kreon is foolish. Although Antigone met with Kreon after being discovered burying Polyneices body, she never actually attempts to negotiate with Kreon, instead choosing to accept her punishment as something already set in stone. When Kreon first meets Antigone, he asks if Antigone admits to the deed (Sophocles 442). Antigone’s only response was, “I don’t deny it; I admit the deed was mine” (Sophocles 443). This shows that Antigone made her choice of civil disobedience and accepted her fate before exhausting all options. Rather than pleading with Kreon and

She was committed to honoring her family and that is why she felt Polyneices deserved proper burial rites along with Eteocles. She took the idea to bury him to Ismene. Since it was against the law, she did not agree. Antigone responds to her by saying “That must be your excuse, I suppose. But as for me, I will bury the brother I love” (65). She argues that Creon is not enough to stand in her way (35) and Polyneices has the right to be buried being that he fought as bravely as Eteocles. So, Antigone took it upon herself to bury Polyneices. A sentry brings the news to Creon and soon Antigone follows. When taken to Creon, she fights that he is disobeying the laws of heaven. She argues, “Your edict, King, was strong, but all your strength is weakness itself against the immortal unrecorded laws of God" (360-363). She stressed to Creon that even though he holds a powerful position of authority, divine law will always come before civil law. Along with her upholding of the laws of heaven, Antigone expresses how her love for a brother is stronger than any other. She gives one last plea: she would not have defied Creon if the unburied body were her husband’s or her child’s. Both of those could be replaced, but a sibling whose parents are dead is suitable to accept such punishment. She would rather die with honor than live with the guilt of her brother’s soul left to wander the earth. With Polyneices left unburied, she feels she would have

Antigone justified her civil disobedience of giving her dead brother Polyneices the decent burial which is against King Kreon's decree, by knowing well that she has violated the state's law by burying her brother. She then allegedly carries out an act against King Kreon's state law; but it is also an act in accordance to her own conscience

Antigone is the sister of Eteocles and Polyneices. Both Eteocles and Polyneices agree to jointly rule Thebes as mutual kings. After one year, Polynices distrusts his brother, resulting in Polyneices fleeing from Thebes, only to later return with an army. In the battle, both sides are massacred. Eteocles and Polyneices kill one another, consequently giving their power up as king to in Creon, Antigone’s uncle. As acting king, Creon orders that, “Eteocles who died as a man should die, fighting for his country, is to be buried with full military honors, with all the ceremony that is usual when the greatest heros die” (Sophocles, line 160). As for Polyneices, Creon passes a law for Polyneices to be left unburied, to rot for every citizen to witness. Antigone viewed this law as immoral and unjust, for one brother to be buried with military honor and not the other. Antigone, expressing her love for Polynices, rises against Creon's higher authority command

In Sophocles’ Antigone and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Antigone and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. used resistance against powerful leaders to follow their morals and make a statement. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s approach towards the reconstruction of society’s cultural understanding of segregation by speaking truth to power used civil disobedience in a more public and large-scale approach, whereas Antigone’s use of civil disobedience defied the law in a much more private, small-scale way to do what she believed what was right. In addition to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s advocacy for equal treatment and Antigone’s dedication to obey the gods, they used their determination to refuse to obey the laws of the land in order to stand behind their own morals.

In Antigone, Polyneices’ rebellious battle against his brother, Eteocles, the King of Thebes, resulted in the death of both brothers, and left Kreon as the new King of Thebes. Because of Polyneices’ rebellion, Kreon created a law

Antigone and Dr. Martin Luther king demonstrate that breaking laws that are unjust can be a good thing by bringing reform. Their nonviolent approach of civil disobedience till this day leave an impact on how we go about social injustice. Through their actions and words, both Antigone, and Dr. Martin Luther king demonstrate that they are not afraid to die for their beliefs and inspire us to take a passive approach towards the social injustices we are faced by in our community. I sympathize more with Dr. Martin Luther King because I believe that he took a more logical approach in stopping social injustice, as well as the fact that he is willing to put his life on the line for a whole community of people, in contrast to Antigone who is willing to die for solely her brother.

In Sophocles’ Antigone and Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letters From A Birmingham Jail, both Antigone and Martin Luther King Jr. portray similarities of civil disobedience against the opposing authority in order to fulfill what they set out to achieve against all odds. Throughout the course of both of their lives, they continually and constantly strive and defend their actions to fight for the injustice acted upon them. Antigone is fighting against the unfair ruling of the corrupt king of Thebes, Creon, and Martin Luther King Jr. is fighting the racial intolerance against the racist, unjust white men and women across America. However, both Antigone and Dr. King suffer through several, negative consequences because of their disobedience and defiance,

In Sophocles’ Antigone and Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, Antigone and Martin Luther King Jr. fight against the injustices that they faced. Antigone fights against the edict given by the stubborn and arrogant Kreon, while Martin Luther King Jr. is fighting against racial intolerance from the American people. Antigone uses religion to justify her actions and Martin Luther King Jr. uses logic and rationale, causing Martin Luther King Jr.’s methods to be more effective.

Antigone chose to give her brother Polyneices a proper burial even though it was against the king’s law. She tried talking her sister Ismene to join her on her quest because Polyneices was both of their brothers, but Ismene did not want to disobey Kreon’s order (Blondell 19-24). This left Antigone to handle this on her own, which takes a lot of courage and dedication to what she believes in. Antigone went on with her plan to bury Polyneices and his body was eventually found by a guard (Blondell 30). When the guard brought the news to Kreon he was furious and the Chorus had suggested it was a Gods doing, which led me to believe that they did not think anyone one else was willing to risk it all by not listening to their kings orders (Blondell 32). A good lesson to learn from Antigone is that even if you break the law you have to admit your doing especially when you know what you did was morally right and what you stand for as an individual. When Antigone was accused of breaking the law and burying Polyneices she did not even hesitate saying, “I don’t deny it; I admit the deed was mine.” (Blondell 38). She even goes on to tell King Kreon that his choice to not allow the burial of Polyneices is morally wrong and how he is disobeying the God Zeus who is offended by improper treatment of a corpse (Blondell 38). Though Antigone knows the consequence for disobeying the king, she continues to fight for her brother’s honor and makes sure to point out the king’s foolish decision. Even in her last words she questions what kind of men can make suffer and then gives her respects to the town, gods, and rulers.

Now when the guards discovered that someone buried the body of Polyneices, the head sentry went to tell the king, whereupon Creon became enthralled with anger. He told the sentry that he judged him to be a bribed soldier and that he could not return unless he found the person who had buried the body or told of whom it was that had bribed him. After this the horrified sentry and his men brushed off the sacred burial dust from the body and kept watch from a distance to see if the rebel would return to bury the body. Sure enough, during a sandstorm Antigone was seen burying the body that she had cared for so well before. The guards grabbed her and she showed no fear. She did not try to evade her pursuers and she was brought before the king. The king first asked her if she had heard his proclamation concerning the burial of her brother. She blatantly told him that could not have helped hearing it. If she had denied hearing it, she may have escaped death, but she did not want to escape it, and she felt that she had done nothing wrong. She believed that her death would be of no importance, but that the death of her brother would

Throughout time society has developed a system from which humans are able to define good and bad, Ethics. Although Ethical norms have been adapted throughout the passing of time, its most intrinsic values have prevailed, enabling individuals to agree on standards of what good and bad are built on their moral standards. Morals are what give the individual the capacity to distinguish good from bad. In the ancient Greece morals were indeed the individuals perception of good, and bad however, these perceptions were greatly abided and driven by the divine laws imposed by the gods. In Antigone, a tragedy written by Sophocles, we see the how the main character defies the kings rules and stands for her own perception of what she believes is the rightful thing to do .We are able to able to see the decision chosen by the two main characters, Creon and Antigone are the ones to define and condemn their faith and the one of those who live around them. In Bernard Knox’s Introduction poet T. S. Eliot states, “Antigone did the right thing for the wrong reason”(pg53). I believe that Antigone by deciding to mourn for her dead brother does indeed the right things but for the wrongs reasons. Through her actions she evidently follows the ethical norms imposed by the Greek divine laws, but it is her moral judgment the one to ambiguously expose her true reasons, the fulfillment of an unalloyed lust, creating a rupture beyond the scopes of rationality by incarnating the simple desire of taking upon

disapproval but also against the King’s law. Antigone is very loyal and family oriented and takes