Essay Example on Antigone: Conflict of Divine and Human Law

The perception of Antigone or the understanding of this famous play is that there is a conflicting issue between state policy and individual conscience. These conflicts are based on two main elements, whether the actions outlined in the play fall within the ambits of divine law or human law (Lloyd-Jones). As depicted by Antigone's character the need to follow the law of the gods collides with laws of man. This paper analyses Sophocles' play by analyzing the Greek beliefs on divine and human law.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Antigone, about Greek mythology, is the female child born of the unknowingly incestuous union of Oedipus and his mother Jocasta. Once Oedipus figured out that he had unwittingly slain his father and proceeded to marry his mother, he blinded himself. As a result of this action, Antigone and her sister Ismene helped their father as his guides. They followed Oedipus into exile from Thebes and served him till he died in Athens. After Oedipus' death, they went back to Thebes and tried to reconcile with their brothers Eteocles and Polyneices. Their Uncle, Creon rose to power and killed both Polyneices and Eteocles. King Creon performed a funeral service for Eteocles but forbade all of Thebes not to bury or remove the corpse of Polyneices (Sophocles). The rationale behind this is that Polyneices was a traitor. Creon declared that no individual should bury Polyneices and whoever disobeys will be stoned to death.

Antigone sorts out to bury her brother. She felt that her dead brother required a decent burial. She was moved by the level of injustice according to her brother. She proceeded to bury Polyneices despite King Creon's orders. In retaliation for Antigone's actions, Creon ordered the execution of Antigone. She hanged herself.

Antigone in this play depicts a strong-willed individual who is grounded on the beliefs of the laws of the gods and is not willing to go against the divine laws. The essence of divine laws is based on God's teachings on morals and beliefs. Divine law can be clarified as the unwritten Gods' laws (Segal). This type of law is applied when the elements of morals require to be applied. The decision based on morals will be seen as either right or wrong. The Greeks believed that divine law is not only portrayed in decision making but also the everyday actions of man. Morally wrong actions are those that go against the laws of God. Most individuals are not willing to abide by the laws of God due to their lack of belief. Some individuals like Ismene believe that the laws of man have a more direct impact on one's life than divine law. This is illustrated when Ismene tells Antigone that she is not willing to defy the State. The State refers to the laws of man. Ismene is afraid that the impact of breaking Creon's law will have a more negative impact on her life as compared to the divine laws.

Human law, on the other hand, is the law that is established to govern the community and the land. Human law is in most occasions set up by the leader of the community, society, or kingdom (Forster). In this play, Creon is the leader of Thebes. He orders for Polyneices not to be buried, he declares that any individual found burying Polyneices will be treated as a traitor and will be killed. Creon's laws govern the people, Ismene illustrates this when she tries to convince Antigone that they are obliged to follow Creon's orders (Sophocles). A fundamental trait of human laws is that officers or guards enforce the law (Sophocles). These officers ensure that the law the subjects of the area or the people in the community adhere to the law. Despite the critical nature of human laws, there exist individuals that do not follow these laws. These individuals believe that the divine law is higher than human laws. This is illustrated when Antigone tells her sibling Ismene that she will follow the divine law forever as they are the eternal laws of heaven (Sophocles). She proceeds to warn Ismene that by not following the eternal laws of heaven, she is disobeying the will of the Gods.

Both Antigone and Creon in the play have different beliefs about what is right and what is wrong. For Antigone, she believed that her actions were of the right reasons as they adhered to the laws of the Gods. On the other hand, Creon believed that his actions were right because he believed that Polyneices betrayed Thebes and that no individual should offer him a proper burial. Creon based his actions on human law. This is illustrated when Creon states that his word is the law and that individuals who are miscreants will not take precedence over those who are good patriots of the state. He proceeds to state that those who fail to follow what he has executed will court his or her death (Sophocles).

Antigone was well aware of the consequences if she proceeded with the Polyneices' burial. This bold action does not mean that Antigone despised human laws, she was faced with a situation that conflicted with God's law. Antigone fails to respect the Olympian Justice that is expected to govern the land and which causes civilized life to be attainable.

One other principle portrayed in the laws of the gods is the essence of family loyalty (Versnel). Even though Ismene tries to remind Antigone of the tainted family name, Antigone believes that due to her family ties to Polyneices she must be loyal to him. This action depicts the principle of family loyalty. The illustration of these actions occurs when Antigone states that she will proceed to stay with her brother and that the crime she is about to commit will be her devotion (Sophocles). Human law conflicts with family loyalty in the play. Antigone chooses to lose her honor by choosing family over the law to bring honor to Polyneices' death. As she buries her brother, Antigone portrays a sense of faithfulness to her family. Following divine law, it is expected of the family members to be loyal to their deceased relatives by properly burying them.

King Creon's point of view towards this whole situation concerning divine law seems to lack any merit. Creon throughout the play is depicted as being content with his actions, he only establishing only one law in the community. However, the law was against morality and therefore was against divine law.

Towards the end of the play Teiresias, a blind prophet, approached King Creon and told him of all his mistakes. Teiresias informed Creon that all his wrong actions would not yield any fruit, instead, his actions will haunt him in the future. He stated that Creon would pay for what he did to Antigone and Polyneices (Sophocles). Creon tries to undo what he did. He tries to redeem himself. Creon now believed that it would be unwise to prefer his laws to the divine law. As a result of guilt, King Creon built a tomb for Polyneices' body and also moved quickly to release Antigone. As he tried to release Antigone from the caves he had held her, he found Antigone had already hung herself. Creon's son Haemon killed himself upon hearing the news (Sophocles). King Creon's wife also killed herself after hearing what had happened. In a way, one can state that the law of the Gods was dealing with King Creon. His wrong actions as stated before had come back to haunt him.

Waldock in his research on Creon's actions states that although he honored the laws of the land and the justice of that land, he fails to uphold that which the gods expect of him (Brown). Creon is depicted as a man filled with sin. He only cares about human law and completely disregards the divine law or the law of the Gods who provided him with that leadership position.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the issues portrayed in the play show that Antigone's actions were based on what was morally right over what was wrong. Antigone based al her actions on what she believed was right and as a result, she buried Polyneices properly despite King Creon's established human law. In this play, an objective mind should be used to assess the impact and the effect of both divine law and human law. In doing so, everyone will understand that divine law is superior as compared to human law. The rationale is that a higher supernatural being exists in this earth from which we derive what is right and what is wrong. Once we differentiate what is right and wrong, then the human brain comes in to determine laws that govern man's conduct in the society and the community. A man should always refer to divine law as he makes other laws. A man should cease from developing foolish laws such as King Creon's laws on prohibiting Polyneices' burial. Antigone represents the motion that divine law is superior to state law.

Works Cited

Brown, AD Fitton. "Sophocles-Cedric H. Whitman: Sophocles. A Study of Heroic Humanism." The Classical Review 3 (1953): 150-153.

Forster, Greg. "Divine law and human law in Hobbes's Leviathan." History of Political Thought (2003): 189-217.

Segal, Charles. "Sophocles' tragic world: divinity, nature, society." Harvard University Press (2009).

Sophocles. Antigone. 2020. https://www.sparknotes.com/drama/oedipus/full-text/antigone/#. 12 May 2020.

Versnel, Henk. "Coping with the gods: wayward readings in Greek theology." Brill (2011).