Antigone

Antigone Essay

            In the history of civilization one of the most critical advances has been the development of written and public laws. There are two kinds of laws, one kind of laws are made by people and cities, the other kind of laws are made by gods and people’s conscience. There have always been arguments between whether people should completely follow the laws or should people break human laws and follow the gods’ laws when human laws are unjust. Antigone by Sophocles is a book which argues whether people should follow the human laws or not. In the book, Creon argues for the following human and cities’ laws and Antigone argues for following gods’ laws. In the end, Antigone won the argument and Creon got his punishment. Therefore, although Creon argues for the importance of following laws of the city, it is clear that Antigone demonstrates that when these laws are unjustified, a human must look to a higher laws.

            It is clear that some laws in Antigone are unjust. They against gods’ laws and people religious belief, and the only option to act in a way that supports the gods is to break Creon’s law. Creon’s laws are cruel, in the book, Antigone argued that Creon’s laws are unjust,” Eteocles, he says, defend the city/He will bury Eteocles with honor/Creon will give him a lawful burial, with all the proper rites/But unhappy Polyneices/Creon has made a proclamation/to all the people of Thebes/He will not bury Polyneices.”(P48) Creon told the citizens about his laws and this shows his laws are unjust,” We will not honor this man/No one will bury him/We will leave him/and you will watch him/the dogs will eat his flesh/Birds will eat his corpse/This wicked man will have no honor/He did not honor his city/and the city will not honor him. ”(P54) Creon also argued that human laws are higher than gods’ laws, in the book, he said,” Gods do not respect criminals! No/I have enemies in the city/Some men hate me/they will not bow to me/These men hired others/and they used money/Money will buy anything/If you do not find these men/you will hang-all of you!” These show us Creon’s disrespect of gods’ laws and the injustice and brutalities of human laws. This book also shows us citizens’ religious beliefs and their conscience. Antigone said to her sister to show her persistence and her religious belief,” I will be a criminal/but I will honor my family/This city will crumble one day/and its laws will disappear/But the dead will lie forever/and the gods will honor the dead.”(P49) She also argued with Creon that the logos are more important than nomos and human laws are unjust,” Yes! Because it is your law/It is not the law of the gods/Zeus did not make this law/Justice does not live in this law/You are only a man/and I do not fear you/But I fear the gods, and I obey her laws/The gods do not write down their laws/but everyone knows them/The gods do not speak their laws aloud/but everyone hears them/in their hearts/Their laws never change/They are the same yesterday, today/and for all times and all places/You are powerful/and you may punish me/because I broke your law/But the gods will not punish me/because I do not break their laws!”(P61-P62)  “I have buried my brother/I have the greatest honor/look at these men of Thebes/They agree with me/but they fear you, so they don’t speak up/But they know I am right.”(P63) She also argued for dead man’s rights and people’s duty to them. These lines in the book show us that the logos are eternal and higher than the unjust nomos. Therefore it is clear that in the book, Antigone’s argument for people religious beliefs are more powerful than Creon’s argument for human laws. In addition, the book also tells us that the Creon’s human laws are unjust. Thus, in order to supports the gods and people religious beliefs, it is necessary to break Creon’s unjust laws.

To sum up, the argument that Antigone presents is a relevant argument for governments and cities today. It is true that the law must be powerful in order for society to function. However, it is clear that sometimes it is necessary to break the unjust laws. It is just like what Martin Luther King Jr. said, “An individual who breaks a laws that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law.” (Letter from a Birmingham Jail) In some countries nowadays, there are some unjust laws. For example, in China, the affirmative action is little unfair, because if you are children of national minorities, you will get extra bonus points for your exam. It is unfair to a lot students because all of the students work as hard as the others. However, just because they were born as children of national minorities, they don’t have to work that hard in order to get to the same school as others. There are still a lot of unjust laws in this world, such as, in Saudi Arabia, it is illegal for any women to drive a car and it is illegal for them to vote; in Greece, police are allowed to arrest anyone suspected of having HIV and they are also allowed to force HIV testing, to publicize the name of HIV-positive people and to have them evicted from their homes. Thus, if the laws are unjustified, we should break it to show this world that the laws are unjust in order to change them.