Pub 1 - Moral Law V. Civil Law

If one was casually taking a stroll through the streets of the city and was to spot a family member deceased in the middle of the road, there would be no other action made besides giving them a proper burial. Such action is one that does not require a second thought, and it is something the one who goes out of his or her way to make the burial should be proud of although it may be a crime. In the play Antigone, by Sophocles, Antigone makes the brave decision of giving her brother Polyneices a proper burial although he has been prohibited of one by Creon, the ruler. The statement made by Antigone to her sister on lines 99-101 goes, “Oh, oh, no! shout it out. I will hate you still worse for silence – should you not proclaim it, to everyone.” This statement is one that can be agreed with 9 times out of 10 because it proves a point being that family comes first no matter what the situation may be. Another statement made by her to prove this argument valid is, “I know I am pleasing those I should please most.” Antigone is right for the action she has done because although her brother was supposedly not a very good citizen as per Creon, he is not to be left out to rot in the middle of the street no matter what the consequences may be.

            In one of Antigone’s parts she specifies, “I shall be a criminal – but a religious one.” Antigone says that because she will and rather accept the consequences for giving her brother the proper burial as opposed to abiding her religion. In which religion has one seen an exposed man left to rot outside? Antigone abides Creons rules and does proudly to not just show respect and honor toward her brother but to set an example to the fellow civilians of the town. Creon was explaining that Antigone thinks differently of everyone in the city, but her response to this on lines 555-556 is, “No, these do, too, but keep their mouths shut for the fear of you.”  The people of her city would have done the same but no one has the courage to stand up to Creon because he is such a brutal, selfish man in my opinion.

            By telling Creon, "I did not believe your proclamation had such power to enable one who will someday die to override God's ordinances, unwritten and secure" (469-99), Antigone is attempting to specify that Creon may be the throne of Thebes but he is no God. He believes that he himself can rule everything as opposed to listening to the towns people’s opinions to at least meet at a halfway point. His son Haemon specifically calls him out on this problem but he is not going to listen as usual. Haemon tells his father on line 793-794 that “There is no city possessed by one man only”. Unfortunately Creon had to learn the hard way by finding both his son and Antigone dead once he finally considered what had been said to him.