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Breaking The Law In Sophocles Antigone

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What would most people do if they were stuck between breaking the law and honoring their family? Antigone, the main character in the tragedy Antigone written by Sophocles, chose to honor her family instead of following the laws made by Creon, the king of Thebes. Although Creon wanted to be a good king, Antigone chose the right thing to do the by breaking the law to honor her brother with a burial to please the gods. Over the course of the story, the play follows the punishments given to Antigone for honoring her family and following her religion.

Even though Polinices was considered a traitor of his homeland, his sister Antigone knew that the proper thing would be as humble to him like he was to her when he was living. Lines 55 through 58,
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In the story of Antigone, Eteocles and Polyneices are both fighting to be the king of Thebes. They both die in the fight but Eteocles is buried while Polyneices is left to the vultures. Antigone is both Polyneices and Eteocles’ sister, With both brothers dead the throne was given to their uncle Creon, who believes Polyneices is a traitor and should not have a burial. Antigone strongly disagrees with Creon, thus sneaking out and giving him a proper burial. This action was considered punishable by death.

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In addition, Antigone has her own struggle, faceing her uncle King Creon, by herself. Moreover, Antigone was declared the death penalty, on behalf of giving her brother funeral honors. This is a very unruly move, because her brother is considered a traitor to the king and people, which ultimately means he shall not be buried. However, it shows King Creon that Antigone would do anything to modify the law, as well as risking herself, just so her brother has a proper funeral. To emphasize, Antigone responds to King Creon, “ If I die young, I say I’d gain something” (Sophocles 20).

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Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” In the greek tragedy Antigone, which was written by Sophocles, we see how an unjust ruler can can lead to there being unjust laws and rules. Kreon fits this description, being an unjust ruler that has created unjust laws. This lack of just laws shown by Kreon gets tested when Antigone goes against these unjust laws and decides to take matters into her own hands. We also see a similar situation in the book The Wine of Astonishment, which was written by Earl Lovelace.

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In Antigone, the character is Antigone and she is loyal and independent. Her brother was considered to be a traitor and shouldn’t be buried she goes against the rule to bury him anyways because she thought it was right even though her brother did many wrong things. In the reading it states, “Polyneices sought to taste the blood he shared with us,and lead the rest of us to slavery. You shall leave him without burial, you shall watch him get chewed up by birds and dogs and violated. But he that is loyal to the state in death, in life alike, shall have my honor.”

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Within the play, Antigone by Sophocles, Antigone argues that basic rites should be entitled to everyone, whereas Creon states that one’s rites are determined based on whether they are a patriot or traitor. If the setting were to take place in modern times, in a situation likewise to Antigone's, I would decide to honor my family. For instance, Antigone mentions that her death beside her brother would be honor onto her family, as she will be “as dear to him as he was to [her]” (Sophocles 55). In this case, I too would favor my family in support and love, characteristics that are not likely to be found within a community of fear and disunity with the kingdom and its citizens. I particularly would return honor upon my family, as they once had done for me during times of need, all in reverence.

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Martin Luther King Jr. and Antigone are very different people and they have quite similar aspirations. Antigone and Martin Luther King Jr. had ambitions of fighting injustice, and they tried to achieve them by standing up for what they believe in. Antigone uses more of her religious views to help her case, while Martin Luther King Jr. uses more logic and allusions to help his case. Antigone and Martin Luther King Jr. speeches use great words to help justify their beliefs; however, because of their different time periods, they use different types of references to help them obtain their goals.

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Antigone was justifiable in her action to disobey the proclamation that Creon created. Creon is immoral in the condemned burial of Polynices. Antigone is moved by her religious perspective, family ties and passionate aspects to go against the law of the land that makes her actions just in what she did rather than unjust. The Gods’ law was more crucial than any mortals law. Antigone’s view on the gods being of a higher power made her decision non-defiant since she only broke a mortals law not the gods.

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When duty diverges from the law, should it be pursued? In the tragedy, Antigone, written by greek playwright Sophacles, the protagonist Antigone breaks the law of a stubborn king when she buries her traitorous brother Polynices. Then in the tragedy Hamlet, written by Shakespeare, we follow Hamlet who is told by the returning spirit of his father that he was murdered by his uncle and that Hamlet must seek revenge for him. Both deal with themes of justice and the struggle that both Antigone and Hamlet face when enacting it. Both Antigone and Hamlet express themes of self-sacrifice, a thirst for justice, and a case of hubris in the main characters, while ultimately having different goals and showing different views on human nature.

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