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Comparing Sophocles Antigone And King's Letter From Birmingham

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Sophocles’ play Antigone, and Martin Luther king Jr’s Letter from Birmingham Jail analyze the underlying truth concerning their moral situations tied in with the legal systems of their times. Antigone was faced with whether to follow her heart and go against her very own uncle, while King himself did not face any personal dilemmas but was providing the intended audience a choice, either to side with his methods or fall in to the power of their faulty legal system. In this paper, I will argue how both pieces face different moral and legal dilemmas in their own unique way which ultimately questions the jurisdictions set forth by those in power. Does law reflect morality? In this short play, Antigone is faced with the choice to either bury Polynecies
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Throughout time, people have always fought for freedom and the chance to express what they believe regardless of who or what stands in their way. Both Martin Luther King Jr. and Antigone symbolize key figures who stood up for what they believed in, fighting for the good life for both themselves and the community around them. Although both cause conflict, protest unjust laws to achieve change, and approach a comparable situation of fighting injustice in society similarly, they had different stakes had they failed. The magnitude of the stakes differ from one another but in both cases, their stakes and what they stand to lose justify the actions they take, as they are not only trying to prevent further conflict but also trying to teach future

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The idea that rules are set in place to support and keep people in place is a common misconception in certain cases. Therefore, in this essay, we will be evaluating how the texts “Antigone” (441 BC Sophocles) and “The Second Virginia Convention Speech” (March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry) will support the idea that unjust rules should be challenged, although doing so may be met with great consequence. Antigone is about Antigone's revolt against Creon's rule. The revolt occurs because of Antigone's belief that her brother deserves a proper burial, while Creon sees him as a traitor and refuses to grant proper burial rights. Although Creon’s reasoning is justified by law, Antigone’s reasoning is based on emotion and religion.

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Despite the centuries distinguishing the compositions of Sophocles’ Antigone and Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, their similarities are undeniably evident when viewed in tandem. The former depicts a Greek tragedy of Antigone, a young woman who defies an edict obstructing the burial of her brother, who perished fighting in a civil war for the city of Thebes. The latter is a historic document written by the great civil rights leader during the period in which he was imprisoned in an Alabama jail for his nonviolent demonstrations against segregation. Albeit the works communicate distinct messages, it is not to be said that they do not parallel one another. The similitude of the Greek tragedy Antigone and the historic

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In hope of obtaining the Good Life, people often have to deal with balancing the ideas of doing what is best for society and doing what is best for the individual. Both Sophocles’ “Antigone” and Martin Luther King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” support the concept that to obtain the Good Life, a person must act for the benefit of society more than for the benefit of himself or herself. In “Antigone”, through Antigone and Kreon’s actions and the repercussions of their actions, Sophocles argues for the preservation of values of society over self-preservation and putting the beliefs of society over the beliefs of the individual. In the “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, King argues against the individual’s tendency for passivity and idleness

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Brothers Polynices and Eteocles agree to share power and give it up after they rule, but Eteocles does not follow these conditions. This angers Polynices, and he attacks the city-state Thebes. Creon declares Polynices in the wrong because he attacks his own city-state. Now, only Eteocles can receive a proper burial. Antigone believes otherwise and buries Polynices

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Sandel also describes the idea that some are more qualified than others to determine this telos. Based on King, Aristotle, and Sandel’s ideas of duty to disobey unjust laws to demand change and of whose job it is to decide the telos of actions, Antigone’s burial of her brother in Sophocles’ Antigone is completely just.

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Political activists and philosophers alike have a challenging task of determining the conditions under which citizens are morally entitled to go against the law. Socrates and Martin Luther King, Jr. had different opinions on the obligation of the citizens in a society to obey the law. Although they were willing to accept the legal punishment, King believed that there are clear and definable circumstances where it would be appropriate, and sometimes mandatory, to purposely disobey unjust laws. Socrates did not. Socrates obeyed what he considered to be an unjust verdict because he believed that it was his obligation, as a citizen of Athens, to persuade or obey its Laws, no matter how dire the consequences.

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Although both Antigone, from “Antigone” by Sophocles, and Martin Luther King Jr. from “Letter From A Birmingham Jail” engage in acts of civil disobedience and fight for what they believe to be right, the way they go about these acts is quite different. Each of their reasons, actions, and consequences can be seen as opposites. Antigone refuses the help or involvement of others, which can be seen as a selfish act directly against the king while Martin Luther King Jr. involves the entire community to help the greater good. Antigone is a character who stands up for what she believes in to a point of direct civil disobedience toward the king, Creon. She puts the laws of the gods over the laws of her authority.

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There are several aspects of Greek society that is present in Antigone. One is that the Greeks thought that excessive pride was a sin. The Greeks thought that having pride made one seem to be above the gods. Creon was a very proud person. He is too proud to admit when he is wrong.

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In Antigone, they were four siblings, they were the children or Oedipus and Jocasta. Eteocles and Polyneices that was strong and brave but Eteocles was so stubborn and the things he wanted will happen either you like it or not and Polyneices was fair. Antigone that was kind, helpful,strong,confident and loyal. Lastly Ismene she was the one that was scared she cared about the law and respected the king. In Antigone the two brothers fought against the law Polyneices was supposed to have his turn to have the throne, playing by the rules of Eteocles having the throne for a year,displaying fairness.

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Antigone Essay When unjust laws exist, it is up to us for to decide if we are satisfied to be under such obedience or if we should either go beyond the bounds of moral principle if we find it to be a justifiable reason. Many, such as Henry David Thoreau, express that we should rather put our priorities in front and break an unjust law for it is the fault of an inequitable government who should provide for reform. If the law is unjust to such an extent, then we should go beyond and disobey that law. The boundaries of law should not be followed if it comes to the point if we wonder if we are treated as humans or subjects. We are loyal to the government, but if the government is not loyal to us, then we should take it as an leeway to break the law.

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In Sophocles’ play Antigone, Creon, the king of Thebes, best represents a tragic hero. Creon demonstrates goodness in his intentions for Thebes as well as his fragile state due to the fact that he recently lost several family members. Creon, newly named king, finds himself as highest ranking official around, showing superiority. Creon often acts stubborn and prideful, his tragic flaw. And lastly, he must come to terms with the fact that he caused the death of his wife, son, and niece.

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Fate Against Power “Father, the gods instill good sense in men, the greatest of all things which we possess.” (Lines 776-777) Haemon attempts to persuade his father to do the right thing by involving gods in his plea, which were perceived to have valuable opinions by the people. In Antigone, by Sophocles, a rather large disagreement involving Creon’s belief of putting Antigone to death as a resolution for her breaking his law and Haemon’s claim that it is wrong to follow through with such a severe punishment for such a minor crime, comes between a father and his son, emphasizing the characteristics of cruelty, arrogancy, and sensitivity that prove Creon as a tragic hero, thus advancing the plot of the play.

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Aristotle founded the idea that all the best arguments have three key parts: ethos, pathos and logos. Translated from latin, this means ethical, emotional and logical. In the play Antigone by Sophocles, the characters frequently make use of these tools when attempting to persuade another character to conform to their beliefs and thoughts. Antigone tries to get her sister, Ismene, to help her in a crime that she believes is just. Haimon attempts to lessen Antigone’s sentence by lecturing his father about what it means to be a good leader, and the Chorus is just trying to help out anyone they can with wise words from a third party opinion.

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In Sophocles’ Antigone, the king, Creon, is driven mad by the deaths he caused, those of his niece, son, and wife, and Antigone, Creon’s niece, is killed for doing what she believes to be right. He represents the consequences of their actions, Antigone’s death and Creon’s descent into madness, by mentioning of several Greek myths. He also uses these myths to illustrate the emotions that drive each character to act. Sophocles first introduces mythology in the prologue, when Antigone says to her sister, Ismene that she should bury her brother, a traitor, in spite of Creon’s edict, rather than spurn the, “laws of the god,”(Sophocles 63).

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