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Examples Of Individual Morality In Antigone

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Your theme is: Law & Order vs. Individual Morality

Most people know to follow the law and that opposing it can leave you without many options, and in jail. However, the choice between following the laws set in place by those in authority and doing as your conscience dictates is still a prominent issue today. With so many new bills being made into law, it’s no wonder that people take issue with some; the choice between following the laws and acting in a way that you see fit is something we must confront each day. In the ancient Greek play Antigone, Sophocles explores this theme through the distressing experiences of the character Antigone as she tries to bury her brother Polyneices, against the will of King Creon. This theme is explored in a similar way …show more content…

The play includes many instances where we can see Individual Morality being favored over Law & Order. This can be seen in the lines spoken by Antigone against Creon “I disobeyed because the law was not / The law of Zeus nor the law ordained / By Justice” (Sophocles, pg. 29). Antigone asserts that Creon’s law is neither justice by human standards nor of the divine, thereby justifying her insubordination and intentions for Polyneices. After Antigone buried her brother, she was captured by Creon and said “Polyneices, / When I did the same for you, when I did / What people know in their hearts of hearts / Was right, I was doomed for it” (Sophocles, pg. 54). Antigone exclaims that what she did was noble and virtuous, and that she already knew her fate when she decided to honor Polyneices. Sophocles alludes to the fact that she was resigned to her inevitable fate at the hands of Creon’s law. Jointly, these lines show that when choosing Individual Morality over Law & Order, you must be ready to face the

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After Creon declares the entombment of Antigone for attempting to bury Polynices against the declaration of his edict, Antigone laments her consequence of death. She displays a change in trait from her hubris as she expresses sorrow in her recognition that she will die at young age and never be able to marry or have children. The Chorus, in return provide their final judgment to Antigone as they state, “Your own blind will, your passion has destroyed you.” (Chorus, 959). Although the Chorus is sympathetic to Antigone’s sorrow, they remind her that she faces her death as a consequence to her negligence to overruling state power.

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She has a heroic and courageous personality. Throughout her quest to bury Polyneices, Antigone encounters many hindrances along the way. The death of her father Oedipus led to her greatest disputant being given power, her Uncle Creon. He would show her no mercy for breaking his laws, until it is too late. Even when her sister Ismene states “Our own death would be if we should go against Creon And do what he has forbidden!

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Antigone’s Moral Development The play Antigone by Sophocles, is about a girl who faces a family conflict over her deceased brother. The protagonist is Antigone and she stays the same morally throughout the play. Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development helps people understand the stages individuals morally move through as they mature more. Because of Antigone’s decisions and ideas at the beginning and the end of the play, she is a morally static character through the story.

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When she breaks the law Ismene, her sister, is taken in by the king's guard to be questioned by Creon. Since she is in questioning, there is a chance she will be punished for something that she took no part in burying the body of Polynices, and Antigone only tries to talk Ismene out of trying to take claim on the actions of Antigone. She could have instead brought it up to Creon, which would have saved Ismene from any trouble. This doesn’t mean that everything Antigone does is morally

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Furthermore, Antigone proclaims, “These laws —I was not about to break them, not out of fear of some man's wounded pride, and face the retribution of the gods.” Here, Antigone shows that she is more fearful of divine judgment than of Creon’s punishment. This is significant as it shows that Antigone would much rather face death than eternal punishment by the gods. Finally, Antigone demonstrates

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Other individuals may disagree with this statement because breaking the law is not honorable at all. Antigone did what was honorable towards her family and what she felt was right; versus what

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(lines 510-516). Antigone has been captured by the guards and taken to Creon where he ask why she dare break the law that he has set forth. Antigone’s honor lays with the gods and overrides any law man has set forth. Antigone states her beliefs and stands on them with reference to divine law which is a clear conflict of Creon’s decisions. This challenges Creon and stirs up further conflict over who is right and wrong over the matter at hand.

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Creon gave his speech to the chorus and stated that whoever buries Polyneices, will be sentenced to death. Then Antigone was captured by the sentry and came to Creon’s palace. Creon was insulted by Antigone's boasting of her doing, and stated that, “This girl is guilty of a double insolence; breaking the law and boasting of it. Who is the man here, she or I, if this crime goes unpunished?” (Sophocles 784).

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It is because of their loyalties, Antigone and Creon forgo the safe choices. Antigone decides that dying for the punishment of burying Polynices is worth the honour towards her brother. Creon decides that Antigone is to be saved, even when any other man committing this crime would be put to death. There are decisions that must be made for the greater good of the family. As decisions are made, their loyalty influences their determination and persistence to

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In the play, Antigone, Sophocles reveals a story of a character who responds significantly to an injustice. After a war between brothers’ Eteocles and Polyneices, both brothers are slain, but Creon, Antigone’s uncle, refused to bury Polyneices due to him fighting against the city. Antigone, the main character, decides to bury her brother against Creon’s orders, resulting in a conflict between the already cursed family. With the unjust refusal from Creon to not bury Polyneices, Antigone decides to stand up against this injustice, even if it means losing her life. Sophocles writes about a stubborn Antigone who believes she is following God’s law, in order to create justice between the cursed family and solve the unjust created by Creon, to

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Antigone being the one to fight for her beliefs and obeying the god's laws attempts the burial of Polyneices and goes against Creon’s law to prove to him that he’s in over his head that he has too much pride in himself, in lines 15-35 Antigone claims that she is going to go

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She does not understand why she is being treated so unjustly for trying to do the right thing. The chorus in the play tries convincing Antigone that justice is behaving in accordance to Creon’s laws but Antigone is stubborn and sustains to her convictions. Even though Antigone ends up dying she dies achieving her goal of wanting to bury her brother properly. Mostly everyone in this play goes against what the main character feels is justly because they want to follow the kings laws and they believe she is acting immorally. Antigone is not acting immorally, she is doing the right thing to follow the law of the gods.

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