Theme Of Justice In Antigone Essay

466 Words2 Pages

Who isn't right? Well like stated before, Creon believes that his decision is one made out of justice, but if Antigone was asked who was right in this conflict, or course, she wouldn't say it was Creon. For Antigone, real justice would be if her brother was buried with the proper burial rites. Her purpose throughout the play was to find justice for her brother and not the justice that Creon had already implemented, but the justice that she felt was the right one. Her fiancé, Haemon who is also Creon’s son, is one character that experience the insecurity of justice in the play. At the beginning of the play he takes the side of his father and believes that Creon is doing the right thing. Once the story goes one, he starts to doubt his father’s actions as a “just” king. Haemon’s realizes that Antigone’s incarceration was unjust and a sign of desperation from Creon. Realizing this too late he finds Antigone dead in the tomb, so he kills himself. Creon’s faith is tested with this event, but to really explore Creon’s faith lets go back to the beginning. …show more content…

Creon’s choice was influenced by his beliefs and faith because he thinks that by denying burial rites for Polynices he is in the right due to the actions of Polynices when he was alive. From Creon’s point of view, his actions are justified because Polynices was a traitor, an enemy of the state, and the security of the state makes all of human life—including family life and religion—possible. Therefore, to Creon’s way of thinking, the good of the state comes before all other duties and values. But, the duty to bury the dead is part of what it means to be human, so in this case his divine laws fail him. Creon’s actions made him look like a tyrant who didn't have any moral