Antigone and Its Moral Conflicts - Essay Example

4 December Antigone and its Moral Conflicts When do people draw the line between familial duties and civic responsibilities? Antigone chooses her family over her civic duties in Antigone by Sophocles. G.W. Hegel is one of the philosophers who find the antitheses and conflicts in Antigone perplexing, because of the complexities inherent in these conflicts (Woodruff xiii). Indeed, one of the reasons that the play is a tragedy is that it asks the audience to undermine “one-sided representatives of simple oppositions” (Segal 62) and to consider the hopelessness of defining morality. On the one hand, Antigone may be praised for her loyalty to the Gods and her family. On the other hand, her civil disobedience has widespread repercussions on the integrity of the ruler and the stability of the state. This paper analyzes and discusses the varied moral conflicts in this play. Several conflicts can be found in Antigone, particularly the conflict between authority and family duties, natural law and positive law, conscience and civic ethics, and duties to man and duties to the gods. The play explores the conflict between authority and family duties. Creon already decrees that Polyneices will not have a proper burial as a traitor to Thebes. He says: Him I decree that none should dare entomb, That none should utter wail or loud lament, But leave his corpse unburied, by the dogs And vultures mangled, foul to look upon. (Sophocles lines 233-236). Antigone, however, is willing to contradict her King and decides to bury Polyneices, because she is bound to her family duties. She asserts this to Ismene, who dissuades her from disobeying Creon: “At least he is my brother-and yours, too,/....I will not prove false to him” (Sophocles 51-52). Ismene reminds Antigone that she should obey the King's authority: “We twain shall perish, if, against the law,/We brave our sovereign’s edict and his power” (Sophocles 67-68). Antigone responds to Ismene that no King can keep her “from [her] own” (Sophocles 54). Antigone will risk her life to do what is “right” for her family, which sharply contrasts with Ismene's reluctance to do her familial duties, if it means breaking the law. Furthermore, Haemon also follows his duty to his fiance, who is also his family, by defending her to his father. He tells him: “Yea, to learn much, and know the time to yield,/Brings no disgrace... (Sophocles 806-807). He asks his father to yield to other people's reason. For him, the law is not absolute if it will hurt personal ties. Creon, however, will not listen to a woman or his own counsel and family. He says: “Shall we at our age stoop to learn from him” (Sophocles 823). He undermines the youth of his son. For him, Haemon does not have the experience, and consequently, the wisdom, to rule over him. Creon also says: “...While I live, at least,/A woman shall not rule” (Sophocles 592-593). He will, most especially, not change his law for a woman, which depicts misogyny during his time. Thus, for Creon, his law is supreme over all family ties. Antigone also illustrates the conflict between positive and natural law. Positive law refers to the law of the state, while natural law pertains to the “unwritten law” (Burns 546). Aristotle argues that Antigone depicts the conflict between positive and natural law, or between human nature and the “polis” (Burns 546). Creon emphasizes his will as the will of the state to Haemon: “The state, I pray,/It is not reckoned his who governs it?” (Sophocles 841-842). Antigone questions the validity of Creon's positive law: “Who traced these laws for all the sons of men;/Nor did I deem thy edicts strong enough,/Coming from mortal man, to set at naught” (Sophocles 495-497). She argues that the unwritten or natural laws are more important than positive laws. Natural laws have the strength of permanence, while positive laws change with the changing of rulers. Furthermore, natural law refers to what the people feel as right, or something is universal. Aristotle also defines natural law as something “universal” to the people (Burns 546). Haemon asks his father to listen to his people too: “But I can hear the things in darkness said,/How the whole city wails this maiden’s fate” (Sophocles 787-788). He stresses that the city sides with Antigone and not with Creon, because they know that this time, the woman is right to follow the gods and to be loyal to her family. The city, however, is silent about their opinions, because they fear Creon's wrath. Antigone also says that the people support her, but they remain silent, because of fear: “They see it too/As I do, but in fear of thee they keep/Their tongue between their teeth” (Sophocles 559-561). People are questioning the city's positive law in silence, which indicates that politics suppresses natural law. Leadership will benefit from having popular legitimacy, according to Antigone. George Sabine asserts that Antigone criticizes abuses of political power through the rise of “law of nature” in history (Burns 546). Haemon further uses a metaphor to argue the significance of listening to other people's opinions: “Thou seest the trees that bend before the storm,/Save their last twigs, while those that will not yield/Perish with root and branch...” (Sophocles 808-810). He is saying that without public support, Creon's leadership will also end in the long run (State University of New York [SUNY] Press 19). The implication of these arguments is that positive law, when it contradicts natural law, will lose its legitimacy. Creon cannot afford disregarding his people's opinions, because their support consolidates the state. He also cannot dismiss Teiresias' advice, because the latter is only concerned of the general welfare of the people. The seer warns Creon for walking on the “razor’s edge” (Sophocles 1141), because he does not show any shred of mercy to Antigone. Creon questions the seer's intentions: “The race of seers is ever fond of gold”(Sophocles 1208) and says that Teiresias is “too much given to wrong and injury” (Sophocles 1216). Creon does not respect the elderly and his people and for this, he soon paid a high price. The conflict between one's conscience and civic ethics can also be found in Antigone. Antigine reasons to Ismene that she is following what her conscience tells her: “I know I please the souls I seek to please” (Sophocles 100). Ismene doubts the goodness in violating the law: “I do them no dishonour, but I find/Myself too weak to war against the state” (Sophocles 87-88). She also knows that there is something right in burying their dead, but it is also right to follow one's civic responsibilities. Martini emphasizes that Antigone might have acted on her conscience, but Creon also follows his conscience by implementing the law: “One can easily be misled by the centrality of the act of conscience on Antigone's part to overlook Creon's acts of conscience” (423). Martini refers to Creon's civic ethics, where he only wants to preserve the law, which is critical to preserving the state. Creon's virtue is in keeping himself and others in line with civic ethics: “While he who breaks or goes beyond the laws,/Or thinks to bid the powers that be obey,/He must not hope to gather praise from me” (Sophocles 756-758). He praises those who obey the law and criticizes those who do not follow their civic duties. He knows that following one's conscience is not enough for this will morality is not entirely subjective. Jack and Jack agree with Creon: “Creon is correct that unbridled subjectivity endangers social order and opens the possibility for arbitrary conduct” (4-5). Hence, the play explores the problems between following the “self” versus obeying what society believes is right. The divisiveness between duties to the gods and the laws also rise in Antigone. Burns says that Aristotle connects natural law to God's law, but this paper will not define natural law as part of religious duties. Marini calls Antigone's burial of Polyneices as a form of “civil disobedience” (421). He says that from a public administration perspective, it is not easy for Creon to impose the laws of man, but he knows that it is his responsibility to implement them “... By these rules/And such as these will I maintain the state (Sophocles 218-219). These positive laws, for him, are part of putting the state in order. He believes that the law must be followed, or the state will be ruined: “Anarchy/is our worst evil, brings our commonwealth/To utter ruin, lays whole houses low” (Sophocles 765-767). Jack and Jack affirm this: “As the giver of law, Creon embodies both its strength and the security of the state” (3). When viewed this way, Johnson argues that it is not also right to not observe one's duties to the state (143). Dividing the polis can have political repercussions too. Hegel sees the “tragic moral dilemma” in “political morality” (qtd. in Johnson 143). Johnson calls this as the dilemma between individual scruples and “requirements of politics” (143). Antigone, nonetheless, values divine laws over man's laws. She tells Creon that the gods did not give the edict to not bury the dead: “Yes, for it was not Zeus who gave them forth,/Nor Justice, dwelling with the Gods below” (Sophocles 493-494). Hades, for instance, have the right to the dead and it is part of traditional customs to bury the dead. The family also has the holy responsibility to bury their dead members. Antigone stresses: “Nor did I deem thy edicts strong enough,/Coming from mortal man, to set at naught/The unwritten laws of God that know not change” (Sophocles 496-498). She believes that the gods are on the top of the hierarchy and mortal rulers are secondary. Hence, if Antigone will choose between obedience to the gods or men, she will gladly choose the former. Several sources also ask the audience to use critical thinking when understanding Antigone, because “individual will” might be mistaken as following one's conscience or being loyal to natural law or the gods. Barker argues that Antigone is not “faultless” (30). He stresses that Antigone, unlike Creon, does not express her arguments in greater length and resort to “passioned outbursts” instead of “reasoned deliberation” (Barker 30). For instance, Antigone says: “Count as dishonoured what the Gods approve” (Sophocles 86). She focuses on the emotional value of her arguments or pathos. Creon, on the contrary, asserts the supremacy of law and following it: “She learnt when first these laws of mine she crossed,/But, having done it, this is yet again/A second outrage over it to boast,/And laugh at having done it...” (Sophocles 528-531). He adds: “Obedience saves most men. Sure help should come” (Sophocles 771). Creon emphasizes that obedience is consistent with social uniformity. Laws are the foundations of a harmonious society. Martini says that it is possible that Antigone's stubbornness can also be seen as a form of pride: The question is not only whether Creon has pridefully, inappropriately, and stubbornly set himself above all that is decent, but also whether Antigone has pridefully, inappropriately, and stubbornly set herself above duly-constituted authority and the need for order. (422). These authors ask for reconsideration of Antigone's morality. Morality may be considered as moralities too, where one side is not always the only right side. Nussbaum stresses that both Creon and Antigone are “one-sided” (SUNY 20). They both followed their values and interests without considering each other's strong points (SUNY 20). Antigone wants to follow her own laws, while Creon also imposes his laws on society (Segal 65). By choosing death than following Creon's edict, she asserts that her values are higher and absolute (Segal 65). Antigone argues that what she is doing pleases the gods. She notes that she might be branded as a “criminal,” but at least, she is a “religious one” (Sophocles 85). She castigates Ismene for not helping her in this holy effort: “...You, if you like,/ can cast dishonor on what the gods have honored” (Sophocles 88-89). As persuasive as Antigone might be, Martini asks us to consider Creon's side too. He says: “[Creon] claims throughout to have promulgated the edict in an act of appropriate public responsibility and out of a concern for appropriate public considerations” (424). These arguments help the audience consider that there is no simple “right” or “wrong.” Antigone and Creon's arguments have strengths and weaknesses too. Nonetheless, the ending shows that for this Greek tragedy, the gods are more powerful than human beings; gods define morality. Divine laws have precedent over positive laws, and so Antigone, though she had a tragic mortal life, must have had a better life in the other world for obeying the gods. Hence, the play settles the question of who can define morality, at least in the case of Antigone. Antigone shows that society's notions of what is “right” and “wrong” are not always clear-cut, because people have different ways of defining morality. The play does not just consider one conflict but several, such as the conflict between authority and family duties, natural law and positive law, conscience and civic ethics, and duties to man and duties to the gods. These conflicts indicate that it is hard to know who is “right” or “wrong” (Antigone or Creon?), because no one can define what is “right” and “wrong,” if people will analyze morality from diverse, modern conventions and not based on the supremacy of the Greek gods. Society can only strive toward goodness and justice, but it will continue to grapple with complex moral conflicts that force people to question their fundamental values and loyalties. Works Cited Barker, Derek Wai Ming. Tragedy and Citizenship: Conflict, Reconciliation, and Democracy from Haemon to Hegel. Albany, NY: State U of New York P, 2009. Print. Burns, Tony. “Sophocles’ Antigone and the History of the Concept of Natural Law.” Political Studies 50.3 (2002): 545-557. Print. Jack, Rand and Dana Crowley Jack. Moral Vision and Professional Decisions: The Changing Values of Women and Men Lawyers. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge U P, 1989. Print. Johnson, Peter. Politics, Innocence, and the Limits of Goodness. New York, NY: Routledge, 1988. Print. Marini, Frank. “The Uses of Literature in the Exploration of Public Administration Ethics: The Example of Antigone.” Public Administration Review 52.5 (1992): 420-426. Print. Segal, Charles Paul. “Sophocles' Praise of Man and the Conflicts of the Antigone.” Arion 3.2 (1964): 62-85. Web. 2 Dec. 2011. . Sophocles. Antigone. Web. 2 Dec. 2011. . State University of New York (SUNY) Press. “Chapter 1: Listening to Haemon: Citizenship in the Antigone.” Web. 2 Dec. 2011. .\ Woodruff, Paul. “Introduction.” Antigone. By Sophocles. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett, 2001. vii-xxii. Print. Read More