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Essays on Antigone

Hook examples for "antigone" essays, the tragic heroine hook.

Introduce the character of Antigone as the tragic heroine of the play. Discuss her noble qualities, her determination to uphold her beliefs, and the tragic consequences of her actions.

The Conflict of Divine and Human Law Hook

Explore the central conflict in "Antigone" between divine law and human law. Discuss how Antigone's defiance of King Creon's decree highlights the clash between moral duty and political authority.

The Power and Pride of Creon Hook

Focus on the character of Creon as a symbol of political power and pride. Discuss how his decisions and hubris lead to tragedy within the play and explore the lessons it conveys.

The Feminist Interpretation Hook

Analyze "Antigone" from a feminist perspective, highlighting the role of gender and the defiance of traditional gender roles in the play. Discuss how Antigone's actions challenge societal norms.

The Chorus as a Moral Compass Hook

Examine the role of the Chorus in "Antigone" as a moral compass and commentator on the events of the play. Discuss how the Chorus adds depth to the themes and characters.

The Tragedy of Ismene Hook

Explore the character of Ismene, Antigone's sister, and her role in the tragedy. Discuss her internal conflict and her ultimate fate as a foil to Antigone.

The Ancient Greek Context Hook

Provide historical and cultural context for "Antigone" by discussing ancient Greek beliefs and values, including the significance of burial rituals and the influence of Greek tragedy.

The Universal Themes Hook

Highlight the enduring themes of "Antigone," such as the consequences of moral choices, the conflict between individual and state, and the nature of justice. Discuss how these themes resonate with audiences today.

The Tragedy's Relevance in Modern Society Hook

Discuss the relevance of "Antigone" in contemporary society, drawing parallels to issues of civil disobedience, government authority, and individual conscience. Emphasize the enduring impact of the play's themes.

The Lessons of "Antigone" Hook

End your essay by summarizing the lessons and insights that "Antigone" offers to readers and audiences. Reflect on the enduring importance of this classic Greek tragedy.

List of Interesting Antigone Essay Topics

• The Role of Fate vs. Free Will in Sophocles' "Antigone"
• Moral Conflict and the Law: Analyzing Antigone and Creon's Dilemmas
• Gender Roles and Resistance in "Antigone"
• The Complexities of Morality and Duty in Sophocles' Antigone
• The Concept of Divine Law vs. Human Law in "Antigone"
• Antigone and Creon: A Study of Foil Characters in Sophocles' Tragedy
• The Influence of Greek Chorus in Shaping the Narrative of "Antigone"
• "Antigone" and the Politics of Rebellion: Insights into Authority and Obedience
• The Theme of Family Loyalty vs. Civic Duty in "Antigone"

Creon's Pride in Sophocles' Antigone

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Justice in Antigone: Divine Law Versus Human Authority

The moral obligations of antigone society to families and elders, an analysis of power, authority and truth in antigone, a play by sophocles, modern feminism vs antigone feminism, let us write you an essay from scratch.

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Pride Comes before a Fall: Creon's Tragedy in Antigone

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How Egos Compete in Antigone

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441 BC, Sophocles

Play; Tragedy

Antigone, Ismene, Creon, Eurydice, Haemon, Tiresias, Sentry, Leader of the Chorus

In ancient Thebes, after the death of King Oedipus, his two sons, Eteocles and Polynices, vie for the throne. However, a conflict arises as Eteocles assumes power and denies Polynices a proper burial, condemning him to be left unburied on the battlefield. Antigone, the sister of the two brothers, defies the decree and resolves to give Polynices a burial, honoring the sacred duty to her family and the gods. Antigone's act of defiance pits her against King Creon, who has proclaimed the decree. Despite Antigone's pleas and the counsel of his son Haemon, Creon remains steadfast in his decision, believing it necessary to maintain order and authority. As the tension escalates, the chorus, representing the voice of the people, questions the morality of Creon's actions. Tragedy unfolds as Antigone is sentenced to death and her actions set off a chain of events leading to a series of tragic outcomes. The play explores themes of duty, loyalty, and the clash between personal beliefs and the laws of the state. In the end, the consequences of Creon's stubbornness and Antigone's steadfastness bring about profound sorrow and self-reflection.

The ancient Greek tragedy "Antigone is set in the city of Thebes. The play takes place in a time of political turmoil and upheaval following the events of the mythological story of Oedipus. Thebes is portrayed as a city plagued by a curse due to the sins of Oedipus and his family. The specific locations within the setting include the royal palace, where King Creon resides and makes his decrees, and the battlefield where the two brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, have fought and died. The city streets and public spaces serve as the backdrop for the interactions between the characters and the chorus.

One of the main themes is the clash between individual conscience and state authority. Antigone, the protagonist, defies the decree of King Creon by burying her brother Polyneices, despite it being forbidden. This conflict raises questions about the limits of governmental power and the importance of personal ethics. Another prominent theme is the nature of divine law versus human law. Antigone's actions are motivated by her belief in honoring the divine laws and giving proper burial rites to her brother, highlighting the tension between religious and civil obligations. The theme of fate versus free will also emerges as characters grapple with their predetermined destinies and the choices they make. Antigone and Creon are both victims of their own tragic flaws, facing the consequences of their decisions. Other themes include the nature of power and its corrupting influence, the roles of gender and patriarchy, and the consequences of pride and hubris.

Dramatic irony (the audience knows that Antigone's defiance will lead to her downfall, while the characters remain unaware of their impending fate), symbolism (the burial of Polyneices), imagery (vivid descriptions of suffering, death, and familial bonds), dramatic dialogue and monologues.

Sophocles' tragedy "Antigone" has had a profound influence on literature, theater, and even broader aspects of society throughout history. One significant influence of "Antigone" is its exploration of moral and ethical dilemmas. The play raises questions about the clash between individual conscience and societal norms, highlighting the importance of standing up for one's beliefs. This theme resonates with audiences across time, inspiring discussions on topics such as civil disobedience, justice, and the limits of authority. "Antigone" has also left a lasting impact on dramatic techniques. Sophocles' masterful use of dialogue, monologues, and dramatic irony has influenced playwrights for centuries, shaping the development of tragedy as a genre. The play's emphasis on complex characters and their inner struggles has provided a template for character development in theater and literature. Furthermore, "Antigone" has influenced political and social movements. Its themes of rebellion against oppressive regimes and the pursuit of justice have served as rallying cries for activists throughout history. The play's examination of power dynamics, loyalty, and the consequences of unchecked authority continues to resonate in discussions of human rights, democracy, and social justice.

"Nobody likes the man who brings bad news." "I have no love for a friend who loves in words alone." "You are always defying the world, but you're only a girl, after all." "It is the dead, not the living, who make the longest demands." "We have only a little time to please the living.

1. According to accounts, Sophocles is said to have passed away while reciting a part of his play Antigone. 2. In 1944, the French playwright and screenwriter Jean Anouilh released a play titled Antigone, which garnered significant attention despite being staged in Paris under German occupation. 3. Sigmund Freud, the influential figure in psychoanalysis, chose to name his daughter Anna Antigone.

Antigone, the timeless Greek tragedy written by Sophocles, holds immense significance as a topic for essay writing. This profound play explores complex themes that resonate with the human experience across different cultures and time periods. The enduring relevance of Antigone lies in its exploration of fundamental moral dilemmas, the clash between personal convictions and societal norms, and the consequences of individual actions. It delves into themes of justice, loyalty, defiance, and the struggle for autonomy. Antigone's relevance extends beyond its original context, making it a captivating subject for analysis. The play prompts discussions on topics such as civil disobedience, the abuse of power, gender roles, and the role of religion in society. Its multidimensional characters, including the fearless Antigone, the conflicted Creon, and the wise Tiresias, provide rich material for character analysis and interpretation. Furthermore, Antigone's literary and dramatic elements, such as its use of dramatic irony, tragic flaw, and catharsis, make it a compelling work to study. By examining Antigone's themes, characters, and literary techniques, one can gain valuable insights into human nature, ethics, and the complexities of societal structures.

1. Murnaghan, S. (1986). Antigone 904-920 and the Institution of Marriage. The American Journal of Philology, 107(2), 192-207. (https://www.jstor.org/stable/294602) 2. Honig, B. (2009). Antigone's laments, Creon's grief: Mourning, membership, and the politics of exception. Political Theory, 37(1), 5-43. (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0090591708326645) 3. Rouse, W. H. D. (1911). The two burials in Antigone. The Classical Review, 25(2), 40-42. (https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/classical-review/article/abs/two-burials-in-antigone/5F435DF66023E724D84BE90BCA655AAA) 4. Meltzer, F. (2011). Theories of desire: Antigone again. Critical Inquiry, 37(2), 169-186. (https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/657289?journalCode=ci) 5. de Fátima Silva, M. (2017). Antigone. In Brill's Companion to the Reception of Sophocles (pp. 391-474). Brill. (https://brill.com/display/book/edcoll/9789004300941/B9789004300941_007.xml) 6. Davis, C. (1995). The Abject: Kristeva and the Antigone. Paroles gelées, 13(1). (https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8qt465qh#main) 7. Margon, J. S. (1970). The Death of Antigone. California Studies in Classical Antiquity, 3, 177-183. (https://online.ucpress.edu/ca/article-abstract/doi/10.2307/25010605/33738/The-Death-of-Antigone?redirectedFrom=PDF) 8. Marini, F. (1992). The uses of literature in the exploration of public administration ethics: The example of Antigone. Public Administration Review, 420-426. (https://www.jstor.org/stable/976801) 9. Benardete, S. (2014). Sacred Transgressions: A Reading of Sophocles' Antigone. (https://philpapers.org/rec/BENSTA-7)

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Home › Drama Criticism › Analysis of Sophocles’ Antigone

Analysis of Sophocles’ Antigone

By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on July 29, 2020 • ( 0 )

Within this single drama—in great part, a harsh critique of Athenian society and the Greek city-state in general—Sophocles tells of the eternal struggle between the state and the individual, human and natural law, and the enormous gulf between what we attempt here on earth and what fate has in store for us all. In this magnificent dramatic work, almost incidentally so, we find nearly every reason why we are now what we are.

—Victor D. Hanson and John Heath, Who Killed Homer? The Demise of Classical Education and the Recovery of Greek Wisdom

With Antigone Sophocles forcibly demonstrates that the power of tragedy derives not from the conflict between right and wrong but from the confrontation between right and right. As the play opens the succession battle between the sons of Oedipus—Polynices and Eteocles—over control of Thebes has resulted in both of their deaths. Their uncle Creon, who has now assumed the throne, asserts his authority to end a destructive civil war and decrees that only Eteocles, the city’s defender, should receive honorable burial. Polynices, who has led a foreign army against Thebes, is branded a traitor. His corpse is to be left on the battlefield “to be chewed up by birds and dogs and violated,” with death the penalty for anyone who attempts to bury him and supply the rites necessary for the dead to reach the underworld. Antigone, Polynices’ sister, is determined to defy Creon’s order, setting in motion a tragic collision between opposed laws and duties: between natural and divine commands that dictate the burial of the dead and the secular edicts of a ruler determined to restore civic order, between family allegiance and private conscience and public duty and the rule of law that restricts personal liberty for the common good. Like the proverbial immovable object meeting an irresistible force, Antigone arranges the impact of seemingly irreconcilable conceptions of rights and responsibilities, producing one of drama’s enduring illuminations of human nature and the human condition.

Antigone is one of Sophocles’ greatest achievements and one of the most influential dramas ever staged. “Between 1790 and 1905,” critic George Steiner reports, “it was widely held by European poets, philosophers, [and] scholars that Sophocles’ Antigone was not only the fi nest of Greek tragedies, but a work of art nearer to perfection than any other produced by the human spirit.” Its theme of the opposition between the individual and authority has resonated through the centuries, with numerous playwrights, most notably Jean Anouilh, Bertolt Brecht, and Athol Fugard grafting contemporary concerns and values onto the moral and political dramatic framework that Sophocles established. The play has elicited paradoxical responses reflecting changing cultural and moral imperatives. Antigone, who has been described as “the first heroine of Western drama,” has been interpreted both as a heroic martyr to conscience and as a willfully stubborn fanatic who causes her own death and that of two other innocent people, forsaking her duty to the living on behalf of the dead. Creon has similarly divided critics between censure and sympathy. Despite the play’s title, some have suggested that the tragedy is Creon’s, not Antigone’s, and it is his abuse of authority and his violations of personal, family, and divine obligations that center the drama’s tragedy. The brilliance of Sophocles’ play rests in the complexity of motive and the competing absolute claims that the drama displays. As novelist George Eliot observed,

It is a very superficial criticism which interprets the character of Creon as that of hypocritical tyrant, and regards Antigone as a blameless victim. Coarse contrasts like this are not the materials handled by great dramatists. The exquisite art of Sophocles is shown in the touches by which he makes us feel that Creon, as well as Antigone, is contending for what he believes to be the right, while both are also conscious that, in following out one principle, they are laying themselves open to just blame for transgressing another.

Eliot would call the play’s focus the “antagonism of valid principles,” demonstrating a point of universal significance that “Wherever the strength of a man’s intellect, or moral sense, or affection brings him into opposition with the rules which society has sanctioned, there is renewed conflict between Antigone and Creon; such a man must not only dare to be right, he must also dare to be wrong—to shake faith, to wound friendship, perhaps, to hem in his own powers.” Sophocles’ Antigone is less a play about the pathetic end of a victim of tyranny or the corruption of authority than about the inevitable cost and con-sequence between competing imperatives that define the human condition. From opposite and opposed positions, both Antigone and Creon ultimately meet at the shared suffering each has caused. They have destroyed each other and themselves by who they are and what they believe. They are both right and wrong in a world that lacks moral certainty and simple choices. The Chorus summarizes what Antigone will vividly enact: “The powerful words of the proud are paid in full with mighty blows of fate, and at long last those blows will teach us wisdom.”

As the play opens Antigone declares her intention to her sister Ismene to defy Creon’s impious and inhumane order and enlists her sister’s aid to bury their brother. Ismene responds that as women they must not oppose the will of men or the authority of the city and invite death. Ismene’s timidity and deference underscores Antigone’s courage and defiance. Antigone asserts a greater allegiance to blood kinship and divine law declaring that the burial is a “holy crime,” justified even by death. Ismene responds by calling her sister “a lover of the impossible,” an accurate description of the tragic hero, who, according to scholar Bernard Knox, is Sophocles’ most important contribution to drama: “Sophocles presents us for the first time with what we recognize as a ‘tragic hero’: one who, unsupported by the gods and in the face of human opposition, makes a decision which springs from the deepest layer of his individual nature, his physis , and then blindly, ferociously, heroically maintains that decision even to the point of self-destruction.” Antigone exactly conforms to Knox’s description, choosing her conception of duty over sensible self-preservation and gender-prescribed submission to male authority, turning on her sister and all who oppose her. Certain in her decision and self-sufficient, Antigone rejects both her sister’s practical advice and kinship. Ironically Antigone denies to her sister, when Ismene resists her will, the same blood kinship that claims Antigone’s supreme allegiance in burying her brother. For Antigone the demands of the dead overpower duty to the living, and she does not hesitate in claiming both to know and act for the divine will. As critic Gilbert Norwood observes, “It is Antigone’s splendid though perverse valor which creates the drama.”

Before the apprehended Antigone, who has been taken in the act of scattering dust on her brother’s corpse, lamenting, and pouring libations, is brought before Creon and the dramatic crux of the play, the Chorus of The-ban elders delivers what has been called the fi nest song in all Greek tragedy, the so-called Ode to Man, that begins “Wonders are many, and none is more wonderful than man.” This magnificent celebration of human power over nature and resourcefulness in reason and invention ends with a stark recognition of humanity’s ultimate helplessness—“Only against Death shall he call for aid in vain.” Death will test the resolve and principles of both Antigone and Creon, while, as critic Edouard Schuré asserts, “It brings before us the most extraordinary psychological evolution that has ever been represented on stage.”

When Antigone is brought in judgment before Creon, obstinacy meets its match. Both stand on principle, but both reveal the human source of their actions. Creon betrays himself as a paranoid autocrat; Antigone as an individual whose powerful hatred outstrips her capacity for love. She defiantly and proudly admits that she is guilty of disobeying Creon’s decree and that he has no power to override divine law. Nor does Antigone concede any mitigation of her personal obligation in the competing claims of a niece, a sister, or a citizen. Creon is maddened by what he perceives to be Antigone’s insolence in justifying her crime by diminishing his authority, provoking him to ignore all moderating claims of family, natural, or divine extenuation. When Ismene is brought in as a co-conspirator, she accepts her share of guilt in solidarity with her sister, but again Antigone spurns her, calling her “a friend who loves in words,” denying Ismene’s selfless act of loyalty and sympathy with a cold dismissal and self-sufficiency, stating, “Never share my dying, / don’t lay claim to what you never touched.” However, Ismene raises the ante for both Antigone and Creon by asking her uncle whether by condemning Antigone he will kill his own son’s betrothed. Creon remains adamant, and his judgment on Antigone and Ismene, along with his subsequent argument with his son, Haemon, reveals that Creon’s principles are self-centered, contradictory, and compromised by his own pride, fears, and anxieties. Antigone’s challenge to his authority, coming from a woman, is demeaning. If she goes free in defiance of his authority, Creon declares, “I am not the man, she is.” To the urging of Haemon that Creon should show mercy, tempering his judgment to the will of Theban opinion that sympathizes with Antigone, Creon asserts that he cares nothing for the will of the town, whose welfare Creon’s original edict against Polynices was meant to serve. Creon, moreover, resents being schooled in expediency by his son. Inflamed by his son’s advocacy on behalf of Antigone, Creon brands Haemon a “woman’s slave,” and after vacillating between stoning Antigone and executing her and her sister in front of Haemon, Creon rules that Antigone alone is to perish by being buried alive. Having begun the drama with a decree that a dead man should remain unburied, Creon reverses himself, ironically, by ordering the premature burial of a living woman.

Antigone, being led to her entombment, is shown stripped of her former confidence and defiance, searching for the justification that can steel her acceptance of the fate that her actions have caused. Contemplating her living descent into the underworld and the death that awaits her, Antigone regrets dying without marriage and children. Gone is her reliance on divine and natural law to justify her act as she equivocates to find the emotional source to sustain her. A husband and children could be replaced, she rationalizes, but since her mother and father are dead, no brother can ever replace Polynices. Antigone’s tortured logic here, so different from the former woman of principle, has been rejected by some editors as spurious. Others have judged this emotionally wrought speech essential for humanizing Antigone, revealing her capacity to suffer and her painful search for some consolation.

The drama concludes with the emphasis shifted back to Creon and the consequences of his judgment. The blind prophet Teiresias comes to warn Creon that Polynices’ unburied body has offended the gods and that Creon is responsible for the sickness that has descended on Thebes. Creon has kept from Hades one who belongs there and is sending to Hades another who does not. The gods confirm the rightness of Antigone’s action, but justice evades the working out of the drama’s climax. The release of Antigone comes too late; she has hung herself. Haemon commits suicide, and Eurydice, Creon’s wife, kills herself after cursing Creon for the death of their son. Having denied the obligation of family, Creon loses his own. Creon’s rule, marked by ignoring or transgressing cosmic and family law, is shown as ultimately inadequate and destructive. Creon is made to realize that he has been rash and foolish, that “Whatever I have touched has come to nothing.” Both Creon and Antigone have been pushed to terrifying ends in which what truly matters to both are made starkly clear. Antigone’s moral imperatives have been affirmed but also their immense cost in suffering has been exposed. Antigone explores a fundamental rift between public and private worlds. The central opposition in the play between Antigone and Creon, between duty to self and duty to state, dramatizes critical antimonies in the human condition. Sophocles’ genius is his resistance of easy and consoling simplifications to resolve the oppositions. Both sides are ultimately tested; both reveal the potential for greatness and destruction.

24 lectures on Greek Tragedy by Dr. Elizabeth Vandiver.

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– An Open Forum for Classics

Sophocles’ Antigone and the Sources of Human Ethics

David Konstan

It is in the nature of tragedy to pose questions concerning human behavior and the means of responding to ethical dilemmas. It does so by exhibiting conflicts between individuals, which bear not only on private interests but also include a public dimension, the norms and laws of citizens in their social and political context. Nowhere is this more the case than in Sophocles’ Antigone (442/1 BC), which explicitly stages the collision between different ways of understanding justice and law. [1] This paper is an abbreviated version of a talk entitled “Antígona y las fuentes de la ética humana” which was delivered on 22 April 2011 in a Coloquio de Bachillerato at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, on the topic of “Reflexiones sobre la condición humana desde la tragedia griega”. I thank Nazyheli Aguirre for the invitation to present that paper and for her kind permission to publish an English version.

Luis Gil, a philologist of the first order, who published a book on censorship in the Classical world during the epoch of Franco in Spain, explains in the preface to his translation of the play:

Since Hegel, who interpreted [ Antigone ] as a conflict between two equally valid spheres of right – that of the state and that of the family – to our day, the opinions of critics have been divided between two antithetical positions, as usually happens when it is a matter of commenting on works of genius which offer abundant food not only for the inquisitiveness of philologists but also for analytical and philosophical speculation. [2] Luis Gil (trans.), Sófocles Antígona (Guadarrama, Madrid, 1969).

On the one hand, Gil observes, “the basis of the conflict in the Antigone couldn’t be simpler: a girl dies because she has disobeyed an edict of the established power which comes up against ethico-religious imperatives of a higher order… Viewed in this schematic way…, Antigone for her part is wholly in the right, and Creon wrong.” Indeed, it is difficult not to sympathize with the poor heroine, who dies for her love of her brother, for her loyalty to her family, and above all for her respect for divine law, which take priority over those of human beings and their governments.

Nevertheless, the question is not so simple. If anyone at all can appeal to eternal laws, as she or he happens to understand them, what happens to civic discipline, order, and social justice? Is Antigone really right when she insists upon burying, within the borders of Thebes, an enemy of the state who is, to be sure, her brother but who organized an attack against his own city in order to recover the throne? As Gil writes, “at the very highpoint of dictatorships, greater attention was paid, for the first time, to the figure of Creon, whose arguments acquired greater relevance in those troubled times.” So too another great philologist, Antonio Tovar, who during the Spanish Civil War (1936–9) took the side of the Francoists and taught for many years in the University of Salamanca, saw in Creon the “representative of a rational kind of politics, which was doomed inevitably to collide with the traditional and irrational factors represented by Antigone.” [3] “Antígona y el tirano o la inteligencia en la política,” Escorial 10 (1943) 37–56. Tovar had produced an edition of the play with notes the previous year.

It is true, in fact, that Creon has a greater role in the drama, and it would have been the protagonist – that is, the main actor – who played his part in Athens, whereas Antigone exits the stage well before the end. It is Creon, not Antigone, who is the central character in the play: the tragedy is his, his is the defeat, as was argued, among others, by Francisco Rodríguez Adrados: “It is the king at the height of his power who is humiliated over the course of the play.” [4] “ Religión y política en la Antígona ,” Revista de la Universidad de Madrid 13 (1964) 493–523, at 517.

Now, as Luis Gil argues, “Creon’s guilt, which is implied in the words of the Coryphaeus when he suggests that the burial of Polynices is a divine act, becomes ever clearer in his successive conversations with Antigone, Haemon, and Tiresias, up to the point that he himself, if not persuaded of his errors, is at least anxious about the scope of his decree and decides to revoke it at once.” In respect to the play itself, then, I think it is clear that Gil is entirely right. And yet, when he says, “it is Antigone who combines, for good or for ill, all the characteristics of the heroic protagonists of Sophoclean tragedy,” it seems to me that Creon does so just as much. Gil himself offers a different interpretation of Sophocles’ purpose in creating a character as radical as Antigone. He writes:

Sophocles had wished to present to his fellow citizens a new model of civic heroism, as opposed to the heroic ideal; a heroism that surpassed the individualistic heroism of epic heroes, transforming their sense of personal honor into an elevated concept of duty.

Perhaps so. And yet, Antigone gives reason and justifications for her behavior, and regarded from a philosophical point of view, we are obliged to evaluate her arguments and place them in the context of Greek thought of the period concerning the concepts of right and the foundation of the laws. So let us take a closer look at the text where Antigone clarifies her position.

Creon : And yet you dared to break those very laws?

Antigone : Yes. Zeus did not announce those laws to me And Justice living with the gods below sent no such laws for men. I did not think anything which you proclaimed strong enough to let a mortal override the gods and their unwritten and unchanging laws. They’re not just for today or yesterday, but exist forever, and no one knows where they first appeared. So I did not mean to let a fear of any human will lead to my punishment among the gods. I know all too well I’m going to die— how could I not?—it makes no difference what you decree. And if I have to die before my time, well, I count that a gain. When someone has to live the way I do, surrounded by so many evil things, how can she fail to find a benefit in death? And so for me meeting this fate won’t bring any pain. But if I’d allowed my own mother’s dead son to just lie there, an unburied corpse, then I’d feel distress. What’s going on here does not hurt me at all. If you think what I’m doing now is stupid, perhaps I’m being charged with foolishness by someone who’s a fool.      

(449–71; trans. Ian Johnston) [5] The Greek text, along with a different English translation, can be explored here .

What value would this recourse to laws that are unwritten and yet eternal have had in the eyes of contemporary Athenians? There is a less widely known text, composed by Xenophon, in which a discussion between Socrates and the sophist Hippias raises precisely this issue. It is found in the fourth book of his Memorabilia or Reminiscences of Socrates . When Hippias asks Socrates for his definition of justice, or more precisely of “the just” (τὸ δίκαιον, to dikaion ), he replies that his behavior over the course of his entire life testifies to his beliefs: “To abstain from what is unjust is just” ( Mem . 4.4.11, trans. Marchant). Socrates then asks: “Does the expression ‘laws of a state’ convey a meaning to you?” Hippias replies: “Covenants made by the citizens whereby they have enacted what ought to be done and what ought to be avoided.” The dialogue continues:

Socrates: “Then would not that citizen who acts in accordance with these act lawfully, and he who transgresses them act unlawfully?”

Hippias: “Yes, certainly.”

Socrates: “And would not he who obeys them do what is just, and he who disobeys them do what is unjust?”

Hippias: “Certainly.”

Socrates: “Then would not he who does what is just be just, and he who does what is unjust be unjust?”

Hippias: “Of course.”

Socrates: “Consequently he who acts lawfully is just, and he who acts unlawfully is unjust.”              ( Mem . 4.4.13) [6] The Greek text, along with a different English translation, is available here .

Hippias then offers an objection to Socrates’ claim: “‘Laws,’ said Hippias, ‘can hardly be thought of much account, Socrates, or observance of them, seeing that the very men who have passed them often reject and amend them.’” Socrates replies: “Yes, and after going to war, cities often make peace again.” Hippias agrees, and Socrates resumes: “Then is there any difference, do you think, between belittling those who obey the laws on the ground that the laws may be annulled, and blaming those who behave well in wars on the ground that peace may be made?” ( Mem . 4.4.14). Socrates says much more about the advantages that derive from an absolute respect for the laws, and he concludes: “So, Hippias, I declare lawful and just to be the same thing” ( Mem . 4.4.18). Antigone, have you been listening?

Now, how shall we interpret the fact that Socrates himself boasts that he did not obey the leaders of the state, and this on more than one occasion? In fact, just before citing Socrates’ view with respect to obedience to the laws, Xenophon remarks:

And when the Thirty [tyrants] laid a command on him that was illegal, he refused to obey. Thus he disregarded their repeated injunction not to talk with young men; and when they commanded him and certain other citizens to arrest a man on a capital charge, he alone refused, because the command laid on him was illegal. ( Mem . 4.4.3)

But how, then, may one distinguish between the laws, strictly speaking, and illegal orders? Let us return, then, to the passage that we have been examining. Immediately after the words that I quoted a moment ago, where Socrates says, “I declare lawful and just to be the same thing,” and without any transition, Socrates asks: “Do you know what is meant by ‘unwritten laws,’ Hippias?” And Hippias replies: “Yes, those that are uniformly observed in every country,” that is, universal laws, which do not change from one place to another or from one society to another. Socrates continues: “Could you say that men made them?”

Hippias: “Nay, how could that be, seeing that they cannot all meet together and do not speak the same language?”

Socrates: “Then by whom have these laws been made, do you suppose?”

Hippias: “I think that the gods made these laws for men. For among all men the first law is to fear the gods.”

Socrates: “Is not the duty of honoring parents another universal law?”

Hippias: “Yes, that is another.”

Socrates: “And that parents shall not have sexual intercourse with their children nor children with their parents?”

This last question arouses a doubt in Hippias’ mind, and he replies: “No, I don’t think that is a law of God.” “Why so?” “Because I notice that some transgress it” ( Mem . 4.4.19-20). Before indicating how Socrates responds to this challenge, we may observe that two of the laws that touch on human relations – the obligations to honor one’s parents and not to commit incest – have a particular relevance to the situation of Antigone and her family. For she manifests a reverence for her elder brother, who is practically like a father, and she is the product of an incestuous act, the sexual union between a son and a mother. Socrates, however, has a ready answer: “Yes, and they do many other things contrary to the laws. But surely the transgressors of the laws ordained by the gods pay a penalty that a man can in no way escape, as some, when they transgress the laws ordained by man, escape punishment, either by concealment or by violence” ( Mem . 4.4.21). Might Socrates be thinking here of tragedy, and more specifically of Sophocles’ Antigone ?

Aristotle makes the connection with tragedy explicitly in the first book of his Rhetoric :

It will now be well to make a complete classification of just and unjust actions. We may begin by observing that they have been defined relatively to two kinds of law, and also relatively to two classes of persons. By the two kinds of law I mean particular law and universal law. Particular law is that which each community lays down and applies to its own members: this is partly written and partly unwritten. Universal law is the law of Nature. For there really is, as every one to some extent divines, a natural justice and injustice that is binding on all men, even on those who have no association or covenant with each other. It is this that Sophocles’ Antigone clearly means when she says (456–7) that the burial of Polynices was a just act in spite of the prohibition: she means that it was just by nature.

Not of to-day or yesterday it is, But lives eternal: none can date its birth.

( Rhetoric 1.13, trans. W. Rhys Roberts) [7] The Greek text, with English translation, can be read here .

Aristotle cites as well Empedocles’ injunction not to kill any living thing, since this is not just for some and for others unjust,

Nay, but, an all-embracing law, through the realms of the sky Unbroken it stretcheth, and over the earth’s immensity. (B135)

Plato too refers to unwritten laws in his last dialogue, The Laws , where the Athenian proclaims:

all the regulations which we are now expounding are what are commonly termed ‘unwritten laws’. And these as a whole are just the same as what men call ‘ancestral customs’… For it is these that act as bonds in every constitution, forming a link between all its laws…, exactly like ancestral customs of great antiquity, which, if well established and practised, serve to wrap up securely the laws already written, whereas if they perversely go aside from the right way. (Book 7, 793a-b, trans. R.G. Bury) [8] The Greek text can be studied here .

Now, in the Classical world there was no concept of human or natural rights, or of human dignity as such. It is in part for this reason, perhaps, that the people appealed to divine or universal laws. But did the Greeks count, among the unwritten laws, the right, or rather the obligation, to bury one’s relatives, irrespective of their deeds, including that of having recruited an army, with troops from hostile cities, in order to conquer one’s own fatherland? In any case, in Athens at the time of Sophocles it seems it was not absolutely prohibited to leave the corpse of an enemy exposed. Vincent Rosivach summarizes the attitude of the Greeks in the fifth century BC:

• From at least the fifth century onward the Athenians were prepared to refuse burial at least in Attic soil to traitors and to temple robbers.

• For the Greeks in general in the fifth century and later victors in combat were still under no obligation to bury the enemy dead themselves but Panhellenic custom now required them to allow the defeated side to recover their dead for burial. [9] Vincent Rosivach, “ On Creon, Antigone and Not Burying the Dead ,” Rheinisches Museum für Philologie 126 (1983) 193–211, quotation from p. 206, points 1 and 3 (of 5).

In connection with the Antigone , Rosivach concludes that Creon, as king of Thebes, was under no obligation to bury Polynices, since he had died in battle as a foreign invader. Furthermore, Creon was acting in the name of the state, not out of personal enmity. Nevertheless, his act would not have been wholly acceptable in the fifth century, and other characters in tragedy who forbid burial are all portrayed negatively.

Sophocles’ Antigone is not a political or philosophical treatise but a theatrical work, and there is no necessity to justify the action of its heroine logically or by way of syllogistic arguments. The prophet Tiresias reports to Creon the alarming omens that have resulted from his decree. Creon, for his part, does not wish to recognize the significance of these events, and accuses the seer of greed: “The tribes of prophets – all of them – are fond of money” (1055). In the end, however, Creon, by now terrified, yields to the judgment of Tiresias. Sophocles is affirming a religious thesis, not a political one: that the family, in the end, counts for more than the decrees of rulers.

Jordi Balló and Xavier Pérez, in their essay, “La desobediencia civil” (“Civil Disobedience”), appended to the translation by Luis Gil, describe Antigone in exalted language:

A devoted fighter, but also a pious woman, Antigone is never moved by hatred but by love… She has been regarded as an antecedent of messianic figures of the stature of Christ himself, figures invariably graced with the qualities of Antigone… What Antigone cannot tolerate about Creon is that he abrogates, by means of his decree, the value of religious beliefs that endow life with a higher meaning, beliefs that ultimately restrict the power of the State.

We ought to appreciate, nevertheless, that Antigone does not sacrifice herself for strictly religious reasons nor for humanity in general, but for a beloved brother, a limited act that is not separable from the family context. It is family on which Antigone insists, and which forms the core of the drama.

Bonnie Honig, a specialist in political science, has dedicated a book to Antigone, under the title Antigone, Interrupted (CUP, 2013), in which she defends the hypothesis that Ismene plays a much more active role in the drama than that supposed by the great majority of scholars, who have regarded her as an example of passivity and servility, at the opposite extreme from her sister. We know that Creon’s rage is triggered by the fact that someone has covered the body of Polynices with dust. But who was it? It is commonly assumed that it was Antigone, who certainly returned to cover it after the guards brushed away the dust and left the body exposed once more to the air. In reality, according to Honig, it was Ismene who dared to bury the body of her brother that first time, and she represents the value of conspiracy and secrecy in opposing a tyranny.

Others, however, have argued that, on the contrary, the merit of Ismene resides precisely in her recognition of the respect owed to the laws and to the decrees of the king. Bonnie Honig, again, in an article published in 2011, writes:

In a recent paper…, philosopher Mary Rawlinson focuses on Ismene as a better model for feminist politics than her more renowned sister. Ismene privileges the world of living, Rawlinson argues, and she looks toward the future. “Why should feminists valorize Antigone’s embrace of the dead brother over the sister?” she asks. [10] Bonnie Honig, “Ismene’s forced choice: sacrifice and sorority in Sophocles’ Antigone ,” Arethusa 44 (2011) 29–68, citing Mary Rawlinson, “Antigone, agent of fraternity: how feminism misreads Hegel’s misreading of Antigone , or Let the other speak” (unpublished); quotation on p. 42.

Radical courage, the idea that the model for women must be that of the militant hero, like an Ajax or Achilles, is not necessarily the best of traits, whether for women or for men, however “macho” they may be. Why suppose that valor in a woman, or in anyone, must possess the traits of a warrior instead of a spirit of reconciliation, and of tenderness?

We may grant that, within the context of the play Antigone , there can be no doubt that she is right, and that Creon is not. But the relationship between the drama and philosophy is not exhausted by this recognition. We have not only the right but also the obligation to interrogate the tragedy and draw from it all the wisdom that lurks implicitly within it. In other words, the conversation does not stop at this point – rather, it is where it begins.

David Konstan is Professor of Classics at New York University. He has published books on ancient ideas of friendship, the emotions, forgiveness, beauty, love, and, most recently, on sin, as well as studies of Classical comedy, the novel, and philosophy. He is a past president of the American Philological Association (now the Society for Classical Studies).

Further Reading

Antigone has attracted the attention of a great many scholars as well as critics at large.  Here is a sample of recent studies that place the tragedy in the context of modern legal, psychological, and political theory:

Judith Butler,  Antigone’s Claim: Kinship Between Life & Death  (Columbia UP, New York, 2000), finds in the  Antigone  a different model for the elementary structure of the family. The two following essays explore the ethical complexities of the tragedy: Lukas van den Berge, “Sophocles’  Antigone  and the Promise of Ethical Life: Tragic Ambiguity and the Pathologies of Reason,”  Law and Humanities  11 (2017) 205–27; and Theodore Koulouris, “Neither Sensible, Nor Moderate: Revisiting the Antigone ,” Humanities 7.60 (2018); doi: 10.3390/h7020060 .  All are conscious of the importance of feminist readings of the play.

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Hutton Honors College

Hutton honors seminars, the hero(ine).

Richard Cecil Hutton Honors College

Course Description

This fall we will focus on the qualities that make a person a hero(ine), in the eyes of ancient authors, and compare those qualities with ones we admire today. Beginning with Gilgamesh’s heroic struggle to overcome death, and ending with Satan’s struggle to undermine God’s (according to Milton) plan for mankind, we will read, discuss, and write about ten of the ancient and early modern world’s greatest accounts of heroism. In the final week and a half, we will discuss first-person accounts of heroes written by each of the members of the class.

Written work for the course will consist of daily written discussion questions, three critical discussions of 3-5 pages, and a final 6-10 page creative paper.

Course texts:

• Homer’s Iliad & Odyssey
• Virgil’s Aenead
• Njal’s Saga
• Sophocles’s Antigone & Oedipus Rex
• Seneca’s Trojan Women
• Shakespeare’s Coriolanus &   Hamlet
• Milton’s Paradise Lost

Catalog Information: HHC-H 211  CLASSIC TEXTS, CONTEMPORARY QUESTIONS (I)

About Instructor Richard Cecil

Gened program details.

GenEd Information: Approved for the Arts & Humanities requirement of the IU Bloomington General Education program .