Despite its ancient origins, Sophocles’ play Antigone provides a case study through which to examine issues of politics, power, sovereignty, and justice. The final of Sophocles’ trilogy “Three Theban Plays,” the first record of Antigone is around 442 BCE, during the height of Athenian democracy. The play centers around Antigone’s decision to disobey her future father-in-law and king, Creon, in order to give her brother Polyneices, who is branded a traitor and is forbade a proper burial. One of Oedipus and Jocasta’s living two children, Antigone flaunts Creon’s laws and gives her brother a proper burial. Antigone expects to be put to death for her crime but instead Creon orders her to be shut in a cave, where she will live out her final days.
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Therefore, her actions are unjustifiable. Writing during the English Civil Wars, British scholar Thomas Hobbes, espouses a theory of government based on the social contract between subject and sovereign and the absolute power of the regime. Hobbes argues that “because the end of this Institution, is the Peace and Defense of them all; and whosoever has right to the End, has right to the Means; it belongeth of right to whatsoever Man, or Assembly that hath the Sovereignty to be Judge of the meanes of Peace and Defence; and also of the hindrances, and disturbances of the same; and to do whatsoever he thinks necessary to be done, both beforehand, for the preservation of Peace and Security; by prevention of Discord at home, and Hostility from abroad; and when Peace and Security are lost, for the recovery of the same,” (Hobbes [1651] 1909, 136). In other words, the sovereign has the absolute right to do whatever he thinks necessary for protecting the peace of his citizens. It is by this absolute power that the regime is able to bring a community out of the State of Nature, which is a State of War, and into a tentative peace. Furthermore, he argues that “the only way to erect such a Common Power… Is to conferre all their power and strength upon one Man, or upon one Assembly of men, that may reduce their Wills, by plurality of voices, unto one Will,” …show more content…
In his famed “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Dr. King defends his and other civil rights leaders’ civil disobedience from a jail cell in Alabama. Responding directly to accusations from white Christians that civil disobedience was dangerously destabilizing to government itself, Dr. King outlines a method wherein citizens can disobey unjust laws while still respecting law itself. Recognizing the legitimacy of these concerns, King requires that citizens only disobey unjust laws which are “inflicted upon a minority which that minority had no part in enacting or creating because it did not have the unhampered right to vote,” (King 1963, 80). Furthermore, in order to respect law as an institution, a dissenter must ask him or herself, “are you able to endure the ordeals of jail,” (King 1963 2). He requires that those who break unjust laws “do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty,” (King [Ali-Dinar], 1963). It is here that King’s philosophy condemns Antigone. Creon’s decree that Polyneices cannot be buried is indeed inflicted upon the multitude (all of Thebes) without allowing the a role in enacting the decree, indicating that it is an unjust law. However, she does not do so openly, instead attempting to hid from Creon’s guards. Furthermore, Antigone does not show willingness to accept whatever punishment Creon
Therefore, her actions are unjustifiable. Writing during the English Civil Wars, British scholar Thomas Hobbes, espouses a theory of government based on the social contract between subject and sovereign and the absolute power of the regime. Hobbes argues that “because the end of this Institution, is the Peace and Defense of them all; and whosoever has right to the End, has right to the Means; it belongeth of right to whatsoever Man, or Assembly that hath the Sovereignty to be Judge of the meanes of Peace and Defence; and also of the hindrances, and disturbances of the same; and to do whatsoever he thinks necessary to be done, both beforehand, for the preservation of Peace and Security; by prevention of Discord at home, and Hostility from abroad; and when Peace and Security are lost, for the recovery of the same,” (Hobbes [1651] 1909, 136). In other words, the sovereign has the absolute right to do whatever he thinks necessary for protecting the peace of his citizens. It is by this absolute power that the regime is able to bring a community out of the State of Nature, which is a State of War, and into a tentative peace. Furthermore, he argues that “the only way to erect such a Common Power… Is to conferre all their power and strength upon one Man, or upon one Assembly of men, that may reduce their Wills, by plurality of voices, unto one Will,” …show more content…
In his famed “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Dr. King defends his and other civil rights leaders’ civil disobedience from a jail cell in Alabama. Responding directly to accusations from white Christians that civil disobedience was dangerously destabilizing to government itself, Dr. King outlines a method wherein citizens can disobey unjust laws while still respecting law itself. Recognizing the legitimacy of these concerns, King requires that citizens only disobey unjust laws which are “inflicted upon a minority which that minority had no part in enacting or creating because it did not have the unhampered right to vote,” (King 1963, 80). Furthermore, in order to respect law as an institution, a dissenter must ask him or herself, “are you able to endure the ordeals of jail,” (King 1963 2). He requires that those who break unjust laws “do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty,” (King [Ali-Dinar], 1963). It is here that King’s philosophy condemns Antigone. Creon’s decree that Polyneices cannot be buried is indeed inflicted upon the multitude (all of Thebes) without allowing the a role in enacting the decree, indicating that it is an unjust law. However, she does not do so openly, instead attempting to hid from Creon’s guards. Furthermore, Antigone does not show willingness to accept whatever punishment Creon