Examples Of Secular Law In Antigone

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In Antigone, one of the main issues raised by Sophocles is moral belief and its relationship with secular law. Sophocles throughout the story touches on the point of secular law not taking precedence over religious law. Sophocles uses this theme in the story to make the case that sometimes it is better to follow moral code and not secular code, as Antigone did. Firstly, Creon followed his own laws over the gods, which resulted in great misfortune for him, Sophocles uses this as evidence that secular law does not take precedence over religion law. Finally, Haemon violate secular law as well by going to Antigone near the end of the play, which is something that he felt morally compelled to do. In the beginning of the play Antigone becomes very …show more content…
Antigone then responds to her sister “Creon has no right to keep me from my own” ( ). Later in the story Antigone is put in the position that she is in and we learn …show more content…
An example of this in the story is when Creon sets a law to the citizens of Thebes that if anyone buries Polyenes then they will be killed. In the play we next see Antigone break Creon’s rule and end of barring the body up burying her brother Polyenes and when Creon finds out that Antigone broke the law he sentences her to prison. With several of the townspeople coming to debate Creon’s decision of putting Antigone in prison including Tiresias who was a prophet of god Creon still thought he was right for putting Antigone in prison. Tiresias at one point tells Creon “you have no business with the dead, this is violence you have forced upon the heavens” (1340). With this quote by the prophet of Thebes it shows us that the gods do not want Creon doing this action because he has no business with the non-living and Creon replies to the prophet by saying “I know it myself… I am torn. It is a dreadful thing to yield... But resist now? (1341). this quote from Creon shows us that he now realizes that he was wrong for what he did and was wrong and he learns from this situation that secular law does not take precedence’s over religion

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