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Antigone-Higher Law Vs. Laws O - Term Papers

Antigone-Higher Law Vs. Laws O

Laws of the City-State vs. Higher Law as Seen in Sophocles' "Antigone"
In Ancient Greece, after 800 bc., new ideas came to the forefront concerning the governing of society. These ideas led to a more organized leadership and a government whose decisions were primarily based on majority rule. This system took the form of city-states, large self-governing towns. These city-states were founded on principals of "freedom, optimism, secularism, rationalism,…[and] the glorification of body and mind". Accompanying these principals was an obligation of fierce loyalty to the city-state and a willingness to shed blood for its betterment. These ideals, while ambitious and noble, often ran in ...

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She chooses to bury him, citing the will of the gods. "I will bury my brother, and if I die for it…convicted of reverance-I shall be content" , she remarks to her sister in defiance. Later, when captured and brought before Creon himself, Antigone continues to push her holy defense, "I do not think your edicts strong enough to overrule the unwritten unalterable laws of God and heaven, you being only a man." Her opinion is routed in the belief that a proper burial will secure her brother's place in the after-life, regardless of his loyalty to the state. Antigone valued the will of the Gods over loyalty, a cornerstone of the city-state system.
Antigone probably also felt that her right to freedom as a citizen of the city state was being compromised by Creon. Antigone voices this opinion to her sister, "It is against you and me he has made this order, yes against me." . With both the will of god and the rights of her citizenship as her defense, she goes to die by the order ...

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Antigone-Higher Law Vs. Laws O. (2008, November 11). Retrieved December 23, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Antigone-Higher-Law-Vs-Laws-O/92877

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"Antigone-Higher Law Vs. Laws O." Essayworld.com. November 11, 2008. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Antigone-Higher-Law-Vs-Laws-O/92877.

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 11/11/2008 12:31:27 AM
Category: English
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 930
Pages: 4

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