Essay | Antigone

Imagine that all of your family is dead. One of them has supposedly committed a terrible crime, and their body was not buried, but left exposed to the pigeons and dogs to rot. A strict law has been made against burying the body. What would you do? This was Antigone's situation in Thebes long ago. Antigone chose to honor her brother and give him a proper burial. Antigone's actions were justified because the law was not reasonable, therefore she was not obligated to obey the law and she should not be punished with the dictates of the law.

Creon declared that Antigone's brother, Polynices should not be buried out of pure hate and hopes to shame him. The law was unreasonable, and therefore, Antigone was not obligated to follow it. Creon states, ."..a proclamation has forbidden the city to dignify him with...
(read more)