Antigone Research Paper

In Britain, the church played a leading role in abolition of the slave trade.

In Britain, the church played a leading role in abolition of the slave trade.

Those who go against this law risk death by mob justice.

Antigone, however, is ready to violate the law and bury her slain brother.

She also wants to uphold the laws of gods, as she fears that failure to do so will attract their wrath against the people. He is afraid that such acts of impunity, as demonstrated by Antigone, will hurt his legacy.

Besides, it is the fear that forces him to seek counsel from Teiresias, the blind village priest, on the controversy surrounding the burial of his nephew.

It is foolhardy to follow laws blindly without being mindful of realities of the world.

Antigone demonstrates that should tyrannical laws conflict with divine law, it is more prudent to follow the latter.Ultimately, the king succumbs to gods’ laws and ignores the human law.He decides to follow the law of gods albeit too late because he had already lost his son. By the tragedy between Creon and Antigone, Sophocles suggests that the practice of religion should be tempered by reason (Spender 23).Sophocles’ starts with an intense argument between Antigone and her sister, Ismene, over the burial of their brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices. Polyneices, on the other hand, is seen as a traitor because he dies fighting against Thebes.According to the laws of the land, Eteocles deserves an honorable burial while his brother should rot unburied on the spot where he has died.Creon, the king of Thebes and Antigone’s uncle, has the duty to protect and enforce the state laws.Their blood relationship notwithstanding, Creon and Antigone are involved in a protracted conflict over the burial of Polyneices, Antigone’s brother (Sophocles 12).Sophocles maintains his play by escalating the tension between the king and his niece.A fear of reprisal, or a promise of reward, underpins the choice to obey or disobey a law (Phoebe 23).The conflicts between the church and a state are not confined to Sophocles’ era.In the modern world, the church is at loggerheads with the state on many issues.