Government has been a part of human society for thousands of years. The laws they make certainly play a significant part in how the world operates. However, there can be problems with government, and laws can be made to help some more than others. These are the ideas that were spreading around Classical Greece around 429 B.C.E., especially in Athens. There, Sopholes served not only in politics, but also as a playwright. In his famous Oedipus trilogy, he brought to question the real-life debates amongst the city-states ('Ελ-poleis) at the time. One of these was whether adherence to the law was always the best option, or if one’s own ideas should guide their actions. In the final part, the titular Antigone supported the latter view and buried her brother, Polyneikes, in the wake of a Theban civil war. Their uncle, Kreon, had declared Polyneikes a traitor and enemy of the polis. By his law, he was not to be buried, but remain above ground, chewed, decomposed, and dishonored.
The gods of Classical Greece played a significant part of daily life. Known as the Olympians, Greeks prayed for them for temperate weather, favorable winds at sea, assistance on the battlefield, and a pleasant afterlife. Angering the divine beings who breathed life into clay and formed humans wasn’t a good idea. Antigone knew this when she told Kreon during her interrogation, “Yes, it was not Zeus that made the proclamation...I did not believe your proclamation had such power to enable one who will someday die to override God’s ordinances; unwritten and secure.”-Antigone (Sophokles 494-499). What makes the word of one mortal man greater than that of the gods, those who do not take too kindly to being disrespected and certainly have the power to punish the king’s insolence. Later on, Haemon also explained to his father, “the natural sense that the gods breed in men is surely the best of their possessions.”-Haemon (Sophokles 734-736) The gods made humans. Surely, they know what’s best for us. Obeying them (aside from the respect and not having lightning striking from the sky) would just be in our best interest, especially when it comes to something as important as the treatment of a corpse. Historically, religion had been a powerful force in the running of a state. In fact, the first governments were theocracies, and priests claimed authority since they could ask the gods themselves for the best course of action. When kings first gained power, they were still weary of the priests. Those like Hammurabi made sure to keep them happy at all times. When Amenhotep IV became Akhenaten and tried to convert the Egyptian New Kingdom to his monotheistic worship of Aten, the priests convinced the people that the pharaoh had lost the blessing of the gods. He was quickly ousted. His successor quickly reverted back to the old gods. Similarly, the sin of Chinese emperors was to blame for the loss of the Mandate of Heaven and the crowning of a new dynasty.
Of course, governments and the laws they establish are the work of imperfect humans. The purpose of laws is to try to subdue our selfishness. Those laws, however, will inevitably backfire when passed by monkeys who only had government for an instant of our species’ existence. Later on in Haemon’s debate with Kreon, he posits, “A man who thinks that he alone is right, or what he says, or what he is himself, unique, such men, when opened up, are seen to be quite empty. For a man, though he be wise, it is no shame to learn-learn many things, and not to maintain his views too rigidly.” -Haemon (Sophokles 759-764) What Haemon tries to instill in the king’s mind is pluralism, in which there can be multiple valid perspectives and opinions. Kreon’s position is unchanged after this and he proceeds to execute Antigone. To those who feel that a law isn’t helpful, they must encourage civil debate and resist in the hopes of changing it. The alternative would be to suffer under an oppressive regime. Our world, in all aspects, changes every day. Laws need to adapt with this evolution to make sure they benefit as many people as possible. These are not new ideas of course. The struggles of colored people in places like the Jim Crow United States and apartheid South Africa, Middle Eastern and African refugees in 21st Century Europe, and 20th Century independence in the British Raj are just some recent and mainly pacifist examples. For government to help everyone, each person must participate in it.
In Kreon’s perspective, Polyneikes betrayed Thebes and should eternally suffer for it. In his eyes, he is the king, he made the law, and the law is final. “Polyneikes, a returned exile, who sought to burn with fire from top to bottom his native city, and the gods of his own people; who sought to taste the blood he shared with us and lead the rest of us to slavery-I here proclaim to the city that this man shall no one honor with a grave and none shall mourn.” (Sophokles 217-223) Polyneikes, in a selfish grab for power, fled Thebes and returned at the head of an Argive band of mercenaries to attack the polis. He sought to harm Thebans, his own people, for his own gain. This is an action that should be met with no honor. Later on, Haemon confronts his father, Kreon, on his decision to dishonor Polyneikes and execute Antigone for treason. Kreon responds with, “Yes, my son, this should always be in your very heart, that everything else shall be second to your father’s decision….The man this city sets up in authority must be obeyed in small things and in just but also there opposites.” (Sophokles 689-719)
Let’s keep in mind the context in which “Antigone” was written. Sophokles lived in Classical Athens and served as treasurer under Pericles. The conflict of law v.s. morals is a reflection of the atmosphere. Before, all Greek poleis were ruled by kings, but Athens established the first democratic state. Greece had just thwarted the absolutist Achaemenid Persian Empire, and was experiencing a golden age. War had broken out between the Delian League and Peloponnesian League, lead by the militant, totalitarian Sparta. Aside from the fact the the Persians had no slavery and Sparta had greater women's’ rights, “Antigone” is a call for people to follow their own ideas. If a powerful and despotic man got in the way of one’s dreams, then neither the gods, nor Sophokles, would have objections to his removal.
