Differences Between Sacred And Secular Laws In Antigone
Blurred Lines
“I turn me I know not where
For my plans ill-sped,
And a doom that is heavy to bear
Is come down on my head.”
Creon
Both sacred and secular laws are broken as boundaries are crossed by the feuding family members in Sophocles’s play, Antigone. Rebelling against his gods and people, Creon, who took the throne after his nephews died in their own civil war, fights for total control. Meanwhile, Antigone defies the state of Thebes so as “not [to] prove disloyal” to the oldest Greek laws (Sophocles 3). These conflicting ideologies result in tragedy.
Violating religious laws by disallowing the burial of Polynices, Creon dismissed religious rites and betrayed his family ties. To counteract his crimes, Antigone symbolically buries her brother with a handful of dirt. Her insubordination to Creon’s edict is a …show more content…
Sanctions must be enacted. As part of his new law, the offender must be stoned to death. However, the citizens of Thebes disagree with their king and instead favor the actions of Antigone for she is respecting the archaic laws. Both characters disrespect a form of law and both are punished by a higher power, Antigone sacrifices her life and Creon loses his son.
The defining lines of gender are blurred. The characters of Tiresias, the seer, and Antigone possess feminine and masculine traits. According to mythology, Tiresias was at one point transformed into a woman before once again becoming a man. His ability to cross over the gender boundary is typical of women’s boundaries being “pliant, porous, [and] mutable” (Carson, 133). Antigone flows into more of a masculinized woman with her lack of gushing emotions that is exemplified by her sister, Ismene, and by her strength
“I turn me I know not where
For my plans ill-sped,
And a doom that is heavy to bear
Is come down on my head.”
Creon
Both sacred and secular laws are broken as boundaries are crossed by the feuding family members in Sophocles’s play, Antigone. Rebelling against his gods and people, Creon, who took the throne after his nephews died in their own civil war, fights for total control. Meanwhile, Antigone defies the state of Thebes so as “not [to] prove disloyal” to the oldest Greek laws (Sophocles 3). These conflicting ideologies result in tragedy.
Violating religious laws by disallowing the burial of Polynices, Creon dismissed religious rites and betrayed his family ties. To counteract his crimes, Antigone symbolically buries her brother with a handful of dirt. Her insubordination to Creon’s edict is a …show more content…
Sanctions must be enacted. As part of his new law, the offender must be stoned to death. However, the citizens of Thebes disagree with their king and instead favor the actions of Antigone for she is respecting the archaic laws. Both characters disrespect a form of law and both are punished by a higher power, Antigone sacrifices her life and Creon loses his son.
The defining lines of gender are blurred. The characters of Tiresias, the seer, and Antigone possess feminine and masculine traits. According to mythology, Tiresias was at one point transformed into a woman before once again becoming a man. His ability to cross over the gender boundary is typical of women’s boundaries being “pliant, porous, [and] mutable” (Carson, 133). Antigone flows into more of a masculinized woman with her lack of gushing emotions that is exemplified by her sister, Ismene, and by her strength