Natural Law and State Law in Sophocles' Antigone
Uploaded by littleindian on Jan 24, 2007
The Natural Forces and State Law in Antigone
In Antigone, one meaning Sophocles presents is the conflict between the Natural Forces and State Law. These are different ways that order is established in society and Sophocles uses characterization to show the conflict between the two ideas. The Natural Forces, or Natural Law, are characterized through the actions of Antigone and State Law is represented in the actions of Creon. Natural Law is the assertion there is a œnatural order to the human world that is good, should never be violated, and is eternally true (œNatural Law Theory, Passudetti). State Law is defined as a translation of Natural Law into œconcrete norms governing peoples and nations (œNatural Law Theory). The Greek playwright Sophocles was one of the first to write about an œimmutable and eternal law in the tragedy Antigone (œNatural Law Theory).
Sophocles portrays the concepts of Natural Law and State Law through characters in the play. The effect this has on the text is to emphasize the conflict that occurs when the Natural Order and State Law disagree. After analysis, the character Creon is characterized most closely with State Law and Antigone is associated with Natural Law (Young 2). There are several occasions where Sophocles hints that Creon represents State Law. The first occurs in Creon's opening dialog, œSirs, for the ship of state- the Gods once more,/After much rocking on a stormy surge, Set her on even keel (Young 7). In this quote, Creon is saying how the State and its laws are the ship and the Gods are the ocean (Passudetti). Creon's mindset is that he is the driver of the ship and even though admits he does not have total control as the Gods do, he believes his œwill overrides the Gods' (Passudetti, Young 8-9). In this quote, it is made known that despite Creon's acknowledgment of the Gods power, he does not take it seriously. In this sense, the ocean which is thousands of times greater than the ship, can be controlled or conquered by the captaian. Sophocles reiterates this ship concept in the chorus on page thirteen and fourteen. This belief is a representation of State Law because State Law is a specific application of œeternal law in the realm of the nature, meaning that it's a human interpretation of the Natural...