Essay, Research Paper: Antigone: Civil Disobedience

The short play, Antigone, was written in 441 B.C. by the Greek playwrightSophocles. It deals with some of the most basic problems that affect a society.One of them is Civil Disobedience. Civil Disobedience both a right andresponsibility of a person to fight an unjust law. Government is given the right to control a group of people by the peoplecomposing the group. If an individual has a problem with an injustice they feelhas been placed against them, then they have a right to convey this. CivilDisobedience allows one to convey their thoughts and ideas in a passive,nonviolent way. It can be used when one believes that they are morally right,and that others will agree with them. Antigone conveys this thought when shetells, No one will ever convict me for a traitor (Page 61). In a nonviolentfrom, Civil Disobedience is a basic human right. Often society has laws that individuals feel is immoral, or unjust.Antigone decided to bury Polynices, for she was obeying the gods, even though itwas declared illegal by Creon. Look on me, you noble sons of Thebes- the lastof a great line kings, I alone, see what I suffer now at the hands of breed ofmen- all for reverence, my reverence for the gods! (page 106) This quoteillustrates how Antigone believed that the power of the gods was greater thanthe power of any king. If she had obeyed Creon, she would have disobeyed thestronger power of the gods which could have had more of a devastating result onher. Antigone shows us, thru Civil Disobedience, that breaking some ofsocieties laws is both a right and responsibility.