Despite being written centuries ago, the drama of Antigone by Sophocles is highly relevant to contemporary moral and ethical decisions. In Antigone, Antigone and her sister Ismene know that their fatherÆs transgression of law has met with harsh consequences. King Creon has made it law that those who oppose the state do not deserve burial. Antigone is aghast at this notion, since she believes her dead warrior brother deserves consecrated burial. Antigone disobeys CreonÆs law and instead adheres to what she believes is honorable in the eyes of the godsÆ higher laws. The struggle between manmade authority and a higher authority is an eternal struggle for all human beings. For Antigone, she believes doing what she feels is right by a higher authority than Creon will serve her best. In other words, Antigone embodies a sense of justice that overrides CreonÆs authority. The quote from the drama that best illustrates this is when Antigone informs Ismene, ôI know I please where I must please the mostö (Sophocles 64).
The theme of ôI know I please where I must please the mostö illustrates that Antigone believes that burying her brother is a higher form of justice than the law made by Creon (Sophocles 64). Antigone believes her own moral sense of right and wrong overrides CreonÆs dictate that her brother does not deserve consecrated burial. By burying her brother, Antigone has acted first to satisfy her own sense of justice; one she believes is in greater accordance with higher law than CreonÆs law, which she views as unjust. Antigone knows she will lose her life as a result of transgressing CreonÆs law, but she is content to know that she will die having lived up to her own moral code. As she tells Ismene, ôI will suffer nothing as great as death without gloryö (Sophocles 64).
Creon, in contrast, feels he is acting with justice to order AntigoneÆs death. She believes she is acting with justice
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