Naturally Just and Legally Just
Antigone is a classic, tragic, Greek play which tells a philosophical story of the title character. This play was first written in 441 B.C. by Sophocles and later reproduced by Jean Anouilh. The story starts when the King of Thebes, Oedipus, gave up on his kingdom after he discovered he had unknowingly killed his father and married his mother. He had two daughters, Antingone and Ismene, and two sons, Polynices and Eteocles, with his mother. The throne was passed down, after Oedipus’ death, to be shared between Antigone’s brothers, Polynices and Eteocles. Both of Antigone’s brothers desired to be the only one in power which started a feud, while it was Eteocles’ turn as King. They murdered each other during the battle. As a result, Creon, Antigone’s uncle, became the King of Thebes and ordered that Eteocles deserved a proper burial. However, Creon issued an edict that because Polynices was a traitor he didn’t deserve proper burial rights and his body was to be exposed to rot. He was “to be left unwept, unburied” (Sophocles, p.60 35-43) and anyone caught attempting to bury him would be executed. Antigone faced a dilemma between what was naturally just and what was legally just. Should Antigone follow what was natural to her and bury her family member? Or follow Creon’s decree and let her brother rot? Antigone refused to follow the law and chose to obey the natural or divine law and buried her brother, Polynices. We are aware that Antigone’s actions were naturally just, but was Creon’s decree naturally just? Was it legally just?
Although Anouilh’s version of Antigone was different in many aspects, the overall story and decree, by King Creon and towards Polynices’ body, was very similar. What follo ...