In his tragedy Antigone, the ancient Greek playwright Sophocles defines obligation as the actions an individual must take to uphold their chosen loyalties, or rather, their dedications to other individuals and institutions’ wellbeing. Sophocles’ characters rely on everything from familial to religious to legal loyalty to shape their actions, but ultimately, their obligations to their gods are the most important in their pursuit of both self-glorification and justice. However, Antigone’s clear delineation of obligational hierarchy stands in stark contrast to the contemporary world, which has no single definition of justice and therefore no single obligation that shapes efforts towards justice. For a contemporary audience, Antigone demonstrates both the benefits and drawbacks of a single source of justice in contrast to our unclear, overlapping interpretations.
Sophocles’ foil characters Creon and Antigone demonstrate the consequences of obeying versus disobeying the gods, illuminating the personal benefits and drawbacks of a singularly defined system of obligation. When Creon prioritizes his obligation to the state above his obligation to the Olympians, he causes Haemon and Eurydice’s suicides and marks himself as “a rash, indiscriminate fool” (Sophocles 67-8, 124, 126, 127). By disobeying the gods, his world’s ultimate power source, he guarantees his own destruction. In contrast, Antigone’s obedience to the gods throughout the play causes her death, but she cries that “death [is] a glory” when it results from her religious obligations (105). She seems a hero in contrast to the devastated Creon, demonstrating that obligation to the gods results in glory for those who pursue it but “blinding ruin” for those who do not (92). In other words, long as Sophocles’ characters prioritize their obligation to the gods, they are rewarded for their actions. This clear system initially seems desirable in contrast to a society like ours, which has no way to guarantee just outcomes for individuals’ choices. However, the play demonstrates its single system’s shortcomings as well as its benefits: Creon does not understand the obligation system until too late to save his family, and Antigone, despite all the glory she attains, ultimately dies. Although our contemporary world’s lack of a single, all-important obligation leaves us with no clear way to decide how to act justly, one ultimate obligation is no panacea either.
Sophocles’ work also introduces considerations about the societal impact of a single definition of justice. In Antigone, the gods decide “what justice means,” so obeying their will entails acting justly (124). For example, Antigone’s just obedience allows her to successfully call for her prosecutors to “suffer / nothing worse than they mete out to [her]” as a form of retributive justice (106). Creon, on the other hand, suffers the “mighty blows of fate” because he treats Antigone unjustly (128). Introducing the gods as the single source of justice vastly simplifies the justice system in Antigone compared to the plethora of definitions we encounter today. However, we lack deities to stipulate principles of justice, making it impossible for us to attain a similarly simple system to that of Antigone. Instead, we must find ways to balance our different and competing structures of justice if we seek to actualize its semblance.
Works Cited
Sophocles. “Antigone.” The Three Theban Plays, translated by Robert Fagles, Penguin Books, pp. 59-128, drive.google.com/file/d/12VHtR6sOoRau7h2leCb8zJH7UqrHnlg/view.
