A Clash Of Ideals

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A Clash Of Ideals

Mohamed S.
Humanities 101

A CLASH OF IDEALS

When Sophocles wrote ‘Antigone,' new ideals were beginning to surface in Ancient Greece. An

oligarchic system of government (an early form of democracy) was substituted in place of the monarchy.

Freedom of religion was also openly encouraged in many city-states. Though these ideals were noble and

had the best of intentions, they often conflicted with each other, creating complex, moral dilemmas, which

brought the Church and State into direct opposition. Sophocles' play is a study of this clash: the duty to

one's religious beliefs and the duty to one's State's laws.

The play's two principal characters set the central argument in motion. Both Antigone and Creon have

an entirely different set of moral values from one another, and it is the actions they undertake while

backing up these values that sets off the mechanism of the tragedy. Their opposing ends of the spectrum

is a hot button topic and this turns Sophocles' play into a clash of morals.

Antigone, daughter of Oedipus, is the play's tragic heroine. Her beliefs are bound strictly to the

‘unwritten rules' of the Gods, and she symbolizes the duty of listening to private conscience. After Creon

delivers his edict, barring anybody in the city from burying Polyneices, Antigone questioning its validity

as it interferes with her religious beliefs. ‘Zeus did not announce those laws to me. And Justice living

with the Gods below sent no such message to Men.' Antigone's aggressive impression of her beliefs

demonstrates admirable courage: not only is she standing up against a tyrannical command that very few

citizens believe in, but she is overstepping social outlines....

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