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Antigone: Breaking The Law

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What do people do when their personal beliefs conflict with the laws of their society? Most people have their own opinions in relation to the laws placed in their society. Whether one supports or opposes a law due to their personal beliefs coming into conflict with it, the person has the decision to do something or to do nothing. Within the ancient Greek play Antigone by Sophocles, multiple characters had to chose if they should do something about an unjust law that went against their person beliefs; the law enacted made it illegal to bury Polyneices, a previous partial-ruler that tried to retake the throne of Thebes. The consequence of breaking the law was death by stoning. Most decided to follow the law in fear of Creon, the King of Thebes, and their belief to follow the laws of society regardless if it was moral or not. However, there was one brave enough to break the law because it went against their personal beliefs; this person was Antigone, Polyneices’ niece. Antigone believed this law was unjust and unsacred to do so, for the people of Thebes had strong beliefs in their gods. To connect, the ancient play Antigone as well as modern controversial issues in the world today, both have a related underlying argument: When people feel their personal beliefs are in conflict with the laws of their society, most of the time they will defy authority, protest and/or simply follow the law. …show more content…

The ancient Greek play Antigone has many similarities with modern controversial issues ranging from the rights of Native Americans to the awareness to African American problems to how students are allowed to dress. These popular issues that connect to Antigone creates many different arguments that are able to be drawn from and explained; overall, creating a way to connect modern times to important historical

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