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Two Types Of Loyalty In Antigone

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Loyalty means sacrificing something of yours; whether it be your life, your job, or anything of importance to you, in order to stay true to an idea or person. The Encyclopedia of Power mentions two types of loyalty, blind faith and moral obligation. Blind faith is when someone follows a leader and remains loyal no matter his wrongdoings. Being loyal to one’s morals means following a person because you believe he is just and righteous, and if he were to do something immoral, you would retract your loyalty (Encyclopedia of Power). These two types of loyalties can coexist, but can also conflict with each other and within each other. What is important to understand is the root of these two loyalties and where they originate from.
Blind faith can be originated from love and fear. The play Antigone serves as a great source in order to truly comprehend the different types of loyalties. In Antigone, Ismene has blind faith to the crown which is rooted in fear. She tells her sister, after being asked to disregard the king's law not to bury her brother, “We’ll perish terribly if we violate law and try to cross the royal vote and power” (Lines 59-60). She fears her death and does not want to perish, and for that she remains loyal to the crown and will not cross the the royal vote and power. By remaining loyal she had to sacrifice something important to her, burying her own brother. That is blind faith because even if the king’s decree is immoral she still must remain loyal out of

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