Sophocles - Soul Versus State

Soul versus State

Today, morality and patriotism have been carelessly tossed into the melting pot of American nationalism. They are now melding together into an ambiguous form, something completely different then their original purpose. We find ourselves confused at the crossroads, unsure of whether to follow our own ideology or that of our government. This perplexity of personal authority has plagued the world for ages, and has become a major theme of mankind's existence. Sophocles explored the internal battle between individual ethics and submission to the government through Antigone, in which he revered human principles and condemned the government mandates that hinder them.

Greece was quite possibly the cradle of organized government as we know it. Sophocles' time was a momentous one. Revolutionaries such as Solon and Cleisthenes hammered through constitutions that would not only shape Greece but greatly influence the world. Yet as the governmental flower was blossoming, a new seedling was gaining nutrients in the soil of Athens. Philosophy began to fissure the foundations of mythology and other traditional beliefs, and replaced them with a fledgling known as reason. These two massive social genres were the tools that shaped the sculpture of Ancient Greece, yet they were constantly at ends with each other in terms of ideology.

Philosophy began to investigate the world with a normative eye. Philosophers such as Socrates reacted against the sophists merely teaching rhetoric to the wealthy and focused on a search for moral self-enlightenment. This movement caught fire in the populous of Athens, and broke the champagne bottle atop the maiden voyage of Reason. In Sophocles' era, we begin to see individuals dying for not only war, but for principles. Antigone is the embodiment of this movement, and possibly symbolized the heart of philosophy, and more importantly, democracy.

The idea of human nature in Ancient Greece is known as physis, along with its other plane, identified as nomos, which translates to the idea submission to government. The heroine Antigone came to the crossroads of these two extremes when she found herself in the depths of a philosophical quandary. Creon, the king of Thebes, had proclaimed that the body of his nephew Polynices, a slain traitor to the city, was to be left unburied. Not only does this brutal act expose the body to the desecration of nature, but an unburied corpse cannot traditionally transcend to the afterlife. Polynices was Antigone's last brother, and she felt bound by her morality to undo this injustice. Without question, she gave her brother a proper burial, despite the king's commandments. Antigone's commitment to the idea of physis ultimately led to her demise yet it set into motion a chain of events that truly rocked the social structure of Thebes.

Antigone reveres human morality with an almost pious awe. She appeals to this higher authority when Creon interrogates about her forbidden deed. She counters his reprimands saying "I did not think your edicts strong enough to overrule the unwritten, unalterable laws of God and heaven, you being only a man. They are not of yesterday, or today, but everlasting." 1 Creon believed that he possessed, through nomos, the legislative authority over all others. For Antigone, morality transcended the jurisdiction and manipulation of man. She accepts her sentence of execution with an almost righteous indifference "This punishment will not be any pain, only if I had left my mother's son lie there unburied, then I could not have borne it. This I can bear." 2 Once again, Sophocles dramatically illustrates the passionate resolve of Antigone through a solid foundation of morals. The unalienable and unchangeable laws of physis cannot be manipulated by the corruptible nomos of man.

Sophocles even goes as far to infer that Antigone's zeal inspired others to question the possible suppression of authority. Sophocles almost venerates Antigone as a martyr; s revolutionary and divine product of his play. He suggests that if one stands on top of morality to conquer suppression, the public will rise up and follow. He accomplishes this subtle proposition through the characters of Haemon, Eurydice and the Chorus. Antigone planted a seed of malcontent in their hearts; she opened their minds to a solution separate from the government. The unrest that brooded in their hearts ultimately lead to the upheaval of the corrupt government entrenched in Thebes.

It is even arguable that Sophocles created Antigone to be the manifestation of democracy, infused into a tangible character. Her femininity represents the socially oppressed and politically inferior body the made up the proletariat. Her compassion for her family and her ardor for justice symbolized the general