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How Does Creon Have A Moral Obligation In Antigone

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In Sophocles’s Antigone, Creon and Antigone carry unique opinions and live by their position based on what they believe is right. As the King of Thebes Creon must act for the overall benefit of his people, where he creates a role of absolute power and will not tolerate any threats to his reign. Although Antigone is a citizen of Thebes she determines that she will die for her rebellious brother, Polynices, in order for him to receive proper burial rights. Although Antigone believes that she has a moral obligation to deliver Polynices his burial rights she must not defy the integrity of Creon’s moral obligation to act on his people’s behalf for the sake of aiding her family when her brothers are willing to fight to the death for the absolute …show more content…

Polynices is a trader that desires the ruin of past citizen’s dedication to creating a better civilization for their children. Antigone’s action to give her respects to a man that desires to sack Thebes contradicts Creon’s belief of the importance of civil law. Creon states, “I, for my part, hate anyone caught in the act who tries to beautify his crimes” (2.510-1). Creon cannot understand how anyone could act in support of an enemy of Thebes. Antigone has no right to disrupt the civil law declared to all citizens in order to appease her moral compass that pushes her to do what she believes is the right thing. Creon refuses to reason with the semantics of Antigone’s moral action as he has caught her breaking the rules of Thebes. Creon’s belief that no person is above the laws that are created to keep order and peace demonstrate his denial of Antigone’s attempt to “beautify” her crime. What Antigone did was wrong regardless of what Antigone believes was the correct thing to do. Creon must treat Antigone as a criminal that broke the laws of a civilization in favor of her brother that murdered her other brother in attempt to gain control over that same

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