The conflict between human laws and divine laws?

In the play Antigne the conflict between human law and divine law becomes apparent. Human law is represented by the king Creon and divine law is represented by Antigone. There are also other characters in the play who support Antigone, such as, Haemon, Teiresias. In other words the conflict in the play is not of personalities but of ideologies– the conflict of principles. The king supports the view of secular or political while others upholds (supports) the religious spirit. 

In Antigone, the conflict is an external conflict. The plot develops through a conflict between Creon and Antigone. Actually this is the conflict between the human law and divine law.

Creon comes to clash with one by one Antigone, Haemon and Teiresias. As a king Creon stands for the state which is governed by the fixed laws. But Antigone and others believe in something divine which is also unavoidable. In fact, Antigone is unable to appreciate the position of Creon. At the same time, Creon has also failed to appreciate the divine law. Both remain strict in their own principles and don’t tolerate each other’s views. In this way, tragedy befalls them both.

At the beginning of the drama Creon appears as a wise and good ruler. He is sincere, patriotic and selfless. He is dutiful and careful about the welfare of his country. Eteocles, one  of the brothers of Antigone, died for country. For this reason, the king orders to bury him with state honour. His noble deeds will make him live in the heart of man. On the other hand, Polyneces, another brother of Antigone, came to fight against his own country and died. His sin is unforgivable. So, the king forbids to bury his dead body even falls to be eaten by the animals. 

Creon deems (considers) his judgment to be right. Because, he is careful about the welfare of his country. The person, who is harmful to his country, can never be called friend. According to him, Eteocles is the friend of country whereas Polyneces is the traitor. A patriot and a traitor are never received the same honour. Thus, Crion is blameless in his view. 

Divine law is obviously something hard to understand. The king becomes so blind to his authority that he never paid heed (attention) to other’s advice. At the end of the drama, he came to realize the value of the divine law. But he was too late to avoid the tragedy.

Antigone is determined to bury her brother’s dead body whereas the king forbids it. She is ready to disobey the order of the king to obey the laws of Gods. She is not afraid of death to show her love and responsibility for her brother. So, we see that she is lady of complete to obey the law of God. She says;  

             “….I will bury my brother, And if I die for it, what happiness !” 

According to Antigone the laws Gods are everlasting. She says; 

                   “They are not yesterday or today but everlasting.” 

So every should obey the law of God.

The son of Creon, Haemon is also in support of divine law. He supports Antigone. The vital reason is that he falls in love of Antigone and promises to marry her. But he doesn’t express his love in front of his father. The other reason is that the people of the city stand for Antigone and deem her death penalty is unjust. According to the people Antigone has done her duty. Haemon thinks Antigone’s action to be honourable.

Teiresias who is known as a prophet supports the divine law. He says that the sufferings of the city are due to Creon’s misdeeds. The Gods are displeased with Creon’s misjudgment. The prophet warns the king that the death of his son will be the payment of the death of Aantigone. Another death will happen due to the dead which is still lying unburied. Creon has no alter it. He says;

                      “Creon is going to lose his son as the punishment.” 

To the Greek belief, the soul can’t find peace if the dead body is dishououred. When a man is killed, it is punishment enough for his sins.

Thus, at the end of the drama we see that both Antigone and Creon justly meet their doom. At first Creon seemed to be a good ruler. But he was wrong in not appreciating Antigone and what Haemon said to him. At last he finds himself as a guilty person. If he could forgive Antigone he might not have to lose his son and wife. And he lived a peaceful life.