Is Antigone's Execution Or Just?
Kourtney C
October 31, 2011
Phil110 Phil R 11-1150
Is Antigone’s execution just?
The question of justice comes up a lot within Greek tragedies. Throughout the book, The Republic, Socrates is trying to define justice and what it truly means. A famous philosopher, Martha Nussbaum, analyzes the idea of human ethical life according to the Greeks and understanding the cause of human tragedy. I will be relating Martha’s interview to the story of Antigone, answering the question of whether her execution was just or not. I do believe that Antigone’s execution was not just because there was an imbalance in the parts of the soul.
Antigone is impulsive, stubborn and doesn’t let anybody stop her from what she wants to do. She was caught trying …show more content…
Nussbaum would understand Antigone’s dilemma because before tragedy struck Antigone she was trusting of people and then when her Uncle wouldn’t give Polynices a proper burial she completely shut out a lot of people in her life and trusted nobody. On the topic of being an ethical human Nussbaum said, “Now, I think this idea- that often when we care about more than one thing, and care deeply, the very course of life will bring you around to a situation where you can’t honor both of the commitments-“(2). This relates to Antigone because she made a commitment to marry Creon’s son, Haemon but then she also made the decision to bury her brother Polynices, and she knew if she buried her brother that would lead to the consequence of death. Therefore, she was neglecting the commitment that she made to Haemon because she told him that they could no longer marry and that he must never speak to her again; she didn’t want to get him involved. Creon is king but he is so lonely because he has made many decisions that have caused a lot of society to hate him. And now he is put in a position where he might have to kill his own niece which would cause everyone to turn against …show more content…
In Nussbaum’s interview she talks about the political leader and how their role is important in society, she says, “And so they have the image often of the person as like a plant, something that is fairly sturdy, that has a definite structure, but that is always in need of support from the surrounding society. And the political leader in that image is like the gardener, who has to tend to the plant” (4). Creon has to make sure the society is just and anybody who is a traitor to the city must be executed. Creon is in a rough position because in The Republic there is a question of how can you determine who is just or unjust? Because the unjust who seem just are the ones that get rewarded and the ones that are truly just get neglected. This relates to Creon because he has to make these kinds of decisions and he could be executing people that are actually just. That is why at the end of the play he is left alone, drowning in his own
October 31, 2011
Phil110 Phil R 11-1150
Is Antigone’s execution just?
The question of justice comes up a lot within Greek tragedies. Throughout the book, The Republic, Socrates is trying to define justice and what it truly means. A famous philosopher, Martha Nussbaum, analyzes the idea of human ethical life according to the Greeks and understanding the cause of human tragedy. I will be relating Martha’s interview to the story of Antigone, answering the question of whether her execution was just or not. I do believe that Antigone’s execution was not just because there was an imbalance in the parts of the soul.
Antigone is impulsive, stubborn and doesn’t let anybody stop her from what she wants to do. She was caught trying …show more content…
Nussbaum would understand Antigone’s dilemma because before tragedy struck Antigone she was trusting of people and then when her Uncle wouldn’t give Polynices a proper burial she completely shut out a lot of people in her life and trusted nobody. On the topic of being an ethical human Nussbaum said, “Now, I think this idea- that often when we care about more than one thing, and care deeply, the very course of life will bring you around to a situation where you can’t honor both of the commitments-“(2). This relates to Antigone because she made a commitment to marry Creon’s son, Haemon but then she also made the decision to bury her brother Polynices, and she knew if she buried her brother that would lead to the consequence of death. Therefore, she was neglecting the commitment that she made to Haemon because she told him that they could no longer marry and that he must never speak to her again; she didn’t want to get him involved. Creon is king but he is so lonely because he has made many decisions that have caused a lot of society to hate him. And now he is put in a position where he might have to kill his own niece which would cause everyone to turn against …show more content…
In Nussbaum’s interview she talks about the political leader and how their role is important in society, she says, “And so they have the image often of the person as like a plant, something that is fairly sturdy, that has a definite structure, but that is always in need of support from the surrounding society. And the political leader in that image is like the gardener, who has to tend to the plant” (4). Creon has to make sure the society is just and anybody who is a traitor to the city must be executed. Creon is in a rough position because in The Republic there is a question of how can you determine who is just or unjust? Because the unjust who seem just are the ones that get rewarded and the ones that are truly just get neglected. This relates to Creon because he has to make these kinds of decisions and he could be executing people that are actually just. That is why at the end of the play he is left alone, drowning in his own