Quote:

“Because it wasn’t Zeus who pronounced these things to me, not did Justice, companion of the gods below, establish such laws for humanity. I would never think your pronouncements had such strength that, being mortal, they could override the unwritten, ever-lasting prescriptions of the gods, for those aren’t something recently made, but live forever, and no one knows when they first appeared.” (Lines 459-468)

Comment:

            This quote is pulled from the conversation between Antigone and Creon who is both the king at the time and Antigone’s uncle. Creon has just been informed that Antigone has in fact buried her brother, Polynices, against his wishes. Creon had just asked Antigone why she had broken the law he had set forth as king. This quote is the beginning of her response explaining that she would rather break laws created by man than the laws created by the gods.

            When reading through the play, I was struck by this quote due to its direct connection to one of our recent class discussions. In this conversation we talked about who is allowed to make the laws our society follows and who gets to enforce them. The example was give that if a philosophy professor attempted to give a person a speeding ticket they would most likely refuse to take it. However, if a police officer did the same thing that same person would accept the ticket and pay the consequences. We as society have assigned roles and rules that we have all elected to follow. I believe Antigone would agree with this concept; in her eyes Creon is the philosophy professor and the gods are the police. She has decided for herself who’s laws will be followed and reinforced. It would seem that Antigone herself could represent our societal beliefs and morals.

            I would like to further the conversation by challenging concept of authority. It would seem that authority is a part of human nature. However, I would argue that authority is a humanized version on dominance which is a natural phenomenon found in all aspects of the natural world. To emphasize this, I turn to the definitions of the two words. Dominance is defined as “power and influence over others.” Whereas the definition of authority is “the power or right to give orders, make decisions, and enforce obedience.” These two definitions are strikingly similar with just one main difference, the key word “right.” Rights are a social construct that do not exist in the natural world. I argue that authority is merely the way dominance, a natural element ingrained into us as mammals, is expressed in a humanized fashion.

Question:

             Can a society exist without moral or legal authority?