The Role of Justice in Antigone Justice plays a key role in Antigone because each characters perception of justice serves

to understand the reason of their actions. In turn, this shows the importance of this value in traditional Greek culture. Justice is embodied by several characters in the play. One of them is Creon, the king of Thebes. For Creon justice is defined by the city. He believes that as ruler he must reward those who respect the law. As Creon mentions several times in the play, good citizens do good things for the city, and they are considered friends for that reason. In contrast, citizens who do harm to the city are considered enemies and must pay for their crimes even with their lives. This is the case of Polynices, who Creon no longer considers a citizen of Thebes because he was fighting against the city. Therefore, he tells his people that Polynices has distanced himself from them, and that they are prohibited from treating him as a fellow-citizen and burying him as is the custom for citizens (enotes). Since Antigone violated this decree and broke the law, she is then considered and enemy, too. Creon says that "there is nothing worse than disobedience to authority" (Myatt, 671). For that, reason, Creon indicates that Antigone must be punished for her actions. Letting her free would not be just. Therefore, he cannot allow it. All criminals must be punished regardless of who they are, that is justice in the eyes of Creon. Antigone also represents justice. However, her conception of justice is quite opposite from Creons. Antigone strongly believes that justice is defined by the laws of the gods. She states that justice lies with the dead, and everyone deserves to be honored with a proper burial as the gods command. In that sense, letting her brother rot in the open field would not be just. Thus, she

cannot let that happen. When confronted by Creon, Antigone defends her disobedience by citing Zeus and the unwritten laws (or customs) and the rites due to the gods below (Foley, 174). In addition, Antigone believes that justice lies with the family. For her, it is the right thing to do good for ones relatives. She sees it as an obligation when she tells Ismene about Creons edict, "He has no right to keep me from my own." (Myatt, 59). It is Antigones strong beliefs which drive her not only to break the law but also defy Creon publicly. For that reason, Antigone is willing to accept her punishment because, in her mind, she did what any good citizen should do, and that is a just action. Unlike Creon and Antigone, Haemons view of justice is not narrowed. He is able to understand the implications of justice from different perspectives. On the one hand, Haemon acknowledges the importance of reinforcing the law and punishing deviant behavior in order to keep the social order of the city. On the other hand, he knows about the limits of politics and indicates that the law cannot deny citizen their familial roles. Thus, Haemon tells his father he has the right to reinforce the law, but ultimately Haemons broad sense of justice leads him to support Antigone given the nature of the case. In conclusion, justice is portrayed by several characters in the play from different points of view. Despite these views of justice contrast each other, they all show the importance of this value in Greek culture during that age. More importantly, the play shows the extent to which justice could affect a persons life.

Works Cited "Antigone: Themes." Drama for Students. Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 1998. eNotes.com. January 2006. 9 November 2009. <http://www.enotes.com/antigone/themes>. Foley, Helena. Female Acts in Greek Tragedy. Princeton University Press, 2001. Princeton, New Jersey.

Myatt, D.W. Antigone: A New Translation. (1994). 5 March 2002. http://www.geocities. com/Athens/Aegean/4979/antigone.html.