Justice Served

A detailed Summary of Justice Served

What is the relation of the state to the individual? Should obedience be paid to the will of the state, or to the justice with which it conflicts? If loyalty is required, is it conditional; necessary only part of the time? And, given that the state and the individual will inevitably disagree on some issues, who suffers in the end? Through their writings, Plato and Sophocles outline two sides of this issue. In Euthyphro, The Apology, and Crito Plato expresses a view of the state as flawed but necessary, never straying from the logical analysis performed by his main character, Socrates. However, in Antigone, Sophocles offers a tragic, gut-wrenching story that also looks seriously at the same issue. There are notable distinctions within the works, but the conclusions of the two figures are more strikingly similar than different. After careful examination, it seems apparent that the two authors use the same situation to relay their beliefs of the relationship between the individual and the state: Sophocles believes that the unjust will ultimately be punished, and the just will always suffer when a conflict between the gods and the state exists; Plato believes similarly that the just must obey the laws of the

Speaking with the prophet Euthyphro, Socrates tries to find a characteristic underlying piety that can be applied to all things pious. In the end, Euthyphro does not give Socrates a straight answer to the question, but many of the statements made by Socrates can be used to judge whether or not the characters in these stories acted out of piety, or something else. The main point made by Socrates is that piety cannot be that which is pleasing to all gods, for the gods are believed to be warring over issues of this sort. The one conclusion that they did come to was that piety was always arguable between individuals. Antigone, believing that she acted on the will of Zeus and never attributing her actions to any other gods, suffers nothing from the argument of piety between Euthyphro and Socrates. On this same course it would seem that Creon must, according to Socrates, be guilty of impiety. However, Creon also swears by the gods, specifically Ares, that he commits no crime and operates on the notion that the brother of Antigone was an enemy to the state. It is only in the end, when Creon is overwhelmed by bad news and a guilty conscious that he decides to go back on his own words. Sticking to the words of Socrates in The Apology and Plato's political beliefs, that the law must be obeyed at all times except in cases when a supreme spiritual question is at issue, Creon's personal actions are not impious. He put the needs of the state above the needs of the individual, which is core to the ideology of the Greek city-state. That conclusion would imply that the death of Antigone could not be stopped. She just happened to be in a compromising position and recognized the higher responsibility. Creon, as the state, remained consistent and treated all enemies as enemies and punished all crimes equally, without regard for the more urgent laws of the gods (Braun 11). This ultimately was his downfall.

From these stories, the answers to the questions above are subject to many interpretations. The characters within the stories display a variety of reactions to the issues, each no doubt symbolizing a realistic perspective in the society of the day. But, as both stories carry the themes of divine will, as often occurs in all Greek stories, all parties suffer and the understanding that all parties, even the state, will lose a battle with the gods. 2,477 words

Sophocles. Antigone. Trans: Richard Emil Braun. New York City, NY. Oxford

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2550
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)

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