THE UNWRITTEN LAWS OF CREON AND ANTIGONE

There is a genuine conflict that is clear from the very beginning of Antigone, between Antigone and Creon. It is a contention of duties and values, however, both positions are flawed. Both oversimplify ethical life by recognizing only one kind of duty. By doing such, each ignores the fact that a conflict exists at all or a deliberation is needed. It is from here that the power of unwritten law sets in.
We find at the beginning of the play that Creon has defeated Polynices and has taken the throne of Thebes. As ruler, Creon decrees that Polynices’ body be left to rot unburied, making him an “obscenity” for everyone to see. Creon’s only justification was that Polynices was a traitor, an enemy of the state. His actions competed with the security og the state and when such tampering exisits, everything falls a part. For Creon, the sec...