Themes of sophocles in relation to fullers theory

At one time in 1958, he was privileged to have a crucial debate with the prominent British leaders concerning, by then, modern dispute between legal positivism and the natural law theory. In one of his articles, The Morality of Law, he tries to figure out all the systems of law composing internal morality that is instilled on people as a symbol of obedience (Schauer, 2018). This article will discuss how Sophocles’ play, also called, Antigone depicts obedience or disobedience to law through various themes. This discussion will be in line with the concepts of law as developed by Lon Luvois Fuller. This article will conclude by giving a brief summary of whether Sophocles’ play together with its themes have any relevance to any legal issue pertaining obedience to law in Australia today.

It t tries to give amicable solution to ethical challenges with respect to the fact that everyone has a right to live their own life. Moreover, it identifies some of the legal and moral aspect of defense often used to define a justifiable act of war. Lon Luvois Fuller explains the two type of natural law including the natural law of morality and natural law of positivity. The former entails the understanding of what is wrong and right while the latter describes what is legal or illegal. It is good to note that the two types of natural law theory are independent to one another. Fuller’s Principles of Legalities i. The rules must be free of contradictions. ii. The rules must not be dynamic; they should be constant from generation to generation.

iii. The rules must be clear and precise. Additionally, Fuller contends that the rule of law is to facilitate humans’ conduct towards governance. Therefore, if a government will be considered not legal in any case then it means one of the principles of legality is missing (Bix, 2017). In short, all the principles of legal must exist before a bill becomes a genuine law. The play of Antigone is quite in contrary to this aspect of formation of a law. In addition, from Fuller’s theory concept; one would automatically defy such kind of law at one point. Antigone broke this law thus showing disobedience to the authority. Civil disobedience is as well justified when Antigone provided evidence for claims on how she was subjected to a reckless and ruthless treatment when she opposed the rule of law of leaving her brother not endorsed to a proper sendoff.

On the other hand, Antigone’s sister, Ismene, stands in for the women’s cultural believes. She was surprised and felt upset when she realized about her sister’s (Antigone) plan to ignore and defy Creon’s order and bury their brother in contrary to the rule of law (Lloyd, 2017). She felt that her right of fair justice is outraged. Finally, she performed the burial right to the brother disobeying the king’s commands. The king tries to outdo Fuller’s theory by focusing in his self-established laws. According to the theorist’s perception, natural laws should be in any way not be interfered with otherwise, it would be beginning of a leader’s failure. This is evident when King Creon’s leadership started declining.

Antigone believes in the law of family traditions and family royalties thus finds it hard to adhere to the artificial laws made by Creon (Woodruff, 2018).   iv. Pride or Arrogance Sophocles portrays the theme of arrogance or pride as despised by the gods of Grecian. Moreover, this theme is depicted when Creon says that he has all the powers to make and execute laws and all the divine laws were under his control. This was a great indication of pride. He makes laws by himself for instance, stopping Antigone to bury his brother, which later creates a grudge between them. He becomes blind by not thinking about the future but instead, focuses on the present. As a result, he advocates for leaving Polynices’s body to rot (Brown, 2016).

When he realizes that the outcome of his rulings were out of his control, he begins cursing himself for his blindness and faces the consequences head-on. vi.   viii. The theme of Feminine Rivalry This theme is portrayed in the sense that both Ismene and Antigone are daughters of king Oedipus. The two sisters had different ideas concerning the burial of their brother. Ismene seems to be loyal and obedient to the ruling rule of law. Even though the government was a disgrace to their family, she did not invite Antigone’s suggestion anymore. Unlike to the leadership of Creon where he forms and execute laws by himself, this absolutely led to many instances of disobedience to law. Definitely, this time of leadership has posed great impact on the current leadership in Australia.

Experiences will ever remain the best teacher. In this regard, the contemporary leadership in Australia depends on the ancient ways of governance. They do not want to go through the consequences that some of the ancient leaders went through including Creon. Antigone tirelessly fought for her brother’s right and the right of the society. Generally, Creon and Antigone were obedient and disobedient to the natural laws respectively. On the other hand, Antigone was disobedient to the government’s ruling law. References Bix, B. On the dividing line between natural law theory and legal positivism.  Philosophy Compass, 11(2), 91-101. Finglass, P. J. (Ed.  Sophocles: Oedipus the King(Vol. F.  Imagery of Sophocles Antigone (Vol. Princeton University Press. Gaskin, R. Sophocles: Oedipus The King.