Sometimes a piece of writing is so good that people write other writings just to explain and praise them. Today we read something that falls into this category: Mary Stange's "The Burial at Thebes".
In this article, Professor Stange discusses separation of church and state. According to her, this modern day principle did not exist in the Ancient World. She claims that church and state laws were intertwined during the period of in which Antigone takes place. This explains why Creon would make such a strange religious decree, or why Antigone would answer to something higher than the law of the land. Stange then continues to say that this blurring of loyalties still exist today.
"As much as we Americans pride ourselves on the First Amendment’s separation of church and state, a quick scan of contemporary news events shows the intermixture of religious and civil interests to be every bit as murky in our own society as it was in ancient Greece, and the clash of religious and civil responsibilities remains as heated as it was for Sophocles’s Antigone and Creon."
She then calls examples like the posting of the Ten Commandments on public land or the idea of assisted suicide. These examples show that there is a higher moral law that we live by that would allow us to do things laws would, such as end someone's life.
I agree that this blurring of two theologies still exists today to an extent. While today's government would not make such a specific moral decree, if they did declare that someone shouldn't receive certain rites, I would question their authority. If my religion placed a large emphasis on these rites, I might even do as Antigone did and defy the law of the land. The blurring of these two rules of law may seem to be less, but humans still answer to both laws and take both into account when making decisions. According to Dr. Stange, this is what makes Antigone remain relevant. The fact that we sympathize with Antigone's plight makes this tragedy respected even today.
As usual, here is a link to the essay.
In this article, Professor Stange discusses separation of church and state. According to her, this modern day principle did not exist in the Ancient World. She claims that church and state laws were intertwined during the period of in which Antigone takes place. This explains why Creon would make such a strange religious decree, or why Antigone would answer to something higher than the law of the land. Stange then continues to say that this blurring of loyalties still exist today.
"As much as we Americans pride ourselves on the First Amendment’s separation of church and state, a quick scan of contemporary news events shows the intermixture of religious and civil interests to be every bit as murky in our own society as it was in ancient Greece, and the clash of religious and civil responsibilities remains as heated as it was for Sophocles’s Antigone and Creon."
She then calls examples like the posting of the Ten Commandments on public land or the idea of assisted suicide. These examples show that there is a higher moral law that we live by that would allow us to do things laws would, such as end someone's life.
I agree that this blurring of two theologies still exists today to an extent. While today's government would not make such a specific moral decree, if they did declare that someone shouldn't receive certain rites, I would question their authority. If my religion placed a large emphasis on these rites, I might even do as Antigone did and defy the law of the land. The blurring of these two rules of law may seem to be less, but humans still answer to both laws and take both into account when making decisions. According to Dr. Stange, this is what makes Antigone remain relevant. The fact that we sympathize with Antigone's plight makes this tragedy respected even today.
As usual, here is a link to the essay.