I feel like religion vs. government has been a thing forever. Professor Mary Strange wrote how America likes to think of itself as the first people to separate religion from government and from what I can tell, this is true. We like to think that we're the first and greatest to do a lot of stuff, but this simply isn't true.
Antigone shows that struggle between choosing to obey the laws of god(s) and the laws of man. It can be easily argued (especially back in the day) that we should follow the god(s) laws above all else, because we are all human, so what power should anyone have over another person? Religion has always been highly regarded, and it was no different when this play was written.
It's all a big question of who really rules. I feel like even when people started to separate religion from law, religion still played a part, especially when they were first being separated. Religion always has an influence and I think the king got that in this play. Maybe. Or he knew it wasn't a battle worth fighting. Either way, religion is always there and Antigone used that to her advantage. Antigone did what she knew to be right in her heart, and that was obviously a calling from the gods, right? She thought so. Even if it wasn't, she was still doing the right thing. Both of her brothers were now dead, gone from the battlefield, but only one had a proper burial. How is that fair? Oh, that's right, it's not. Antigone had a good heart, she wasn't burying her brother to spite the king or anything, she just thought her brother deserved better.
Antigone shows that struggle between choosing to obey the laws of god(s) and the laws of man. It can be easily argued (especially back in the day) that we should follow the god(s) laws above all else, because we are all human, so what power should anyone have over another person? Religion has always been highly regarded, and it was no different when this play was written.
It's all a big question of who really rules. I feel like even when people started to separate religion from law, religion still played a part, especially when they were first being separated. Religion always has an influence and I think the king got that in this play. Maybe. Or he knew it wasn't a battle worth fighting. Either way, religion is always there and Antigone used that to her advantage. Antigone did what she knew to be right in her heart, and that was obviously a calling from the gods, right? She thought so. Even if it wasn't, she was still doing the right thing. Both of her brothers were now dead, gone from the battlefield, but only one had a proper burial. How is that fair? Oh, that's right, it's not. Antigone had a good heart, she wasn't burying her brother to spite the king or anything, she just thought her brother deserved better.