Blog #5: Morality versus Law

In Sophocles' Antigone, the title character is forced to decide between what she feels is right and what the law says is right. Should she bury her deceased brother, or should she follow the orders of her king and leave him to rot? Antigone did what she felt she had the right to, or at least should-- she buried her brother, and was punished severely for it. Antigone, in my opinion, made the right choice. It is better to be punished for doing something that one believes in than it is to go free for betraying a loved one. Antigone acted nobly, and I would like to say that I would do the same thing in her situation.
Another good example of violating the law to do what is right is the American Revolution-- when America separated itself from Britain, it was technically illegal. However, without this illegal action, America would have continued to suffer under Britain's iron fist, and the world would be vastly different today. Many of us would not be alive, wars would have been lost, more peoples enslaved. We have the strength and the courage of our founding fathers to thank for our existence today-- they stood up for what was right, not for what was legal.