TITLE:
Natural Law Thought and Political Philosophy Criticism in the Ancient Greek Tragedy Antigone
AUTHORS:
Yuanhang Chen
KEYWORDS:
Sophocles, Antigone, Natural Law
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.13 No.6,
June
25,
2026
ABSTRACT: This paper focuses on Sophocles’ tragedy Antigone, providing an in-depth analysis of the natural law thought and political philosophy criticism embedded in its core conflict. The study points out that Antigone’s act of defying Creon’s edict to bury her brother Polynieces, based on “sacred duty” and “eternal heavenly laws,” constitutes the harbinger of ancient Greek “natural law” thought. Its core lies in the supra-positive norms established by blood ethics and sacred traditions. The intense confrontation between Antigone and Creon in the play is interpreted as a classic paradigmatic conflict between the Natural Law School (appealing to divine laws and fundamental ethics) and Legal Positivism (emphasizing the supremacy of the ruler’s decrees). The article further reveals that the root of Creon’s tragedy lies in the alienation of power—placing his personal will above divine will, tradition, and family ethics, ultimately leading to the disintegration of the city-state’s order. The study also reviews the academic controversy regarding whether Antigone’s actions truly belong to the category of “natural law,” and emphasizes that the core value of the play lies in its eternal questioning of the legitimacy of ruling authority and its powerful warning against autocratic politics, making it a timeless field for jurisprudential thought experiments.