Law and the Language of Power
Laws are an essential part of life because they are necessary for there to be the order. There are both natural and man-made laws. Even at a very basic level where we eliminate man from the equation laws are necessities. For example, if nature opposed what we now term as the laws of physics then life on earth would not exist. The very premise of man-made laws is that they are designed to benefits persons in positions of power. The code of Hammurabi epitomizes this property of man-made laws. Natural laws on the other hand attempt to bring order in what would otherwise be a chaotic world. Natural laws are the epitome of justice because they advocate equal treatment for all. Sophocles’ Antigone is an attempt at weighing the importance of both natural and man-made laws. Although the code of Hammurabi and the Antigone are both works of art regarding laws, they have marked differences.
At the start of “Antigone”, Eteocles and Polynices die fighting each other for the throne of Thebes. Their father Oedipus had prescribed that Eteocles let Polynices be heir to the throne, but Eteocles would not have this. With the two brothers dead, Creon takes the throne and declared that Eteocles should be honored, and Polynices should be shamed by not being buried. Antigone, the daughter of Oedipus and sister to Eteocles and Polynices, vows to defy this by burying his brother. Creon is furious when Antigone defies him and orders that she should be buried alive. Antigone does not deny having defied Creon but rather goes ahead to argue about the morality of her actions and that of his edict. Tiresias, the blind prophet, warns Creon about the repercussions of his actions and these warnings are echoed by the chorus of Theban elders. Creon attempts to undo his wrongs, but it seems a little too late. Creon is informed that Antigone, Haemon, and Eurydice have all taken their lives, and he cannot but blame himself for this turn of events (Rosenfield, 2010).
The play centers on the debate about which laws should take precedence between natural law to come from the gods, or man-made laws. Sometimes the following of one means the abandonment of the other as is the case for Antigone. She chooses to please the gods by burying her brother but risks her head in doing so because there were clear orders to the contrary from the ruler, Creon. Antigone, however, feels that her first duty is to her family and to the gods and if that means challenging man then so be it. Antigone argues that Creon’s decree is immoral and; therefore, her defying it is only in order (Rosenfield, 2010). In the end, all that Creon is warned would happen if he defied the gods does happen. Although Sophocles attributes the tragic events that happen to human error as opposed to divine intervention, the message is clear. Natural laws take precedence over man-made laws because the later are flexible while the latter are stubbornly inflexible. It is not the consequences of man-made laws that should weigh us down but rather those of natural laws.
The code of Hammurabi consists of 282 laws each with a punishment for offenders. According to the code, if one hurts a person from his or her social class then, he or she punished severely which means that the punishment equals the wrong. Wrongs committed to people of a lower social class are met with leniency with the offender only required to pay a penalty. Hammurabi claimed that the laws were authored by Marduk, who was the most important god for Babylonians (Dyneley, 1904). The purpose of this code was to maintain status quo that meant no shift of social class. The code was designed to ensure that those in the lower social class remained there, and the position of the elite in society was secure.
The Hammurabi has little reflection of any divine nature because it uses social class and gender to segregate people. Men are given considerable power over their wives and children to the point where they are allowed to sell them into slavery just to clear their debts. The purpose of the Hammurabi code is to intimidate the weak into submission. For this reason, the code is presented in a way that anyone who is not in a position of power will have no inclination to question those who are. “Antigone," on the other hand, was designed to emphasize the importance of natural laws and their precedence over man-made laws. The presentation of “Antigone” is such that anyone who would dare defy natural laws will evaluate the course as too costly to follow.
Geography and Culture
The concept that explains the influence that geography has on culture is referred to as geographic determinism. Environmental determinists believe that the environment influence how much a society develops and it also has some influence on their culture. Environmental determinists claim that aspects such as climate influence the people living in any given place. It is this general effect on the population that spreads to bring about the overall behavior and eventually the culture of those people. The argument holds some truth as evidenced in some civilizations over the years.
Anyone with basic knowledge of history is aware that Greeks were far more developed as compared to other societies in the early ages. The explanation to this is that Greeks lived in an environment with more favorable climatic conditions as compared to other nations whose climatic conditions were either hotter or colder. Greeks, therefore, had the opportunity to make scholarly pursuits with few things to weigh them down. One might forge a counter argument stating that some societies have developed because of this very reason. Societies living in the Arctic Circle, for example, developed fur clothes but did not develop agricultural skills because they lived on the land covered by permafrost.
Environmental determinism is a legitimate proposition despite having received great criticism over the years. The theory was previously used to advance racism, and that is why some scholarly are quick to dismiss it. If the theory is evaluated deeper, one will realize that geography has indisputable influence on culture. People living in an area with a mountain will be culturally different from those living next to a large water body. The former may be hunters and gatherers while the later may survive on fishing. Theorists have developed another theory that disputes the claims of environmental determinism known as environmental possibilism. The theory claims that the environment sets limitations for the development of culture, but it does not necessarily define culture fully. The theory states that the culture is defined by opportunity and decisions made by man. But this cannot be enough grounds to dismiss environmental determinism entirely.
References
Rosenfield, K.H. (2010). Antigone. Sophocles' Art, Hölderlin's Insight. Aurora: The Davies Group Publishers. Print.
Dyneley P, J. (1904). The Code of Hammurabi. The American Journal of Theology. 8 (3) ,601–609. Print.
