The trio of classical Greek texts, The Last Days of Socrates, Antigone, and The Eumenides all draw a contrast between public and private morality. In each work, a person performs an unpopular action that only they believe in and must then justify the result which, although deemed unsatisfactory by the general public, seems necessary to them for their own private conscience. For Socrates, philosophizing his version of the truth was his own private responsibility and was scorned by the public. Antigone's loyalties lay with her brother rather than the state which had decreed that he was not given a proper burial. Orestes sought revenge on his mother for killing his father, even if it meant committing a heinous crime that he knew would not be well received. Each hero challenged the absolutist notion of justice and drew public attention toward a more relativistic interpretation by appealing to common sense rather than entrenched archaic tradition, and each valued the word of the gods over that of of its human leaders. plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essay In The Apologies, Socrates defends himself against the charge of “...having committed an injustice, in the sense that he inquires into things underground and in the sky, and makes the weakest argument beat the strongest, and teaches others to follow his example. (19b) In other words, he is accused of delving into supernatural matters for which others rely on the gods, is a sophist, and corrupts the youth. To justify his role as a philosopher, Socrates first reminds his accusers of the oracle's proclamation that he is the wisest man in the world. Although he erases some of the flagrant immodesty of this statement by attesting that the oracle really meant "The wisest among you is he who has understood, like Socrates, that in terms of wisdom he is not worth really nothing” (23b), the appeal to the gods is a technique of justice that Socrates knows is infallible; no mortal can refute the opinion of the deities. Socrates reinforces his assertion about the necessity of his proselytizing in his cross-examination of Meletus, a system in which he asks leading questions that he knows the examinee will accept, thus allowing him to construct a counterpoint as he expounds the logic fallacious employed by his adversary. For Socrates, justice takes the form of scientific deduction, not random points thrown out at random. Socrates asks Meletus "...who makes young people good?" (24d) to which Meletus ends up recognizing that everyone in “Athens has a refined effect on the young, except [Socrates]; and [Socrates] alone corrupts them.” (25a) This is an easy point for Socrates to refute since this time, instead of invoking the statement of a god, he uses an analogy between horse trainers and horses to derive the logical statement ".. . that the ability to improve [horses] belongs to a single person or a very small number of people who are horse trainers, whereas most people, if they deal with horses and care about them. serve, harm them? (25b) The syllogism is an essential element of Socrates' argument, because it is only by irrefutable logic, and not by emotional appeal, that he can exonerate himself After. numerous inferences in the hope of being acquitted, Socrates ultimately maintains that his allegiance is to God rather than to his fellow men. He firmly believes in perseverance, as he claims: "Where a man has taken his stand, so be it." because it seems best to him, either in obedience to his orders,there, I believe he is required to stay and face the danger. .That being said, it would be a shocking inconsistency on my part... when God appointed me... to the duty of leading the philosophical life... to abandon my post. (28d,e) He feels that he is the chosen one and that he must continue his ways regardless of punishment. He would even deny the compromise of acquittal by specifying that he would stop philosophizing, because he reasons: “I owe greater obedience to God than to you... I will never stop practicing philosophy, exhorting you and to tell you the truth... because I spend all my time trying to persuade you... to make your first and foremost concern... the greatest well-being. of your souls..." (29d, 30b) This mulish feeling is what ultimately leads to Socrates' punishment of death, but his point rings clear: justice must be interpreted logically, rather than emotionally, and the edicts of the gods and personal beliefs have more substance than the orders of a reckless and unwarranted public Sophocles' Antigone begins with Oedipus' two cursed daughters, Antigone and Ismene, discussing the public decree that forbids the burial of their brother. Polyneices, who was a traitor to the state, disobeyed this law as admirable, and said to the hesitant Ismene "soon you will show yourself noble both by your nature and by your birth, or yourself as vile, although of noble parents (42-4) Antigone believes that her actions form hers." character, and lineage plays no role. Ismene attempts to appease her sister's anger in a monologue of self-subjugation: "You must understand that we are only women, that we are not made by nature to fight against men, and that we are governed, by those who are stronger, to obedience in this area and in our lives. even more painful questions... I will leave it to the authorities. (70-3.77) Ismene believes that justice is, in the words of Thrasymachus, the advantage of the strongest. Inferiors should bow to their leaders, no matter how unfair the situation may seem. Antigone is a much more independent woman and holds the immortal to a higher standard than the mortal: "The time during which I must please those who are dead is longer than I must please those of this world." Because there I will stay forever. You can, if you wish, dishonor what the gods have honored. " (86-9) Like Socrates, she values ​​the gods and her personal beliefs more than the fickle orders of her rulers, and will therefore perform appropriate death rites that the gods would approve of for someone she loved, although this means certain death. Creon soon enters history as the leader who forbade the burial of Polyneices. His philosophy regarding a man's character is stated in a speech to the choir: "It is impossible to know a man...until he shows his skill in art and law." I think a man is the supreme ruler of an entire city. if he does not seek the best advice for her, but, out of fear, keeps his tongue under lock and key, I judge him as the worst of all..." (195.97-201) He believes that justice is that which helps the city the most; in this case, justice involves punishing a traitor and honoring a good citizen, because it encourages good behavior among his people When Antigone is presented to him as the culprit of the burial, he. can’t quite believe she would break his law, to which she replies “Yes, it wasn’t Zeus who made the proclamation; Justice either... I did not believe your proclamation had such power to allow one who will die one day to cancel the ordinances of God... They are not of today and of 'yesterday ; they live forever... I know I will die... But if I dared to leave the dead man. ...dead and without." (1072,6,80-5).