In Antigone law is the code by which people should base their behavior and actions opon. There seems to be several law-makers present who have varying degrees of influence or authority. The main law-makers in Thebes, in order of level of authority, appear to be Fate, Zeus (or the gods), familial code (or loyalty), and King Kreon (or man).
Fate
When the messenger comes to tell Kreon about his law being broken, although he is afraid, he states that “If I’m talking annihilation here, / I’ll still say it, since I’m of the opinion / nothing but my own fate can cause me harm” (Lines 266-268). This means that regardless of if Kreon punishes him or not, for being the bearer of bad news, the messenger believes that fate has the ultimate say. As we discussed earlier in class, fate decides when people will die and not even the gods can change that. In that way, the law of fate reigns supreme over anyone else’s.
Zeus/Gods
The gods, as in all greek plays, hold a significant amount of power over humans. Zeus in particular is referenced a couple of times when Kreon states that “Zeus enforces his own will through mine” (Line 335) and, ironically, later on when Antigone is refuting Kreon’s authority and states that “it wasn’t Zeus who issued me / this order” (Line 487). Antigone continuously assets that the gods have the ultimate power over man when she tells Kreon that “[she] den[ies] that [his] edicts–since [him], a mere man, / imposed them–have the force to trample on / the gods’ unwritten and infallible laws” (Lines 490-492) and that “[she’d] never let any man’s arrogance / bully [her] into breaking the god’s laws” (Lines 496-497). These examples further affirm that the gods’ law is the law in the eyes of man, even if it is misconstrued as it is when Kreon assumes that his wills are the same as the wills of the gods.
Familial Code/Loyalty
Antigone claims that the law that made her die for Polyneikes was that she would not be able to replace him. She states that “If [ her] husband were dead, [she] could remarry. / A new husband could give [her] a new child. / But with [her] father and mother in Hades, / a new brother could never bloom for [her]” (Lines 1002-1005). In this instance, the loyalty to her family overrode the law of the king. As shown in earlier examples, her adherence to this family code also coincides with the laws set by the gods. This shows that both of these laws are more powerful than one set by man.
King Kreon/Man
Kreon believes, at least in the beginning of the play, that he holds the ultimate power in Thebes. He disregards ancient laws set by the gods and by tradition, in favor of his own moral codes which he imposes on the citizens of Thebes. In the beginning of the play Antigone refers to King Kreon as the “commander in chief” (Line 10), and later he is told by the leader of the chorus that he has “all the authority [he] need[s] / to discipline the living and the dead” (Lines 246-247). In this way, these characters are confirming his authority to themselves as well as to Kreon who believes that his word is law. It is further shown that he thinks his laws reign supreme when he tells his son, Haimon, that “if anyone steps out of line, breaks / our laws, thinks he can dictate to his king, / he shouldn’t expect any praise from me” (Lines 736-738). Despite Kreon’s arrogance however, his law seems to hold the least weight out of the four mentioned for the reasons explained earlier.