10.4225/03/59211a3c6e448 Rhonda Khatab Rhonda Khatab Ethical Consciousness in the Spirit of Tragedy: Hegel’s Antigone Monash University 2017 Antigone Sophocles Hegel ethics philosophy phenomenology Latin and Classical Greek Literature 2017-05-21 04:40:22 Journal contribution https://bridges.monash.edu/articles/journal_contribution/Ethical_Consciousness_in_the_Spirit_of_Tragedy_Hegel_s_Antigone/4981532 Within literary theory and philosophical discourse, Sophocles’ <i>Antigone</i> has been a significant source of questions pertaining to the relationship of individual and state. Indeed, the <i>Antigone </i>figures prominently in the context of Hegel’s account of “The Ethical Order,” which represents the conflict between the spheres of Divine and Human Law, with reference to the tragic as reflected within Greek ethical life. Following an interpretation of this section on “The Ethical Order,” this paper undertakes a more engaged reading of Hegel’s account of the <i>Antigone</i>, in critical juxtaposition with a re-reading of Sophocles’ <i>Antigone</i>. In challenging contrast to Hegel’s account of the tragedy, this interpretation of the play gives emphasis to the argument that the conflict presented in <i>Antigone</i> foreshadows that between individual subjective will and communal right that becomes the defining problem (both politically, and philosophically) of modernity.