Frisch-9H1 Elisheva Rosen

3/4/10 Greek Week Continued

A few weeks ago, our English class finished reading Antigone, the tragic play by Sophocles, an
ancient Greek playwright. You may be wondering, why a 21st century English class would be reading a
play written hundreds of years ago. Do not worry; I will address this issue later. When the play opens, a
civil war has just ended, leaving the city of Thebes in ruins with the city’s two crown princes, Eteocles
and Polyneices, dead. The kingdom is now under the rule of Creon, Eteocles and Polyneices’ uncle. The
new king, Creon, was caught between a rock and a hard place; one the one hand, he needs to restore
order for his subjects while on the other hand; Creon needs to mourn for his family. Therefore, Creon
decrees that, for the well-being of the kingdom, the rebels shall not be buried because, “…[a]s long as I
am King, no traitor is going/ to be honored with the loyal man.” However, Creon’s decree did not bode
well for his relationship with his niece, Antigone. Antigone was infuriated with the new law because the
law only allowed for her brother Eteocles to be buried while her other brother, Polyneices, would remain
unburied for he died fighting for the rebels. Therefore, Antigone outright defies Creon and goes to
cover her brother Polyneices’ body with dust so that his corpse would be covered as she believes that all
men are created equal in death.
When Creon discovers Antigone’s betrayal, he orders her to be arrested and sentences Antigone
to death. Once Antigone is brought before Creon, they have a heated argument over civil versus
religious/moral law. The argument of civil against moral/religious law is at the very core of the play.
Antigone argues that religious law trumps civil law, firmly believing that it is not a crime to honor the
dead. She states, “… But all your (Creon’s) strength is weakens itself against/ the immoral unrecorded
laws of god./ They are not merely now: they were, and shall be,/ operative for ever, beyond man
utterly.” Creon’s rebuttal is not as sound as Antigone’s argument, but he is not wrong in his reasoning,
just in his motives. Creon’s first statement is that he is the king, his word is law and lawbreakers need to
be punished. Seeing that Antigone has no regard for the written law, Creon tries to play on her emotions
for her brothers by telling her that by honoring a traitor she is dishonoring her other brother who died an
honorable death. If Antigone had played her cards right, she most likely would have had her life spared.
However, her hot-headedness condemned her to become a martyr for her cause.
After Creon issued Antigone’s punishment, to be locked in a jail cell to starve to death, two
people came to Creon in order to sway his decision. The first to come forward was Creon’s own son
Haimon, who in addition to being the new crown prince, was Antigone’s fiancé. Unlike his bride-to-be,
Haimon took a gentler approach when he went to plead for Antigone’s life. Knowing that his father
placed his nation before others, Haimon told his father about the negative effects his latest decrees have
had on the people of Thebes. Apparently, the whole city was in an uproar over Antigone’s death decree
and believed that it was unjust. The people of Thebes respected Antigone for what she had done for she
did what the rest were too afraid to do; defy Creon. Haimon also pointed out to his father that changing
your mind does not mean you were wrong or that you were weak, compromises work wonders. Creon
brushes aside his son’s advice by telling Haimon that it is unbecoming for a child to school someone
like himself, Creon, who has more experience and knowledge. Having his patience tried b y his father
brings Haimon to the end of his rope. After storming out of his father’s presence to rescue Antigone,
Teiresias, the bind prophet comes before Creon to bearing a dire warning from the gods. Teiresias warns
Creon that if he does not yield to reason, than more than one life will be sacrificed for his dire mistake.
However, Creon brushes off the warning, “…it is a sorry thing when a wise man/ sells his wisdom, lets
out his words for hire!”
Later while Creon is alone, he ponders over the three conversations he had that day, one with
Antigone, the one with Haimon, and his most resent conversation with Teiresias. Soon, Creon is plagued
by doubt and comes to the realization that he was indeed wrong. Horrified by the thought that Antigone
is about to die, Creon rushes to her jail cell to release her. At the cell, Creon finds Antigone dead for she
had hung herself, lest Creon take pleasure in publicly executing her. Over Antigone’s dead body lies
Haimon, weeping. As Creon enters the cell, Haimon leaps to his feet and unsuccessfully tried to kill his
father before in turn killing himself. A grieve-stricken Creon is forced to return to Thebes, only to find
his wife dead; she too had killed herself once she heard of Antigone and her son’s death. By the end of
the play, Creon is a broken man who truly defines the term of a tragic hero.
In Antigone, the two main characters, Antigone and Creon, both have the ability to be the tragic
hero. Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus and comes from the “cursed” family. Therefore, Antigone is
fated to fall, like her previous family members, Oedipus, Oedipus’ parents Laius and Jocasta, and
Cadmus (Oedipus’ great-great-grandfather). Also, Antigone is extremely stubborn, rash, aggressive and
prideful. She contains all of the qualities that contribute to hubris, the main flaw that causes a tragic
hero’s downfall. Antigone uses her piety as an excuse to defy the rules. Then, instead of quietly going
against the laws, she parades around openly boasting about her transgressions, and challenges Creon’s
authority. Overall, Antigone uses her piety as an excuse to become a martyr for her cause.
However, Creon is the true tragic hero in Antigone. Originally, Creon’s intentions were pure. He
created the laws concerning the rebels as a way to create order out of the chaos in Thebes. As Creon tells
the people of Thebes himself, “… when Oedipus/ died, your loyalty was transferred to his children…No
one values friendship more highly than I; but we must remember/ that friends made at the risk of
wrecking our Ship/ are not real friends at all.” Here, Creon recognizes that the people may feel that they
should honor Polyneices as he was the son of their deceased king, Oedipus. He tells that even though
they may feel loyal to Polyneices, it was Polyneices who tried to wreck their stable government, which
causes him to be unworthy of their reverence in death. And even though it may be righteous to bury all
the dead, regardless of their status, at this time in the government, we must take care of our own before
we take care of others.
Over time, Creon’s original quest for peace turns into his need to be right, no matter the cost.
Like Antigone, he is exceedingly stubborn and is full of pride, which leads to his downfall. Creon
dismisses all of the cases concerning his actions insisting that his motives are correct. However, when
everyone starts attacking Creon, proclaiming Antigone’s innocence, his stubborn pride and his
chauvinistic attitude takes hold of his state of mind. While defending his actions concerning Antigone’s
imprisonment to his son, Creon tells Haimon, “… if we must lose,/ let’s lose to a man, at least! Is a
woman stronger/ than we?” Creon unwilling admits to the idea that he may have been wrong, but even
so, a woman should not be correcting a man’s mistake. When Haimon tells his father that he is indeed
wrong, Creon furiously responds to his son’s accusations by telling his son that it is not the child’s place
to correct the parent. In addition, Creon tells Haimon that he has no choice but to punish Antigone for
her crime for if he does not punish lawbreakers, how can he earn the people’s respect as a leader. If he
cannot control the actions of his own family, then how will he b e able to control a city? Overall,
Creon’s stubborn pride and his ego cause him to fall. In the end, Creon realizes that the price he had to
pay was too great a price. He hurried frantically to Antigone’s jail cell, hoping to make amends by
setting her free, only to find that he was too late. By the end of the tale, Creon is a broken man who has
lost everything; his wife, his son Haimon, his niece Antigone, and most likely his kingdom.
Antigone is a play that happens over the course of a jam-packed twenty-four hours that are filled
with action, drama, and heartache. Despite containing all of the key elements of a truly intriguing story,
the play lacks substance. The main characters in the play, Antigone and Creon, have extremely
exaggerated actions and reactions that cause them to be unbelievable. Also, as the plot advances, you are
not draw into the experience. Rather, you view the events as a bystander and not as if you are there with
the characters. A truly well written turn of events, whether it is a book, a movie, or a play, is when the
observer lives along side the characters in the action and lives the experience with the characters.
Antigone was sadly lacking in these areas.
So why would an English class of the 21st century read a play from so long ago that it needed to
be retranslated in order to be understood? No, not because it is a “classic” for any written piece of work
can become a classic. After all, Harry Potter is a “modern classic.” We read Antigone because of the
lessons that can be drawn from the events that take place, and not only the “obvious” lessons like, “Do
not cut your nose off to spite your face,” “You get more flies with honey than with vinegar,” and others.
Antigone also teachers us that while you should stand up for yourself, your morals, and what you believe
in, there are different approaches, some better than others, that you can choose to follow. In Antigone,
Antigone believes that Creon’s laws defy the moral laws of the gods. Therefore, she defies Creon’s laws
and does what she believes is right. However, Antigone approaches the situation incorrectly and pays for
her mistake with her life.
In addition, Creon is also faced with the decision of justifying his actions. Creon wanted to
protect and help his nation. Then, when Creon was criticized for how he was restoring order to Thebes,
he acted inappropriately. Because of Creon’s actions, his life was all but destroyed. In the most people
want to sympathize with Creon, the tragic hero, as was the object of the tragedy. All in all, Creon’s fatal
flaw helped him better himself because loosing everything he held dear opened his eyes. Creon came to
terms with his flaws and to prevent the tragedy form recurring, Creon will hopefully change his ways;
teaching us that you always have the opportunity to rise from the pits of despair.
While Antigone may have been written during the times of Ancient Greece, the events
that take place are still relevant to today’s society. Antigone is special because there are multiple lessons
that one can take away from the story and the lessons learned are relevant to everyone’s lives. One of the
many lessons that the play Antigone teaches us is to stand up for yourself and your beliefs. However, the
lesson also comes with a hint of caution, be careful with how you approach the situations and do not act
rashly because you may commit an act that you will regret later. Because Antigone deals with moral
dilemmas that we still face today and Antigone also shows us how to and how not to deal with the strife
in our lives, Antigone is used as part of our curriculum