Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Antigone

After reading through Antigone I feel that Creon was wrong in many ways. First, it had been agreed upon that Oedipus' sons Eteocles and Polynices would share the power from year to year. When it was Polynices turn to take over Eteocles refused to step down and hand over power. As a result Polynices used foreigners to try and gain power. I do not feel that by doing this he is acting as a trader in anyway. He was simply fighting for what had been agreed upon. Creon was wrong by only allowing Eteocles a proper burial when in fact he was in fact the son going against the agreement. Therefore I feel that either both sons or just Polynices deserved to have a proper burial.
Another way that I feel Creon is wrong is by not allowing Antigone to give her brother a burial. As we discussed in class during this time it was seen as a womans responsibility to hold the burial. Antigone states on page 954 "he has no right to keep me from my own". I feel that she is not only making a statement about it being a womans responsibility to have the burial but also that Creon has no right to keep her from her family. Being a part of the family I feel that both Antigone and Ismene should have the power to make a decision on whether or not their brother is given a proper burial. 
 Overall I think that a job of a King is to be fair to all people that you are ruling over. I do not feel the Creon holds this characteristics at all. I feel that he is self-fish and only concerned with what makes him look like a better person. This is made apparent when he decides Antigone should be stoned to death. He was not willing to let others know that he was capable of killing a family member and wanted all the blame to be put among the community and not himself. These are just of the few reasons that I feel Creon is wrong with his decisions and why he is not a good leader himself. 

1 comment:

  1. I agree with your comment about Antigone's role as a woman. She has the right to bury and mourn for her losses (especially her own brother), and if Creon had been anything close to a good ruler, he would have understood her grief and sympathized with her.

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