Antigone
Antigone was written by the great Greek playwright Sophocles about the blind corruption that indiscriminately falls upon anyone with absolute power. "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely" as stated by Lord Acton in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton in 1887. This is echoed in the story of Antigone, where Creon shows that too much power can corrupt even the trustworthiest of men. As Creon became bestowed with total control of Thebes his character, principals, and his judgment deteriorate. Sophocles' tragedy masterfully demonstrates how any moral man can do wrong when in control of too much authority. Creon's leadership was hurt greatly because of his immoralist character. Creon states that there are other women for his son to love when he states, "There are other fields for him to plow" (Antigone). Creon also believes that his son should obey his father's request no matter what the circumstances. He tells of this when he says "That's how you ought to feel within your heart, subordinate to your father's will in every way" (Antigone). Creon took his power a step too far by insisting that everything be done his way, and I believe that is one of the reasons that he fell apart as a leader.
Creon lost his sense of judgment when he became an all-powerful ruler. There are many examples of this throughout the play. When Creon was talking to Ismene he said "Death would do it for me-break off their marriage" (Antigone), this showed that he had lost grip of what was important to him and his family. He only looked at negative aspects of the issue. He didn't realize how bad he would hurt his family by killing Antigone. He goes on to further prove my point when, at the end of the play, he states "I murdered you, my son, against my will- you too, my wife" (Antigone). By this statement he means to take all blame for what has been done, and show that he had little sense of judgment at the time of the incident. ered from a lack of rock solid principals. When he said " I am in no mood to trade insults with a seer" (Antigone), he showed me that he felt that as a king he thought he was a better person than all others. He felt he had no time for ordinary people because he was of higher being. He also said "Not a word of hope-your doom is sealed" (Antigone). It bothered me that he had the absolute lack of compassion because he said this when he was about to seal the fate of his own niece. To be a good leader you must have rock solid principals to fall
Some common words found in the essay are:
Antigone Creon, Ismene Death, Agamemnon Iliad, Iliad Lines, Iliad Agamemnon, , Mandell Creighton, antigone creon, creon lost, leader creon, sense judgment, character principals, Lord Acton, rock solid principals, bestowed total, american society, play creon, rock solid, solid principals, leader creon lost, antigone creon power, bestowed total control,
Approximate Word count = 846
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
