Antigone Creon is a Failed Statesman

A detailed Summary of Antigone Creon is a Failed Statesman

Three dead bodies, angry Gods, and a bad omen foreseen by a prophet come true. Such are the effects of a foolish king's actions. In Sophocles's Antigone, Creon fails as a statesman because of three primary faults: he makes governing decisions without taking advice from others, he abuses his absolute power as a king, and he has an extremely quick and volatile temper.

The foremost of Creon's faults is making his decisions without first consulting and receiving an opinion from other people. For example, Creon and Haemon argue whether Antigone's actions are honorable: "Since when do I take my orders from the people of Thebes?" (Sc. 3.628-630). Creon is being very stubborn and refuses to even think about the thoughts of his people whom he governs. Creon uses his absolute power to ensure his opinion as the correct and only belief, and he does not even take into consideration the view of the Theban civilians. In addition, when Teiresias comes to give counsel, the prophet blames the king of Thebes for all the disatrous omens. Creon, in turn, accuses Teiresias of bribery and falsehood. The foolish king again shows his obstinacy by not listening to advice from anyone. This time it is much worse because he is brushing aside the words

of Teiresias, a prophet who had yet to ever be proven wrong. Creon is not being fair and just to the people, and Teiresias warns him to be reasonable. Even with this warning, the king still does not change his opinion and misuses his power. Not taking guidance from other people can be a statesman's most serious mistake, and for Creon this is the fault which starts the entire sequence of events leading up to the death of his family.

The third and last of Creon's primary faults as a statesman is his quick and volatile temper. For example, when the sentry tells Creon of the corpse being buried, his anger quickly builds, and the ruler threatens the sentry: "No, not your mere death shall pay the reckoning, / But, for a living lesson against such infamy, / You shall be racked and tortured till you tell / The whole truth of this outrage..." (Sc. 1.254-259). As Creon's anger builds his fury starts to affect the way that he governs. Creon's anger makes him act unjust and unfair, but his enraged state also blinds him from the truth that the sentry does not commit the crime but another person. In addition, when he is talking to his son about Antigone's sentence, he becomes furious when Haemon tries to defend An

Some common words found in the essay are:
Furthermore Chorus, Thebes Sc, Antigone Creon, , Creon Haemon, absolute power, creon fault, quick volatile temper, creon's anger, volatile temper, quick volatile, primary faults, failure statesman, people thebes,

Approximate Word count = 819
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels

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