C/C of king Uther

The Role of Government

In the play Antigone Creon comes out to be the king of Thebes after Eteocles. As he becomes the king, he kind of becomes the dictator of Thebes. He makes a rule that whoever buries the dead body of Polyneices (traitor of Thebes) will get punished. However Antigone breaks the rule of Creon and try to bury Polyneices’s body but gets caught. Then eventually Antigone avoids being killed but gets locked up in a cave. Creon implies “Whoever is chosen to govern should be obeyed-Must be obeyed, in all things, great and small, Just and unjust!” (Antigone 2.35-38) to Haemon who is his son. This shows that he is a tyranny ruler and everybody fears him. So no one yet has been against Creon because they have fear that if they do they will get killed. So they just say the good things about Creon fearing death. On the other hand, Haemon has a different way of thinking about the government; democracy. I think the good example of the thinking of democracy is when Haemon says “Yet there are other men who can reason, too; and their opinions might be helpful. You are not in a position to know everything.” (Antigone 3.55-58). This shows that Haemon thinks that the government belongs to the people. Not just to the king.

The Role of Fate

In the play Antigone many things were cursed by the gods, such as Oedipus’s curse by the gods. Moreover Oedipus’s two suns have a war because they both wanted to be the king. However the brothers end up getting killed by each other. After their death Creon becomes the king of Thebes. He makes a rule whoever takes Polyneices’s dead body and bury him they will get punished. After failing to persuade Ismene to go with her and bury Polyneices, Antigone goes alone and tries to bury Polyneices. However, Antigone gets caught and after has an argument with Creon. In this argument both people are strong of their opinion. Antigone answers to Creon “I dared. It was not god’s proclamation. That final justice That rules the world below makes no such laws.” (Antigone 2.57-59). This showed me that Antigone was stubborn about burying Polyneices body as the god’s rule, or rights. Also when Creon says “Go join them, then; if you must have your love, Find it in hell!”(Antigone 2.118-120).I think Creon is proud in a rude way. In addition I think that even though Thebes had its own curse, it could have been better if Antigone was less stubborn and Creon was less proud. The reason is that if Antigone was less stubborn then she would have followed, and admired the higher people well and if Creon was less proud he would have understood other people’s feelings, like the citizen’s minds. But I think that because of these things it makes the play much more interesting