Antigone
Jennifer Brown
Bernard Knox, in the introduction to Antigone, states that Creon
"represents a viewpoint few Greeks would have challenged; that in
times of crisis, the supreme loyalty of the citizen is to the state.".
In Antigone, Creon represented a viewpoint that is still valid today,
that a leader’s first responsibility is to his or her country. Creon came
from the same kind of dysfunctional family tree that marks many
political leaders, but decided upon taking over leadership of Thebes
that he would put these issues aside and lead as a strong face for his
people. His actions, and the edicts that he passed to his people,
especially regarding the treatment of his own nephew, Polyneices,
reflect his determination to put his perceived safety of Thebes ahead
of all else in his life.
While on the surface, this approach may seem a noble and
appropriate approach to leadership, human history repeatedly reveals
that some of the greatest follies great leaders make is a failure to
understand that they are leading human beings, not a parcel of land.
The leaders who lose site of the people they lead, in favor of
protecting the “realm,” will eventually lose the favor of the people, and
eventually fall from leadership. History is full of brilliant leaders who
lost site of the issues they really faced, and the people they lead:
Richard II, Lenin, Napoleon, and Mussolini for example.
Antigone, in this context, is particularly relevant today in the United
States. This is not the place for a red state/blue state discussion, but
suffice to say I do see a lot of the same bullheaded arrogance
displayed by our current leadership that I also see in Creon’s behavior.
In Creon’s case laws were greater than morality, in our current
government, there also seems to be an overwhelming desire to
accomplish an objective without regard to the lives lost accomplishing
it. We are not faced with the same family versus state issues that
Creon is, but the deeper context of holding the country together while
sacrificing the basics tenants of kindness, friendship and humility are
relevant to today’s situation.
In characterizing Antigone, Knox quotes T.S. Eliot and says, "she did the right
thing for the wrong reason."
I disagree with T.S. Eliot in regard to Antigone’s behavior. I believe
the opposite—that Antigone did the wrong thing for the right reason. I
believe that Antigone had good reasoning behind her choice to bury
her brother. She put family above all—the opposite of Creon’s
reasoning, but valid reasoning nonetheless. She believed that the
afterlife was more important than flesh and bone, and upheld her
spiritual beliefs even in the face of adversity. Religious fables are full
of stories of people who when faced with laws of the flesh and laws of
spirituality, will side with the spiritual law. The choice to treat her two
brothers equally is very noble, and appropriate. These reasons are not
the wrong ones for her choice, but rather very good ones to justify
why she decided that her brother needed a proper burial.
It was, rather, her execution of this decision that was her mistake. By sneaking
off and burying her brother in the dead of night, instead of seeking approval for her
actions, she essentially made a bad choice. While she was likely not to get
approval from Creon, she acted rashly, which was her downfall. While it’s not
certain whether she would have been able to reason with Creon, she may have
been able to reason with Haemon and perhaps Eurydice, and used them to help
her get Creon’s approval for Polynice’s burial. By acting rashly and without
seeking approval, she made a bad choice, but her choice was guided by the right
reasons.