To Mistake Self for Love

Jackson Hanson

Section: 07EH

TA: Berman

Words: 1031

To Mistake Self For Love

        In Antigone by Sophocles, Kreon desires governmental law to be driven by practical judgment in order to preserve the well being of Thebes. As a result, he holds the “ship of state” above honor, family and love. Through his stubborn behavior and acts of inflexibility, his unjust tendencies as a ruler prompt him to mistake adamants for love; in turn, he fails to achieve respect from his people and the prosperity of Thebes.

        Throughout the play, Kreon consistently advocates for a series of administrative principles. As the chief authoritative figure, his motivation to strictly practice law is in essence a good intention. However, his ideas of practical judgment quickly become characterized by stubbornness. Despite a number of Thebans offering their opinions of properly burying Polyneices and pardoning Antigone, Kreon stands by his words in a self-involved manner.

        These acts of inflexibility illustrate him misjudging the limitations of a ruler. For instance, Haimon urges his father to “…not, then, clothe yourself in just one attitude— that what you say, and only what you say, is right… So come, yield from your rage; allow yourself to change,” (Sophocles 705-709). Even after his son warns him of the dangers of self-righteousness, Kreon simply ignores the caution. In doing so, he remains steadfast to his initial word and turns Haimon’s words of wisdom into an accusation of solely showing loyalty towards Antigone. In another case, Kreon displays his inflexibility to a renowned soothsayer, Tieresias. He argues to Kreon that, “…it’s from your bad thinking that the city is so sick… Yield to the dead and don’t keep stabbing at a perished man,” (Sophocles 1015-1018). Although he very well knows that the suggestion comes from a wise man, his tyrannical pride once again impedes him from making a just decision. For the second time, Kreon has received advice to “yield” to his inflexibility and honor human values above law. Instead, he avoids Tieresias’ commands and cowardly responds to him claiming that his advice is poor, despite how it has always carried enough credibility in the past to abide by. But once Tieresias objects to him, Kreon suddenly views his guidance as unsound.

        Despite these opportunities to make right of the cultural custom that he has broken, Kreon remains too proud to reevaluate his harsh order. Perhaps, his concern with appearing weak to his people sparks his unyielding approach to his oppositionists. At this point, abiding firmly by his policy tops executing a difficult, yet courageous change of heart. To him, going back on his word would categorize him as passive coward. More importantly, he would compromise with the ideas and actions of a woman, Antigone. In his mind, that would be the ultimate defeat. As a result, the potential defeat of his self proves to be more paramount than the fall of his empire, which he fails to see at this point. Consequently, his single-minded attitude coupled with the neglect of his people eventually leads to his demise. Where he believes standing proud against his people would both earn him respect and preserve Thebes, it actually ensues neither.