Civil Disobedience, Machiavelli And Socrates

The purpose of this short essay is to justify Antigone’s position during the story and to conduct an analysis from the other readings to defend my interpretation. I will take in consideration the similarities and differences of all three other readings Civil Disobedience, Machiavelli and Socrates.

The Antigone story is Greek story about a family plagued by supposedly inherit curse by their father, a one that killed his father and married his mother and created 4 kids ( 2 daughters and two sons). One of the sons inherited the throne and the other one raised and Army against his brother and in the battle they both die. Leaving the two daughters alive and the last ones of the family. Ismene and Antigone were the last survivals of the family

but they were very different, Ismene’s character is a good girl that follows instructions and is afraid of the rules and laws of the king. While Antigone is more a rebel and will do what is right in her own mind regardless of what the king and the rules are. To begin with, an in depth analysis and understanding of Creon's intents and actions must be established in order to evaluate the reactions of Antigone and Ismene. The central conflict of Antigone derives from Polyneices' betrayal to the city of Thebes. As the ruler, Creon naturally feels compelled to exert his authority by refusing Polyneices a proper burial "for the birds that see him, for their feast's delight" (162). The grotesque imagery evoked not only illustrates Creon's endeavor to discourage further rebellion, but also portrays a personal defense to protect his pride; this need to reassert his pride significantly heightens with Antigone's involvement. From Creon's perspective, leniency represents vulnerability within a leader "if he does not reach for the best counsel for [Thebes], but through some fear, keeps his tongue under lock and key"(167). Throughout the play, the symbol of "tongue" frequently recurs, illustrating how society condemns vanity as it blinds men from justice. To explicate, Creon's reference to the tongue highlights the hypocrisy of his actions as his words, punctured with intents for revenge against both Polyneices and Antigone, figuratively blind him from the consequences of his dire actions. Sophocles uses negative diction such as "murderous", "clamor", and "blood" to depict the chorus' emotional trauma from the civil war as the civilians heavily depend on a strong leader to recover their morale. Creon exploits the fear of his people as he "keeps his [intents to regain pride] under lock and key," glamorizing his actions as endeavors to defend Thebes.
Instead of considering the people's interests, he seeks vengeance towards those who have wounded his pride. In fact, he accuses Teiresias, the most insightful messenger in Sophocles' plays, of yielding to greed for material wealth when Teiresias warns Creon of the consequences of his actions. Creon's decision "to use any legal means...both about the dead and [living]" (168) demonstrates how his appetite for revenge ultimately transforms any of his noble intents to protect Thebes into a mere conflict for power, particularly worsened by Antigone's rebellious actions; instead of trusting the gods to punish Polyneices, he uses his authority to indulge in his vengeance.
Within the play, Creon blatantly states: "We cannot give victory to a woman.

If we must accept defeat, let it be from a man; we must not let people say that a woman beat us" (187). While, in light of the moral standards within Greek society, his rationale may have been justified, Creon's actions largely derived from a personal vendetta against Antigone as opposed to a genuine endeavor to establish civil law. To clarify, civil law expresses similar qualities to justice in the regard that civil law generally captures a moral agreement among the civilians; however, civil law, as an interpretation or product of fallible human judgment, remains subject to bias and corruption. Conversely, while the definition of justice varies on an individual basis, justice as a whole remains constant and impartial to prejudice. Therefore, while Creon’s condemnation of Antigone may capture the common reaction towards a woman's defiance, to a large extent his actions do not necessarily correlate with justice as his decrees are tainted by his paternalistic obsession for dominance. While Creon characterized a weak leader as one who yields to fear, limiting him from ruling with his best judgment, Creon capitulates to the societal pressure of establishing paternalistic authority in fear of rejection from his people. Instead of following Haemon's advice, he constantly belittles his son as a "woman's slave"(191), ignoring the fact that "a man who thinks that he alone is right,[that] he is himself, unique, such men, when opened up, are seen to be quite empty" (189). Ironically, once Creon's fears come into fruition at the play's conclusion, the words of the chorus reverberate the previous warnings from Haemon and Teiresias, portraying how Creon's obsession with power ultimately blinds his judgment. Even after accusing Teiresias of malicious intent, Creon finally agrees to follow the advice given to him: bury Polyneices and rescue Antigone. However, even in his final moments of submission,

Creon remains determined on reestablishing his paternalistic authority and reverses the order of the tasks to further delay Antigone's release.
Creon's refusal to bury Polyneices induces a wide spectrum of reactions from the public embodied by two characters: Ismene and Antigone. These two sisters deviate radically in their beliefs, actions, and fate as "life was [Ismene's'] choice and death was [Antigone's]; their differences represent the overarching conflict between societal and personal morals. Ismene's passive reaction not only demonstrates her inclination to avoid conflict, but also the silence and submission of the women in society. Ismene's silence causes the audience to question her role as a minor or major character, symbolizing how women often play minor roles in society. To specify, Ismene only appears within the exposition and rising action as she struggles to stay united with Antigone through death. Furthermore, to convince Antigone against the burial, Ismene explains how "[Antigone] ought to realize [they] are only women, not meant in nature to fight against men"(163); her conservative perspective embodies those of the women in Greek society, delineating how women conform to the predominant paternalistic culture. Furthermore, in the exposition of the play, the chorus assumed with certainty that a man "buried the corpse and vanished...He scattered on the skin some thirsty dust; he did the ritual" (170). The repetition of "he" emphasizes how the initial confoundment surrounding the burial immediately shifts to the fact that a woman had not only committed a crime, but more importantly defied a man's orders; thus, the severity of the crime significantly increased as the conflict expanded into a power struggle between genders instead of an endeavor to establish justice. Ismene's passiveness deviates from Antigone's defiance which distinctly characterizes Antigone as a relative protagonist. To clarify, the term 'relative protagonist' emphasizes how Sophocles portrays the ambiguity of justice. In Ismene's perspective, justice means following the civil law regardless of one's personal values. In Creon's perspective, justice may be defined as "the sovereign's decree and power"(163), whereas, from Antigone's perspective, justice may be defined as "the justice of the gods" (175). As stated earlier, Antigone's character symbolizes how personal morals may conflict with societal standards; her adamant commitment to her family characterizes her as a tragic hero as she "would not incur from the gods, through fear of any man's temper"(178). Antigone not only commits the crime, but also publicizes her actions to denounce Creon's actions as unjust in an endeavor to elicit a reaction from the civilians who succumb to Creon's tyranny in silence. Towards the conclusion, the chorus states
The purpose of this short essay was to justify Antigone’s position during the story and to conduct an analysis from the other readings to defend my interpretation. I took in consideration the similarities and differences of all three other readings Civil Disobedience, Machiavelli and Socrates.