“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way,and shows the way.”-John c. Maxwell. If it wasn't for leaders we would be nowhere in life. Someone has to take the reins and lead. I have always been amazed watching leaders help people down in the dark to rise and become a better individual. There has been a vast amount of leaders that have inspired me with everyday life to at school helping me with assignments. Innumerable of these inspirations have been as low as family members to great stars across the world. One day I will rise and become a leader for the great country of mine. After reading the play Antigone by Sophocles, I feel that me and the character Creon compare with Surroundings, Discipline, and Family.
The surroundings of Creon
In every story there is a main lesson to learn a kind of "Big idea" your supposed to get called the theme. A stories theme can be anything from a will to survive to a quest for power.In Sophocles' "Antigone" he revealed through conflict, characters, and setting that the central theme is that divine authority is more powerful than human authority.
Creon's noble quality is his caring for Antigone and Ismene when their father was persecuted. Creon is a very authoritative person and demands control of others. When talking to the Chorus, Creon does not ask them to agree with the decree but demands that they follow it. Creon expects loyalty from others. It is apparent that Creon is very dominating and wants to be in control. "The man the city sets up in authority must be obeyed in small things and in just but also in their opposites"(717-719). Through this quote the reader realizes that Creon wants obedience in everything he decides even if he is at fault. "There is nothing worse than disobedience to authority" (723-724). Further supporting Creon's belief that everyone shall remain faithful to him even if he rules unfairly. This is proved true when Creon says, "Should the city tell me how I am to rule them?" (790).
basically serves as a building block to her being admirable. Certain examples through out the play
Many great rulers have been tempted by the authority of absolute power. In Antigone, by Sophocles, Creon, the Theban king, will do anything in order to earn this absolute power. Creon’s prideful attitude, disregard of the authority of the gods, and failure to listen cause him to fail as a statesman, demonstrating the nature of kingship in Sophocles’s Antigone.
Of the tragic figures in Antigone, Creon is the most obviously evil because his motives are self-serving and his fate the worst. As the play begins, we learn that Antigone has defied Creon's royal decree by performing sacred burial rites for her exiled brother, Polyneices. Polyneices has been declared an enemy of the state by Creon. The sentence for anyone attempting to bury him is death by stoning.
The notion of honor and justice is prevalent throughout all types of literature. In Greek culture, honor is essential for creating a solid foundation within a society and family. Honor will follow you until the day you perish, and beyond. The honor for men in Greece is spiritual in that loved ones show respect to the deceased by giving them a proper burial. Nevertheless, when a man acts upon betrayal of the city, that man looses the privilege to die in such honor. This is evident in the life of Antigone when her two brothers, Polyneices and Eteocles, both die at each other’s hands at war when deciding the ruler of Thebes. Polyneices cannot have a proper burial, because the new king, Antigone’s uncle, Creon created a law that decrees that anyone who tries to give Polyneices a proper burial will have a dire consequence: death. In Sophocles’ Antigone, the quest that Antigone endures to stay true to her pure intentions of honoring Polyneices by giving him a proper burial is in juxtaposition with the fact that her defiance towards Creon is not only to do with Polyneices, but also to show appeasement to the gods.
In the story “Antigone”, Sophocles shows that Creon’s attitude is very angry, making everyone sees him as a tyrant more than as a king. His regard for the laws of the town causes him to abandon most viewpoints, like the laws of the gods, or the rights of the people. He believes that his subjects should obey the laws he has set in place, even if moral or religious beliefs contradict his laws and beliefs. Creon’s idea of a good leader is one who maintains order through violence and fear. More over his arrogant, power-seeking personality prevented him from seeking out advice or listening to his own people.
Both Antigone and Oedipus, written by Sophocles, use character’s opinions and approach to leadership to show Sophocles’ ideal leadership style for a king.
A leader is someone who leads or commands a group, organization, or country, in Antigone Creon is a good leader. Creon leads the city of Thebes as a ruler, he is very powerful as a leader and takes his job seriously, while some of the decisions he made were not the best he was a good leader because of his qualities. Creon had punishments for the laws that were broken and Creon didn't want the laws that he made broken. Creon also understands that to be a good leader he had to prove himeself and there will always be setbacks in leadership that cause you too need a backbone. You can’t just walk into a country as a leader and tell everyone what to do and they would trust you. Finally Creon had a lot of pride and while this pride is for himself it also helps the county and
sense of loyalty leads to her simultaneous violation and observance to the duty of women
Political power results from the fear of force. The individual acts out of a fear of consequences of disobedience and in accordance with the desdire for self-preservation. Political Authority results from a belief in the moral correctness of the organization in question. The individual acts of a sense of obligation and acknowledges the right of the ruler, morally, to rule and the moral correctness of the laws are accepted. The laws are obeyed for their own sake.
The grey area of justice is the most significant human made anomaly ever. It is the great vast area between two extremes that the right action lies in. To find the right action and/or consequence in the grey area, a perceptive and open mind is required. Think of it as a needle in a haystack but with the right person looking for it, and given the proper tools, one can find that needle in no time at all. In accordance with Joseph Campbell and the Hero’s Journey, a hero must make an abundant amount of decisions, but how does the hero decide on the correct course of action that will grant them the justice they so rightfully deserve? Being the hero of the story, most of the time the hero will make the right decision, and everything works out in
Power, it can be a great thing, but in media we have seen thousands of examples of how it can turn you into your worst self. For, example, Scar from The Lion King, the Red Queen from Alice in Wonderland, Governor Ratcliffe from Pocahontas, or really any Disney villain-ever. In the play Antigone, the author Sophocles shows us just how power changed Creon into a power hungry arrogant child, and how his actions and the actions of others made consequences for not just them, but others too. The theme in the play that connects the actions and events of the play Antigone is power. The most distinct traits that Creon has in the play is that he is childish, oblivious to other people’s words, and has qualities of a tyrant.These traits became more
There are many conflicts that occur in Antigone by Sophocles. Many of these conflicts are man versus man and man versus self. There is one main conflict, which is man versus government, that leads to the several other conflicts that occur in the play. The overarching conflict forces many of the main characters to make decisions that test their strength, loyalty, piety, and integrity.
..., this sense of arrogance angers Creon to a point beyond belief. Antigone’s refusal to cooperate causes Creon to go mad with irritation and frustration. Wanting to show his sense of power, he refuses to back down in fear of losing his position. His stubbornness grows stronger as Antigone continues to disobey his commands. Antigone’s strong and steady foundation helps her show defiance. She is able to overcome the opinions of the people and commit to helping her brother regardless of the after effects. She ignores what everyone says and does only as she wants. She is powerful, both physically and mentally, and is successful in her tasks. Antigone matures into a commendable and respectable character in which she depicts her rebelliousness and bravery, pride and tolerance, and sense of moral righteousness to demonstrate fundamental character development in the play.