Teiresias's Speech In Sophocles 'Antigone'

In Antigone by Sophocles the character Teiresias delivers a speech about Creon’s fate when it comes to his decision to not bury Polynices. This speech uses several persuasive techniques to attempt to convince Creon that what he did to Antigone and Polynices is wrong and that he should attempt to right those wrongs.

One of these techniques is seen here; “The wise man, having made an error of judgement, will seek remedy, not keep grinding on”(24). With this quote we can see how Teiresias is trying to persuade Creon by saying that to disobey his suggestions would make him a foolish and unwise man as he did not attempt to amend his wrong doings. Another persuasive technique is later used here; “I’m saying this because I wish you well”(24). In saying

this to Creon he is trying to persuade him by saying that his advice is meant, not for the betterment of Teiresias, but for the betterment of Creon. This can be successful because people are more likely to go along with something if they believe it will benefit themselves. Finally we get to Teiresias’s use of words like “fear” and “evil” to describe the situation. Teiresias knows that Creon will not change his mind because of his conscience, because Creon is ruled by man made law and not religious law, so Teiresias attempts to make him fearful of the wrath that he will receive if he does not heed his warning about his fate. This is an extremely effective way of convincing others to join your side as we see it used in politics countless numbers of times. Teiresias’s use of persuasive words and techniques ultimately allows him to change Creon’s mind about Polynices and Antigone even if it proved futile in the end.

The theme of this speech is that actions have consequences and that you should not attempt to disturb the religious order of the world with human law. We see this throughout all three of Sophocles plays. We see it when Oedipus is punished for having fulfilled his destiny to kill his father and marry his mom by blinding himself. It is also seen in Antigone with the focal point being Creon. Creon attempts to punish Polynices unfairly in the eyes of the gods. This leads to him losing everything as foreseen in this speech. In contrast we see Antigone as more of a heroine because of her devotion to the religious order of the world. However we still see her punished for her actions, even if she was right in taking them.

Comparison
When compared to Antigone’s speech to Ismene at the beginning of the book we can see why certain persuasive techniques work better in certain situations.

Similarly to Teiresias’s speech Antigone uses words such as “discriminate” to describe her brothers burials as attempt to appeal to Ismene’s emotions. The differ however in that Teiresias attempted to invoke fear into Creon’s heart whereas Antigone was trying to convince her sister of the importance of family. One glaring difference between the speeches is this line; “Soon you must show your mettle,-if you’ve any”(3). This does two things, puts urgency onto the situation and makes you feel as though it is wrong not to side with Antigone. When the sense of urgency is put onto someone it makes it so they act more on emotion then with their intelligence showing a larger use of Pathos rather than Logos. Although there are many similarities in the speeches there is also some very large differences. One of these is the use of appeals. Antigone tends to lean towards using almost an entirely Pathos based argument whereas Teiresias uses both Pathos and Ethos in his appeal to the great power that the gods will unleash against Creon. Both speeches are very powerful persuasive pieces with varying amounts of success that show off the importance of persuasive speech and its effects on the people around us and the choices they

make.