FREE ESSAY ON ABSOLUTE POWER IN ANTIGONE

ABSOLUTE POWER IN ANTIGONE

"Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely," said Lord Acton generations ago.
In the Greek tragedy Antigone, written by Sophocles, there was a character named Kreon,
the antagonist, who was the king of Thebes. Thebes was an autocratic state where Kreon
had absolute power. Throughout the course of the play, Kreon abused his privilege of
absolute power; and this caused him to suffer greatly, even though he was warned by a few
people of his bad deeds. What Sophocles commented on absolute power was that one should
not abuse it. If it was abused, he or she had to expect bad consequences. This was
indicated by what happened to Kreon when he abused his power. Kreon settled a decree that
prohibited anyone from burying Polyneices' dead body. He was proud of his decree, and he
also stated that he would be a good king by listening to what people said regarding his
decisions. When the decree was broken by Antigone, Kreon sentenced her to death. This
angered the gods because they wanted the dead body of Polyneices buried, and they did not
want a live body (that of Antigone) buried in a cave. Kreon was told by Haimon to change
his mind, but Kreon rejected his request and went ahead and buried Antigone alive.
Teiresias warned Kreon that the gods were angry and his actions were to be blamed. Kreon
rejected both Haimon's request and Teiresias' warning, and as a result, he suffered in
the end. 
In the beginning of the play, Antigone and Ismene were found arguing about whether
Polyneices' body should be buried. Antigone wanted to bury her brother's body, but Ismene
objected because she said that they should not disobey Kreon, who had absolute power and
had prohibited Polyneices' burial (26-80). Ismene indicated that the citizens of Thebes
did not dare to go against what Kreon decreed. They all knew that if they objected to
Kreon, punishment would be the result. 
In the play, Kreon was first found addressing the senate as to how a ruler should rule
his state. He said in his long speech, "'I believe that he who rules in a state and fails
to embrace the best men's counsels, but stays locked in silence and vague fear, is the
worst man there. I have long believed so'" (217-221). To impress the senate Kreon told
them that he would listen to any advice they gave him because that was what a good ruler
should do. 
However, this was not how he reacted when Kreon heard that somebody buried Polyneices'
body. While he was talking to the senate, a sentry came in and told Kreon that
Polyneices' body had been buried. "'...somebody up and buried the corpse and went off:
sprinkled dust over it and did the ceremonies you're supposed to'" (310-312). Kreon got
very angry and threatened to kill the sentry if he didn't find the culprit who had buried
the body. Kreon thought that all of the sentries were bribed into not telling him who was
the culprit (372-391). Koryphaios suggested that the gods might have had buried the body:
"'My lord, we have been considering whether a god might not have done this'" (350-351).
Just like a dictator, as if he knew the actions of the gods, he declared that it was
impossible for the gods to honor (bury) criminals (363-364). He defied what Koryphaios
had said and just declared that the gods would never bury Polyneices, and he got his way.
Before, Kreon had said that a good ruler like himself would listen to people, but Kreon
did not do that. He went against what he had said. This showed that Kreon was very
hypocritical, and he always only declared what he thought was right.
Some time passed, and the sentry came in the palace with Antigone, who had buried
Polyneices out of sheer respect. Kreon asked her if she really went against the decree,
and Antigone denied nothing. 
'Yes, because I did not believe that Zeus was the one who proclaimed it; neither did
Justice, or the gods of the dead whom Justice lives among. The laws they have made for
men are well marked out. I didn't suppose your decree had strength enough, or you, who
are human, to violate the lawful traditions the gods have not written merely, but made
infallible.' (550-558)
Antigone said that the choice of burying Polyneices or not was not in the hands of
humans. When a person died, the gods expected the body to be buried so that they could
take it to the underworld. A dead body was the property of the gods. Burial was a
tradition the gods had set for the people, and it was to be be continued. Kreon acted
selfishly, abused his power, and went against the will of the gods to get his wish. As a
reaction to Antigone's infallible concept of burial, Kreon said, "'...these stiff minds
are the first to collapse. Fire-tempered iron, the strongest and the toughest, that's the
kind you most often see snapped and shattered'" (578-580). Ironically, what Kreon said
applied to himself. Kreon himself was stiff-minded about Polyneices not to be buried.
Like all dictators, Kreon did not realize his stubbornness because he thought he was
always right. 
Another case of when Kreon rejected other's suggestions was in the scene with his son,
Haimon. Kreon explained to Haimon the situation Antigone was in and the death penalty,
and Haimon objected too it. Haimon said that he did respect Kreon a lot as a leader, but
he said that in this situation, "'perhaps a second opinion will be valuable'" (832).
Haimon thought that "'no one is more innocent, no death more awful, no deeds more noble
than hers'" (841-843). Haimon kindly asked Kreon to change his mind for once and accept
what others had to say and not give Antigone the death sentence. Kreon lost his mind and
didn't accept what Haimon said, and Kreon claimed that only he was right. Again, he went
against what he said earlier in the play about listening to other people. Kreon and
Haimon argued more, and Haimon left by saying that Antigone's death will bring about
other deaths, and Kreon would never see him again (908, 924). 
After Haimon left, Kreon ordered for Antigone to be locked in a cave. According to
tradition, the gods had a right over dead bodies, but they did not want live bodies
buried or killed. This was exactly what Kreon was doing to Antigone. He went against the
will of the gods, the most high, and angered them. He abused his power by not making
decisions with other people, and he just wanted things his own way even though they were
not for him to handle. 
After Antigone was locked in the cave, a prophet named Teiresias came to inform Kreon
about his deeds. Teiresias told Kreon that once again he was walking on thin ice.
Teiresias had heard weird noises of birds "'squawking in an evil frenzy'" (1155). He told
Kreon that he had tried to perform a sacrifice, but the ritual had failed. Teiresias
informed Kreon that the "'state is sick'" (1170) and that Kreon's code of conduct was to
be blamed. He also said that it was not too late to undo his terrible deed of burying
someone who was living and not burying someone who was dead. Kreon replied to all this by
saying that the prophet had been bribed by someone to say what he said, so that Antigone
would be set free (1171-1223). Once more, Kreon rejected advice from a holy figure and
did what he favored. Teiresias was known not to have had ever lied, so his statements
were true. Kreon was not being fair and Teiresias warned him of that, but he still didn't
change and misused his power. Teiresias mentioned to Kreon, just before Teiresias left,
that Kreon had dishonored a living soul by putting Antigone into exile in the cave. He
also stated that matters that had to be taken care of by the gods were out of his hands
and that "'a crime of violence is being done'" (1249), and Kreon was in charge of it.
Teiresias ended by saying that that was why evil will pursue Kreon (1243-1250). 
By the end of the play, Kreon found out that both Antigone and Haimon had committed
suicide. When Kreon's wife, Eurydice, found out about her son, she committed suicide too.
As the result of Kreon's bad code of conduct and his constant abusing of his power, he
had three dead bodies. He was responsible for all those deaths. 
By the end of the plot, Kreon learned an important lesson. He realized that he had been
wrong, and his son had been right (1464). "'I have learned, and I am ruined. It was a
god. Then, right then!'" (1466-1467). The gods became very angry at Kreon because he went
against their traditions and abused his absolute power. He did this by doing what he
favored, regardless of the gods' rules, which was to bury a live soul and let a dead body
rot in the open. He was being very hypocritical by not listening to anyone regarding his
decisions; he himself had said a good ruler like him would listen to people. In the
denouement, he had three dead bodies, and their deaths broke his heart. However, he was
completely responsible for their deaths, and he could have prevented them. Sophocles made
it certain that if one abused his or her power, it would bring adverse results, like what
happened to Kreon. Kreon learned an important lesson from his suffering. Aeschylus once
said, "By suffering comes wisdom."