Examples Of Excessive Power In Antigone

In ‘Antigone”, Ismene says, “To them that walk in power; to exceed is madness, and not wisdom”. Her statement makes it clear, those who “walk in power”, allow it to corrupt them. Throughout the history of humanity there has been a correlation between those who have excessive power and corruption. Webster’s Dictionary defines corruption as, “impairment of integrity, virtue, or moral principle”. In the story of Antigone the tragic hero Creon, shows all of the common characteristics of corruption. Before one can analysis the character of Creon they would first have to look at the story of Oedipus the King.

After Antigone is brought forth and accepts the punishment of her burying her brother, Creon sends her away. At this time, Ismene steps up to defend Antigone and tries to get creon to realize that Antigone is his son’s future bride. Creon answers by saying, “There are other field just as fertile” (26). In this quote, he displays that he cares for neither Antigone, nor his son, Haemon. . He explains that there are other women around that could be just as a promising wife as Antigone. He exemplifies the theme of pride here, by putting that everyone gets replaced and that he does not put his son’s life first. Power, a theme that is primarily exemplified by Creon, appears multiple times throughout his dialogue. While discussing Antigone’s punishment with Haemon, Creon says, “This city will tell me how I ought to rule it?” (40). In this quote, Creon represents the theme of power. He is trying to show Haemon that HE is the king of Thebes and that no one will tell him how to rule, especially the citizens. In relation to present time, there are countless politicians that share the same characteristics as Creon, someone who takes their power for granted and will use it to take advantage of everyone.

Power is not inherently a bad tool, but it is when it is placed into the wrong hands. When or if it is placed in the wrong hands, it can corrupt the holder. Even if they do not have bad intentions, the power may corrupt them into using it for bad intentions. The quote stated by Machiavelli, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely” is true because too much power can corrupt an individual’s thoughts and this can be proved through the book One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest written by Ken Kesey, and also the “Stanford Prison Experiment” which was conducted by Philip Zimbardo.

To have “power” means that one has authority, and having authority gives you the right to control or command, but for many, receiving a surplus of power and authority strips them of their morals and corrupts them. Sophocles uses Creon in Antigone as an example of the side effects of gaining power. Due to an abundance of power, Creon’s character goes through a metamorphosis in which he becomes a corrupted person. Creon becomes unrecognizable after becoming King and his character transitions to personify all the evil that comes along with gaining a large amount of power. Sophocles uses Creon’s character to convey that power causes one to believe that they are above everyone and everything else, including the laws of the gods, and leads them to

“The tragedy of life is not death but what we let die inside of us while we live.” This quote was once said by Norman Cousin, a famous American political journalist who was also known as a world peace advocate. This quote relates greatly to the tragedy Antigone By Sophocles. In this play we watch the tragic hero Creon, a powerful king, become very arrogant due to his nobility ranking, thus relating back to part of the quote where it’s stated “...what we let die inside of us”.

The brave Burmese politician Aung San Suu Kyi once said, “It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it.” (Brainyquotes.com) Aung San Suu Kyi statement explains Creon, the king of Thebes in Sophocles’ play Antigone to the furthest extent. Creon’s constant paranoia about the safety of his enfant regime is his fatal flaw. Antigone depicts the dangers of power and the importance of family, and illustrates Creon’s rule over the city of Thebes. Creon takes power over the city after their previous ruler died in battle. Thebes is riven by the tragedy of their previous king’s death and Creon needed to make sure that the people were loyal to his regime. One decree that he made was that the previous king’s

People who have power can have negative effects on others because they can be intolerant and dangerous. Power may seem like a good thing, but I can promise you it’s not.

In the play “Antigone”, a princess wants to bury her dead brother Polyneices who has recently died. Creon, Antigone’s uncle, uses his power to stop anyone from burying the body of Polyneices. Antigone revolts, however, and decides to bury her brother despite the edict that Creon has created. Creon finds out about this and executes Antigone. The people pick up on this and invade Creon. Creon murders himself in the extent of this because he was corrupted by power and his entire family was slaughtered because of him. This is an example of power having a negative effect against people.

Power can allow the person in charge to evoke fear to get people to do what they want. Here is an example from the play, Antigone, When King Creon uses fear to get his people to do what he wants. Another example is from the game, Infamous: Second Son, the head of the D.U.P., Augustine uses fear to get people of Seattle to turn in Conduits(people with abnormal abilities (powers) that normal people feared). Power in the wrong hands allows leaders to do whatever they want with no one stopping them. Power in the wrong hands has death in it. Power in the wrong hands also has violence written

“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power” - Abraham Lincoln. Power has a negative impact on communities, country's, cities, people and others.

Creon, Antigone’s uncle becomes king of Thebes. At first, Creon has reasonable laws and punishments. As the play goes on it shows Creon has too much hubris. He allows the power of being king to go to his head and his pride to blind him. He is also so stubborn and the thought of being wrong never occurs to him so he doesn't feel it is necessary to listen to the people, especially about what to do with Antigone. Creon tells antigone that no matter what she says he will not change his will this shows how much Creon does not want to admit he's wrong about Antigone.

The play Antigone shows an exact example of careless and consuming power when Creon refuses to let Antigone go without

Power is like a virus, once it gets to one’s head, they’re corrupt. In Sophocles’ Antigone, both of Antigone’s brothers killed each other at war for the throne of Thebes. Creon, the new king, only honors and buries one, Eteocles. Creon bans anyone from burying the other brother, Polyneices but Antigone decides that she will in order to honor her brother. Creon gives two speeches, one about how he’s going to rule and how he forbids anyone from burying Polyneices, and another about bribery and how money corrupts people. He says that money is the reason someone has betrayed him by burying Polyneices. In Antigone, Sophocles uses the characterization of Creon to reveal the negative effects in the development of power.

The abuse of power is a rampant problem in our world today and has plagued society since the dawn of government. In Antigone by Sophocles, this issue is a prominent theme. One of the main characters, Creon, rules over the people of Thebes, but does so selfishly and unjustly. These same actions can be seen in our modern world by those in authority. Creon’s abuse of power is reflected in today’s governments through law-making, punishments, and the removal of opposing perspectives.

Power is the basis of all civilization; it determines the abilities of a person and who will be on top of the empirical hierarchy. It is characterized by the ability to do or act or having strength. However, with too much power there is greed and a person can end in destruction. This is precisely what happened to Creon in Antigone. He became the ruler of Thebes after the brothers that were supposed to inherit the throne, Eteocles and Polyneices, destroyed each other in war. In gaining the throne, he became corrupt and obsessed with the power he had gained through his title. Therefore, he failed to pay heed to the laws of the Gods and punishes Antigone for not accepting his word as King of Thebes. His obsession with power is what leads to his ultimate downfall. “The unbending and repressive laws of the state take on a much greater responsibility for Antigone’s death than her own destructive drive,” as well as the lives of Creon’s son and wife, Haemon and Eurydice (Verkerk 287). However, throughout this story Antigone shows that with power, anything can be changed and that women can have a right in society. Even though Antigone’s sister Ismene tried to dissuade Antigone from defying Creon by stating, “if we violate the laws and override the fixed decree of the throne, its power—we must be sensible. Remember we are women, we’re not born to contend with men,” she refused to believe that and still buried their brother (Sophocles 658). She uses the power of action to go