Power



CREON: ** “It is impossible to know any man – I mean his soul, intelligence, and judgment – until he shows his skill in rule…” (93 – 94) // Explanation: // In this passage, Creon talks about his power and duty as ruler of Thebes. Here, he describes his view of man in relation to power. He states that one should not judge a man until you have seen him in authority. This shows how importantly Creon views power, and how it shapes a character. Ironically, he is authority and we can judge him and we, as the audience, watch his fall from grace, and into shame and regret.

What else, then, do your commands entail? That you should not side with those who disagree. ( 238 – 2139) // Explanation: // As Creon and the Chorus interact with each other, the Chorus asks what the purposes of Creon’s laws are. Creon replies, advising them to follow the side that agrees. Essentially, he is urging the Chorus to go against anyone who does not follow what he says.
 * CHORUS: **
 * CREON: **

Do you realize you are speaking in such terms of your own prince. I know. But it is through me you have saved the city. (1121 – 1123) // Explanation: // Teiresias is advising Creon, who finds his help hard to believe as it challenges his power as a ruler. Creon responds in an angry tone, bringing up the fact that Creon is the ruler and Teiresias is a subject challenging power. These lines also show the perspective of Creon, who believes he has complete power and has the right to go against Teiresias, the prophet who represents the word of the gods and, therefore, fate and destiny. Also, we see the perspective of Teiresias, who questions Creon’s ability to rule.
 * CREON: **
 * TEIRESIAS: **

** CREON: ** Is she not tainted by the disease of wickedness? The entire people of Thebes says no to that. Should the city tell me how I am to rule them? (792 – 4) // Explanation: // Perspective of Creon—power. He is angry of Haemon’s news, that the people of Thebes find him cruel, and presents him with a rhetorical question. Creon cannot accept that his son, inferior to him due to age, is right. Therefore he denies it and lashes back at him. This is an abuse of his power. As the ruler, his sole purpose is to serve the people; he doesn’t rule Thebes for his benefit.
 * HAEMON: **
 * CREON: **

But there is some terrible power in destiny And neither wealth nor war Nor tower nor black ships, beaten by the sea, Can give escape from it. The hot-tempered son of Dryas, the Edonian king, In fury mocked Dionysus, Who then held them in restraint In a rocky dungeon. (1008 – 1015) // Explanation: // In these lines, the Chorus warns the characters, as well as the audience, of destiny and its power, personifying it and comparing it to more physical things. The Chorus reveals the power of destiny, stating how ‘neither wealthy nor war / Nor tower nor black ships’ could escape its power.They also allude to the ‘hot-tempered son of Dryas’, Lycrugus, who went against the power of Dionysus and was punished severely. This foreshadows Creon’s own fate: him going against the gods, or at least Teiresias’ word, and being punished for it as a result.
 * CHORUS: **