Creon’s Speech

English EssayZita Chan4G (7) How is Creons char recreateer introduced with his opening speech in the First Episode (lines 159-195) and how does this speech create tension? The bestowal of ruling legitimacy upon Creon sparks off the Greek catastrophe. Polyneices and Eteocles, fellows of Antigone killed each other during their fateful battle for the Theban throne and Creon, as the closest surviving kinsman, rules as the Theban king.Creon then approaches the chorus line of elders privately and pronounces his first speech, wishing to draw him self raise from the group of elite elders to prevent tho mutiny over against his rule among the Theban public. with declaring his legitimacy as a ruler, establishing his authority and outlining his manifesto in his speech, Creon aims to mask himself as an apt leader yet unconsciously exposes his flawed authentic self as a polarized absolutist and an compulsory ruler with the language, the uses of rhetorical and literary techniques, the sy ntactic and the overall structures of his opening speech.Tension is generated by the speech with the collocation of Antigone and Creons equally headstrong character but opposing beliefs- man- made laws which Creon values and that of churchman laws that Antigone reveres, attesting to the listening the conflicting c at oncepts of philos and faithfulness to polis. Creon as a demagogue employs versatile rhetorical techniques in his opening speech, including the uses of flattery, pronouns and declaratives to convince the chorus of elders of his beliefs through appealing to their emotions rather than their logic, in turn exhibiting his political astuteness, absolutist and hypocritical nature.At the outset of his speech, Creon commends the chorus on their unwavering loyalty in I know you always respected the power of Laius throne when he died, you still stood by his children with unwavering loyalty (lines 162- 165). He flatters the chorus with praises on their loyalty to the realm and the ruler, leaving a positive impression on the chorus and increases his appeal as a leader.Creon is de noned as an astute and shrewd politician as he understood that flattery will mould himself a more favorable condition to progress on in asking for their support as the chorus feels gratified at the flattery that Creon has bestowed upon them. Thus, Creon will be more likely to achieve his primary design to draw support from the chorus. In addition, Creon also used the inclusive pronoun our in our urban center (line 159) and our city is our safety (line 178) in the course of his speech.This on one apply creates a sense of unity and Creon, by exploitation the pronoun we, identifies himself as a democratic ruler that shares the rule of the nation with his people and as a sympathize with king that sides with his people, considering the common good of his nation on the other hand, Creon also establishes familiarity and good relations with the chorus by the inclusive pronoun we, enabling himself to continue on with his speech and gaining trust among the elders and consequentially his subjects, appealing to their emotions.However, it should be noned that the pronoun has changed to my at the close of his speech in by my consent (line 193) and innocenceed by me (line 194). Creon clearly believes that the city belongs to the ruler by law as surfacen ulterior on in the Third Episode and hence, the autocratic and out-and-out(a) nature of Creon is revealed, which he has sought to entomb by the use of the inclusive pronoun at the previous parts of his speech.More vitally, his character is shown to be hypocritical as he soon defies his own proposed patterns. Also, declaratives are present in his speech throughout, as in A man in command of an wide-cut city, who does not adhere to the best policies, but keeps his mouth disagreeable through fear, is bootless (lines 170-172). Creon uses a series of declaratives in laying bundle his laws and principles as a ruler in his entire speech as in the above example, Creon states his belief to man- made laws.The bluntness of the statement gives the reference the impression that Creon is get wordmingly stating a fact, and the inflexible tone of the statement suggests the assertive, absolute and arrogant nature of Creon yet once again, when he labelled his principles as correctness. Similarly, the emotive and innate language of the speech, as well as specific lexical choices discloses to the listening Creons character as a pola jumpd and absolute demagogue. For instance, as in Polyneices returned from exile to the land of his fathers prepared to burn it to the underseal (lines 186-188).The words burn to the ground contains extreme colours of chaos and tumult, which will arouse the elders inconsistency towards the outrageous acts of Polyneices, thereof affirming Cerons resolution of leaving Polyneices un inhumed. We can once again see the demagogic nature of Creon. Apart from emotive la nguage that arouses pathos, Creon also uses extreme language as he describes a man that considers someone he loves to be more important than his country as he is nothing (lines 173- 174). The word nothing is radical in nature. The polarised language also suggests the polarised character of Creon himself.His degrading input signal to others also gets to depict his arrogant nature as he places himself at a more superior status as the ruler. The lexical choices in Creons opening speech have also slit apart Creons veneer as a strong and appropriate leader and reveal his traits of totalitarianism and extremity. When Creon describes Eteocles as the greatest spearsman (line 184) in Thebes, he uses the superlative contour of the adjective great, conveying the message that Eteocles died as the best swordsman in Thebes, which again gets to exhibit the polarised and extreme nature of Creon.As well as in he must be left unburied (line 191), Creon employs the modal verb must. The declaration is imperative and affirmative in tone, thus the declaration itself is a command that Creon has pronounced on the elders and his people. This in turn reveals Creon as an absolute and even arrogant ruler, who demands get along compliance from his subjects. Another means that Sophocles introduces Creons contradictory, polarised and cruel character from his opening speech is the inclusion of literary techniques in the speech hyperbole, imagery and proleptic irony.Creon accused Polyneices of not only burning Thebes to the ground, but also throw the counterweight into slavery (line 189). Creon condemns Polyneices of putting the entire nation under slavery hyperbolically. The message of his message suggests an extreme state of suffering of the nation, which is merely Creons own projection. Creon here is thus shown to be polarised, by claiming Polyneices guilty of a hyperbolic crime of enslaving the nation.This is also to show is arrogant and judgmental nature when he proclaims the posit ion of the judge and jury, acc exploitation Polyneices of a crime which had never occurred and which was a result of his own stereotypical outlook about a traitor. The Gothic imagery drink blood that he shared (line 188) echoes in a certain way with the Chorus using gorge his throat with our blood in the Parados- the entry of the chorus. The imagery itself is gothic in nature and extremely bold and vile, because it is also another form of yperbole of exaggerating Polyneices act of killing his blood- bonded brother- his philoi in the battle by suggesting that he drinks his blood metaphorically, creating a shock effect on the audience and the elders as they envisage the act of drinking blood. Creons trait of a demagogue is still evident in the employment of such imagery to emphasise and reinforce the horror of Polyneices act. Another explicit imagery is present in corpse for the birds and dogs to eat (line 191). The audience again visualises a cruel and repellent scene of animals fe eding on a decayed corpse.The explicit and gory image once again is a showcase of Creons sadistic nature, which contradicts with what he previously suggested by using inclusive pronouns in his speech, thus we question his identity as a caring ruler. Creon, in addition, uses the metaphor of a channel to describe Thebes, as in tossing the life of our city on the great waves of the ocean (lines 159-160). The verb tossing is only applicable to a ship in the context, thus it is deduced that Thebes is out as a ship here.The metaphor is highly effective as Thebes is located along the coastline of Greece and is near the sea, thus the metaphor can be comprehended easily by the audience also Creon conveys the message that Thebes has experienced tumult, just as that of a ship encountering tides and waves at the course of sail, the turbulence however, cannot be righted or controlled by men. The metaphor is further elaborated and completed in only when she sails safely that we can make friendsh ip (lines 179-180). The pronoun she refers to Thebes and the word sails again implies a comparison of Thebes to a ship.Creon aims to draw support to himself by contrasting between the tumultuous Thebes before his rule- the one that is tossed on the waves of the ocean and the one that is about to be under his rule. With tossing the life of our city (line 179), Creon again tries to identify the chorus as his comrades which has experienced tumult with him, appealing to their emotions and thus, it is revealed that Creon is an effective demagogue. One other vital literary device is proleptic irony that Sophocles has included in Creons speech.In particular when Creon regards an individual that does not punish traitors accordingly to uphold the rule of law as he is nothing (line 174). Yet he later exclaims that I who am less than nothing (line 1242). In the end, Creon views himself even more worthless than a weak ruler that does not punish traitors after he has suffered the punishment that the Gods have exerted on him because of his arrogant nature- hubris, when he disregards the divine laws on burial rites in hopes to uphold the man- made laws or punishing the traitor.There is a vivid contrast between the attitudes of Creon as a ruler, from consignnt and even arrogant to hopelessly desperate. Beforehand, he utters his principles that A man in command of an entire city, who does not adhere to the best policies, but keeps his mouth closed through fear, is worthless (lines 170-172) with full confidence and assertively however, he later on cries in hopelessness and desperation that he is nothing. Another example of proleptic irony will be when Creon declares that It is impossible to learn everything of a man until he is seen pratising government and law (lines 168-170).The audience can later use Creons own words in condemning him when the rule of Creon has resorted into fiasco after the triple occurrence of the tragic deaths of Haemon, Eurydice and Antigone. This is ironical in a sense that by making this statement during his first speech, Creon has already presume and even arrogantly confidently that he will be a successful ruler and gain respect from his subjects soon after they have witnessed his rule on Thebes nevertheless, his rule finally results in chaotic tragedy and he is not only ultimately indicted by the chorus of hubris but also, he is condemned by himself and asked to be taken to his death.Proleptic irony in general reveals the arrogant nature of Creon it is arrogance (hubris) that is Creons fatal flaw (hamartia)and brings about his own downfall, thus Creon is the victim of his own character. The syntactic structures of Creons speech is also eyeshot over and through syntactic patterning and the extended sentences, Creon is depicted to be a polarised and an absolute demagogue.In Eteocles, who died fighting for this city, proving himself its greatest spearsman, will be buried in a tomb and honoured with every rite that comes to the noble dead (lines 183-185) and Polyneices, who returned from exile to the land of his fathers and the gods of his people, prepared to burn it to the ground, prepared to drink blood that he shared, and to throw the rest into slavery, this man, it has been proclaimed to the city, will not be self-respectful with burial or lamentation (lines 186-190), the structure of the dickens sentences describing the two brothers mirror each other.Both sentences first incision with the names of the two brothers respectively- the described subject in the sentence. Then the sentence proceeds with a relative clause, which elaborating the deeds carried out by each brother respectively- Polyneices destroying his own country and Eteocles that dying as a martyr defending his country.The sentence finally closes with the stating of the arrangements of burial rites and lamentation of the two brothers according to their actions- Eteocles to be buried with all honour and Polyneices, on the other hand, left unburied and be fed on by animals, which follows the modal verb will, showing the absolutism and bigotry of Creon as a ruler, demanding full obedience from his subjects to his commands.The use of syntactic patterning here is to contrast directly the subic image of Eteocles as a martyr, who died defending his country and that of the demoniac figure of Polyneices as a traitor destroying his homeland and slaughtering his family, placing the two brothers in completely opposite and very extreme categories correspondingly- one a hero and one a traitor. The polarised extremes of the character of the two brothers that Creon perceives and presents to the audience also give us an idea on the polarised nature of Creon himself. Polyneices will not be dignified with burial or lamentation (lines 186-190) itself is an extended sentence with discrete clauses linked by commas. Creon depicts to us the horrors committed by Polyneices through listing, overwhelming the audience with record supporting the fact that Polyneices is a traitor, destructor, which again creates a shock- effect on the audience and the chorus, leading the chorus to support and affirm his proclamation of the treatment of Polyneices.Creon is therefore a demagogue as shown here once again as he arouses the chorus shock and using this emotion to his advantage in convincing the chorus of his proclamations. In the same way, Creon is portrayed as an astute politician viewed from the adriot structure of the entire speech.The speech commences as Creon expresses gratitude to the Gods for righting Thebes in the gods have safely righted it once more (line 160) defeating the Argive army led by Polyneices into Thebes and the quieting of the choas brought about by the tragedy of Oedipus through employing the metaphor of a ship (line 159), implying the turbulence that Thebes has experienced. The conventional fountain of the speech helps Creon in establishing his image as a pious ruler that respect the Gods, sculpting for himself a more acceptable profile of a suitable Theban ruler, appealing to the elders who normally are religious.As revering the Gods should be one of the primary traits of an appropriate ruler perceived by the Theban public and the elders, Creon possessing the trait makes him a more convincing leader and draws support to himself from the chorus, which is the ultimate goal of his speech. The speech then progresses by Creons flattery to the chorus as he praises them of their loyalty, followed by Creons assertion on his legitimacy to rule by kinship in as I am closest kin to the dead (line 167). Creon subsequently lays down his manifesto, his political ideals on upholding man- made laws and loyalty to the city state.The speech ends with his proclamation of the contrasting treatment of Polyneices and Eteocles corpses. Through flattery, Creon leaves a good impression and befriends the chorus through bribing them with praises, gathering support for his rule. After Creon successfully get on good terms with the elders, he puts forth his image as a ruler through a series a declaratives to pronounce his rule. He utters his proclamation at last when his status as the ruler and the foundation of his rule is laid.The proclamation not only reinforces his superior figure as a ruler, but also does not undermine his image as a gracious ruler that cares for his people. Hence, the entire speech is constructed in order for Creon to pronounce his proclamation without sounding despotic. He does not only justify his rule in the speech, but also justifies his proclamation by a man who does not adhere to the best policies is worthless (lines 170-172) and nor could I make a friend of a man who is hostile to this city (line 177)- upholding the rule of law to punish traitors and not to show mercy to traitors.The speech is also linked throughout by discussion markers, such as So now, which connects the Creons proposed ideals with his ensuing proclamation on Eteocles and Polyneices r espectively as in So now, in accordance with these principles (line 181). Then in But his blood-brother, Polyneices (line 186), with the discourse marker but, Creon shows an abrupt turning point in tone- from commending to condemning, followed by the horrors that Polyneices has committed which in turn reflects a vivid contrast between the two brothers. Another example would be Such is my will (line 192), which is the conclusive statement of the speech.Discourse markers help establish a logical connection between the ideas of Creon and thus, justify his decisions, appealing to the chorus logic in this case. Creon is astute politically as he structures his speech skillfully, gradually creating his evident status as a superior leader. Creon efficaciously establishes a figure of an authoritative yet likeable ruler by rhetorical techniques such as flattery and emotive language, demagogically appeals to the irrational emotions of the chorus and through putting forth his agenda shrewdly w ithout undermining his established image however, persuasive enough to convince the chorus of elders.Creon also rationalises his verdicts, which are largely based on subjective verdicts, and succeeded in appealing to the chorus rational expectation. Thus, Creon appeals to both the logic and the emotions of the elders and the audience in gathering support, which reflects visible traits of an astute politician. The opening speech of Creon gives rise to tension as the audience anticipates a destined concussion between the two equally stubborn characters- Antigone and Creon who holds divergent values.In the Prologue, Antigone brings her sister Ismene out from the city to confide in her of the plan to eat her brother Polyneices, urging her to lend your hands to mine (line 38). This scene is placed before Creons first speech. A line of latitude between the two scenes can be drawn as both Antigone and Creon aims to persuade by bringing out accordingly Ismene or the chorus privately. c allable to the placement of the scenes, it is known before Creons opening speech that Antigone intends to defy Creons proclamation as in it is not for him to keep me from my own (line 44) and bury her brother.Antigone is as extreme and unyielding in character as Creon, as in soon you will show whether you are noble by birth, or a coward from a noble family apart from the strong language such as coward, the idea that there is no grey area in her mindset and the way she categorises people the same way that Creon does to Polyneices and Eteocles showcase her polarised nature. She is determined to bury her brother as in When I have no strength left, I will stop (line 83), she is even willing to die doing this (line 63-63).It is discerned that both Creon and Antigone share the same stubbornness and absoluteness as such is my will (line 192) carries an inflexible and unconquerable tone. Nevertheless, the values of Antigone and Creon are conflicting in two ways. Antigone persists in not be ing caught in betraying (line 42) those we love (line 9) her brother Polyneices whose corpse is left to rot without burial, thus she upholds the concept of philos- loyalty to family members.Yet, Creon in a man who considers someone he loves to be more important than his country, I say that he is nothing (lines 172- 174) pronounces his principle of loyalty to city state- loyalty to polis, and that the concept of philos is to be despised and that the believer of such concept is nothing. Also, Antigone believes that she has to please those below longer than those here (lines 65-66) and that she would honour the laws honoured by the gods (line 67). It is clear that she values the divine law that every man should be given proper burial rites subsequent to their detah.On the contrary, Creon states that a man who does not adhere to the best policies is worthless (lines 170-173) in his inauguration speech. Creon thus upholds the rule of human law in Thebes, opposing to Antigones faith in d ivine laws, thus Antigone is viewed as worthless. Again, we can distinguish a clash of moral values of the two characters- divine law against human law. Antigone even phrases herself as guilty of the crime of holy reverence (line 65), it is through the oxymoron that she accuses Creons rule of law turning holy reverence into a crime.Though the two characters have not come in direct confrontation, however, we can already recognize underlying tension between the two characters through their dialogue with other supporting roles. Sophocles juxtapositions the equivalent character of Antigone and Creon as headstrong individuals who are determined in their decisions and their completely divergent values of philos against loyalty to polis, divine law against man- made laws. The accusations of nothing, worthless and crime provides the audience with understanding of the two characters as moral absolutists.Antigone is determined in burying Polyneices and defying Creons proclamation, whilst Cre on persists in upholding the rule of law- to punish traitors and thus prohibiting the work of burial rites on Polyneices corpse. Both are determined to uphold their respective moral values to the utmost extent, therefore we can foresee an ultimate collision between the two characters, which is precisely the central conflict presented in the play.To conclude, Creons opening speech is an attempt to justify his rule on Thebes. Creon endeavours to masquerade as a sound Theban ruler. However, in due course of his opening speech, his facade is slit open and gradually collapses, unveiling disagreeable traits of a polarised and absolute demagogue, and acknowledgeable qualities of an astute politician through various rhetorical, literary, lexical and structural attributes of Creons inauguration speech.The opening speech is an effective catalyst of the play as it sowed the seed of the destined discord between Antigone and Creon by displaying to the audience the similarly persistent character but completely divergent moral concepts valued by the two characters. Creons opening speech is a successful presentation of Creons multi- facetted character and the audience further anticipates a sudden reversal of raft (peripeteia) begetting the revelation of Creon as a despotic ruler and his ultimate realisation of his fatal flaw- arrogance (hubris).