Antigone/Steiner

"So long as I am alive, no woman shall rule over me."

This is what Creon proclaims, full of arrogance. The conflict between Creon and Antigone seems to be based on pride most of all. Creon is so full of pride--hubris--that he will not even take the wise advice of Tiresias. When he confronts Antigone, he does not really ever consider if she is right. He will not stray from a prideful view. He thinks that Antigone is wrong simply because a woman cannot be better than a man. His pride also keeps him away from considering another point of view because he is king. The king is the ruler and he believe that this puts him in a position that cannot be challenged by anyone else.



It is this overwhelming pride that destroys Creon. He isn't a terrible leader, father, husband, he simply has too much pride. He cannot admit mistakes and must continue on, even when he is wrong, lest his pride will be damaged.

"Creon advocates obedience to man-made laws while Antigone stresses the higher laws of duty to the gods and one's family. Creon, the dramatic hero, only realizes his mistake after he loses the lives of all his family" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antigone_%28Sophocles%29).



Antigone insists that the gods' laws are the only ones that really matter and the only ones that should be followed to the end. There is line in Steiner's book that says "The gods speak to us only through our hearts." This describes a god-man communication that is a bit different than most are though to be. This line seems to say that it is a person's true passion that is a god's will. It is the love that a sister has for a brother, this is what a god's will actually looks like. Communication with a god is not an melodramatic procedure, it is as simple as someone following their heart to the end, even if that end is death. This line shows that passion is the most important thing a person could ever have--it is the direct result of a god's communication.

Steiner

Steiner at one point in his book describes conflicts as "non-negotiable." This seems to say that confrontations must exist, that tragedy is the only part of life that is sure and constant. It seems that this tragedy is only natural and must occur. If this
is true, then it seems that it will be perpetuated eternally. There is something in the fabric of humanity that propels, forces men and women to be in constant struggle with one another. There is something that forces ruled to rebel from ruler, from authority. Reading this, it appears that conflict may be the only substance from which the world is made.



This relates to the Four Noble Truths. The 1st truth states that life is suffering, or "life means suffering." It speaks of the physical and mental suffering that every person must go through. It also says that the root of this suffering is caused, at its root, by the incompleteness of life. This is the same as the five different conflicts mentioned in class--in this case, living vs. dead. This conflict is, of course, at the center of Antigone. Ultimately, Antigone's suffering is cause by death--the death of her brother. And this death perpetuates itself. In the end, Antigone's lover and his mother are dead, not to mention Antigone. It seems that death is the greatest of conflicts that life throws in one's path. It is the ultimate conflict, which no one can conquer.

Plato also describes this thought of unavoidable conflict when he speaks of knowledge fighting against ignorance.



Plato speaks, in his allegory of the cave, about the painful process through which a person must gain knowledge. He uses metaphor to describe this battle that occurs between truth and lies in the heads of every person.

Conflict, it seems, may be the only notion that is true in this world. It seems that conflict is unavoidable and unchangeable. Conflicts of the past fill the reality of the present.