Creon's Discourse Shift
| Author | Roger S. Fisher |
| Pages | 113-130 |
<
SIX
>
Creon
’
s
Discourse
Shift
ANTIGONE
AND
CREON
behave
in
similar
ways
and
resort
to
similar
dis
course
strategies
in
the
play.
They
both
first
appear
onstage
after
having
convened
a
meeting
in
an
effort
to
win
allies
to
their
respective
causes.
In
the
Prologue,
Antigone
summoned
Ismene
to
a
private
conversation,
and
in
his
first
scene,
Creon
summoned
the
men
of
Thebes
to
a
public
assembly.
They
are
both
people
with
a
plan
(as
the
Chorus
says
of
Creon,
“
here
he
comes
...
some
plan
furrowing
his
brow
”
),
a
strategy,
and
a
goal.
They
are
both
motivated
by
a
desire
to
be
treated
with
honour,
and
they
are
both
labouring
under
a
major
insecurity.
Antigone
’
s
insecurity
is
the
incestuous
nature
of
her
bloodline.
Creon
’
s
insecurity
is
his
tenuous
hold
on
the
traditionally
hereditary
throne
at
Thebes.
They
both
argue
that
they
are
acting
for
the
greater
good,
a
familiar
tactic
on
the
part
of
people
trying
to
persuade
others
to
join
a
cause.
They
both
deny
that
they
have
a
selfish
interest
at
stake
(hence,
they
both
think
that
they
should
be
pub
licly
honoured
for
doing
what
they
do).
Antigone
denies
having
a
selfish
interest
in
burying
Polyneices,
but
she
fails
to
win
Ismene
over
to
her
side
in
a
matter
“
concerning
me
and
you,
especially
me.
”
The
Chorus
correctly
assesses
Antigone
’
s
motivation
as
a
selfish
one
{autonomía).
Eventually
her
own
identity
will
merge
with
her
objective
to
bury
Polyneices,
and
she
disappears
at
line
983,
never
to
be
mentioned
again.
Like
Antigone,
Creon
asserts
strong
principles
on
which
he
stakes
his
claim,
and
yet
he
too
ends
up
abandoning
them
at
the
last
moment.
Creon
might
become,
[113]
Antigone
v.
Creon
in
the
course
of
the
play,
the
familiar
figure
of
a
tyrant,
but
initially
he,
like
Antigone,
tries
to
be
persuasive
and
reasonable.
His
opening
lines
establish
the
discursive
boundaries
of
man-made
law,
in
contrast
to
An
tigone
’
s
opening
lines,
which
establish
the
boundaries
of
her
discourse
of
religious
law.
These
boundaries
become
important
as
the
markers
of
their
discourse
conflict,
their
discourse
transgressions,
and
finally
their
discourse
shifting.
When
Creon
first
walks
onstage
after
the
choral
“
Ode
to
Justice,
”
there
is
a
distinct
change
in
discourse
from
that
of
the
Prologue.
The
action
of
the
play
has
moved
from
the
night
and
Antigone
’
s
private
con
versation
with
her
sister,
representing
the
discourse
of
religious
law
and
its
concern
with
the
good
of
the
clan,
to
the
light
of
day
and
a
public
space
reserved
for
the
men
of
Thebes,
representing
the
discourse
of
man
made
law
and
its
concern
with
the
public
good.
The
scene
begins
with
the
display
of
what
might
be
called
the
“
good
Creon
”
(or
perhaps
more
accur
ately,
the
display
of
a
linguistically
and
socially
competent
Creon).
Creon
speaks
and
acts
like
a
confident
and
reasonable
ruler.
He
demonstrates
that
competence
with
a
display
of
his
skill
in
speaking
in
the
discourse
of
man-made
law,
representing
himself
as
a
rational,
lawful
authority
pro
claiming
a
decree.
Creon
appeared
to
be
competent
at
the
outset,
and,
like
the
Chorus,
we
let
him
persuade
us
for
a
time:
Until
a
man
shows
that
he
is
a
skilled
governor
and
judicious
in
making
law,
it
is
impossible
to
know
for
certain
the
state
of
his
character,
his
mind,
and
his
judgment.
(LINES
180-82)
Who
could
possibly
object
to
a
statement
such
as
this?
Demosthenes,
the
great
Athenian
orator
and
advocate,
turned
to
the
Antigone
when
he
was
searching
for
a
rhetorical
argument
against
his
political
opponent
Aeschines
in
a
lawsuit
they
were
involved
in.
Addressing
the
jurors,
he
calls
Aeschines
a
“
pretend
Creon,
”
implying
that
it
is
a
role
he
plays
badly.
If
Aeschines
were
“
Creon,
”
what
role
did
Demosthenes
imagine
him
self
playing?
Certainly
not
the
role
of
an
Antigone.
Demosthenes
casts
Creon
’
s
lines
here
into
the
teeth
of
Aeschines,
saying
that
this
pretend
Creon
did
not
abide
by
his
own
principles.
He
ends
by
saying
Aeschines
never
addressed
the
jurors
with
language
such
as
that
used
by
Creon
in
[
”
4]
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