Quotation:
“Tiresias:
And tyrants have always loved cheated profits.” page 52, line 1064
“Tiresias:
All the cities are stirred by hatred, whose mangled children took their only burial from dogs and beasts—or some winged bird, bearing an unholy stench into his native city.” page 53, lines 1089-1092
Comment: Context for quote #1 & #2: Creon and Tiresias are fighting about the whole Antigone situation. Tiresias explains to Creon that his actions have caused him a great deal of backlash and hatred from the citizens of Thebes. The second quote includes a footnote that reads, “This indicates that all the slain Argive, not just Polynices, have been denied burial.” So Creon has denied many fallen soldiers a proper burial and it has seriously angered the people of Thebes. These two quotes really stuck out to me because the first one is just shady towards Creon. I love that multiple characters have called him out for being a tyrant. How I took it is, Tiresias is saying that tyrants always long for death, suffering, injustice, obedience, etc. All tyrants care about is themselves and their power. In the second quote, Tiresias is explaining to Creon that the people of Thebes hate him for what he has done. This shows Creon that he has made the wrong decisions about burial, he is an unfit and unjust king. What kind of king doesn’t give his own fallen soldiers a proper burial? Not a good one!
Question: How do we choose who has authority? How can we change that process so that tyranny basically disappears?
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