Tiresias In Antigone

Sophocles’ play Antigone dramatizes the conflict between competing, but perhaps equally legitimate, forms of authority and power. One side is embodied by Creon, the king of Thebes, who believes that adherence to the laws of the state is paramount, even if they are in contrast with the wishes of the gods. Opposing Creon is Antigone, who advocates for divine justice and proper family roles. Tiresias, the prophet, convinces Creon that by failing to properly bury Polynices and for imprisoning Antigone, he has angered the gods and cursed his family. Tiresias’ role in society is the reason that only he has the authority to dissent against Creon and sway his opinion when he would disregard everyone else’s.

. When Tiresias appears in Antigone, Creon accuses the prophet of being a traitor, saying that Tiresias must have been bribed:

“T: How far good counsel is the best of goods?/ C: True, as unwisdom is the worst of ills./ T: Thou art infected with that ill thyself./ C: I will not bandy insults with thee, seer./ T: And yet thou say'st my prophesies are frauds./ C: Prophets are all a money-getting tribe./ T: And kings are all a lucre-loving race./ C: Dost know at whom thou glancest, me thy lord?/ T: Lord of the State and

Creon just can't accept it when Tiresias tells him that nature itself is rebelling against Creon's sacrilege. The gods of the are angered by the fact that he has kept a dead man from being rightfully buried and has entombed a living girl. Creon's obstinately rational mind can't accept Tiiresias's irrational argument. The conflict between the king and the prophet echoes the conflict between Creon and Antigone. Throughout the play, Creon has emphasized the importance of “healthy” practical judgment over a sick, twisted mind, but Tiresias informs Creon that practical judgment is precisely what he