A fortune won is often misfortune
Creon and his City “A fortune won is often misfortune” (Scene 1 line 118)
Objective:
Discern the meaning of this quote as it pertains to circumstance with the play.
Identify the situation and then analyze and elaborate upon it through your interpretation.
Response:
Creon, although seemingly evil, is actually the hero in the Greek Play Antigone by Sophocles. Antigone displays the dramatic change Creon undergoes in his days as ruler. As king of Thebes, Creon acts with the intention of protecting Thebes through strict enforcement of the law. In the play Antigone, Creon becomes too strict, forbidding the burial of Ployneices who had once attacked Thebes and is considered a traitor. So when the Sentry hesitantly reports to Creon the discovery of Polyneices’ partially buried body, Creon is enraged. Despite Creon’s self-portrayal of a hero, the paranoid king falls short as a result of his arrogance. Creon, by forbidding the burial of Polyneices, defies the Gods, disregarding the expectation that all souls be buried properly. To him though, this is an act for the better of the city that, as he describes, guarantees absolute rejection to “dealings with an enemy of the people” (Sophocles 495). Creon’s righteous beliefs are further revealed when he expresses his belief of money being “so demoralizing,” as it destroys “Cities… Homes, men … honest hearts”. The fact that Creon is disgusted by riches and their consequences exemplifies his desire for economic equality, a heroic desire, whereas many rulers are corrupted holding the kind of power which Creon bears. In contrast, the fact that Creon mentions this hatred for the “demoralizing money” indicates his paranoia because he suspects this to occur in any given moment during his reign in Thebes (499). When confronted by the Sentry, Creon threatens him saying “Fortune won is often misfortune,” referring to the eventual “misfortune” of the Sentry if Creon finds out that he took a bribe or “fortune” to bury
Objective:
Discern the meaning of this quote as it pertains to circumstance with the play.
Identify the situation and then analyze and elaborate upon it through your interpretation.
Response:
Creon, although seemingly evil, is actually the hero in the Greek Play Antigone by Sophocles. Antigone displays the dramatic change Creon undergoes in his days as ruler. As king of Thebes, Creon acts with the intention of protecting Thebes through strict enforcement of the law. In the play Antigone, Creon becomes too strict, forbidding the burial of Ployneices who had once attacked Thebes and is considered a traitor. So when the Sentry hesitantly reports to Creon the discovery of Polyneices’ partially buried body, Creon is enraged. Despite Creon’s self-portrayal of a hero, the paranoid king falls short as a result of his arrogance. Creon, by forbidding the burial of Polyneices, defies the Gods, disregarding the expectation that all souls be buried properly. To him though, this is an act for the better of the city that, as he describes, guarantees absolute rejection to “dealings with an enemy of the people” (Sophocles 495). Creon’s righteous beliefs are further revealed when he expresses his belief of money being “so demoralizing,” as it destroys “Cities… Homes, men … honest hearts”. The fact that Creon is disgusted by riches and their consequences exemplifies his desire for economic equality, a heroic desire, whereas many rulers are corrupted holding the kind of power which Creon bears. In contrast, the fact that Creon mentions this hatred for the “demoralizing money” indicates his paranoia because he suspects this to occur in any given moment during his reign in Thebes (499). When confronted by the Sentry, Creon threatens him saying “Fortune won is often misfortune,” referring to the eventual “misfortune” of the Sentry if Creon finds out that he took a bribe or “fortune” to bury