Antigone, a woman before her time...

In Sophocles' play, Antigone,Teiresias,the blind prophet of Apollo, says to the unyielding Creon, King of Thebes, "The only crime is pride."
This trilogy written in the 4th century BC offers many astute observations about the nature of man, man's pride, man's temper, man's relationship with the gods, among others. In this scene when confronted with Creon's stubborness, the prophet asks him to reconsider his unjust law and take a moment to gain some perspective on the situation. Creon's red hot rage cannot be tempered with this sage advice, however. He feels justified in his proclamations and neither his son, the chorus, nor the prophet can convince him initially. When he does relent, it is too late. Creon laments, "Oh it is hard to give in! but it is worse to risk everything for stubborn pride." These words ring loudly for us all. How many times does a situation present itself that given time and counsel, we would not rather back down and acknowledge our misstep? As we wrap up our discussion of this masterful play today, I am going to suggest to the seniors that it is not Antigone's example of courage that is our only guide in the play, but rather when Creon admits his own weakness that we are privy to valuable insight about humanity. Off to Dante and a nice trip through hell.