Quotation:

“And that, child, is how you ought to keep your / affections: Stand by your father’s ideas / in all things” (Ant. 37, lines 649-651).

“What threat is it to speak my resolve to you?” (47, line 767). 

Comment:

The sisters Antigone and Ismene have just been captured for their transgressions-Antigone for actually committing the act and Ismene for knowing about it and doing nothing (30). Creon speaks with his son, Haemon, who originally was meant to marry Antigone. Creon asks his son if he has “come to fight your father for your bride” (37, line 643). Haemon initially shows his support of his father, saying, “Father, I am yours, and as you have me, / you guide the best course for me to follow” (37, lines 645-646). Creon, proud of his son, speaks about the importance of loyalty in children towards their parents. Later, when a disagreement ensues between father and son about the situation, Haemon declares that he is not defying his father but speaking his mind. 

One of the first ways we gather information about the world we live in is through our parents. The behaviors we are praised and scolded for, the clothes we wear, the food we eat, all of it comes from them. As we start getting older, things like political ideologies, religious beliefs, and personal biases may become adopted by us as well. At a certain point, though, we may break away from our parents’ beliefs and opinions in order to form our own. I don’t think, like some might, that this is bad. That it should be labeled as disobedience. We are all our own people, and as people it’s our responsibility to learn about the world on our own and decide our own path. We may find that the things we followed as children don’t make as much sense as we thought, and we shouldn’t be punished for having that epiphany. 

Haemon is not necessarily going against his father for speaking his mind about what is happening with Antigone. He’s trying to offer his perspective, and defends it when his father grows angry. He’s frustrated by his father’s obstinance at seeing the other side, and I can certainly understand that. I’ve been in these situations too, and I have a hard time trying to get my mom to see that I’m not fighting her, but rather the specific idea she expressed. To reject an idea is not necessarily to reject the person as an individual, but I think that’s hard to understand, especially if you are used to your child accepting and going along with you most of the time. 

In Antigone, things are of course a bit different. Aside from it being a very serious situation, there’s this other level of power imbalance with Creon being the King and Haemon, technically, one of his subjects. But Haemon definitely is approaching this matter as a child challenging his father rather than a subject rebelling against the king. He never claims not to love the man and respect him, but that doesn’t stop him from continuing to push. I think it’s important to not only form new beliefs but to share them with one’s parents, even if that may not end well. If we never try to learn, we will never grow. And it’s foolish to think that adults cannot continue to grow and change, because they were children once too. 

Question:

What is the responsibility of parents to learn from their children? For past generations to learn from future ones? 

Class discussion and impact:

I was a bit hesitant to share my QCQ because I wasn’t sure if it could be relevant to our ongoing discussions about justice and civic duty. The discussion that we had today, though, showed me that I was wrong. There were still strong connections to the content we have been exploring. We focused on the idea of power and who has the right to wield it, and connecting that to my writing, I think that’s definitely an issue among parents and children. There is often this immediate assumption that power should go to adults/elders and not to younger people, but indeed younger people sometimes have wisdom that can be shared. I also appreciated Hayley’s comment about how smaller (micro) situations of injustice could translate to larger (macro) situations. And I liked, too, the connection to the individual family of Creon and the city of Thebes as a ‘family’. I will try to be more confident about my work, because it’s probably not as bad as I think it is and does feature important connections.