Rhetorical Analysis Of Antigone

Antigone: A Rhetorical Analysis
Ruler of the Thebes, the fictional kingdom in the play Antigone, Creon in his speech argues that Polyneices, son of the late ruler Oedipus ought to have no burial. He supports his clam by first appealing to false authority, then using sentimental appeals, and lastly by comparing Polyneices to his brother, Eteocles. Creon’s purpose is to make sure nobody disobeys him in order to seem powerful in the eyes of his citizens. He adopts a demanding tone to assure he is well respected. Creon appeals to false authority, implying that everyone in the city should follower his commands just because he was “next in blood… for full power of the throne”. This is a logical fallacy due to the fact that Creon has no actual
credentials. He goes on about how a ruler should act, or specifically how he thinks a ruler should act. This flaws his entire message because he could be announcing an ascertain that he fits is best but one of his citizens may deem it immoral or unjust. His demanding tone makes it clear that he wants to portray himself as someone who should be respected yet fails to prove why he, out of all people, should be respected. Then, Creon uses sentimental appeals, using emotions excessively to distract the audience from having any other opinion about what should be done about Polyneices.
Creon reiterates throughout his speech about how important loyalty is trying to make the people realize how much of a traitor Polyneices is. Emotional appeals are purposely used to persuade individuals to believe in something as strongly as you do and Creon’s trying to do just that. Creon wants to get the message across that Polyneices is not honorable enough to receive a burial. To do this, Creon has to make everyone see how awful and shameful Polyneices is. After Creon uses sentimental appeals to prove this about Polyneices, he then uses them to convey that if someone is a traitor of the state they will be punished. Creon uses imagery to illustrate that “…the birds and the scavenging dogs…” will devour the rotten body of whom ever dares to betray him. The problem here is that not everyone may share the same emotions for Polyneices that Creon has even after what he did. He started his speech off by telling what had happened with the now deceased ruler, Oedipus. With this he states that the people “…never hesitated in [their] duty to… Oedipus; and when Oedipus died, [their] loyalty was transferred to his children.” This could make the audience question if the strategy of uses emotional appeals actually was
effective. Further developing his argument, Creon directly compares the late siblings, Eteocles and Polyneices.
When announcing his principles, he explains that the basis of his decisions come from his personal view of the brothers. A decision that effects many individuals who knew them both dearly, is placed upon the hands of someone who solely sees them for their faults and for their bravery. Eteocles is considered to be a man “…who died fighting for his country… [known as one of the] greatest heroes.” Whereas, Polyneices is thought of as the man “who broke his exile… and sword against his native city.” Creon says this without taking consideration anything besides the fact. For example, forgetting that Polyneices has a loving family, specific to the storyline, his sister, Antigone. Comparing both Eteocles and Polyneices, shows all of his citizens that he has the ability to see who his loyal and who is not loyal. This adds to his purpose of trying to seem like a powerful, merciless ruler. Creon purposefully tries to convey the message that he is all knowing and knows exactly how to run a kingdom. His one big decision is to instruct that no one’s gives Polyneices, son of the late ruler Oedipus a proper burial. To communicate this message, he first appeals to false authority, then uses sentimental appeals, and lastly by comparing Polyneices to his brother,
Eteocles.