What makes a good leader? Is a good leader one that is virtuous or one that can do whatsoever is necessary to protect their territory? Niccolò Machiavelli in ‘The Prince’ provides a thorough guideline as to the qualities of a good leader (i.e., prince). I will be analyzing the behaviors and decisions made by Creon in Sophocles’ play ‘Antigone’ to determine whether Creon fits Machiavelli’s description of a good prince. Creon is the King of Thebes and an uncle to Antigone. Creon has forbidden his nephew, Polynices, from receiving a proper burial as he waged a war against his city. Antigone defies the orders of her uncle, the King of Thebes, and buries her brother out of honor to her family and the laws of the gods. In response, Creon sentences her to death. Creon’s son, Haemon who is Antigone’s fiancé, attempts to change his father’s mind, but to no avail. It is only later that Creon changes his mind, but by then Antigone has already committed suicide. In this essay, I defend the position that the character Creon in Sophocles’ play ‘Antigone’ does not meet Machiavelli’s characteristics of a good prince. I will present three arguments to strengthen my position that Creon is not representative of Machiavelli’s ideal prince. To begin with, Creon is unable to keep up an appearance of virtue. Secondly, Creon is abhorred by his citizens. Finally, Creon is unable to effectively use cruelty to keep the citizens compliant. Also, I will refute the counterargument that it is better to be feared than loved.
Creon cannot maintain an appearance of virtue. This is in direct opposition to Machiavelli’s requirement that a good prince be able to convince his citizens that he is virtuous even when he is not. Machiavelli states that “…a ruler need not have all the positive qualities I listed earlier, but he must seem to have them… So you should seem to be compassionate, trustworthy, sympathetic, honest, religious, and indeed, be all these things; but at the same time, you should be constantly prepared, so that, if these become liabilities, you are trained and ready to become their opposites” (Machiavelli, 1994, p.55). The ability to appear virtuous is more important than being truly virtuous if one is to be a good prince. It will be very difficult for a leader to maintain power if the populace is unhappy or dissatisfied. Haemon tells Creon: “The city mourns this girl. ‘No other woman’,/ So they are saying, ‘so undeservedly/ Has been condemned for such a glorious deed/ When her own brother had been slain in battle/ She would not let his body lie unburied/ To be devoured by dogs or birds of prey’” (Machiavelli, 1994, p.25). Creon is unyielding in his decision to punish his niece for defying his orders, even in the face of public discontent. He does not display any virtues to demonstrate his honor and integrity to the populace. Creon does not honor the laws of the gods, thus displaying to the populace his impiety. He places the laws of man above the laws of the gods, whilst at the same time disregarding his duties and obligations to his own family by failing to bury his nephew. Creon presents his immorality for all the citizens to witness when he really should have concealed that side of him for a situation that calls for it. A leader must have a positive public appearance and a good reputation to hold onto and maintain control of their principality.
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Secondly, Creon is hated by the citizens of Thebes. Machiavelli requires a good prince to avoid the hatred and disdain of the people. He states that “…a ruler must take care… to avoid those things that will make him an object of hatred or contempt. As long as he avoids these he will have done what is required of him, and he will find having a reputation for any of the other vices will do him no harm at all” (Machiavelli, 1994, p.56). If a prince is hated, the citizens can turn on him and he runs the risk of losing his seat of power. It makes a prince vulnerable. Teiresias tells Creon: “Hatred for you is moving in those cities/ Whose mangled sons had funeral-rites from dogs” (Sophocles, 2009, p.37). The citizens of Thebes are displaying their discontent and disdain for Creon due to his decision to sentence Antigone to imprisonment in a tomb. The citizens do not view Antigone’s actions as deserving of punishment. They view Antigone as doing her moral duty to bury her brother, Polynices. Creon is seen as going against tradition; he breaks a cultural custom. Tradition and cultural customs form the basis of society. Creon ignores the laws of Heaven which are a crucial part of society in Thebes. By gaining the hatred of the populace, Creon has ensured that they are united not with him but against him. This is detrimental because in case a war breaks out, the people of Thebes will not be willing to fight for their King. This places Creon in a precarious position. His seat of power is threatened.
Incidentally, Creon obtained the throne of Thebes via a hereditary principle. Oedipus’s sons, Polynices and Eteocles, went to war against each other, brother against brother. As a result of this war between brothers, Polynices and Eteocles end up killing each other leaving Creon, Oedipus’s brother and an uncle to Polynices and Eteocles, next in line for the throne. Machiavelli states that it is much easier to hold onto a hereditary principality than it is to hold onto a newly acquired principality. He states that “all one has to do is preserve the structures established by one’s forebears… For, indeed, a hereditary ruler, if he is of no more than normal resourcefulness, will never lose his state unless some extraordinary and overwhelming force appears that can take it away from him” (Machiavelli, 1994, p.7). Creon is failing to live up to Machiavelli’s description of a good prince. He has acquired the hatred of the citizens, allowing a foreign invader to easily annex his territory. Creon simply has to be capable and competent at ruling his principality, but he managed to turn the populace against him. Creon’s poor decision-making has led him to be despised. Creon lacks the necessary skills and qualities of a good prince.
The third argument to be made is that Creon is unable to keep the citizens of Thebes compliant due to his inability to effectively use cruelty. Machiavelli requires a good prince to only use cruelty when it is absolutely necessary. Machiavelli declares that “an abuse of cruelty one may call those policies that, even if in the beginning they involve little bloodshed, lead to more rather than less as time goes by… Those who abuse [cruelty] cannot hope to retain power indefinitely” (Machiavelli, 1994, p.30). Creon must suppress conflict early on if he is to be a good prince, but he fails to do so. By the time he changes his mind about punishing Antigone, it is too late, she has already killed herself. Creon’s cruelty towards Antigone not only tarnishes his appearance of virtuousness but also garners the hatred of the populace towards him. Creon’s role in Antigone’s death has dire consequences for his propensity to hold onto his throne and kingdom. As a result of Creon’s actions, the citizens of Thebes will rise against him and put in his place a new ruler. Creon’s one act of cruelty will lead to multiple acts of cruelty; cruelty that Creon will commit against the citizens, as well as cruelty committed by the citizens against Creon’s control of Thebes. On the other hand, cruelty used well enables a ruler to protect his city and ensure the safety of his citizens for the future. Creon has ensured that the future of Thebes is left uncertain. Thebes is vulnerable to attacks by neighboring kingdoms as a result of a disunified populace. Creon failed to read the situation and act in an appropriate manner leading to his own downfall. According to Machiavelli, Creon is a bad prince.
An objection that could be raised in favor of Creon exemplifying an ideal prince as characterized by Machiavelli is that both Machiavelli and Creon agree that it is better to be feared than loved. Machiavelli states that “it is much safer to be feared than loved… [as people] are ungrateful, fickle, deceptive and deceiving, avoiders of danger, eager to gain. As long as you serve their interests, they are devoted to you… But as soon as you need help, they turn against you” (Machiavelli, 1994, pp.51-52). Fear is a more effective deterrent than love as love can be abused. A conversation between Antigone and Creon is as follows:
“ANTIGONE. Yet what could I have done to win renown / More glorious than giving burial / To my own brother? These men would say it, / Except that terror cows them into silence. A king has many a privilege: the greatest, / That he can say and do all he will.
CREON. You are the only one in Thebes to think it!
ANTIGONE. These think as I do-but they dare not speak.
CREON. Have you no shame, not to conform with others?” (Sophocles, 2009, p.18).
Creon would rather have the citizens of Thebes fear him and behave in a loyal and obedient manner than be in possession of their love and affection as their love is fickle. Fear will ensure that the citizens of Thebes are obedient and loyal to their king in both good and bad times. Love is based on an active choice made by the citizens to show affection and devotion to their leader, whereas fear is based on an active choice made by the leader to ensure the faithfulness and dependability of the populace. If a prince is loved by the populace, the populace is in control. If the prince is feared by the populace, the prince is in control. Fear motivates obedience to the laws of man. As Creon already has the citizens of Thebes in fear of him, Machiavelli would state that he is satisfying his role as a good prince. However, Creon has managed to obtain the hatred of his people. Machiavelli explicitly states that “a ruler should make himself feared in such a way that, if he does not inspire love, at least he does not provoke hatred” (Machiavelli, 1994, p.52). Creon’s decision to not bury Polynices and the proposed punishment for those that attempt to do so has roused fear in the citizens of Thebes. This declaration has also instilled hatred in the hearts of the citizens of Thebes as Creon goes against a core value of Theban society. Creon inspires fear in his citizens, but in so doing has also managed to get the citizens to hate him. Creon does not measure up to Machiavelli’s description of an ideal prince.
To conclude, this essay defends the perspective that Creon is not an ideal Machiavellian prince. I presented three assertions to defend my claim. Firstly, Creon cannot display to the citizens of Thebes an appearance of virtue. Secondly, the citizens of Thebes hate their king, Creon. Finally, Creon attempts to keep the populace in control via badly used cruelty. Creon threatens the stability of his rule based on the above three assertions. Nonetheless, there are some who raise the objection that Creon does indeed fit Machiavelli’s conception of an ideal prince. Despite both individuals believing it is better to be feared than loved, Creon gains the hatred of the citizens of Thebes which Machiavelli says to avoid. These lines of reasoning lead me to conclude that Machiavelli would view Creon as an ill-suited leader.
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