Sophocles' Antigone focuses on the conflict between oikos and polis. Oikos, "home", is the concept of family, dominated by women and kinship; polis, “city”, is the concept of a collective city-state, dominated by men and by power or money. Antigone, bound by the family duty of a dignified burial, enters into deep conflict with King Creon, obsessed with personal control of the state. These characters, symbols of oikos and polis, are so diametrically opposed that it seems no one can reconcile them or convince Creon to spare Antigone, who buried her brother in defiance of Creon's proclamation. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The play's last hope for deliberative reconciliation is Haemon, Creon's dutiful son and Antigone's loving fiancé® Haemon's vision of oikos and polis is not as extreme as either Creon's or Antigone's, but his love for Antigone draws him to her side. The subtle interaction between oikos, polis and love, understood as the power that women, creatures of the oikos, have over men, is painfully evident in the dispute between Creon and Haemon and in the subsequent choral stasis (Antigone, 701-899). While love leads to both the origin and outcome of the argument between Creon and Haemon, differences in fundamental conceptions of polis and oikos doom the reconciliation from the start. Love is the reason why Haemon approaches his father to beg for Antigone's life. Although he feels compelled to prevent his father from committing a great injustice, the place Antigone holds in his heart forces him to argue for her life and join her in death. Like many fathers, Creon warns his son to "never lose his sense of judgment towards a woman" (Antigone, 723) and assumes that love is the only reason for his son's protest. This hypothesis is inspired by Creon's notions of oikos and polis, making him deaf to Haemon's reasoning. Creon sees the struggle between the civilized order of the polis and the clannish chaos of the oikos as a battle between men and women. He tells Haemon his truth that woman is oikos, and oikos is anarchy in no uncertain terms: Anarchy? show me a greater crime in all the earth! She destroys cities, tears apart houses? We must defend men who live by the law, never let any woman triumph over us. Better to fall from power, if we must fall, at the hands of a man? never be considered inferior to a woman, ever. (Antigone, 752-761, emphasis mine) That Haemon dares to defend Antigone's right to bury her brother in violation of Creon's law is a betrayal of his sex, making him a "slave of woman." (Antigone, 847) Furthermore, it is double sacrilege for Haemon to contravene the authority of his father and the king. Creon's vision of the oikos is his vision of the polis in miniature. Just as "is the city the king's? this is the law" (Antigone, 825, emphasis in original) a father's goal is to "produce good sons" who "submit in every way to the will of [their] father" . (Antigone, 714-715) After the leader of the choir says that Creon and Haemon "both speak sense," (Antigone, 813) Creon complains that the elders of the choir and he, a grown man, should not be " taught by a boy [Haemon's] age." (Antigone, 814) Creon's will is absolute: even the prospect of bending to the will of the Theban people irritates him (Antigone, 821). The prospect of receiving advice from his son, advice that will lead to a woman's victory over his decree against a traitor, offends and outrages Creon so much that he fails to seriously consider the substance of Haemon's argument in hismerit. Haemon's ideas of oikos and polis are different from those of his father, and therefore it is difficult for them to find common ground in discussion. Although Haemon's first words to Creon are: "Father, I am your son. I obey you" (Antigone, 709-710, emphasis in original) and he introduces his argument by saying that he is not man to correct his father(Antigone ?766-769), abandons this façade to criticize Creon's treatment of Antigone. As a dutiful son, Haemon wants to give his father advice that will help him in the long run, even if it embarrasses Creon when he takes it. Haemon's version of the polis is one in which the ruler, sensitive to the practical need to respect the oikos, is not too proud to follow good advice or bend to demands. Haemon uses a beautiful image of trees during a winter storm to illustrate that even kings must "bend or break," lest they snap from their rigidity. Continuing the comparison, he says that a man who always hoists his "sail taut, never gives up an inch" will capsize his ship (Antigone, 794-804). This refers to Creon's speech calling the city "the ship of state". (Antigone, 180) In this way, Haemon cleverly implies that killing Antigone will lead to the downfall of Thebes. After arguing that Creon should listen to his advice, Haemon grounds his argument in the language of the oikos and his more reactive vision of the polis. He never explicitly praises Antigone's deeds, but tells Creon that people whisper their discontent with her treatment because they sympathize with her dilemma of having to disrespect her brother's memory or die and think she deserves "a shining crown of gold" for his actions (Antigone, 775-783). This praise, which may be partly a projection of Haemon's opinion, is grounded in the sacred duty of burying the dead, a concern of the oikos. When the polite discussion deteriorates into a violent back-and-forth, Haemon calls his father unjust in killing Antigone, which Creon sees as "protect[ing] his royal rights" (Antigone, 833) because in doing so he "trample[s] ] down the honors of the gods," (Antigone, 835) in particular the burial of the family dead so important for the oikos. Finally, when Creon says that Haemon is only making a supplication for Antigone, Haemon interrupts him, saying that he pleads for her "and for thee, and for me, and for the gods under the earth." (Antigone, 840-841) This, the last substantive point that Haemon makes, is an appeal to his family and the gods of the oikos. These are Haemon's concerns, irreconcilable with those of his father. Differences in worldview cause Haemon's inability to convince Creon not to kill Antigone, but it is love that determines how the argument ends. Haemon's argument pleases the choir leader but has no effect on his father, who sees him only as an up-and-coming teenager trying to save the fox who has trapped him in his sexual web. Enraged that his father will sentence his betrothed to death anyway, the argument turns into stichomythia, father and son hurling one-line insults at each other. Returning to his father's misogynistic language, Haemon even calls Creon a "woman!" (Antigone, 829) Angered by his father's threat to kill Antigone immediately, before his eyes, Haemon rushes away, saying that Antigone "will never die beside me." (Antigone, 855). This cry from the abyss of a lover's desperation is the height of irony: Antigone does not die next to Haemon; Haemon dies next to Antigone, kissing her white cheek with his bloody mouth (Antigone, 1363-1671). Remember: this is just an example. Get a personalized document now come on!