The Irony of it all

Pak-tung Le

Professor Rachel Corona

English 102

18 April 2015 

The Irony of it All

            Greek tragedies are filled with irony and Antigone is filled with them. One of the non-subtle ironies arises when one examining Teiresias. After all, what could be more thought provoking than having a “seer” of the future who is blind? Seers, or prophets, are individuals who can see what the future holds. But if they are physically unable to see things, it brings many questions into one’s mind. How does a blind person see things? Is what he or she sees in color? How do they know what they are seeing is actually happening to the individuals the are predicting the future to, if the “seer” has never visually seen the person whose future they are “seeing?”  

            What is more intriguing is that, like Creon; most of us are unable to see what is in front of us. That alone might make Teiresias better suited to see what the future holds since he is not biased by extraneous things that are in front of him. He is able to appreciate the things that are most important and deal with the facts. Creon, on the other hand, is unable to see what his actions are causing with his family or perhaps it is his pride that is holding him back.

            Developing the theme of blindness and also illustrating dramatic irony, Teiresias states that he is responsible for foreshadowing Creon’s fate when he say, “How much the best of possession is the ability to listen to wise advice.” Teiresias is stating that it would be beneficial to Creon to take heed to what he is told. Teiresias further uses his abilities to predict that Creon’s actions against Antigone and her family will destroy his ability to rule the city and will bring destruction to his family.

            As a prophet, Teiresias is able to see the fate and destruction of Creon. Teiresias uses his ability to predict Creon’s destruction. He is able to inform Creon that the decision to punish Antigone for giving her brother a proper burial will cause death in his own household. Ironically, after doing so, he requires the assistance of another to lead him away from where he stands.

            Socrates illustrates the paradox of life with Teiresias and Creon. The ability of those with the ability to see, who are not able to see are unable to see what others can. How often is it that an individual cannot grasp that he or she is in a bad relationship, or that his or her action is not going to be perceived to another in the manner that he or she meant it to be. In Antigone, Teiresias’ parting words to Creon are that Creon’s family will be destroyed due to his own decisions.  While Creon does try to rectify what he has done to Antigone and her family to prevent Teiresias’ predictions, he is too late.  Since Creon did not heed Teiresias’ words sooner, he is too late in trying to rectify his decision to punish Antigone, he loses all that are important to him. There lies the crux of Teiresias’ prediction and the irony of it all; Creon has lost all that he wanted to save.