Fallacies In Antigone

Have you ever wondered why American movies and TV shows often feature a Russian villain? This is not a new concept; these biases have been strengthened through writing for millennia. In Ancient Greece, Sophocles, an Athenian writer wrote of the struggle between law and morality in his play Antigone. Antigone takes place in the conflict ridden city-state of Thebes, where Creon, the king, declaims that his nephew Polyneices is a traitor and anyone who tries to bury him shall die. Antigone, Polyneices’ sister defies him and buries her brother despite his threat, but must face death for her crime. Sophocles plays off of Creon’s power hunger, paranoia, and temper, to influence his audiences political beliefs. He pokes fun at Thebes’ monarchy, from the perspective of a member of a democratic government. Parallels can be found between Sophocles’ play Antigone, and American movies and speeches in that both Sophocles and American writers demonize foreign forms of government to promote their native political ideologies, use analogies to further the appeal of their political views, and use logical fallacies to make the beliefs of their opponents appear unfounded. …show more content…
In Antigone, Sophocles’ character Creon developed a poor image of monarchs in the eyes of the Athenian people, just as Rocky’s victory over Drago symbolizes democracies victory over communism, while Haimon alluded to the superiority of democracies, and the American movie Miracle alluded to the victory of democracy over the communism after the Cold War. Logical fallacies are used both by Sophocles in Creon’s arguments, to make monarchs appear foolish, while American Senator Joseph McCarthy used logical fallacies to twist communist ideologies into appearing evil. Both Sophocles and American writers and speakers use the influence of their work to promote their political beliefs while demonizing the political beliefs of their