The Father/Son Conflict

Oedipus curses Polyneices. Creon's contempt for Haemon. The father/son conflict is one of mass interest and even greater tragedy. Death is the only outcome to be hoped for. There is some power struggle that a father and son must go through seemingly from the moment the son learns to talk. The son seeks the father's approval, while the father seeks to make his son into a man, often forgetting he must be a child first. Out of duty, Haemon sides with his father at first, but we all know where his heart truly lies. It is that need for the approval that steers Haemon's first words to his father, "I am yours, Father. You set me straight, Give me good advice, and I will follow it: (28) Of course Haemon is lying to not only his father but to himself as well. Haemon then sets out to persuade his father to change his mind about Antigone's punishment. When that doesn't succeed, we see the first foreshadowing of the lover's tragedy, "Not me. Never. No matter what you think. She is not going to die while I am near her" (34) And yet, at the end of the play, a sure model for the Romeo and Juliet to come, Haemon and Antigone lie dead in each other's arms. Creon was so driven to be proved in the right, he lost all sight of what really mattered. He made an enemy of his son, his wife, and his niece/future daughter-in-law. I suppose this is what happens when a man refuses in, Creon's mind at least, to have any qualities of a woman. Hmm.