Ancient Greek Tragedies

Many characters from Ancient Greek tragedies possess personalities and characteristics that are either appropriate or inappropriate when considering the President’s cabinet. After carefully analyzing the different characters, one can see that Agamemnon and Creon are suitable candidates for the position of Secretary of Defense and Secretary of State. However, there are also characters that are not as promising as Agamemnon and Creon, and these characters are Hemon and Medea. All four of these characters, Agamemnon, Hemon, Creon and Medea, demonstrate characteristics that are either suitable or unsuitable for the positions of Secretary of Defense and Secretary of State in the President’s Cabinet.

            Throughout “Agamemnon,” one can see that Agamemnon would be highly capable of handling the position of Secretary of Defense because of his strong war background and his willingness to make sacrifices. In the beginning of “Agamemnon,” the chorus explains the arduous war that Agamemnon is involved in. He has left his home for ten years to fight against Troy. The Secretary of Defense’s responsibilities entails supporting and advising the President in making a stable defense policy. The war experience and dedication that Agamemnon has proves that he would make appropriate decisions regarding the defense of the country. He has put all his effort in the war and has even sacrificed ten years for his city, Argos. Furthermore, Agamemnon takes many risks to help achieve his goals. To appease the god Artemis, Agamemnon “had the heart to sacrifice his daughter,” (Agamemnon, lines 223-224). Agamemnon kills his own daughter to help his army and does what he has to do to help defend Argos. Overall, Agamemnon definitely deserves to be appointed Secretary of Defense because his strong military background and his dedication would help him to make apt decisions for the country.

            After considering the responsibilities and characteristics of a good Secretary of Defense, one character that would not be suitable for this position would be Hemon because he is both emotional and unreliable. When Hemon finds out that Antigone is sentenced to be trapped in a tomb, his strong feelings and emotions towards Antigone leads himself to his death. Hemon acts irrationally because of his emotions and this type of behavior would not be acceptable for the Secretary of Defense. The Secretary of Defense should maintain some type of composure and be ready to make decisions without being influenced by his or her emotions. In addition, Hemon has proven to be unreliable and therefore incapable of handling a position such as the Secretary of Defense. After Creon makes a decision for Antigone’s punishment, Hemon mentions, “for there is no marriage shall occupy a larger place with me than your direction, in the path of honor,” to his father (Antigone, 25). Hemon claims that his loyalty to Antigone is not as strong as his loyalty to his father. However, by the end of the tragedy, it is clear that Hemon’s faithfulness lies with Antigone. The Secretary of Defense should never create promises that he or she can not fulfill. Hemon promises Creon that he will support him, but ends up supporting Antigone. All in all, Hemon would not make a good Secretary of Defense because of his emotional instability and his unreliable behavior.