Student Question

What do the following quotes from Antigone mean?

Just so the captain who never slackens his sail once he's stretched it gets his boat turned and sails the rest with benches upside down
For every human being makes mistakes, but when he has made a mistake, that man is no longer foolish and unhappy who remedies the evil into which he has fallen and is not stubborn. Obstinacy brings the charge of stupidity.

Quick answer:

The quotes from "Antigone" emphasize the importance of recognizing and correcting mistakes rather than stubbornly persisting in error. The first metaphor compares a captain who doesn't adjust his sail to someone who fails to correct their course, resulting in disaster. The second quote highlights that while everyone errs, wisdom lies in acknowledging mistakes and remedying them, as obstinacy leads to foolishness and unhappiness.

Expert Answers

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Both quotes are about learning from your mistakes. They are saying that you shouldn't just be stubborn and keep on doing the same stupid thing.  Instead, once you see you're doing something wrong, you should stop doing it.

To slacken your sail means to loosen it up some so that it doesn't catch so much wind.  The first part of the quote is saying that if you don't fix your mistake (having your sail catch too much wind) you end up upside down.

The rest of the quote says that everyone makes mistakes.  But if you make a mistake, you need to "remedy the evil" -- fix the problem.  If you do, you won't be foolish and unhappy anymore.  But if you are stubborn (obstinate means that too) you're stupid.

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