Antigone Contrasts With Creon

The first specification for the tragic hero is one of the few that both Antigone and Creon exhibit; both characters are between the extremes of perfect morality and pure villainy. Antigone’s moral neutrality is illustrated through her noble intentions and the unorthodox way she acts upon them. When she is confronted by Creon and demanded to give an explanation for her disobedience, Antigone says, “For me it was not Zeus who made that order. Nor did that Justice who lives with the gods below mark out such laws to hold among mankind” (Sophocles 207 ll. 450-2). Along with love and loyalty to her brother, Antigone is largely motivated by her desire for justice and appeasement of the gods. While her intentions are noble, Antigone’s actions in the

If Antigone did nothing, living with the guilt of not helping her brother would be worse. She breaks these rules for divine law, a law that is believed to come directly from god. Antigones actions for Polyneices that he must be buried is a requirement from the gods. If not buried properly the souls of the deceased were let to walk to river Styx, the entrance to the under world, for eternity and their souls would never be at rest. Not burying a body was a great insult to the dead and Antigone could not live with that on her conscience. Creon on the other hand ignores the laws of the gods and believes his duty to the city comes first. Creon believes his decision was in the best interest of Thebes to show that he is a strong ruler and the city of Thebes will be safe in his hands.

Her blatant disrespect and sarcasm toward Creon shows how she really feels toward him. Antigone does not respect Creon as the king of Thebes. This gets further proved when Antigone says, “It wasn’t Zeus, not in the least, who made this proclamation–not to me” (Sophocles Antigone, 499-500). This is a very telling moment for the reader, Antigone is saying she did not listen to Creon’s decree not only because she does not respect him, but also she will only listen to the gods rules. This moment tells Creon that Antigone will never respect him as a ruler. Antigone is very stubborn, and when she is very passionate she will speak her mind, “And if my present actions strike you as foolish, let's just say I’ve been accused of folly by a fool” (Sophocles Antigone, 523-5). In these few lines she is talking to Creon about how she does not regret burying her brother. She tells Creon, the person who holds her fate in his hands, that he is a fool. Antigone’s hubris finally comes back to ruin her, “We took his orders, went and searched, and there in the deepest, dark recesses of the tomb we found her… hanged by the neck in a fine linen noose” (Sophocles Antigone, 1344-7). The ‘her’ the messenger is speaking of is Antigone. Antigone is so prideful and spiteful her last act on Earth was a smug reminder to Creon that if she was going to die it would be on her own terms, by her own hand. Antigone is one character that perfectly showcases how hubris can lead to ultimate demise.

After Antigone is brought forth and accepts the punishment of her burying her brother, Creon sends her away. At this time, Ismene steps up to defend Antigone and tries to get creon to realize that Antigone is his son’s future bride. Creon answers by saying, “There are other field just as fertile” (26). In this quote, he displays that he cares for neither Antigone, nor his son, Haemon. . He explains that there are other women around that could be just as a promising wife as Antigone. He exemplifies the theme of pride here, by putting that everyone gets replaced and that he does not put his son’s life first. Power, a theme that is primarily exemplified by Creon, appears multiple times throughout his dialogue. While discussing Antigone’s punishment with Haemon, Creon says, “This city will tell me how I ought to rule it?” (40). In this quote, Creon represents the theme of power. He is trying to show Haemon that HE is the king of Thebes and that no one will tell him how to rule, especially the citizens. In relation to present time, there are countless politicians that share the same characteristics as Creon, someone who takes their power for granted and will use it to take advantage of everyone.

Creon and Antigone are thought of as people of different kinds in the play. In the readers sense they might vary bit from bit. But when looking at the text and comparing Creon and Antigone there is a strong similarity in their character and their personality trait. When it comes to the scene of Antigone’s death, just before she dies, she asks the guard to write down the letter to her lover. They don’t mention Antigone telling the Guard who the lover is. But in the end

This play is ultimately concerned with one person defying another person and paying the price. Antigone went against the law of the land, set by the newly crowned King Creon. Antigone was passionate about doing right by her brother and burying him according to her religious beliefs even though Creon deemed him a traitor and ordered him to be left for the animals to devour. Creon was passionate about being king and making his mark from his new throne. Although they differed in their views, the passion Creon and Antigone shared for those opinions was the same, they were equally passionate about their opposing views. Creon would have found it very difficult to see that he had anything in common with Antigone however as he appears to be

The word "hero" is one with various definitions; a hero can be a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities, a person widely regarded as heroic by their actions, or even a sandwich. Popular opinion depicts a hero as the "superman" type, rushing into battle and saving the less fortunate. This is a character that never makes an appearance in Antigone. The story of Antigone does not fall into the lighthearted, family friendly genre of stories as it illustrates a royal tragedy and the downfall of a family. These factors increase the difficulty of finding the story's protagonist or, in this case, its hero.

Antigone brings to stage these topics, and shows characters who either live according to them, and exit with a good life, and others who deny these, and end the play living in a bad life. Therefore the play shows through example, that Stoic values will lead to a positive way of living, and living against the values will lead to you not getting everything out of life. The two main characters in this tragedy are Creon, the king of Thebes, and uncle of the other character Antigone, the daughter of the last king of the same city Thebes. Creon does not live according to the values of

She only intends on doing what is right with her and God because, “Sophocles meant to represent Antigone as wholly sinless” (Charles, 300). Which then leads one to assuming that her act of rebellion is bigger than it appears to be to everyone else. However, similar to The Lottery where only one person commits the act of rebellion, Antigone is the only one who buries Polyneices. However, her act creates a rift in the family and changes people within the society to realize their faults are in their actions. Creon realizes too late that he made a mistake in his decree: “My own blind Heart has brought me / From darkness to final Darkness” (5.215-16) Thusly, meaning Creon final sees what he has caused and the effects it had on his kingdom and family.

“There is no happiness where there is no wisdom; …proud men in old age learn to be wise.” Choragos narrated at the end of the play Antigone (41). Short plays such as Antigone are exemplary literatures that contain a vast amount of ethical issues, therefore enforcing critical thinking. Antigone, a tragic drama play, was created by Sophocles before 441 BC. The well written play dictates the story of a young woman who is charged for burying her brother as a representation of honor and the thoughts of a stubborn king. Creon is a self-centered character that is after Antigone and does everything in his power to murder her. Finally, the play illustrates that bad leadership that involves and leads to vanity, murder, and oppression.

Another difference which can be spotted throughout the play is the projection of emotions that the two give off. Antigone seems like more of a fervent, headstrong individual. Creon, on the other hand, sends readers more of an emotionless and insensible

The only person in the city who is ready to defy Creon’s law is his niece, the sister to Polynices, Antigone. She is overcome with grief by Creon’s order, and sets out to bury her brother. She believed that Creon, “a mere mortal,” did not have the power to “…override the gods, the great unwritten, unshakable traditions…” surrounding the rights of a dead man (Line 503-505). Her loyalty was to her family, not to the new king of Thebes. When Antigone goes to her sister Ismene to plead for her help in burying their brother, even she is too afraid of Creon’s authority to assist her only family. “I must obey the one’s in power,” she says. “...defy the city? I have no strength for that.” (Line 79-80, 93). She is lead to go against what she feels is morally right because she is fearful of the consequences. Even though Antigone is aware of these deadly consequences, she is willing to face them and stand up for what she believes is right. Discovering that Antigone has gone against him, Creon immediately sentences

In Antigone, by Sophocles, there is conflict between the characters Antigone and Creon. Antigone is characterized as a rebellious girl, who turns into a martyr, and just lost both her brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, in a war between the city-states of Thebes and Argos. Eteocles was fighting the war on Thebes’s side, Thebes is where they live, but Polynices was fighting for the Argos army. Creon, the king of Thebes as well as Antigone’s uncle, has made a law that Polynices may not be

In the play, Creon and Antigone can be seen as good or bad characters. Both of them show traits of justice. Antigone wanted to save her brother, Polyneices, by giving him a soldier’s funeral with military honors. Creon realized his mistake of putting Antigone in a cave to die for burying Polyneices, and he tried to fix it. Unfortunately, he

The main difference between Antigone and Creon is their different stances on law. Antigone values moral and religious laws while Creon, values the laws of the state. In Scene II, Antigone is asked why she broke the law to bury her brother. She says, “It was not God’s proclamation. That final justice that rules the world below makes no such laws… [the laws of God] are not merely now, they were and shall be operative forever beyond man utterly.” Antigone’s disregard