Comparison Of Creon In Sophocles's 'Antigone'

“...And justice for all” is the last line of the Pledge of Allegiance for the United States of America. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary the official definition for the term “justice” would be: the process or result of using laws to fairly judge and punish crimes and criminals. Creon has a very unique understanding of government, an unsuccessful search for justice, and learns about putting his pride before people he loves.

Antigone is a tragic play written by Sophocles in about 441b.c. The play is a continuation of the curse put upon the household of Oedipus Rex. Sophocles actually wrote this play before he wrote Oedipus, but it follows Oedipus in chronological order. The story of Antigone begins after the departure of Oedipus, the king of Thebes, into self-exile. Oedipus’ two sons, Eteocles and Polyneices, were left to rule over Thebes. An argument over rights to power forces Polynices to leave Thebes. Some time passes and Polynices returns with the army from Argos and attempts to overthrow his brother. The two brothers fight and kill one another and the war ends. Creon, the uncle of the two

Creon orders the guards to take Antigone away not caring for his son's feelings, since she is his fiancée. Creon feels the law should stand despite the fact that Antigone was his niece or how moral her act was. "Bring her [Antigone] out! Let her die before his eyes..." (Scene 3, 130). This quotes shows that Creon took his position as king seriously to the point where in he was willing to sacrifice the feelings of his own son. He was willing to be the cause of son's destruction just to prove that he is the king and always right. "I will go... I buried her, I will set her free" (scene 5, 102,104). Not only does this quote show leadership but also stubbornness he was risking his relationship with his son to prove that he was the leader of Thebes. Creon says another quote which shows his loyalty to his kingdom, "I call to God to witness that if I saw my country headed for ruin, I should not be afraid to speak out plainly," (Sophocles, scene 1,24-26). It shows his strong sense of leadership which catches up with him in the end causing destruction.

Tragedy always involves human suffering, but not everyone who suffers is a Tragic Hero. According to Aristotle, there are five basic criteria that must be met for a character to be considered a Tragic Hero. Aristotle’s ideas about tragedy were recorded in his book of literacy theory titled Poetics. In it he has a great deal to say about the structure, purpose and intended effect of tragedy. His ideas have been adopted, disputed, expanded, and discussed for several centuries. In this essay, I will examine these criteria in regards to Antigone’s Creon, King of Thebes.

Hero. Hero comes from the greek word heros meaning “A person who faces adversity, or demonstrates courage, in the face of danger.” Growing up we have always read stories about heroes coming to save the day; for instance, Captain America. Being that our whole lives we were mostly exposed to heroism, have you ever asked yourself what is the opposite of a hero? A villain is the opposite of a hero, but their is another opposite form of a hero; a tragic hero. A Tragic hero is “A literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction” (“Tragic hero as defined by Aristotle”). For instance, in the play written by Sophocles Antigone, the tragic hero is Creon. Creon who is Antigone’s

Antigone is a play written by Sophocles. The genre of the play that Sophocles wrote was based on tragedy. It is one of the first plays that use tragedy. In the play a young girl named Antigone, stands up against her uncle Creon who is the king. She stands up for her rights, so that she can give a religious burial to Polynices. She was a girl with a lot of will power. This essay talks about the relationship between Antigone and Creon. This essay would contain paragraphs where there would be comparisons between Antigone and Creon’s Relationship.

The play, Antigone, written by Sophocles shows the different downfalls of characters. One of these characters is Creon. Creon does not realize that his pride and stubbornness has interfered his ability to deal with problems and rule of Thebes properly. By analyzing Creon, one could see that he is considered a tragic hero in this play. The characteristics a person must have to be a tragic hero is he has “a hamartia, or tragic flaw. More often than not that tragic flaw is excessive pride, or a hubris. The character then goes through a peripeteia, which is a twist where the character realizes that things will not turn out the way he expected. Finally, the character has an anagnorisis, which is their epiphany that makes them realize their hamartia” (Cap, Creon as a Tragic Character in “Antigone”). The tragic hero characteristics in Creon are clearly shown when he speaks with blind prophet, Teiresias. The character interaction between Creon and Teiresias helps develop Creon as a tragic hero in Antigone.

"Ah Creon! Is there no man left in the world” (Sophocles page #). Greek theatre played a large role in Greece. The citizens were supposed to learn from the mistakes made in tragedies. The citizens should have learned what not to be like as a citizen or person. In Antigone, written by Sophocles, there are two main characters, Antigone and Creon. They are both strong willed and stubborn people. Both being unwilling to change, they both seal each other’s fate with their stubbornness, shortsightedness, extreme beliefs and their hubris.

​The legitimacy of a state or political leader has often been questioned in many different countries throughout the years. In Antigone one can question the legitimacy to rule of Creon. In different instances throughout Antigone, it is evident that many of Creon’s subjects obey his laws and demands because of fear, not because they believe his orders and laws are justified. For example, Antigone’s sister Isemene refused to help Antigone with the burial in fear of being captured and killed by Creon (Sophocles, p. 3). In another instance, the Sentry obeys Creon’s order to find and capture the one who disobeyed him, Antigone, in order to save himself from the wrath of Creon (Sophocles, p. 13). Creon instills fear in his subjects in order to obtain

Through her refusal to adhere to Creon’s law concerning the burial of her traitorous brother, despite the guaranteed harsh punishment, Antigone demonstrates her stubbornness and inflexible attitude towards her opinions. This is exemplified when Creon threatens death to Antigone, to which she responds “Sooner or later I’ll die anyhow… If I had to live and suffer in the knowledge that Polyneices was lying above ground insulted defiled, that would be worse” (Heaney 30). In this quote, Antigone shows her stubbornness in admitting wrongdoing, when she states how she would rather be dead, than to be alive and know that her opinion will not be followed through on. Although she has noble intentions, Antigone’s unwillingness to accept reality and to instead seek death demonstrates how as a human, Antigone possesses the harmful flaw of being inflexible. While some may make this same argument for Creon, and use his inability to accept Polyneices burial as an example of inflexibility, Creon’s decision is justified, while Antigone’s is irrational and solely based on impulsive feelings. As Antigone worries about a single traitorous brother, Creon must watch out for the stability of his state, and take the necessary actions to make it clear that rebellion is not tolerated. The most significant different between the two is that Creon is capable of second guessing, while Antigone is stuck in her opinion, and would prefer death to being proven wrong.

In Antigone, Sophocles characterizes Creon as a prideful and stubborn individual, who strives to gain power over others, especially the gods. Despite his own son threatening to commit suicide, Creon does not recognize his hubris as his fatal flaw until the very end. One significant power struggle in the play Antigone, is the conflict between Creon and his son, Haimon, who is engaged to Antigone. Creon uses his permanent place as ruler, to decide that Polyneices should not be properly buried, because he is a traitor to their kingdom. Not only is he gravely wrong, he is not swayed by anyone’s opinion, even his own son’s.

Sentry says, “It is not what I say, but what has been done, that hurts you.” (141) Creon responds, “You talk too much,” showing how once again, Creon is in denial and does not want to hear that he is wrong (142). He is does not let anyone, even the Sentry speak showing that he is stubborn as well as unlikeable. Creon says to his son, “Not to lose your head over this woman. / Your pleasure with her would soon grow cold, Haimon, / And then you’d have a hellcat in bed and elsewhere. / Let her find her husband in Hell! / Of all the people in this city, only she / Has had contempt for my law and broken it” (22-27). Creon insists that his decision is the right one and Antigone deserves to be killed for not following his absurd orders. Creon states boldly, “I would not yield. I am not afraid of pollution: / No man can defile the gods” (48-49). Creon shows his stubbornness when he says that he is not afraid of the Gods. Although Creon shows the love for his son in the ending scenes, in the beginning he shows his anger problems and stubbornness which make him

In the play Antigone by Sophocles, Creon has erroneous belief, suspicious nature and tyrannical bend, which identifies from first episode that Creon, is a bad king by having the above qualities in his character. Apart from this, Creon has fear, which is an insecure feeling after getting the king position as he thinks that people are conniving against him. At first in the first episode after taking over the king’s position, the king Creon keeps a proclamation claiming that Eteocles will be buried with honors while the other son of Oedipus, polyneices not getting buried, but to be left as a disgrace in people’s eyes and waiting to be eaten by dogs and birds. This had been a Tyrannical Bended decision taken by the Creon, as he didn’t know that he should not punish the dead ones as end of life means end of sins because death itself is considered as a punishment to all of the sins that a person makes according to the Greek gods rules and regulations. The next event that occurred in the episode 1 was Antigone secretly burying her brother polyneices and when sentry came and informed about the event that took place secretly was considered mysterious to the sentry and to other guards who guarded there, Creon gets suspicious on the sentry and on the other guards with his suspicious nature and says that it is money

Jean Anouilh’s adaption of Sophocles’ Antigone published in 1994 garners the question whether or not the audience should deem Creon, the anointed king of Thebes, a tragic hero or villain? Notably, a Greek tragedy is distinguishable by the presence of a tragic villain. The role of which is to maintain awareness of their evil, yet unlike the hero remain static in terms of seeking resolution for their tragic flaw. Anouilh explores the way in which these attributes manifest themselves through Creon’s actions and dialogue in terms of his ability to uphold his authoritative political pragmatism ideals. Anouilh characterizes Creon through the iteration of his ideals concerning the role of an authority figure.

wife, and his will to live, but is doomed to live on in his pain. Antigone