Creon Character Analysis Antigone

She makes a choice to bury Polyneices, her brother. Knowing all too well that the punishment for her actions is death. In the end Antigone does get caught and dies.This is just another example as to how corrupt Creon has become. He shows no sympathy to even his family. Ruling with an iron grip promotes no forward movement and restrains people from their true potential.

When a messenger comes to Creon, bringing the news that Antigone has buried her brother, he begins his arguments why Antigone has broken the law. He begins by stating that a man shows what he is made of by his "skill in rule and law." In other words, the law is everything and as a ruler, he must do everything for his country. He considers Polyneices an enemy of the city and a threat to the security of the city as well. Thus Polyneices will be called a traitor in life and in death and dishonored. The scene when Antigone and Creon face each other is the opportunity for both to defend themselves. Creon questions Antigone. She bases her responses on that the city laws proclaiming her as illegal are not the laws of Zeus or laws proclaimed by gods, but rather, laws made by a man that one day will also die. She will honor her brother's death because this is what the gods have proclaimed for all mankind. (lines 460-463)

Sophocles’ Antigone is, without a doubt, one of the greatest tragedies ever written. There are many questions that somebody could ask about this work, but this one intrigues me the most: Who is the tragic hero? Could it be Antigone? Or could it be Creon? Antigone might be the name of the tragedy, but I believe that Creon is the winning candidate. His role in the plot of this tragedy, his sensible tragic fault, and his dynamic character are the obvious reasons why I chose him as the tragic hero.

First off, Ismene, Antigone’s sister, actually was the one that incited Antigone's actions that led to everything else that happened in the story. Without Ismene, there would not be a plot. In lines 52-59, Ismene said to Antigone “What? You'd bury him— when a law forbids the city?” Antigone replied “Yes! He is my brother and—deny it as you will—your brother too. No one will ever convict me for a traitor.” Ismene said “So desperate, and Creon has expressly—” and Antigone interrupted with “He has no right to keep me from my own.” Here Ismene is telling Antigone that her actions are not something that are legal and that comply with Creon’s laws. Antigone, being hard-headed, decides that she is not going to let a law determine what she does for

If you will not, I will; I shall not prove disloyal.” (A. 2). All along, Antigone very well understood that if she opposed the rules of Creon, she would most definitely be killed yet she was determined enough to bury Polyneicies’s body.

Antigone retaliates by saying that his law is not that of the Gods so it does not stand. He wants to have Antigone killed, but his son his her fiancé. He tries to explain to the king that the gods would have wanted Polyneices to be buried and that Antigone did the right thing that she should not be punished for it. Creon’s hubris however comes out yet again. He will not even listen to a word his son has to say; however now he does not want to kill her, but to send her away into a tomb, where the Gods can determine her fate.

Sometimes, the cause of one’s downfall can be found inside themselves. The play Antigone written by Sophocles, is about a girl named Antigone who chooses to defy the king’s law and bury her brother. Creon, the king of Thebes, finds out about Antigone’s actions and decides to punish her with death. Creon’s pridefulness and stubbornness causes him to create selfish and close minded decisions that lead to future consequences.

“Then why delay? There’s nothing in your words that I enjoy—may that always be the case! And what I say displeases you as much. But where could I gain greater glory than setting my own brother in his grave? All those here would confirm this pleases them if their lips weren’t sealed by fear—being king, which offers all sorts of various benefits, means you can talk and act just as you wish.” (567-575) The way Antigone acts, what she says and what she thinks contrasts with Creon to the point where they had a major conflict. These conflicting motivations cause Creon to show a different side of himself, the new characteristics that were highlighted in Creon were anger, violence, and self-importance.

The qualifications of a tragic hero vary between Aristotle and Shakespeare. Aristotle thinks of a tragic hero as someone who is a noble character by choice and makes his/her own destiny, while Shakespeare sees a tragic hero as someone who is born of nobility and born to be important. Although both tragic hero's end in a tragic death that effects many people, not all tragic hero's fit perfectly into both categories. In Sophocles’ Antigone, Creon is considered a tragic hero. Creon follows Aristotle's definition of a tragic hero by being a noble character by choice, having important potential, and falls due to "miscalculations" with circumstances that are beyond control.

Pride, one of the seven deadly sins. It is arguably the most dangerous of the seven sins, making people act irrationally when they are insulted and almost unable to see reason. This is demonstrated very well in Antigone by Creon and Antigone. Civil law dictated that Polyneices, Antigone’s brother, was not to be buried, while religious law dictated that anyone not buried could not be put to rest. Creon believed his law, the civil law, should be listened to over religious law. Antigone believed that religious laws should be listened to above civil laws. Despite having opposing views on whether to follow civil or religious law, Creon and Antigone’s own pride and refusal to back down led to their downfall.

However, the central conflict is between the protagonist, Creon, and the antagonist, Antigone. This conflict can be classified as Man vs. Man. Creon and Antigone compete with one another on the basis of which law is superior, man’s law or god’s law. Creon believing that man-made laws should not be defied, is forced to, due to his beliefs, sentence Antigone to death upon defying the law. This leads to the internal conflict present within Creon. Should he kill Antigone for defying man-made law or acquit her because her intent to follow god’s law? Due to his relentless and uncompromising beliefs of man-made law being superior to all other laws, he is forced to sentence Antigone to death, though many disagree. It seems as the moral thing to do, however, in the end, it turns out to be more than he could bargain for.

Out of imprudence, Antigone does not realize the negative effects of antagonizing Creon. After being captured by the guard and brought to Creon, she reveals her intentions to Creon and even belittles him by indicating that his orders is not so strong that he, “a mortal man”,

Now when the guards discovered that someone buried the body of Polyneices, the head sentry went to tell the king, whereupon Creon became enthralled with anger. He told the sentry that he judged him to be a bribed soldier and that he could not return unless he found the person who had buried the body or told of whom it was that had bribed him. After this the horrified sentry and his men brushed off the sacred burial dust from the body and kept watch from a distance to see if the rebel would return to bury the body. Sure enough, during a sandstorm Antigone was seen burying the body that she had cared for so well before. The guards grabbed her and she showed no fear. She did not try to evade her pursuers and she was brought before the king. The king first asked her if she had heard his proclamation concerning the burial of her brother. She blatantly told him that could not have helped hearing it. If she had denied hearing it, she may have escaped death, but she did not want to escape it, and she felt that she had done nothing wrong. She believed that her death would be of no importance, but that the death of her brother would

Throughout the Greek play Antigone by Sophocles, there exists a dispute as to who should receive the designation of main character. Antigone, the daughter of the cursed King Oedipus, as well as Creon, stately king of Thebes, both appear as the key figures in this historic play. I believe that Creon, king of Thebes, should be considered the main character in this work of Greek theater. Three points can be used to make this argument: Creon suffers greatly, he learns a lesson, and is a tragic hero.

Antigone's sister reminds her she has no power in the law and if she is to be caught burying Polynieces she will be put to death. Being bull headed she does anyway. She was so stubborn that not even her only sister could stop her. After their argument Antigone even asks her sister if she wants to come with because Antigone thinks burying Polynieces is a respectable thing to do, she can not take a hint. And when she goes to defend herself in front of Creon she is so stubborn that she wants everyone to know that she has committed this crime for the gods and does not even defend herself but says she is guilty. This makes Creon even more mad because she knew exactly what she was doing.