English Essay Zita Chan 4G (7)
How is Creon’s character introduced through his opening speech in the First Episode (lines 159-195) and how does this speech create tension?
The bestowal of ruling legitimacy upon Creon sparks off the Greek tragedy. Polyneices and Eteocles, brothers of Antigone killed each other during their fateful battle for the Theban throne and Creon, as the closest surviving kinsman, rules as the Theban king. Creon then approaches the chorus of elders privately and pronounces his first speech, wishing to draw himself support from the group of elite elders to prevent further mutiny against his rule among the Theban public. Through declaring his legitimacy as a ruler, establishing his authority and outlining
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As well as in ‘he must be left unburied’ (line 191), Creon employs the modal verb ‘must’. The declaration is dogmatic and affirmative in tone, thus the declaration itself is a ‘command’ that Creon has pronounced on the elders and his people. This in turn reveals Creon as an absolute and even arrogant ruler, who demands complete compliance from his subjects.
Another means that Sophocles introduces Creon’s contradictory, polarised and cruel character from his opening speech is the inclusion of literary techniques in the speech: hyperbole, imagery and proleptic irony. Creon accused Polyneices of not only burning Thebes to the ground, but also ‘throw the rest into slavery’ (line 189). Creon condemns Polyneices of putting the entire nation under ‘slavery’ hyperbolically. The message of his message suggests an extreme state of suffering of the nation, which is merely Creon’s own projection. Creon here is thus shown to be polarised, by claiming Polyneices guilty of a hyperbolic crime of ‘enslaving’ the nation. This is also to show is arrogant and judgmental nature when he proclaims the position of the judge and jury, accusing Polyneices of a crime which had never occurred and which was a result of his own stereotypical mindset about a ‘traitor’. The Gothic imagery ‘drink blood that he shared’ (line 188) echoes in a certain way with the Chorus using
Creon does things in his own way knowing that nobody around him agrees with what he is trying to do. In the beginning Creon has set a law against the burial of his nephew Polyneices, because of his crimes. Polyneices sister, Antigone does not agree with Creon, and she tells Ismene, her sister that Polyneices will have a proper burial. “Look- what’s Creon doing with our two brothers? He’s honouring one with a full funeral and treating the other one disgracefully! Eteocles, they say, has had his burial according to our customary rites, to win him the honour with the dead below. (Sophocles, 317). This quote shows how stubborn that Creon can be. Creon always has to be in control which will prove to be part of his flaw.
Creon is a strong headed guy who will not listen to anybody but himself because he’s the king. When he speaks to everyone he always ends up insulting them and saying stuff that he ends up regretting like; “They did not want to obey me! And, I know this very well, whoever did this, did it because he was paid money by these malcontents.” Creon thinks that everyone has to listen to him that he’s the best Creon is very arrogant he is full of himself he thinks that no one is more powerful than him. Another quote is “Me nothing, with that i have everything.” He is the kind he controls everything but not anyone. Creon thinks everyone is like a slave to them because he’s the king his “power” goes to his head and he won’t listen to anyone.Creon is full of power in his head he is selfish and stubborn. He doesn’t deserve to be a king. Creon is prideful, he won’t let anyone speak up to him or tell him what to do. He also says “Am i to rule this land at someone else’s whim or myself?”
Creon is a man who has just become the king of Thebes and has a flaw of having too much pride. He can’t control the power of being over other people and he lets the power go to his head. “ I now possess the throne and all its powers. No, he must be left unburied, his corpse carrion for the birds and dogs
Creon is a man of principles, who is devoted to the state as well as upholding the law in a dominant and control freak type of manner. Creon uses his first speech as a way to explain his ideas, expectations of the people, and his first law regarding the body of Polynices. Knowing the people of Thebes will disregard his word, he explains to the populace that, “Whoever places a friend above the good of his own country, he is nothing”(67). He brings up the threat of death due to the uncertainty of future rebellion and clearly states, “Our country is our safety”(68). This type of indoctrination starts from the head and trickles its way down to the people regardless of whether they want it or not. Bribery is another one of his major concerns. Knowing that corruption leads to dysfunction, rebellion, and torment, Creon poetically makes another law regarding, “Money! Nothing worse in our lives, so current, rampant, so corrupting… No limit, you make them adept at every kind of outrage, every godless crime-money!...
Antigone takes place just after a war between Antigone’s two brothers, Eteocles and Polynices. Eteocles fought on the side of Thebes whereas Polynices resembled an invader. Afterwards, Eteocles is buried and seen as honorable. However, Polynices is denied a proper burial because he is considered a traitor to Thebes. In this play, Sophocles uses Antigone and Creon as foils by characterizing Antigone as a martyr and Creon as a tyrant to urge the reader to realize that one’s own morals are more significant than the decrees of any government.
perspectives. Creon 's pride causes him to be afraid to admit that he has made a
Throughout the whole play, Creon has not kept himself from showing his unruly attitude towards all the characters about his decisions for the people. There were many occasions in
“Tell me briefly—not in some lengthy speech— were you aware there was a proclamation forbidding what you did?” (503-505). The actions, context of Antigone’s words, and also the ideas she proposed, very indepthly contrasted with Creon’s character. Thus resulting in there being a verbal confrontation between the two characters. The conflict between the two caused conflicting motivations such as stubbornness, disrespect, and anger to be projected with Creon’s character. Ultimately, these conflicting motivations develop Creon as a tragic hero by portraying that he knew, the decisions he made were of error, and the character interactions advance the plot by causing conflict throughout the play. Creon had also begun to change throughout the play,
Starting in media res, the audience are informed of the death of Eteocles and Polyneices through the Oedipus’ family sisters, Antigone and Ismene’s heated conversation. Creon, as the closest blood relative of the throne, succeeds as ruler of Thebes and comes to power. Creon gives a full and honorable burial to Eteocles, praising his loyalty to the state until death, while inflicting Eteocles’ brother, Polyneices, non-burial and the eternal punishment of rotting on the battlefield held against charges of treason. Whoever attempts paying Polyneices full honour after death,
Creon’s was used to being the hero of Thebes after repairing the damage Oedipus’ horrifying end had caused, now he was faced with an uncomfortable choice. Being the new reigning monarch of Thebes, his morals were centered around keeping himself monarch. As a result, Creon’s selfishness tipped his internal scales3 of what was just and what was not. His pride was so great that he not only refused to bury the revolutionary, Polyneices, but declared, “he’ll have no burial mound, no
Throughout the play, Creon shows many examples of how he is imperfect. One example would be how he believes that the state is primary to his family and relationships, “If this is your pleasure, Creon, treating our city’s enemy and our friend this way … the power is yours, I suppose, to enforce it with the laws, both for the dead and all of us, the living,” this quotation said by the leader of the chorus describes how the elder people of Thebes respect their family more than the state, but they held back on their opinions, knowing of what Creon, the leader, wanted to hear (235-240). Another example of how Creon shows the audience of how he is imperfect is when, Creon meets with Haemon. Creon argues with Haemon about how people should act towards the country which they reside in, “But whoever steps out of line, violates the laws or presumes to hand out orders to his superiors, he’ll win no praise from me. But that man the city places in authority, his orders must be obeyed, large and small, right and wrong,” Creon believes since he has the highest throne in his country, that he should be obeyed whether the circumstance (745-751). Lastly, Creon demonstrates to the audience that he is imperfect by wanting to protect his country too much. This is visible when Creon sentences Antigone to a slow death, because of burying her brother, who was outcasted as a traitor. Creon put the state over his family which will lead to the complete
When Creon finds them both dead he realizes that it was his power as king that has caused this to happen. He begins to realize mistakes he has made. He has followed quite closely in the footsteps of Oedipus. Through his suffering we begin to see him as a human rather than a powerful tyrant.
As King of Thebes, Creon is forced to make difficult decisions. As a new ruler, he feels it is necessary to prove himself to his citizens, therefore he rules his state with a firm hand. He believes that Polyneices should not be buried because he was a traitor to his country and family. Creon knew this decision would be hard on some
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
The opening events of the play quickly establish the central conflict. Creon has decreed that the traitor Polynices must not be given proper burial, and Antigone is the only one who will speak against this decree and insist on the sacredness of family. Whereas Antigone sees no validity in a law that disregards the duty family members owe one another, Creon’s point of view is exactly opposite. He has no use for anyone who places private ties above the common good, as he proclaims firmly to the Chorus and the audience as he revels in his victory over Polynices. Creon’s first speech, which is dominated by words such as “principle,” “law,” “policy,” and “decree,” shows the extent to which Creon fixates on government and law as the