Of Nelson Mandela's Long Walk To Freedom, By SophoclesAntigone

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

In the play Antigone, Creon starts off as the loyal king of Thebes. He is loyal to the gods and loyal to the welfare of Thebes. However, over the course of the play, Creon degenerates into a tyrant. His degeneration is showing his character development. Creon’s pride about the human law also develops throughout the play, creating conflict with the divine law. When Antigone rebels against his law, he becomes stubborn, and makes myopic decisions and grows into his hamartia. Besides his hamartia, Creon’s position as the king makes him a power hungry man. His power madness degenerates him into becoming a ruthless and vindictive man, even to his family. However, over the course of the play, Creon begins to see that because of the laws of men, he was being blinded of what’s

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.

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.

“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,

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

Even though Antigone exhibits a blamable pride and a hunger for glory, her disobedience is less serious than those of Creon. It is evident that Antigone’s actions are driven by a love for her brother, and a desire to please the gods. While Creon’s actions are

Sophocles symbolizes family over authority by using Antigone and Creon to conflict each other's core beliefs, showing that Antigone is willing to die to honor the love for her family, while Creon is willing to kill to honor and enforce his own authority at any cost. As we see in the story, when Antigone's brothers die, she chooses to bury Polyneices even though she knows this will cost her her life. In the play when Antigone tells her sister what she’s going to do, ismene says, ”But think of the danger! Think what Creon will do! ANTIGONE: Creon is not enough to stand in my way” This shows Antigone represents family for the great lengths she will go to to honor her brother. By contrast, Sophocles paints Creon to symbolize authority through murder of his own bloodline. In the play he plans to kill Antigone for choosing her love for her brother over his rule, and so he plans out her execution although she is family to Creon. The Choragos asks Creon “Do you really intend to steal this girl from your son?,” which then he responds by saying “No; Death will do that for me.” Which shows the reader that Creon is unsympathetic to who Antigone is in relation to him. He disregards the importance of family to uphold his authoritative values. By the end of the play the author has shown us Creon has come to realize his ways have cost him his family, and he regrets his decisions.

“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.

Sophocles expresses his devotion to family throughout Creon’s actions in the play as well. Prior to Creon first deciding to let Antigone die, the choragus convinces him to release her. Creon, reluctant at first, listens to the choragus and says to them, “It is hard to deny the heart! ” (SceneV. 235). Creon, knowing in his heart, that he has finally done the right thing by letting Antigone have freedom. Although Creon wants Antigone to pay for defiance of his law, the family ties prove to be stronger than his devotion to authority. As Creon orders the choragus on what weapons to bring, Creon exclaims, “I buried her, I/ Will set her free”

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”,

She rebels against Creon’s rules and against the Greek patriarchy by continuing on with her plan. Creon’s indignation on antigone causes a disapproving son, who is Antigone’s fiance and ultimately the rest of society, eventually leading to Creon’s ultimate failure to lead as a king. Antigone overturns a fundamental rule, that women are not superior and should not speak out against man created laws. Since Creon has a misogynistic mindset, this leads to the Gods of Thebes to penalize him. “Nor did I think your edict had such force that you, a mere mortal, could override the gods” (II.4.503-504). Antigone spoke up against Creon for what was right to her, which was a rule followed by her people all the time and a law created by the Gods. However, Sophocles show the reader where fault lies and how women were viewed in Greek society, Antigone, however is a breakout character who goes against the human law and a threat to the status quo.

Throughout the context words of Creon and Antigone contrasts their perspective on their belief. Creon would often decide all the rulings of his country with no hesitant because of his strong pride being a King. On the other hand, Antigone’s strong bond, love for her family, commitment to bury her brother which objects the rule against Creon. In disobedience towards Creon, Antigone says her “...honours for the dead must last much longer than for those up here” (Sophocles, 275), as well as speaking that “there’s nothing shameful in honouring my mother’s children.” (Sophocles, 273). Antigone’s words expresses her love and the

Each individual in Antigone had a predetermined fate although by the portrayal of his or her free will that fate may be changed. Creon, by displaying appalling acts such as enslaving Antigone despite warnings, showed he had the most free will. Tirasias, as the spokesmen of the gods, warns Creon about the consequences of his actions (Sophocles, 112). By ignoring Tirasias’s cautions, Creon portrays his free will. Creon is confident that through his determination he will be able to rule Thebes and create his own laws. Through these laws, Creon punishes Antigone, after she disobeys his rulings and buries her brother. Antigone reveals her free will by choosing death as her fate and life for her sister Ismene. When Ismene proclaims she will die with Antigone, Antigone refutes it. Antigone says that they should not both die, especially for an act that only she committed and Ismene had no part in (Sophocles, 88). Ultimately, Haemon shows the least free will