Principle Of Creon In Sophocles 'Antigone'

Macbeth was contemplating the consequences of murdering Duncan and foresees his future of being overthrown by righteousness. He is worried that “This even-handed justice/ Commends th’ ingredience if our poisoned chalice/ To our own lips.” (1.7.10-12). Macbeth, at this point, have not been obsessed with lust for power. He raised self-awareness that the violence he used to wrongly proclaim himself king will be used to take vengeance against him. Such violence made him a “tyrant” and eventually killed by Macduff in anger of Macbeth’s crimes.

In Sophocles’ Antigone, Polynices never appears directly, but is one of the significant presences in the tragedy. Polynices is the reason for the downfall of the tragic hero, Creon, who is also the King of Thebes. Not only has one character been affected, but Polyneices’ death is the root of the preeminent conflict. Stated in the prologue, Polyneices has already been killed by his brother, Eteocles. This piece of background information is crucial because his death has generated a tremendous force on the plot and themes of the play.

Do Not Ignore the Laws of the Gods Loyalty to the state should not undermine a person’s loyalty to their gods. When the king challenges or ignores the authority of the gods, he is headed for failure. Sophocles trumpets this message throughout his tragic play, Antigone. After Polyneices rebelled against Thebes and killed his brother Eteocles in battle, King Creon decreed that a traitor to the state cannot be buried. Worse, the body of a traitor is left to rot above ground as food for scavengers.

The new ruler of Thebes is Creone and his decision is that Polyneices will not be given burial honors and he will be publicly humiliated while Eteocles will be honored during burial (Bloom, H. (1999). Several characters in the play are very crucial

However, there is another form of loyalty shown in the play, loyalty to the law or state which we can see in Creon. . Creon declared that Polynices was not to be given his burial rights and those that went against his law were to be put to death. His reasoning being Polynices went to war against Thebes for the right to rule after Eteocles, his brother, broke the pact between them and sent Polynices in exile.That - in the eyes of Creon - amounts to treason. It was a case of fratricide as well.

He recognizes that he has murdered his own brother, taking his throne, and then marries his brother’s wife. Nevertheless, he will not amend with himself or God, because he doesn’t want to give up what he has gained by his sin. For Example, as he mentions “Forgive me my foul murder? That cannot be, since I am still possessed of those effects for which I did the murder: My crown, mine

Through personal experience or word of mouth, one often hears of those that suffer due to forces outside of their control and influence. One such person would be the titular character Oedipus in the Sophocles’ Oedipus the King. In the play, Oedipus, the king of Thebes, seeks aid for a plague ravaging his city. He finds out that the plague is due to the unsolved murder of the previous king, and so he then seeks the regicide. Through a series of prophecies, Oedipus learns that he himself killed the king, who is his father, and married his mother, the queen.

The conspirators thought that the plebeians would understand their motives, but, instead,“the city was in shock, and people became increasingly more hostile” after the assassination (Wasson). The commoners sided with Anthony and Octavian, ignoring the lack of justifications that the conspirators and Brutus provided. They were angry that their beloved king had been assassinated by the senators who were supposed to be working and supporting him. The author of The Assassination of Julius Caesar. A People’s History of Ancient Rome and political scientist, Michael Parenti, stated that Caesar’s assassination “marked a turning point in the history of Rome.

Why else would he kill Pompey a man who he would have to share power with? He didn’t have evidence nor proof that Pompey would be a bad leader, so if Brutus is going to be punished, so should Caesar. “And do you now strew flowers in his way That comes in triumph over Pompey’s blood? Be gone! Run to your houses, fall upon your knees, Pray to the gods to intermit the plague That needs must light on this ingratitude.” Transition to next Topic…….Now let’s look at some more evidence.

The tragedy is filled with dramatic ironies due to Oedipus’ ambition in finding King Laius’s murderer. As Oedipus was addressing the people of Thebes about the consequences that will follow the murderer, “Be driven from every house, being, as he is, corruption itself to us”(Sophocles 227-228). The dramatic irony is that Oedipus is the murderer himself but he does not know it yet, so the proclamation that he said should be applied to him. Alternatively, Tiresias replied to Oedipus after he insulted him for being “sightless” and “ senseless” and said, “There is no one here who will not curse you soon, as you curse me.” Tiresias said this because even though he is blind he can still see the truth of who the true murderer is. Therefore soon the people of Thebes will start to cursing Oedipus once they find out he was the reason behind the