Antigone Vs Kreon Character Analysis

Throughout Sophocles’ tragic play, Antigone, main characters King Kreon and Antigone dramatically argue without compromise over the burial of recently deceased brother of Antigone, Polyneices. Antigone, while attempting to mourn for her family, symbolically buries Polyneices, going against the King’s decree (93-100). Out of anger, and an effort to establish his power, Kreon sentences her to an undeserving death just because she decided to respect her kin (441-496). In this case, I sympathize with Antigone more than Kreon because she peacefully acts on her beliefs knowing the consequences at stake. It takes a lot to stand up for what you believe in, especially knowing that the outcome will not bode well for you.

After brothers Polyneices and

He takes Haimon’s well-spoken remark, and turns it into an insult against his son’s age. This is something that a character lacking self-confidence would argue as soon as their motives are challenged. Confrontation should not insight insult, it should insight intelligent and respectful conversation. It might be slightly more normal to argue with your family over serious issues, but Kreon upholds his undesirable traits even when speaking to the world’s most renowned and respected seer of the future, Tiresias. Tiresias, old and blind, has a guide lead him to Thebes to tell Kreon that his actions have upset the gods, and that he must free Antigone and allow her to give Polyneices a proper burial (998-1032). Once again, Kreon takes this advice as a direct challenge saying, “Old man, you all keep shooting arrows at me, just like archers at a target. Even your prophetic skill is used against me (1033-1035),” and even going as far as accusing Tiresias of being bribed. This fiery attitude of Kreon causes a tolerant, and respectful person in Tiresias to fire back with brutal honesty. Enough honesty to make Kreon be “shaken in my mind (1095).” Tiresias, seer of all, tells Kreon that because of the way he has acted over

Her actions, which go against King Kreon’s decree, speak volumes to what is most important to her- respecting her family. This rebellion is easy to sympathize with because she goes about rejecting an unjust order in a peaceful and respectable way. Antigone is a young, yet experienced character in the play. She is the daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta, who share one of the cruelest and most twisted stories in Greek mythology. On top of that, her brothers Eteokles and Polyneices killed each other in battle, over a land dispute. So, it is fair to say that she has suffered through tragic loss, and unfortunate events that have been far out of her control. Antigone is a character that is trying to find the good in a world that has constantly put her down. By burying one of her few remaining family members, she is attempting to have a positive, lasting effect on the world, something that no one in her family has been able to do. Although Antigone might not have handled her conversation with her sister Ismene well, she does have a reason to be angry because she offers her sister a chance to bury Polyneices with her, so that they can both right something that has been wronged (43-47). Even though Ismene refuses to take part in burying Polyneices, Antigone does the deed alone, and takes full responsibility for her actions. After hearing that Antigone has been sentenced to