Character Foils In Antigone

Creon ignores the advice of his fellow political officials when issuing a royal edict regarding Eteocles’s burial. Eteocles, Antigone’s brother, is entitled by the gods to be granted a proper burial, however Creon’s pride drives him to outlaw the burial, thinking Eteocles is a traitor simply because he owns a legitimate claim to the throne of Thebes. Like Agamemnon, Creon constantly makes decisions and conducts himself while influenced by his own hubris. This ultimately leads to the detriment of Antigone’s relatioinship with the king. Antigone defies Creon’s newly issued burial edict and does what she thinks is right: granting her brother Eteocles an honorable burial. Creon, shamed by Antigone’s challenge of his authority, becomes enraged by the thought of someone disobeying his orders, especially Antigone. The common people of Thebes agree with Antigone in the sense that Eteocles should be given a proper burial, in dissent with Creon’s belief. Creon becomes cold and tyrannical with his power. Having broken the law in the eyes of her king, Antigone is imprisoned like a common

Of the one hundred and twenty plays and tales Sophocles had written during his time, only seven have survived to today and Antigone a tale of the constant turmoil of the royal family of Thebes is one of those few ancient tales. Creon, the new king of the city of Thebes, strives for justice and absolute loyalty to the crown, however, after he discovered that an unidentified citizen had defied one of his recently announced laws, he inflicted his fury on himself and those around him. Creon is the tragic figure that functions as an instrument of the suffering of others and contributes to the tragic vision of the story, Antigone by Sophocles, as a whole by threatening his subjects and family with death, ignoring the thoughts of his elders and peers, and bringing the feeling of death to himself and also death itself to those around him.

Creon shows an extraordinary amount of stubbornness throughout the story. An example is seen when Antigone wishes to give her brother, Polyneices a proper burial so he can have a pleasant afterlife with the Gods. Creon, as king wishes to have him rot in the fields because he turned his back on the state in which the events occurred.

Sophocle’s play Antigone suggests that a good leader should provide loyalty and trust, and through actions Creon, shows many reasons to be a loyal character in the play, Creon has good rational reasons for his laws and punishments that he believes that will help him as a king. Even though Creon has a hard time listening to anyone, which makes him stubborn and his pride to increase he is actually doing something that can help his people, Creon and the citizens of Thebes respect the law, which shows loyalty to the state. In the play Creon states “ For me, a man who rules the entire state and does not take the best advise there is, but through fear keeps his mouth forever shut, such man is the worst of men- and always

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.

He believes that loyalty should be dedicated and given to the state and the state only. He strives for power and loyalty from his citizens. He believes that no one individual has the right to be put above the state than himself. “And whoever places a friend above the good of his own country, he is nothing: I have no use for him.” (Sophocles, 203-204). Creon believes that all of his powers are above those of the gods. He believes he should be respected and this belief leads him to act stubborn and arrogant. “Never at my hands will the traitor be honored above the patriot, But whoever proves his loyalty to the state: I’ll prize that man in death as well as life.” (Sophocles, 232-235). Creon proves that he puts himself above the gods and says that he will praised them in death and life. The gods do not give him the authority to say he can praise them after they are dead. Creon does not get to chose whether they have a pleasant afterlife or not. He has no regards for the gods authority or power and only fights for glory and power for himself.

The tragic hero is a character in a book that comes from a noble background that has a tragic flaw which brings the character the greatest suffering which results in their downfall. In “Antigone”, there are two characters who can be considered the tragic hero of the story: Creon and Antigone. Antigone is a brave and fearless women who dies for a noble cause, while Creon is a controlling and powerful king of Thebes. Both Creon and Antigone have qualities to make them the tragic hero, but Creon is the true “tragic hero” because his hamartia causes his downfall. Creon is the tragic hero of “Antigone” because his hubris muddles his judgment and makes him cause his own undoing.

He expresses this by stating,”Unfortunately...the prince Eteocles and Polyneices, have killed each other...I, as next blood, have… full power of… throne...no traitor is honored...whoever shows by word or deed...shall have...my reverence when he is dead.” Creon is informing the people of Thebes not only that he has been crown king fairly but also that whoever goes against the law that was enforced will suffer the consequences. He uses fear as a way for the people of Thebes to understand that he is serious about what he says. He does not directly tell the consequence but people know that it is

Creon realizes that his hubris, or pride, has not let him adequately compromise with his conflicts. Creon hits realization and says, “ I have been rash and foolish.” (Scene 4, Line 1034). Along with him realizing his pride, he also admits that the death of Haimon was his fault. Creon also says, “My own blind heart has brought me from darkness to final darkness.” (Scene 4, Lines 988-999) This quote expresses that Creon did not think his decision through thoroughly and only though of himself. He disregarded the fact that his son was madly in love with Antigone. His over-confidence made his relationship with his son hit rock bottom. Creon’s pride did not let him deal with his conflicts in the right way. Creon eventually wakes up to the realties of what he caused his family to go through. He began to change his ways and take his steps towards contrition when he personally sees that Polynices needs to receive a proper burial. He has been loyal to do this, but it was too late to save the lives of: Haimon, Antigone, and his wife. This is stated by Teiresias when he proclaims, “ They are dead, and they that live are guilty of the death.” (Scene 4, Line 917) Creon has to pay the price now for not listening to his son’s demands. Creon realizes his consequences of being unreasonable and

Aristotle believes a tragic hero “must not be the spectacle of a virtuous man brought from prosperity to adversity”; however, Creon lacks the morality during his reign as king of Thebes. When Polynices is killed, Creon decides “he must be left unburied, his corpse/ carrion for the birds and dogs to tear,/ an obscenity for the citizens to behold”(229-231). As the leader of Thebes, Creon struggles to understand the ethics of the gods or citizens because he focuses on ruling his country for himself. Also, Creon fails to prosper in leading the state of Thebes because he rules as a dictator. Creon is angered by the questions on his rule, so he remarks “Am I to rule this land for others–or myself” (823). Creon lacks the decency as a ruler to reign with fairness to his

Creon is an example of a tragic hero. He is one of the major characters in Sophocles’ trilogy that consisted of ‘Oedipus the king’, ‘Oedipus at Colonus’ and ‘Antigone’. Over the course of this saga, we see Creon’s character develop with noticeable flaws. In the first story, ‘Oedipus the king’, Creon is portrayed as a cool and rational advisor to Oedipus who tried to prevent him from taking rash decisions such as banishing himself. Creon ultimately fails, and his hamartia is revealed in the subsequent story ‘Oedipus at Colonus’. Creon’s hamartia was that he had a strong belief that his reasoning and decisions were

Upon being crowned king, Creon is portrayed as a responsible leader. However, Creon becomes a ruthless leader who did not abide by the laws of the gods and rules by his own will. In the book, Creon decides not to bury Polyneices after being told by Antigone that it is against the gods to not bury someone who fought with valor. After being told numerous times by Antigone to bury Polyneices, he decides to punish her by imprisoning her. This shows that Creon believed that not even the gods can go against his decision. In other words, Creon is concerned only with his

However, Creon is not only authoritative but also wise. An example of this is when he says, "...whoever shows by word and deed that he is on the side of the state -- he shall have my respect while he is living, and my reverence when he is dead" (1. 45-47). As the king of Thebes, Creon is a man whose respect is earned, not given. Creon explains to the Chorus that a man who is loyal to the state and the ruler earns his total respect. A clever ruler would compel his subjects to obey him and follow his rules without explicitly stating the consequences. By explaining respect is earned, Creon has slyly planted the idea that his officers should obey him in order to avoid a fate like that of Polyneices. His subjects and officers, eager to please as well as keep their souls from wandering endlessly for eternity, will comply with his demands and thus add to Creon's power of the people as well as help him maintain an organized and united city. Due to the sly manipulation of his subjects, Creon has avoided conflict while still convincing his subjects to follow his demands. Although Creon is arguably the most powerful man in Thebes, when he says, "This is my command, and you can see the wisdom behind it" (1.43), it shows that he has appealed to his subject's logical side and has invited them to see the logic and wisdom behind his

The character Antigone is the protagonist in Antigone, the second play out of the Oedipus Rex trilogy. Out of the trilogy she is apart of she is the most tragic figure, though other claims say that Creon is a more tragic figure. A tragic figure in Greek plays, according to Aristotle, is a fictional character in a story or play that has an error in judgment, known as hamartia. This error of judgment causes his or her own misery, known as peripeteia. In Greek plays, such as the one Antigone premiers in, this person is must be of nobility. A tragic figure also has a tragic flaw that incorporates into the story or play. This tragic flaw can be shown through arrogance, stubbornness, love, or any quality that usually causes conflict, this is known as hubris. A tragic figure also must be portrayed as relatable to the

John Foster says, “pride comes before fall.” As the action of the Sophocles 's Antigone unfolds, it is clear that the protagonist Creon has all the six characteristics of a tragic hero. Teiresias interactions with Creon help to demonstrate three of those typical traits: Creon’s noble stature, his tragic flaw of having pride and arrogance, and his free choice that makes his downfall his own fault.