Creon, Tool Of Despair In Sophocles Antigone

In the Greek tragedy Antigone, written by the legendary tragic poet Sophocles, the author describes the many character traits and attributes of Creon that parallel those of Agamemnon’s character in The Illiad. In the tragedy, Creon is the uncle of the protagonist Antigone and the ruler of Thebes. Like Agamemnon, Creon holds a position of great power and duty as the king of his people. Though Creon does not

Correspondingly, Creon's bona fide adherence to the laws of man is evident in the defense for his resolute actions. In the conversation aforementioned between Haemon and Creon, the latter defends his decision by declaring it is to "respect his own authority". As in his opinion, a respected ruler who is in the early stages of establishing authority must be uncompromising and resolute in making decisions. Creon rejects using divine laws to rule his people for they are irrational, and trusts that solely following man made laws will he be able to guarantee a peaceful and prosperous existence for his city. Creon says that the laws enacted by the city’s leader "must be obeyed, large and small, / right and wrong." Which is to say, Creon contends state law as the basis for justice, hence there can be no such thing as unjust laws. Undoubtedly, Creon's symbolic values within the play is displayed by his fierce dedication to state law and order, contrary to the symbolism Antigone embodies.

In the short story titled “Antigone,” the author portrays Creon as a tragic hero by displaying flaws in Creon's character shown throughout the story. Creon’s character contains many flaws which lead to many problems. His decisions end up deciding the fates of his son, his wife, and Antigone. Creon finally realizes that what he has done is sinful to the gods. He has put his own pride over the appreciation of the gods.

The play, Antigone, is a tragedy written by the Greek poet Sophocles. A common theme among tragedies is that they have a tragic hero, and Antigone is no different. The tragic hero of this poem is Creon, the King of Thebes. Creon is faced with the difficult task of punishing his niece, Antigone. She has broken one of his laws stating that no one is to give proper burial rites to Polyneices, Antigone’s brother, because he tried to overthrow Creon. Against the warning of others, Creon goes on with his plan to essentially sentence Antigone to her death. Creon continually ignores what others counsel him to do because he believes that just because he is king, everything he does is right. It is this thinking that ultimately leads to the death of not only Antigone, but also Creon’s son and wife as well. All tragic heroes suffer from a tragic flaw that leads to their downfall. Creon suffers from two tragic flaws, pride and stubbornness. Both of these flaws lead Creon down a path of destruction that he is unable to return from.

Creon explains that his harsh punishment is just, as the law must be followed always, especially when dealing with a woman (107). Haemon and Creon disagree about Antigone’s punishment and while their argument started civil, it devolves into a verbal dispute, with Creon saying that his son is fighting the woman’s battle (108). This is meant to insult Haemon and imply he isn’t fighting for any moral reason, but instead because he cares about a woman. Creon also accuses his son of being a plaything of a mistress (108). These belittling remarks show that Creon’s anger about the situation comes from the fact the transgressor of his will was a

“ Mistakes made by a foolish mind, cruel mistakes that bring on death.” (1406 to 1407.) In this quote, King Creon of Thebes is acknowledging that he has made tragic mistakes, because he wanted to the laws of his state, that he put in place, instead of preserving the safety of his family, which consequently lead to suffering for many. In the play Antigone, by Sophocles, the character Creon makes decisions based on what he feels is right, and refuses to pay attention to other’s advice. His stubbornness and selfishness prove fatal, and as a consequence of his moral deficiency, he kills an innocent woman, and loses his son in the aftermath. In the play Antigone, by Sophocles, Creon’s deadly stubbornness and selfishness in ignoring the pleas and

Antigone is one of the greatest tragedies ever written by Sophocles. There is a controversial question about this play: Who is the tragic hero? Could it be Antigone or Creon? Even though the play’s name is Antigone, but as I read the story. A sensible and responsible king, Creon, is a tragic hero because of his power madness, self-righteousness, and ruthlessness. He is the center of the play, which causes events to happen.

When Antigone and Ismene tells Creon, they were the ones who buried their brother he says,“ And all the time I never knew that these two sisters were aiming at my throne!”. Creon thinks that people are trying to take his place in royalty. This is one of his flaws because he doesn’t want to hear people out he just does what he feels is right. There’s another example that shows Creon’s flaws, “Your temper terrifies them, everyone will tell you what you only what you like to hear.” This example show his flaws because he has a bad temper and the people are scared to speak up or do anything because they’re scared of what he might do to them. These two examples shows Creon’s characteristic for a tragic

“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely” said historian Lord Acton. In Sophocles’ Antigone, Oedipus the King of Thebes newly departs after disgracing his people, and his successors to the throne, Polynices and Eteocles die in battle, thus leaving his brother Creon to inherit his throne. From the beginning, Creon uses his newfound power to impose excessive punishments against not only the people of Thebes, but also his family. As a result, the Thebans recognize his abuse of power, and express their fears through not only the chorus, but also his son. To finalize his play, Sophocles exposes how Creon uses his power to manipulate the hierarchy in Greek society; consequently offending the gods. Therefore, through King Creon’s

Antigone is last book in a play trilogy by Sophocles about the tragic downfall of a family. The play focuses mainly on Antigone’s conflicting motivations developing Creon as the tragic hero in the play, causing him to be greedy and power crazed and unwilling to take others opinions. This leads to Creon’s tragic downfall and the death of Antigone and others important to Creon.

This contributed to the fact that he was mentally lost. He had clouded judgment because of his idea of what is right for the city is the only way he would rule. As Burt describes “Creon remains adamant, and his judgment on Antigone and Ismene, along with his subsequent argument with his son, Haemon, reveals that Creon's principles are self-centered, contradictory, and compromised by his own pride, fears, and anxieties.”(Burt). Creon can only think in his mindset and any other view to him is impossible to understand. Relating to his self-centered attitude, Creon always thought he was in the right, not matter what he did. Creon blurted many words without any thought before or after speaking them. He thought whatever he did and said was absolutely correct. Antigone blurts “The Good Fortune of Kings,Licensed to say and do whatever they please!”(Sophocles 1.2 116-117). Antigone described Creon’s attitude towards ruling pretty accurately. Creon sometimes makes bad decisions but since he can do whatever he pleases everyone has to endure the consequences of that decision. When things do not play out perfectly to the way Creon ordered he gets extremely frustrated because he can’t control everything. That is the root of most of his

“A city which belongs to just one man is no true city.” (lines 838-39) Throughout the play, Antigone, written by Sophocles, the character Haemon constantly tries to persuade his father, Creon, to listen to the people of his city and to become a more humble leader. Haemon’s words, actions, and ideas contrast with Creon’s character. Which results in the two characters having continual conflicting motivations. These conflicting motivations cause the characteristics of anxiety, anger, and selfishness to be highlighted within Creon’s character. Ultimately, these conflicting motivations develop Creon as a tragic hero by giving Creon his free choice that makes his downfall exclusively his own fault and the character interactions advance the plot by pushing King Creon to insanity and showing that even the King’s own family was trying to urge him to change his decree, and develops the theme of love and loyalty by showing the struggle between faith and family.

Creon is the protagonist in Antigone, because his motivation throughout Antigone is the stability and wellbeing of Thebes. Moreover, Antigone is the antagonist in Antigone, because her motivation is selfish and deceiving. In Antigone the setting is Thebes post the death of both airs to the throne. Eteocles dies defending his country from his brother Polynieces which died attempting to reclaim his right to the throne. The conflict throughout Antigone is Antigone’s responsibility to bury her brother Polynices and the law created by Creon, the new king of Thebes, which states that “No one shall bury him, no one mourn for him.” (Antigone 59) Antigone proceeds to disobey the law and dies in her own hands to ensure her own martyr status. Antigone is not the protagonist because of her selfish motivation and need to

In Sophocles’ Antigone, Antigone and Creon both have qualities of a tragic hero according to Aristotle’s definition. Aristotle believes a tragic hero is a decent human, but falls due to a weakness in one’s character. In the plot, Antigone decides to bury her brother, which defies the laws of Creon, the dictator of Thebes. Antigone believes she must hold her family values and the gods’ beliefs with utmost respect. Antigone refuses to deny her crime, so she is sentenced to be death by Creon. Antigone is the tragic hero because she inspires pity and fear when her devotion to the gods and her morals lead to her downfall.

Creon is a very stubborn man because he was the king of Thebes,Antigone challenged his decree,by burying Polynices.