Creon's Destruction In Sophocles Antigone

Ultimately, Creon’s decisions are made with consideration and respect to the city as a whole and to the Gods. Listen to him: “Our country is our safety” (210), “and whoever places a friend above his own country, he is nothing” (205). To maintain the goods of his city, he is willing to persist with the laws he makes; to persist with the laws, he is willing to sacrifice his families. If that is not the devotion we need from our rulers, I do not know what to say! Some may point out that Creon does not respect the Gods. Even if this is true, he does not offend the Gods purposefully. After all, why was he so busy defending the city from the seven states? Besides the obvious reason of protecting its people, he meant to protect Gods’ interests from

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.

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.

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

Glory; it was the only the thing that mattered in Ancient Greece. To receive honor from the gods is the only thing for many greeks. In the play, Antigone, written by Sophocles, the protagonist, Antigone, encounters many conflicts. One major conflict is with King Creon over the honoring of her brother. Creon is as loyal to his word as Antigone is stubborn. Antigone and King Creon have very different views on life and loyalty, however they have one thing in common, power and glory; one in the mortal world and the other in the afterlife, thus shaping their beliefs and loyalty.

Creon is a very stubborn person, this leads him to make very harsh and rash decisions that he will eventually regret. “The inflexible heart breaks first, the toughest iron cracks first.” This quote is explaining how Creon is very stubborn in his decisions and he will not change his mind. This leads to the fall of creon because him being stubborn causes most of his family to die. Creon eventually ends up sentencing Antigone to death. His son haemon is supposed to marry Antigone so this draws the father and son apart. “Do you really intend to steal this girl from your son?” Choragos says.”No death will do that for me.” Creon answers. This quote is other people noticing that what creon is doing is wrong. He is killing his son’s bride and this will lead to the death of his son due to his sadness without

Once humbled when Oedipus was king, Creon became the king and hubris became his fatal flaw. Throughout Creon’s reign, he constantly ignored others and put himself first. Creon shows an example of Hubris when he doesn’t listen to Antigone’s argument by saying, “Go join them, then; if you must have your love, Find it in hell!” (211). This came after Antigone pleaded that all bodies deserve to be honored and buried. Creon does not keep an open mind, and refuses to see her point of view. Antigone said she buried the body because of God’s law, but Creon puts his law above the God’s. This shows an extreme amount of pride and confidence. Another example of Creon showing hubris is when Haimon says. “It is no City if it takes orders from one voice,” (221). Creon then replies to this saying, “The State is the King!” (221). Haimon tries to point out to Creon that a well run state needs to let other people have a say in what goes on, not just the king. Creon believes he is the only one making the decisions, and that his orders should not be questioned. This shows how Creon believes his is above all

The first tragic fall that leads Creon to his downfall is his power madness. His power madness fall can be supported by Antigone’s dialogue, “Further: he has the matter so it that anyone who dares attempt the act will die by stoning in the town.” (Antigone 2). The quote means that anyone who didn’t follow Creon’s decree will die. Another support can be seen when Creon said, “ Not to take sides with any who disobey.” (Antigone 8). This quote shows that he wants everyone to obey him and anyone who disobeys him will get in trouble. The last support can be found when Creon said, “ Not to take sides with any who disobey.” (Antigone 8). This quote shows that he wants everyone to obey him and anyone who disobeys him will get in trouble. The last support can be found when Creon said, “But he who crosses law, or forces it, or hopes to bring the ruler under him, shall never have a word of praise from me.” (Antigone 23). This means that Creon is “madly in love” with his power and thinks that he can do anything because he is the king.

In Antigone by Sophocles, the purpose of Creon’s speech is to explain his new leadership. First, Creon wants to gain the loyalty from the citizens of Thebes. A great king would first need the trust of his state in order to rule effectively. Especially, Creon would need trust from his state after the tragic events that happened beforehand, which was Polyneices and Eteocles dying. He state this fact in his speech: “I am aware, of course, that no ruler can expect complete loyalty from his subjects until he has been tested in office.” Creon is guaranteeing that he can be trusted and how devoted he was to gaining their trust. These words alone shows how much he wants to be king and rule them the correct way which is without betrayal. His tone is sincere to show that he actually means what he says. Creon proves his devotion in his speech by stating,”No one values friendship more highly than I; but we must remember that friends made at the risk of wrecking our ship are not real friends at all.” He is referring to Polyneices and how he betrayed his people. Creon is making sure that his state knows that his people comes before anything else and that they are his prime priority with security of their lives. These are the oaths or promises that Creon shall make as their new leader.

He was blind to his own hubris and let all of these terrible things happen. He started out the play being strong about what he believed in and didn’t let anyone, even Teiresias, tell him that he was making the wrong decisions. In the end, Creon’s fate turned on him and he became the epitome of humiliation and regret. I feared Creon because he was a ruthless leader who let his own self kill three people. He might not have physically killed them, but his actions did. He sentenced a woman to death for trying to put her dead brother to rest. It didn’t matter that Eteocles betrayed his city. It was the god’s unwritten law for him, or anyone, to be buried. Antigone says, “Your edict, King, was strong,- But all your strength is weakness itself against- The immortal unrecorded laws of God.- They are not merely now: they were, and shall be,- Operative for ever, beyond man utterly.” (359-363) Creon denied this law because he thought that he was higher than the

Throughout Antigone, there are two characters that could be described as a tragic hero. Aristotle first defined the definition of a tragic hero. According to him a tragic hero is, “ the protagonist of a Greek Drama, who because of an error of judgment or tragic flaw, suffers a reversal of fortune.” Along with being a tragic hero, one has to contain certain qualities to qualify as a tragic hero. A tragic hero must be neither good nor bad, contain a tragic flaw, and also realize the fall in their life.

As demonstrated throughout the Greek tragedy Antigone, Creon’s tragic flaw is hubris which causes his downfall . The downfall begins when Creon refuses to give Polyneices, the son of Oedipus and the brother of Antigone, a burial. Creon believes that Polyneices did not die an honorable death as he broke exile and raised the sword against his home city, Thebes, so in return he will not receive a burial. Creon’s pride takes over and so he believes he is a man not only superior to women , but a king superior to the gods. He claims,

Creon’s pride blinds him to the injustice he commits against Antigone Creon has a lot

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’s tragic flaw, hubris, causes his downfall. Creon will not listen to anyone. He is stubborn, and his pride is so great, he cannot bring himself to acknowledge that he could ever wrong. King Creon also possessed the character trait of being very strict and inflexible, even though his character may have brought protection, or a sense of safety among the Theban people, even when his. When Creon is talking to Teiresias, he thinks that he is being paid off. He does not want to believe he could be wrong about Antigone. Creon even says, “Whatever you say, you will not change my will.” Creon also has a self-righteousness and cockiness, a feeling a he is