Creon's Motives In Antigone

Creon gave his speech to the chorus and stated that whoever buries Polyneices, will be sentenced to death. Then Antigone was captured by the sentry and came to Creon’s palace. Creon was insulted by Antigone's boasting of her doing, and stated that, “This girl is guilty of a double insolence; breaking the law and boasting of it. Who is the man here, she or I, if this crime goes unpunished?” (Sophocles 784). In the Greek times, women did not usually stood up for what they believed in, especially to a man. So when Antigone burried Polyneices, Creon did not expect a woman to do anything of this type of situation. Creon is too uncompromising to change his decision of the burial of Polyneices, and he was not going to allow a woman to owing to the fact violate a rule he made and not discipline her. When Creon was arguing with Haimon, he would not budge and says, “You consider right for a man of my years and experience to go to school to a boy?” (Sophocles 794). Creon would not tolerate Haimon’s arguments and its justification to them. Creon displays his flaw throughout the play, stubbornness. Creon display the flaw when he does not insist to reason with anybody until it was too late. Teiresias tries to reason with Creon and he would not budge. In spite of that, Creon did eventually listen to Teiresias idea. The Choragus and the chorus attempted to convince him to free Antigone and Creon spoke to them about the situation, “I will go… Come with me to the tomb. I buried her, I will set her free” (Sophocles 802). The blind prophet's words seem to have an affect on Creon and he finally realized that he made a horrible decision. Creon wants to reverse his decision and set Antigone free owing to the fact that she make the smart decision. Creon tried to save Antigone, yet he was to late to free

In Sophocles’s Antigone, Creon and Antigone carry unique opinions and live by their position based on what they believe is right. As the King of Thebes Creon must act for the overall benefit of his people, where he creates a role of absolute power and will not tolerate any threats to his reign. Although Antigone is a citizen of Thebes she determines that she will die for her rebellious brother, Polynices, in order for him to receive proper burial rights. Although Antigone believes that she has a moral obligation to deliver Polynices his burial rights she must not defy the integrity of Creon’s moral obligation to act on his people’s behalf for the sake of aiding her family when her brothers are willing to fight to the death for the absolute

Creon:“I killed you, my son, without intending to,/ and you, as well, my wife,” (Lines 1486-1487). Antigone is the story of a girl who defies the king of Thebes in order to honor her dead brother, Polyneices, who is not allowed to be buried. When the king decides to punish her, his inability to listen to reasoning and resistance to change backfires on him in a deadly way. In the play, Antigone, by Sophocles, Creon, the play’s tragic hero, brings suffering to others, such as causing the death of Antigone, his son, Haemon, and his wife, Eurydice, which contributes to the tragic vision of the play as a whole because it shows how stubbornness brings pain for others.

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. Creon’s law conflicts with Antigone’s loyalty to the gods. She believes the laws of the gods respect the dead and require a proper burial. She does not hesitate to ignore the law of the state and fulfill the laws of the gods. When she turns to her sister, Ismene, to bury their brother, Polyneices, Ismene’s fear consumes her. “Think how much more terrible our own

In the play “Antigone” by Sophocles, the question of whether loyalties to family or loyalties to authority are more significant is brought up when personal matters are intertwined with legal affairs. Antigone is persecuted and punished severely by King Creon because she buried her brother, Polyneices, whom the king believes to be a traitor to the city and outlawed any burials or honor for the fallen man. In this situation, Antigone is right in going against the king’s law because in burying her dear brother, she honors the promise she made to him before he died, she pays respect to the laws of God and not the laws of mere mortals, and she shows her commitment to family by displaying her unwavering loyalty towards them, even in death. Antigone is right in crusading against Creon because in essence, he is unjustly punishing her in trying to punish her brother, Polyneices.

As Antigone said when Creon asked her if she has heard of his edict, “It was public. Could I help hearing it?” (708). This tells us that Antigone knew that what she was doing was illegal and yet she still chose to bury Polyneices no matter the consequences for her. On the other hand, you could say that even though Antigone knew what she was doing was wrong, she did it because she knew that it was the right thing to do. As Antigone states when talking to Ismene, “It is the dead, Not the living, who make the longest demands” (694). This clearly tell us that, she is more fearful that the Gods will punish her much worse than Creon ever could if she neglected burying, Polyneices,

Then comes Antigone, the girl who thinks she has the right to act against the law. This poses a moral dilemma for Creon, as Antigone is his niece, the last of the descendants of Oedipus. However, Antigone makes the decision easier by explicitly taking pride in her actions and slighting his uncle. Her justification is merely that Creon’s law is not the mandate of her God, and that the burial of a family is more imperative than all else (500-523). When confronted by Creon with Polynices’ treacherous crime, she cannot put up any defense. Instead, she dodges the question by saying Eteocles is dead and cannot testify (581). I would like everyone here to consider one question, since I believe your wisdom and reason match your seniority: what would

A tragic character is one whose errors and misfortunes lead to one’s own downfall. In Sophocles’ Antigone, Creon and Antigone are two characters whose adherence to their principles causes extreme conflict. Antigone believes in what is morally just, while Creon believes in what is civilly just. They both are passionate about fighting to prove that their principles are justifiable. Antigone and Creon, both expressing loyalty and pride toward opposing forces, are unable to come to a consensus, which ultimately leads to the destruction of both characters.

She was outraged when she found out that her brother Polyneices was going to be left to rot and be eaten by animals, because he was a traitor to the city. Antigone believed that her brother deserved a proper burial even though he tried going against the city unlike her other brother Eteocles. She asks Ismene (her sister) to join her in this act of rebellion but Ismene does not want to get in trouble for going against her kings orders so Antigone does it on her own. Creon feels disrespected and punishes Antigone for not following his rules. He seals Antigone while she is alive, inside a tomb. She does not understand why she is being treated so unjustly for trying to do the right thing. The chorus in the play tries convincing Antigone that justice is behaving in accordance to Creon’s laws but Antigone is stubborn and sustains to her convictions. Even though Antigone ends up dying she dies achieving her goal of wanting to bury her brother properly. Mostly everyone in this play goes against what the main character feels is justly because they want to follow the kings laws and they believe she is acting immorally. Antigone is not acting immorally, she is doing the right thing to follow the law of the gods. Therefore, since Antigone ends up hanging herself and causes her fiancé and the fiancé’s mother to commit suicide as well, it gives the

In the scene in which Creon will not allow her brother to be buried. This goes against her personal beliefs she confronts Creon when she says “if I had allowed my own mothers son to rot, an unburied corpse that would have been an agony.” Creon wouldn’t allow Antigone brother to be buried even tho Antigone felt it was the right thing to do. Antigone is talking to Ismene about burying her brother but Ismene tells her to keep the idea a secret but Antigone disagrees and says “But I know I’ll please the ones I’m duty bound to please.”(Sophocles Pg 4) Antigone is going to bury her brother but Ismene thinks it’s a bad idea and tells her to keep it on the low but Antigone thinks she is going to please the ones who agree with her.

people act and what you are like. In Sophocles’ Greek tragedy, Antigone, the protagonist, Antigone, is influenced a lot by her core values. The play Antigone was the story of the daughter Antigone of Oedipus and Iocaste, which took place after they tragically died. Antigone is influenced by the core values of her belief of family coming first, her following of God, and dying with pride and honor is important. Antigone’s core values and morals are more important than anything and these influence her choices throughout the play.

Antigone is loyal to the gods and not to Creon. Antigone states, “Creon is not strong enough to stand in my way.’’(P.32). What she means is that nobody can block her or stand in her way from doing what she has to do for her brother. Some may say that Polyneices was a traitor well he is, that 's the reason why Creon wants Polyneices not buried. She was trying to look out for her family but, her uncle did care about this. Most people would have done the same thing.

Creon see Antigone as a person who is scheming against him for his crown because she bury Polyneices. Creon did not want to seem weak as the new king, and he wanted to make an example out of Antigone this is why Creon sent her to death. His family and the blind prophet warn Ceon of his actions, but he was too stubborn to care about the consequences of his actions. Creon explains and that Haemon should not care because that she is just a normal women now not even family when she bury Polynices. Creon say: “Do you want me to show myself weak before the people? / Or to break my sworn word? No, and I will not / The women dies. / I suppose she’ll plead “family ties.” Well let her”. (840). Then Creon was visited by the blind prophet Teiresias. Teiresias tells Creon that his actions as king have affected all people of Greece: “This was a sign from heaven. My boy describes it, / Seeing for me as I see for others. / I tell you, Creon, you yourself have brought / This new calamity upon us” (850). Creon tried to save Antigone, but it was already too late. Creon’s downfall is when loses his son, wife, and his willing to rule Thebes because didn't want to change his opinion when putting Antigone in a stone

His pride keeps him from admitting that his actions against Antigone and her brother went against the customs of the gods and were wrong. Upon hearing about the death of his son and wife, he mourns by taking responsibility for their deaths, explaining himself as “the frantic man who killed my son, against my meaning, and you too, my wife”(Ant.1340-1). Through all of his grief and suffering, not once does he acknowledge or make it known that this was all brought about because of his refusal to lay aside his pride and follow the laws of the gods. Creon is in denial about the underlying consequences of his prideful

After the exile of Oedipus, Creon became the king of Thebes, which placed a lot of power in his hands. With this sudden shift in authority, Creon's tragic flaw becomes more noticeable. When in an argument with Haemon, Creon's son, he states his position on the opposite sex, “If we must fall from power, let that come at some man’s hand—at least, we won’t be called inferior to any women” (353). This reveals his excessive pride, hubris, because he worries that his image would be tarnished if ever doing something imposed by a women. With this condescending perspective, he is led to believe that he is above all others, which leads to his free choice. His free choice is represented by a quote from the guard surveying Polyneices body, “We saw this girl giving that dead man's corpse full burial rites—an act you’d made illegal” (337). Although Creon's own niece turns out to be the one that went against his word, he still chooses to follow through with the punishment even though the deed Antigone did was morally right. The punishment that he lays upon Antigone is excessive and unjust considering the crime. While in an argument with her, he calls to his guards proclaiming, “Take her and shut her up, as I have ordered, in her tomb’s embrace [...] Then leave her there alone, all by