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Fate Against Power In Sophocles Antigone

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Fate Against Power

“Father, the gods instill good sense in men, the greatest of all things which we possess.” (Lines 776-777) Haemon attempts to persuade his father to do the right thing by involving gods in his plea, which were perceived to have valuable opinions by the people. In Antigone, by Sophocles, a rather large disagreement involving Creon’s belief of putting Antigone to death as a resolution for her breaking his law and Haemon’s claim that it is wrong to follow through with such a severe punishment for such a minor crime, comes between a father and his son, emphasizing the characteristics of cruelty, arrogancy, and sensitivity that prove Creon as a tragic hero, thus advancing the plot of the play.
In the beginning, Haemon developed contradicting views against Creon pertaining to the punishment of Antigone. By disagreeing with his powerful father, the plot thickens and progresses further. Haemon said “You’ll not catch me giving away to some disgrace,” (Lines 854-855) discussing how to handle Antigone’s refusal of the decree. When he says this, he is expressing his feelings of disapproval when his father wants to kill her. Although he respects his father, he does not believe his decision is right in this situation. Haemon said “Then she’ll die, and in her …show more content…

Creon’s power often goes to his head. “Let him dream up or carry out great deeds beyond the power of man, we’ll not save these girls,” (Lines 879-880) Creon exclaimed. Him not giving in to his son’s wishes resulted in a bit of an uprising from the people of Thebes. They concurred with Haemon’s desire. Simply letting someone die for burying their brother was not acceptable in their eyes, especially Haemon’s, by virtue of him being in love with Antigone, who committed the “crime.” Creon was so power-hungry that he did not respect how he would react to

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