“ 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
Wanda Sykes once quoted, “If you feel like there’s something out there that you’re supposed to be doing, if you have a passion for it, then stop wishing and do it.” This exhibits the idea of not letting others hold you back from pursuing a personal desire, or having a passion. Countless amounts of people follow what everyone else believes, but do not seem to recognize the truth behind what they’re following. Similarly, within The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and “Antigone,” both characters have a devotion for a specific situation. Additionally, these two literary characters have a strong passion, but ultimately face different opponents. Huck faces the horrors of society as a whole, while Antigone faces her uncle. To clarify, rebellious Huckleberry
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.
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
You can easily link the events within Antigone to the Stanford prison experiment and the idea that people will assume roles because of their dispositions and/or their situations. This applies especially to Creon because before Oedipus left and his nephews died, he stated that he didn’t want the role of king, only the rights a king had. But as soon as he had to become king, he took to the role very quickly. He became a serious threat. He was quick to anger and couldn’t be reasoned with. When he found out someone had covered the body of Polyneices, he threatened to kill the sentry that had brought the message, even though he did nothing. When Antigone was brought to him, he didn’t hesitate in sentencing her to death. He sentenced his own niece to death for disobeying him. When Haimon tries to change his mind, imploring him to consider how his actions may hurt him since he is supposed to marry Antigone, Creon replies: “Let her find her husband in Hell! Of all the people in this city, only she had contempt for my law and
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.
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
Creon’s son Haemon after learning about Antigone’s fate tries to reason with his father as to why he should let her go but every point he makes only causes Antigone more trouble, rather than helping. During Haemons conversation with his father he tries to reason with his father that he is not always right and that he needs to learn to bend his own rules in order for his leadership to work. He tries to convince Creon that “for a man to learn, even a wise man, is nothing shameful, nor to learn to bend or give way”(Sophocles 39). He tries to convince his father that if he needs to learn to bend his rules or his city will snap under their pressure. He is trying to show Creon that by releasing Antigone he is not going to lose control of the city
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.
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.
In Antigone as the Law of the Gods fights King Creon’s law to obey the law of the Gods. The problem starts when Oedipus’s sons Eteocles and Polyneices had to share one throne. Polyneices and Eteocles murder each other during their battle for the throne. Since their were no other male heir to Creon being the new king made a new decree that Polyneices’ body wouldn’t be buried because he was a traitor for attacking his homeland, but the divine law says that if a body isn’t buried by sundown the soul or ghost of the person will stay present on the earth eternally without resting in peace. Antigone wants to follow the law of the Gods instead of following Creon’s human law. Antigone has to face the consequences of Creon’s Law if she wants to bury
As defined by Aristotle, a tragic hero is one who is not entirely good or evil. They are an individual who experiences a “reversal of fortune through a fault of character or an uncontrollable accident” (Boucquey). He or she undergoes a dramatic change from happiness to misery (Boucqyey). In Sophocles’ Antigone, Creon is the tragic hero. According to Aristotle, a tragic hero should contain four traits: goodness, appropriateness, lifelike, and consistency, which Creon most prominently displays.
1. In Oedipus Rex, Oedipus and Creon are two very different characters. Compare Oedipus and Creon by either providing a passage within Oedipus Rex or describing their differences in character. What affect did each of these characters have in the story?
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.
Love is a powerful motivation it can even drive you into hating someone, love drives you to do even what you wouldn’t normally do. Creon makes a law that forbids anyone from burying Antigone’s brother. When she finds out she goes against the king and buries her brother. When he is informed about what happened he punishes her. Antigone kills herself and then his son kills himself when he finds out that his love had died. Antigone’s love is so great for her brother that she went against the king and buried him with religious rights. Then Haemon kills himself because Antigone had died and he wanted to be with her. In the end Creon’s wife killed herself because her son had died. Creon is perceived as the tragic hero of the play when he is talking