In the Greek play Antigone by Sophocles. Haemon is one of the top foils to Creon. Whenever Haemon does not agree with Creon he makes it look like he is saying that women are worthless and that they are just company, while men are supposed to be leader protecting the women that stay in the house.
CREON. “Yes-for you the matter’s is closed. No more delay. You slaves, take them off inside. From this point on they must act like women and have no liberty to wander off. Even bold men run when they see Hades coming close to them to snatch their live” (Sophocles, lines 660-665).
This makes him look like he does not appreciate anything that women do and that they are useless. The character’s trait lets the audience that Creon thinks that the females in the town are just objects instead of people and they are not needed. Haemon also confronts his father for being as stubborn as he is. In lines 708-710 Haemon argues to his dad about his stubborn and mindless behavior.
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"Father, the gods implant reason in men, the highest of all things that we call our own. Not to act senselessly is shared by brutes." (Sophocles, lines 708-710)
Haemon judging his dad’s behavior and Creon’s gender bias makes the audience think that they are both insecure about themselves.
Haemon’s pride in thinking women are less superior to men causes him not to look at other of views on his option. His view on women also reshapes his flaws and enhances his tragedy of him as a character.
CREON. "Do you want me to be shown to have obeyed a woman?" (Sophocles, line 743)
In line 743, Creon talks about how he does not think that any woman should be involved in any men’s politics. Creon thinks that men should have more power than women and that they should not be into politics considering that their opinion is less important or
However, he goes to a higher extreme than most of the fathers did or should have gone. He is very controlling over Haemon, and he tries to dictate his views with force. Creon questions Haemon of his loyalty saying, “And have you now come here angry at your father? Or are you loyal to me, on my side no matter what I do?”(717-719). At first, Haemon abides by his controlling ways and is mostly loyal to Creon, but when Creon gets angrier with his views and forced Haemon to abide by them, Haemon has to find some sort of common ground.
Is a woman stronger than we?”(540) His stubbornness and the lack to understand makes it hard for Haemon to persuade him. Most importantly, he rejects further information from anyone because he thinks that he is the most superior man in the kingdom. “You consider it right for a man of my years and experience to go to school to a boy?”(587) No argument is validated by only looking at one point of the view, but that is what King Creon is exactly doing.
During their conversation about Antigone’s punishment and how the public are reacting to it, he tells Creon “because of who you are, you can't perceive all the things' men say or do” which consequentially not only reveals how narrowminded Creon is by jumping to conclusions, but it also reminds Creon to listen to what people have to say (782-783). This subsequentially contrasts Haemon's logical thinking and open mind with Creon's intolerant thinking highlighting Creon's trait of narrow mindedness by displaying Creon's inability to listen, perceive and acknowledge what people say. In addition, this shows that Creon could be misinterpreting what others say or do, in this case Haemon thinks he does so with Antigone, telling him “Surely she deserves some golden honour,” suggesting to Creon that death is unfair for her punishment (792). Implying that his punishment is unfair again displays that Creon is narrowminded because the fact that he does not want to listen to what anybody says including his son Haemon, is more than enough proof that Creon is narrowminded. Overall, both pieces of evidence exhibit Haemon being a foil to Creon with Haemon being calm and logical vs Creon's narrowminded
Haemon, Creon’s son, knew that his father’s decisions are not in the best interest for Thebes, so he tries sharing his perspective in the most respectful way, but ends up failing to get through to him. Sophocles portrays Antigone’s ambition, Creon’s stubbornness, and Haemon’s perspective, indicating that “unshakable
Creon throughout the whole play shows a discrimination toward women, in the end he ends up undergoing a terrible downfall. In the play, Antigone is the protagonist who most of the sexism is appointed toward. Creon shows a lot of feminism toward Antigone not only because of her criminal action but also that the fact that she is a female. Creon goes on to send Antigone to a cell deep in the middle of the woods because she went against his law. The fact that she was a female and went against a man’s power makes it seem worse than it actually has to be, all she did was pay her respect to her brother because no one would.
As Haemon delivers his speech he encourages Creon that with his positive traits, he can take criticism in a mature way that will allow him to recognize the right thing to do. If Creon can listen with sympathy he can forgive Antigone and not go through with the execution. When Haemon continues with his speech to Creon he starts to try to make him feel good about himself, so Creon can start thinking about forgiving Antigone. As Haemon tries to make Creon listen to him he starts to bring up traits that will make Creon feel more powerful. Haemon states, “Father, no greater treasure can I have Than your prosperity / no son can find a greater prize than his father’s fame, / No father than his son’s”
Despite the fact that Haemon use his own father's advice and turned it against him Creon continues to be reluctant. Ultimately, leadership is very important, but doing it the right way is what is vital instead of being stubborn and blinded by
The messenger goes on to say,in lines 1371 to 1380, that Haemon first swings towards his father with a dagger, then pitifully and fatally stabs himself. The messenger agrees that Creon’s inability to give in to another’s point of view and have humility are the causations for Haemon’s suicide in lines 1383 to 1835, “The unfortunate boy has shown all men how, of all the evils which afflict mankind, the most disastrous one is thoughtlessness,” which references Creon’s tragic flaws. Following the death of his son, and eventually his wife, Creon realized the failures in his actions and judgements, and is left to suffer due to his own actions. In lines 1406 to 1407, after the discovery
Haimon , Creon’s son warns him that the people of Thebes sympathize with Antigone. Haemon tells his father, I beg you, do not be unchangeable: Do not believe that you alone can be right. The man who thinks that, The man who maintains that only he has the power To reason correctly, the gift to speak, to soul–– A man like that, when you know him, turns out empt.
“Persuasion is often more powerful than force” once stated by great greek fabulist Aesop, Many of the characters follow this advice throughout the story (“Aesop Quotes”.). As Creon gives a speech to his city he uses ethical appeals in hope to assert his power and make himself look like a trustworthy leader.. Antigone does not listen to this and decides to disobey her uncle, sister Ismene tries to plant logic into her head not to disobey in fear that her sister may end up dying in result. Haemon being both the son of Creon and the fiance of Antigone he should have a hard decision to make but he cannot get behind his father in putting his future wife to death. Ismene, Creon, and Haemon all use the rhetorical appeals of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos to be persuasive towards their goals.
Haemon slowly started to realize that the view he had of his father wasn’t as he thought it was. Creon’s rage stemmed from his fear of weakness and horrible ego, which Haemon brings out in their communication. The actions and motives of Haemon in the interactions with his father
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. Through the words, actions, and ideas of Haemon, the visible contrast between Creon’s character and Haemon’s character are present. Creon’s inner anger, anxiety and selfishness cause him to lose sight
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.
Haemon and his father have several disputes that show, Creon pushing his son away in order to show his dominance. Creon calls his son a “soul of corruption, rotten through” which just reflects how cruel Creon had become, even when talking to his own son (836). This will be the last argument the two have before Haemon kills himself due to neglect and longing for Antigone. The power of the crown causes Creon to act instinctively rather than reasonably when deciding Antigone's fate. His loyalty to his power becomes priority over his family, when he decrees his nephews burial illegal.
Creon, with his hubris, does not listen to the words of his son, Haemon. When he reluctantly calls for the release of Antigone from her imprisonment, he is too late. She has died and Haemon kills himself after failing to kill his father. “Nothing you say can touch me any more. My own blind heart has brought me.