Is Creon Justified In Antigone Essay

In the play Antigone, written by Sophocles, Creon is the tragic hero due to his dramatic actions. By the end of the play, Creon’s error in judgement causes his downfall. His ignorance begins to fade away as he recognizes his mistakes, but is too late. His decisions led him down a path in which there was no return, sealing his fate.

In the story, the relationship between Antigone and Creon is very important and contrasts greatly. If they had found a way to resolve their differences, the story may have ended differently. The tension between these two characters is based on Creon’s actions and thoughts in regard to Antigone’s brothers and the brother she buried. Creon left Polyneices, her brother, to rot outside of the city. He commanded that if anyone buried Polyneices, they would be put to death. Their relationship advances the story and develops the theme by the dramatic tension the two have. These conflicting motivations cause the characteristics of anger, violence, and self-importance.

During this same conversation, Haemon argues that the people of Thebes themselves do not like the order for Antigone to die. King Creon quickly refutes that “[he is] king, and responsible only to [himself.]” King Creon believes that he only needs to worry about himself. This shows that King Creon did not realize his full responsibility as king, both to his family and his people. King Creon was too prideful, and did not realize that he must honor the dead, and that he cannot kill his own family for doing it for him. His pride leads to not only Antigone’s death, but also to those around him whom he loves, and eventually himself. King Creon was unable to see his duty towards his family due to his exorbitant amount of pride, leading to the death of his loved

Antigone and the city’s rights are not made fairly and obeyed equally by all people. Creon uses his power to make choices that put him above everyone. Antigone’s rights and fate depends on Creon’s actions and proclamation. In Sophocles Antigone, Antigone faces harsh consequences for her actions throughout the story.. Why is Antigone going to lose her life? Why is Antigone not being supported by the people of her city? Why don’t people want to step up and stand up to Creon like Antigone? Antigone does all she can for the city and her brother and it causes her life to be at risk. Antigone’s shocking actions against the proclamation are disrespectful to Creon’s ruling leading to her tragic death.

Creon puts many people down or scares people into doing everything he says, and by proving it. He threw Antigone into a cave and blocked the entry. He does this to scare the people so they will listen to him and not turn their back. So when Creon’s son came to see Antigone and saw that she hanged herself instead of dying slowly. When Creon heard about this he got to the cave as soon as he could. When he got there and his son saw him, his son killed himself with his own sword. That’s when Creon realized that he was the one who lead up the series of events. Which made him the Tragic hero.

In this tragedy written by Sophocles, the tragic hero was portrayed as being the root to his own downfall. Lord Creon was the tragic hero in the play Antigone. Creon’s greatest weakness was his excessive amount of pride. He could not bear to be disobeyed by anyone because that would hurt his reputation. When he decided to leave Polyneices to rot on the battlefield, he told everyone in the city that they should not dare to go bury him. If anyone disobeyed this law they would be punished. After hearing about Creon’s new law, no one dared to try to bury him except Antigone. When Creon found out about this he said, “You know I caught her in the sight of all,/ Alone of all our people, in open revolt./ And I will make my word good in Thebes/ By killing her” (l. 655-658). If Creon did not abide by his rulings, then the people would deem it unfair. With this ruling, Creon was faced with a major

In the play it is very clear that Antigone is very loyalty to her family no matter the consequence which cannot be said for Creon's family. Creon’s action about killing Antigone drove his own son and wife to kill themselves. Haemon begged his father to not kill Antigone but Creon’s need to be right was far much important than his loyalty to his son. Haemon's death contributed to Creon's wife death because she couldn't bare the thought of her son gone. After Creon heard the horrible news something changed about him as he stated “ I killed you, my son, without intending to, and you, as well, my wife. How useless i am now. I don’t know where to look or find support. Everything I touch goes wrong, and on my head fate climbs up withs its overwhelming load,(1486- 1490) .” Creon’s disloyalty to his family brought him to his worst nightmare. He realize what a huge mistake he has done and regrets it. He is useless now with no support of his family. Creon’s realization that his family died because of him proves that Creon’s loyalty to them was non existent making him weak as a person and a

Throughout the beginning of the short story, Antigone shows herself as a stubborn intuitive person towards the separate characters. First, Antigone does not fear King Creon at any point; Antigone only worries about her brother Polyneices. Proud, and strong, Antigone says, “Creon is not strong enough to stand in my way”. (Sophocles, Act 1). Determination basically describes Antigone as she will not let Creon stand in her way as she will bury her brother, Polyneices, even if Creon tries to stop her from doing so. This head strong characteristic is key; which shows Antigone dramatic self in the play. Upset, and confused, Antigone stresses, “Ismene I am going to bury him, he is my brother”. (Sophocles, Act 1). Again, showing determination, Antigone

Antigone’s beliefs lead her to protest her innocence before her death by saying, “I have done no wrong, / I have not sinned before God” (227). Antigone equates doing wrong with sinning before the gods. Since it would be a sin before the gods to deny anyone an afterlife, Antigone believes that burying Polyneices is the right thing to do. Therefore, when Creon asks why Antigone dared to defy the law, Antigone responds, “If I had left my brother / Lying in death unburied, I should have suffered. / Now I do not” (208). Antigone knows that she would have suffered by losing her respect for herself if she had not done what she believed was right. She does not regret her actions because they saved her, the gods, and Polyneices pain that they otherwise would have felt. [[IN CONTRAST]], Creon regrets many of his actions and as a result loses much of his self-respect. After Creon’s son dies, Creon says, “My own blind heart has brought me / From darkness to final darkness. Here you see / The father murdering, the murdered son - / And all my civic wisdom!” (242). Creon blames himself for the deaths of his family, and he feels so much guilt that he can barely live with himself. His poor decisions cause him to doubt his wisdom, and he feels that his actions were “rash and foolish” (244). At the end of the play, Creon says, “Whatever my hands have touched has come to darkness / Fate has brought all my pride to a thought of dust” (245). Creon feels that he is to blame for all of the recent deaths, and he has lost all of his pride. He no longer respects himself because of his

The play Antigone presents the great conflict between Creon and Antigone by showing the Antigone’s loyal commitment to family and Creon’s unbreakable faith in law which is also at the same time a common conflict between individual to state or a superior and an inferior. There is truly not a protagonist or an antagonist in this play, two characters are both ‘right’ and both ‘wrong’. Creon follows and esteem the law; Antigone puts family in front of everything, they all have their reasons. But the truth is, we all seem to consider Antigone as the ‘good guy’ when reading the play, and

In scene 2 line 164, Creon orders the guards to take Antigone and Ismene were off. Not kind for his son's, Antigone's escort, feelings, he still insists that they be taken away and cautious well. Creon feels the law should stand despite if the person is family and or innocent, or how moral the act was. Creon was willing to be the cause of son's ruin just to prove that he is the king, the father, and always right. Creon finally comes to a just state of mind and does what is ethically right. Unfortunately, he came to his conclusion too late, for Antigone had already hanged herself.

The scene is the city of Thebes and taken place in the royal palace. Antigone learns that her two brothers, Polynices and Eteocles, are dead and only Eteocles would be buried. Antigone’s uncle Creon ordered Polynices’ body be left untouched after he fought against the people of Thebes. Knowing this Antigone risks her life to give Polynices a proper burial and gets caught in doing so. When caught, Antigone was sentenced to death by Creon. Throughout the play Antigone and Haemon urge Creon to reconsider his law and see that his views are not always right and a wise man considers others views and ideas as well.

One of Antigone 's tragic flaws is being loyal to the gods and her disloyalty to Creon. At the beginning of the play, Creon puts out an order that Polyneices, Antigone 's brother, may not be buried because he was a traitor. Antigone is not going to put up with this, she is going to honor the gods and give her brother, Polyneices, and rightful burial, even if it means being executed for her doing. Antigone 's determination to honor the gods and her brother is one of her tragic

Creon is first off born of nobility. Creon was the son of Menoeceus and the brother of Jocasta. He is also the uncle and brother-in-law of Oedipus. Creon becomes king after Oedipus was banished, being the King of Thebes, Creon can be considered a tragic hero. Creon’s tragic flaw is that he is too stubborn and lets his pride obscure his decision making. When Eteocles and Polynices kill each other in battle, Creon orders his men to give Eteocles a complete military burial and decree Polynices’ body to remain unburied. Stubbornness is another defining tragic flaw of Creon. Creon demonstrate his stubbornness by not wanting to be proved wrong because of pride. When the Choragos tried to tell Creon that he made a mistake by telling that nobody can bury the body of Polyneices. Creon did not want to listen to the people of Thebes who tried to tell him that Antigone did the right thing, but of fear to Creon the could not really say anything. At the end of the play, Creon comes to realize his tragic flaw after he ultimately caused all of his family and Antigone deaths. Creon lost his will to live after this point, unwilling to forgive himself for the attroisty he caused. The same can be said for Antigone. She was born into royalty with her father, Oedipus, being the son of the former king and Creon was one of his brothers. She also has a hamartia of being too obdurated on the burial of her brother Polynices. Antigone believes it is her duty as a sibling to right the wrongs of Creon’s skewed judgement. However unlike Creon, Antigone never comes to the realization of her hamartia, which leads the her demise. From the beginning of the play, Antigone willingly accepts her fate for upholding her moral beliefs. She believes that the burial of her brother was just throughout the play and paid the ultimate price for her beliefs. This moment of the lack of

Antigone succeeds in her task but Creon, her future father-in-law, finds out someone went against his decree and insists they be found. As soon as the guard finds out Antigone buried the brother, he brings her to Creon to await punishment. He decides to lock her in a chamber. A blind prophet named Teiresias comes and talk to Creon. He tells Creon that the gods will side with Antigone over him and that he needs to release her. He also predicts the death of one of his children for not honoring Antigone’s brother. Creon is shaken into realization and sends servants to cover the brother’s body and he goes to set Antigone free. Soon after, a messenger comes and tells the chorus that Haemon, Creon’s son and Antigone’s future husband, has killed himself after finding Antigone had hung herself and arguing with his father. Eurydice hears this and kills herself. The play ends with the Chorus saying that the gods may punish the proud, but it brings about