King Creon In Antigone

In Sophocles’ plays, the characters were usually not remembered by their heroism, instead by their tragedies. In the play “Antigone”, people agree in common that Antigone was a tragic character. However, toward the end of the play, the audience’s impression gradually shifts to the tragedy of King Creon. Creon succeeded King Oedipus’ crown, also eliminated the traitor, Polyneikes, who brought outside enemies to Thebes. Creon’s contribution to Thebes is obvious and remarkable. Yet, his stubbornness and disobedience to the gods’ wills brought him to a tragedy ending. King Creon’s tragedy began with his conflict with the prophet. Before the arrest of Antigone, Creon was a faithful listener and believer of the prophet. As Creon himself said: “I’ve
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It’s certain that he devoted his life to Thebans, and he protected his people before or after his succession of the crown. In particular, he travelled to Aden to ask for solutions for Thebes’ famine, and he defeated outside enemies brought by Oedipus’ son for Thebans. However, no matter how many achievements he obtained in his life, or how many heroic events people praised, Creon still could not get away from the punishment from the gods. Just as the gods cursed and punished Oedipus, the gods also punished and brought downfall to Creon, who violated the divine laws and disobeyed their wills by disallowing the burial practice for Polyneikes. The gods used their divine powers to prove that no one could violate their divine laws. Additionally, the gods always determined one’s destiny, and even one little disrespect or disobedience to the gods will be punished with no exception. This plot paralleled to the downfall of King Oedipus. And this was the greatest tragedy for both Oedipus and Creon. In the conclusion, after reading the play “Antigone”, I sympathize the story and result for Creon, and I think he is a tragic hero in the play. Even though, he gained his power through his heroism. He failed to see the example of King Oedipus, and used his stubbornness to make arbitrary decisions. As a result, he was punished by the gods, and lost his families. Although he had braveness to