Similarities and Differences of Jason and Creon Sophia Johnson
The play “Medea,” written by Euripides and translated by Robinson Jeffers, has two strong male characters, Jason and Creon. Jason and Creon can be easily compared, although their differences are significant.
Jason and Creon shared some characteristics. Jason and Creon both loved their children. “And in particular the children; my sons; our sons,” (136) Jason gets emotional about Medea with the children. Creon died trying to save his daughter when Medea attacked her. When Medea was told she was being exiled, Jason and Creon both wanted Medea to leave Corinth. “Creon is right to be rid of you,” (137) said Jason arguing with Medea. Creon was afraid of Medea and her powers so he wanted
Creon is greedy with that he holds, trying his best to make sure that he has full control of all of his subjects. He speaks to the leader, telling him to, “Never side with those who break my orders” (Sophocles 69). Creon craves respect, given his station, and shows that he is slightly insecure, being nervous that if one person defies his legitimacy, others will follow. Once he uncovers the uncompliant’s identity, he questions Antigone, asking her: “Aren’t you ashamed to differ so from them? So disloyal!”
( Antigone 842). Because of Creon’s poor made decisions, he has lost the trust of his people which leads them to question his authority and most importantly his own son, whom because of his brazen actions
Medea wanted to give Glauke a gift and knew the only way she would take it is if her sons would give her the gift. When Jason saw that Medea wanted to give Glauke a gift he thought she had a change of heart. Medea wanted the gifts she has prepared personally given to Glauke because she put poison in the dress, that she knew she would want to try on. The poison Medea places in her dress killed her and when her father Creon the King of Corinth saw, he embraces her. At that moment the poison then took effect on him as well.
Answer then support with evidence from the play. Provide line numbers. King Creon exiles Medea not only to protect his family from the scandalous situation that resulted from Jason leaving her but from the destruction she can create. For example, King Creon states "There is a good chance you might well instigate some fatal harm against my daughter" (line 330). As well as "I hear you are making threats to take revenge on Jason" (line 335).
The tremendous differences between the characters Antigone and Creon contributed to the development of Creon as a tragic hero. Two areas of conflict revolve around their differing opinions on men and woman, and God and man. Their opposing views shaped Creon into a tragic hero. Creon and Antigone held differing beliefs concerning the rights of women.
After reading the ancient Greek plays consisting of Antigone and Medea, I felt that both main characters held strong ideas and arguments. From Antigone, one can visualize a strong-willed and intelligent girl (Antigone), who placed immense love and trust in her family regardless of their misguided actions. It is through this love of hers that she decided to disobey the edict placed by the new ruler, Creon, regarding the improper burial and humiliation of Polyneices (her brother). As a result, her attempts to give proper burial to her brother lead to her arrest, imprisonment, and death. Meanwhile, Medea presents readers/viewers a powerful, godlike woman (Medea) who was betrayed by the man for whom she sacrificed everything.
There are varieties of factors that make up the plot in the Greek playwright Sophocles’ tragedy, Antigone. Many characters contribute to these factors, making the play exciting, dramatic, and inspiring, such as, the daring actions of Antigone, the sacrifice of Haemon for his love, and the affection of Ismene toward her family. However, out of all the characters, Creon displays attributes and actions that reflect the unfavorable king as the real protagonist of the play. Creon demonstrates righteous, leader-like actions and learns from his mistakes, which supports his character as the hero.
Creon thought that he could make an example of Antigone. Creon abused his powers. He thought that he could change or break the laws of the gods and not allow other people to break the laws. He didn’t want to
“Whatever my hands have touched has come to nothing. Fate has brought all my pride to a thought of dust,” are the last words in the play said by Creon. This statement shows that a powerful king of Thebes once had fallen apart. In the play “Antigone,” written by Dudley Fitts and Robert Fitzgerald as Antigone as the protagonist and Creon as the antagonist, it is clear that Creon was cast away in distress, misery, and sorrow. By reading this play I was able to get a depth insight of several of the characters, question the norms of society I live in today and analyze the specific relationship between Antigone and Creon.
Another characteristic that defines a tragic hero is that they experience misfortune that is not entirely deserved, and in this case, Creon did; he experienced the loss of both his wife and son. In Antigone, it states, Messenger:“we saw Antigone hanging by the neck/… Haemon had his arms around her waist-/ he was embracing her and crying out in sorrow for the loss of his own bride/... Angry at himself, the ill-fated lad/ right then and there leaned onto his own sword,” (Lines 1359-1377). After Antigone decided to take her own life, Haemon, Creon’s son and Antigone’s husband, saw Antigone’s body and decided to end his own life as well.
Creon plays a very similar yet different role in both Greek tragedies, while he is in power, puts the throne
This is why Medea, according to the Greek gods, was in her right to take such severe consequences upon Jason and in this essay we will analyze Medea’s position and decide upon a conclusion whether her actions are justifiable or
However, this was clearly not his intention because he did nothing to prevent his children being kicked out into the wild. Unsurprisingly, Medea became enraged and sought to obtain the justice she was not able to obtain. She wanted to judge Jason based on his inexplicable actions. He abandoned his paternal duties and were willing to start a new life, while she and their children were left to
Lush explains “Although Euripides did not cast Medea as a male solider as its protagonist, the play depicts Medea as suffering from the background Trauma, betrayal, isolation and consequent symptoms attributed to combat veterans with lasting psychological injuries” (Lush, 2014, p. 25). Hence using Lush’s view on Medea’s character as a devoted warrior suffering from Traumatic hardships in her experiences with the man she gave everything to, we can understand why she wanted revenge. Medea believes Jason owes her more than just the normal husband-wife obligations a man swears to when marrying a woman; in her view, she helped him be the man that he is and supported him throughout his heroic journey. Without her, Jason would not have succeeded in retrieving the Golden Fleece. Without her, he would not have had his father resurrected.
Creon was completely blinded by his pride and power that he lost those closest to him. Starting with his son... “Then she’ll die-- and in her death kill someone else. ”(Haemon; line 859). Creon thinks that his son is threatening him, and doesn’t pay attention to what his son is feeling towards Antigone.