Antigone's actions consistently display her dedication to the will of the gods, and Creon's behaviour steadily exhibits his fierce devotion to state laws. Thus, this Greek tragedy compellingly establishes and thoroughly explores the intricate and perplexing relationship between the two themes by utilizing the literary device of
Foils are characters that contrast with one another to highlight particular qualities of those specific characters. Tiresias, the blind prophet of Thebes, functions as a foil throughout Sophocles’s Antigone, by telling Creon he is doomed and will not be able to escape fate. In the Oedipus the King along with Antigone , Tiresias reveals unwanted truths about Creon and Oedipus. Although he is the blind prophet, his ability to “see” beyond the present, Tiresias first accuses Oedipus of killing his father in Oedipus Rex and proceeds to tell Creon in Antigone that his laws will cause more harm to his land and death to his family. However, instead of learning from Oedipus’s mistakes, Creon rejects
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.
In the short story titled “Antigone,” the author portrays Creon as a tragic hero by displaying flaws in Creon's character shown throughout the story. Creon’s character contains many flaws which lead to many problems. His decisions end up deciding the fates of his son, his wife, and Antigone. Creon finally realizes that what he has done is sinful to the gods. He has put his own pride over the appreciation of the gods.
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.
“Humble yourself or life will do it for you,” is a common quote used by many. This idea of being humble to avoid consequences applies well to the book Antigone by Sophocles. It shows how if one has too much pride, they will be humbled in one way or another. In Antigone, Creon had tunnel vision, not listening to anyone. His fatal flaw was hubris, ultimately leading to the downfall of him.
“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.
Countless times, Creon was implored to change his mind to preserve the safety of others. However, due to his uncompromising and egocentric nature, he repeatedly denied this aid, and therefore caused the tragedies of the deaths of his niece and his son. The events that occurred in the play Antigone accurately represent the characteristics of a tragic flaw and subsequent suffering that define a
He cleverly links Creon and Antigone together in order to stress the duality between Creon’s laws, and the divine laws; exposing how Creon will abuse his power by any means to ensure his laws are obeyed. He then expresses the severity of Creon’s abuse through his supporters, the chorus and Haemon, for it induces both to desire rebellion. To finalize his play, Sophocles successfully discourages anyone from abusing power by making it Creon’s tragic flaw, for he warns that it will always end “with mighty blows of fate” (Antigone
Antigone is last book in a play trilogy by Sophocles about the tragic downfall of a family. The play focuses mainly on Antigone’s conflicting motivations developing Creon as the tragic hero in the play, causing him to be greedy and power crazed and unwilling to take others opinions. This leads to Creon’s tragic downfall and the death of Antigone and others important to Creon.
Furthermore, throughout the play there are other important forces that act as an influence to the characters and the implementation of their actions. First of all, one the most relevant should be considered pride. Both Creon and Antigone show signs of hubris. In the ancient Greece this was considered a character flaw and was contemplated a sin as it generated too much emphasis on the ideals and what the desires of a particular character, which could eventually endangered other people. This enabled them to accept other people’s counsel and usually performed bad
In Antigone by Sophocles, the purpose of Creon’s speech is to explain his new leadership. First, Creon wants to gain the loyalty from the citizens of Thebes. A great king would first need the trust of his state in order to rule effectively. Especially, Creon would need trust from his state after the tragic events that happened beforehand, which was Polyneices and Eteocles dying. He state this fact in his speech: “I am aware, of course, that no ruler can expect complete loyalty from his subjects until he has been tested in office.” Creon is guaranteeing that he can be trusted and how devoted he was to gaining their trust. These words alone shows how much he wants to be king and rule them the correct way which is without betrayal. His tone is sincere to show that he actually means what he says. Creon proves his devotion in his speech by stating,”No one values friendship more highly than I; but we must remember that friends made at the risk of wrecking our ship are not real friends at all.” He is referring to Polyneices and how he betrayed his people. Creon is making sure that his state knows that his people comes before anything else and that they are his prime priority with security of their lives. These are the oaths or promises that Creon shall make as their new leader.
In lines (181-182) Creon 's character is developed as a tragic hero. “Thanks to the gods, who’ve brought about our new good fortune.” As a tragic hero you were appointed by the gods and you’re noble. He is considered as a tragic hero because of course he was appointed by the gods, and
An important skill that all writers must master is the ability to use the rhetorical appeals of Aristotle to their advantage for seeing that Aristotle’s appeals is the key to winning any argument. Aristotle’s rhetorical appeals are made up of the persuasive power of logics and reasoning (logos), the emotional persuasive power of emotions (pathos), and the persuasive power of one’s character and credibility (ethos). A work of writing effectively using these appeals can be found in Antigone by Sophocles, scene 3, lines 55-94 also known as Haimon’s speech. In his speech the young prince, Haimon used a combination of ethos, pathos, and logos in an attempt to persuade his dad, Creon to pardon his wrongly convicted fiancée. Although all of Haimon’s
“Your gaze makes citizens afraid-they can’t say anything you would not like to hear”(783-784). King Creon has so much power that the citizens of Thebes fear him. In the play Antigone, Sophocles uses Haemon’s ideas to contrast with Creon’s idea to punish Antigone which makes him into a tragic hero and advances the plot to show him what the people of Thebes believe about Antigone’s act.