Theme Of Creon In Antigone

In Sophocles’ play Antigone and Niki Caros’ movie The Whale Rider, both Koro and Creon are considered the tragic hero because they were born at noble birth and have a fatal flaw, they undergo a reversal of fortune plus they have a tragic downfall, and they recognize their mistakes.

All people can have power in our world, but only a few can have power and fewer can wield it with control in “Antigone”. Creon in the play “Antigone”, is the tragic hero because of the choices he makes and the way he acts. Creon is the tragic hero because he was born into nobility, responsible for his own fate, and doomed to make a serious error in judgement.

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.

The play, Antigone, is a tragedy written by the Greek poet Sophocles. A common theme among tragedies is that they have a tragic hero, and Antigone is no different. The tragic hero of this poem is Creon, the King of Thebes. Creon is faced with the difficult task of punishing his niece, Antigone. She has broken one of his laws stating that no one is to give proper burial rites to Polyneices, Antigone’s brother, because he tried to overthrow Creon. Against the warning of others, Creon goes on with his plan to essentially sentence Antigone to her death. Creon continually ignores what others counsel him to do because he believes that just because he is king, everything he does is right. It is this thinking that ultimately leads to the death of not only Antigone, but also Creon’s son and wife as well. All tragic heroes suffer from a tragic flaw that leads to their downfall. Creon suffers from two tragic flaws, pride and stubbornness. Both of these flaws lead Creon down a path of destruction that he is unable to return from.

Creon is a very stubborn person, this leads him to make very harsh and rash decisions that he will eventually regret. “The inflexible heart breaks first, the toughest iron cracks first.” This quote is explaining how Creon is very stubborn in his decisions and he will not change his mind. This leads to the fall of creon because him being stubborn causes most of his family to die. Creon eventually ends up sentencing Antigone to death. His son haemon is supposed to marry Antigone so this draws the father and son apart. “Do you really intend to steal this girl from your son?” Choragos says.”No death will do that for me.” Creon answers. This quote is other people noticing that what creon is doing is wrong. He is killing his son’s bride and this will lead to the death of his son due to his sadness without

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. From darkness to final darkness. Here you see. The father murdering, the murdered son––And all my civic wisdom! Haimon my son, so young, so young to die, I was the fool, not you; and you died for me.” Creon implores that he has been blinded by his pride and that he didn’t see that Haemon’s ultimatum and love for Antigone would be the reason why Haemon would kill himself. Creon’s decisions have lead him to lose his son and his wife, which is where his downfall begins. Creon becomes the tragic hero because he has endured pain from the deaths of his family. By not listening to Teiresias or anyone, but only to himself because he believes what he is doing is right, the death of his loved ones were

Creon has realize he has made many irreversible mistake in the story Antigone. When Creon was going to let Antigone go he finds her like this “Antigone had made a noose of her fine linen well and hanged herself.786” This makes Creon realize that what he did cause the death of Antigone. Creon has realized it was a terrible thing to do after he saw

The play Antigone, by Sophocles, presents the power of love, which the sword cannot defeat. Nevertheless, the play itself provides the idea in which it might be argued whether love is one of the superior forces in society that drives people to pursue their ideals.

”Lead me away. I have been rash and foolish. I have killed my son and wife. I look for comfort; my comfort lies here dead. Whatever my hands have touched has come to nothing. Fate has brought all my pride to a thought of dust”(Sophocles 1.5 142-146). Creon’s destruction

Creon exhibits great pride in his decisions since he believes that everything he says or does is in the well interest of everyone when in reality that is not the case. Creon wants to be a great king , one who has control over his people, but while trying to be a great king he ends up misusing his power. His power becomes his pride ,and his unwillingness to listen to others. As a result his wife commits suicide in the grief of her son whom Creon had not listened to. The messenger claims , “And for Haimon dead, her sons; and her last breath Was a curse for their father, the murder of her sons. And she fell, and the dark flowed in through her closing eyes”(Éxodos). This reflects a result of Creon’s pride. Had he not been stubborn and listened to his son,he would have not dealt with the sorrow, or the grief his wife went through. He would have not faced her wrath ,in a curse that she left him before she died. Creon’s hubris also resulted in his life , his comfort falling apart. Creon regretfully says “I have killed my son and my wife. I look for comfort; my comfort lies here dead. Whatever my hands have touched has come to nothing. Fate has brought all my pride to a thought of dust” (Exodos). Creon comes to his senses when it was too late. His pride had destroyed his life ,he had no more comfort. He lost his loved ones just like the prophet said

Creon finally realizes that his hubris has not let him effectively deal with his conflicts. Creon has his epiphany and even says, “I have been rash and foolish.” He finally acknowledges that he has let his pride take over for the worse. Creon also realizes that it was his fault Haemon dies. He would not listen to Haemon and take his advice. Creon almost seemed like he wanted Haimon to be angry so he put Antigone in the vault. He couldn’t see that Haemon was in love and Antigone was just trying to honor the dead because of his hubris. Creon also says, “My own blind heart has brought me from darkness to final darkness.” This shows he knows he didn’t use his intelligence to solve his problems. He was already heading the wrong direction with his pride and it finally was too much. Creon’s hubris has not let him effectively deal with his

One of Creon’s biggest flaw was his pride. Because of his pride, Creon did not listen to what others had to say, even when those people were trying to help him. In this tragedy, Creon’s son, niece, and a prophet try to warn Creon that his actions will have tremendous consequences if he does not fix his ways. Creon did not do anything about it until it was to late and the damage was done. Because of his mistake to not listen to

Creon suffers more than he does which makes him the tragic hero by the eyes of aristotle. To begin Antigone, Creon’s niece is upset with him because she wants to bury her brother but the edict he has given denies her that right. Also Haimon his second son tries to change his mind about sentencing Antigone to death. haimon after not getting the answer he wanted threaten to kill himself. Near the end of the play is when creon actually can

Creon plays a major role as a once respected king which turned into a disaster caused by his tragic flaws “your people are beginning to question your judgment and are beginning to side with Antigone.”(scene 2 lines 256-257). Crean, as king of Thebes is at the top of the social ladder

Creon also has a great downfall just like Antigone due to pride. Since Creon wrongly orders Antigone to be killed therefore disobeying divine laws his son and wife have to pay with death. Antigone is the tragic heroine though despite Creon’s downfall. Realize that by the end of Sophocles' dramatic work, “Antigone”, Creon’s mind was plagued by wishes of power and greed in the beginning of the play. When Creon loses his wife and son due to his disobedience of divine laws he finally realizes what is important. Creon finally realizes that divine law is above human law. He reaches clarity by realizing divine law’s importance. Therefore the ending of the play does not end with Creon in downfall or at downfall. It ends with him at his high point in the work of drama whether he realizes it or not. His mind is finally free of its quest for power and domination. Therefore, he does not meet Aristotle’s requirements for being the tragic hero in Sophocles’ “Antigone” because at the end of the work he is not at an ultimate low. He is actually in a better position because he has a clear view of divine law and its importance to not only himself, but