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Conflict between antigone and creon essay
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In Creon’s train of though, a ruler such as himself must first follow the laws and regulations set in place and ignore all his emotions and the emotions of the public. His inability to trust his emotions along with pride renders him helpless to the consequences that soon follow his actions. After Antigone is killed, Creon thinks that he has made the correct decision; however, that is not the case. The agonizing death of Antigone forced Creon’s son to his own suicide. Eurydice, Creon's wife, is also forced to her suicide by grief when she heard the news of her son's death. At this point, Creon’s entire world has been turned upside down, because of his decision to make the decree that none shall bury Polyneices and carry out Antigone's punishment
Throughout the story of Antigone, particularly the end, Creon proposes the bad-boy in control personality. He acts as the ruler he is and puts his power to work. He fears nothing unless his family is involved. He has no mercy when it comes to the law. Additionally, he is greatly affected by the environment he creates around himself.
Creon highlighted as the tragic figure, initially created decisions he thought was for the welfare and well-being of Thebes; however, Antigone, who rebelled against Creon’s decisions, caused Creon’s rage to cloud his rational way of thinking. When Creon decided to forbid the burial of Polynices, as he believed Polynices was a traitor to Thebes, Antigone was outraged. This decision, viewed through the eyes of Creon, was just and fair; on the other hand, Antigone viewed his decision as cruel and selfish, which resulted into a major conflict between these two characters. When Antigone disobeyed his proclamation, Creon became infuriated towards this rebellious act. Those small events within the play expressed Creon as a ruler doing what he believes is right; on the other hand, Antigone’s rebellion expressed otherwise. Antigone was soon shown to cause an evil spark within Creon. This “spark” caused Creon to intensify his punishments towards Antigone, which in turn caused a chain reaction of events and eventually led to his tragic decline. Being portrayed as a menacing villain throughout the play, Creon began as an honorable man; however, overwhelming events and confrontations caused Creon to evolve in to this monstrous figure.
A tragedy is when someone drops my chocolate milkshake from Chick-Fil-A in the parking lot, but the Greek definition of a tragedy is,”a play in which the protagonist, usually a man of importance and outstanding personal qualities, falls to disaster through the combination of a personal failing and circumstances with which he cannot deal”(Collins). In Sophocles’ play Antigone, Creon is the most tragic character because of his hubris, hamartia, and he is the primary Antagonist.
When Creon’s wife, Eurydice, finds out that her son is dead she kills herself. Creon's downfall started when Antigone choose to hang herself. “ You will not see the sun race through its cycle many times before you lose a child of your own loins, a corpse in payment for these corpses. You’ve thrown down to those below someone from up above-in your arrogance you’ve moved a living soul into a grave, leaving here a body owned by the gods below- unburied, dispossessed, unsanctified. That's no concern of yours or gods above. In this you violate the ones below. And so destroying avengers wait for you, Furies of Hades and the gods, Who’ll see you caught up in this very wickedness (1194-1205).” This quote explains that in view of the unnecessary death of Antigone he will meet his demise. This man predicts that he would lose his
After being locked up in a dark, damp cave, Antigone was fed up with wallowing in her own pity, and takes her own life by “hang[ing] by the neck in a fine linen noose, strangled in her veils,” (1347–1348). Seeing the graceful young woman embraced in the arms of his own son, Creon immediately swells with anger towards un-masculine Haemon because of his display of love, and the significance of Antigone’s death goes straight over his head. Her strong sense of self – knowing who she is, what she values, and what makes her happy – enables her to make regretless decisions that alter her time to come. One of those decisions instigated Haemon’s fate to be sealed as well, prompting Eurydice, mother of the prince, to join her son in the underworld. Not long after becoming aware of her child’s downfall, Eurydice sacrifices her life at the heart of the palace, and “raised a cry for the noble fate of Megareus, the hero killed in the first assault, then for Haemon, then with her dying breath she called down torments on [Creon’s] head–[Creon] killed her sons,” (1429–1432). Creon’s heart fills with grief, for the fault of these three deaths lies with him, and pathetic self-pities are the only thoughts running through his mind. Despite the three-deceased’s blood lying
Antigone’s strength allows her to defend her brother’s honor against Creon, who wants to make a statement about traitors. However, both Antigone and King Creon commit faults while trying to protect the things they love. Antigone should not have died for her beliefs as it puts her loved ones and community in danger, and Creon should not have forbidden the burial of Polyneices as it angers the Gods and causes him great suffering in the end.
For entertainment in early times of civilization, people wrote plays. This was because there was not any advanced technology, and there was not a lot to do so the people needed a distraction. For example, a playwright named Sophocles wrote a well know tragic play called, Antigone. The entire work is about the king, Creon, who decides to not bury a traitor named Polyneices, whom has a sister named Antigone. Later in the play, Antigone goes against Creon’s rule, and buries her brother. Creon becomes so enraged he decides to kill Antigone, but his son Haimon is supposed to marry her. Instead of killing her, Creon decides to lock Antigone away. However Antigone commits suicide, and upon finding out, Haimon tries to impale Creon but falls on the
Antigone refusal of civil disobedience is show throughout history with numerous examples across various cultures. This story is certainly one of the earliest portrayals of civil disobedience in Greek culture which is show in the story of Antigone.
One example is when Creon ignores his son’s, Haemon, warnings against the dangers of his action and says to Haemon “you’ll pay- / taunting, insulting me! Bring her out, / that hateful-she’ll die now, here, / in front of his eyes, beside her groom!” (Sophocles 851-854). With Creon’s decision to kill Antigone, it causes a chain of death; first starting with Haemon’s death, followed by the death of Creon’s wife, Eurydice, and finally ending with Antigone’s death. Even so, Creon still takes pride over his decision and condemns those who defy his laws. At this point, Creon creates his own downfall and displays himself as a cruel person without mercy. By stating “Go down below and love, / if love you must-love the
I believe in the quote and believe that the real sins in Antigone were being stubborn and prideful, theses are also the traits of the two potential tragic hero, Creon and Antigone, I believe that the true tragic hero is Antigone.
Creon's insecurity blinds his ability to direct order in his country properly. After Antigone buried Polyneices Creon felt he needed to take a strong stand or people would think he would always be lenient toward criminals. However, to achieve this Creon felt he needed to take drastic action against Antigone. He once even said to his son, Haimon, who was about to marry Antigone, "The woman dies. I suppose she'll plead family ties. Well, let her. If I permit my own family to rebel, how shall I earn the world's obedience?" (19) This quote shows that Creon feels that to prove himself to the country he needs to earn the "world's obedience".
Sophocles play titled Antigone, embellishes the opposing conflicts between Antigone who stands for the values of family, and Creon who stands for the values of state. Sophocles explores the depths of Antigone’s morality and the duty based on consequence throughout the play, as well as the practical consequences of Creon who is passionate and close-minded. Although Antigone’s moral decisions appear to be more logical and favorable than Creon’s, a personal argument would be that both characters’ decisions in society can be equally justified.
Creon a new king of Thebes, demanded that Antigone shall not bury her brother Polyneices and yet she buried him anyway. Creon thinks that Polyneices is a betrayer and he did not deserve to be buried and should be fed to the animals. Antigone follows orders from the gods, but she does not seem to listen to Creon's laws. This causes Antigone to hang herself and her husband after that, hangs himself too. The only one left of her family is her sister who escapes the curse, but she has to deal with the suffering of her family. After hearing about her son’s death, Eurydice(Creon’s wife) kills herself too. In the end the chorus learned that Creon made a mistake not letting Antigone bury her brother. On page 55 it says, “Future is in greater hands.” This is saying your fate can not be changed and your fate is chosen before you are even
“...never let some woman triumph over us. Better to fall from power, if fall we must, at the hands of a man —never be rated inferior to a woman, never.” This quote spoken by Creon, in Sophocles’ Greek tragedy Antigone, adequately represents the opinion on women during the time in which Antigone would have been alive. Women were viewed as lower than men and were expected to be docile and passive. They were expected to never object to a man’s words, no matter if those words were to be unfair or unjust. Despite this, Antigone refuses to follow one of the most fundamental teachings of her culture by burying her brother even though the king, Creon, explicitly forbids the action, since her brother is a traitor. She rebelliously does what she feels is right, which cannot be said for her sister, Ismene. Ismene represents what a woman of her time was viewed as: weak and submissive to men’s
Throughout Antigone, Creon, is present as one of the main characters and like all main characters, Creon eventually has a tragic downfall that results in a poor ending for him. What lead up to his downfall, what character has opposing views than him, and how that character helped in his overall downfall? The Guard is a great example of a foil for Creon. The guard is a minor character, has different views than Creon, and overall affects other characters differently. The Guard has many different views than Creon and overall is an opposing character who changes up the story and also plays into the eventual and rough downfall of Creon.