Literary Analysis Essay Sophocles’s play Antigone displays the development of the tragic hero, Creon, the king of thebes. Creon decides that Polyneices should not be buried because he betrayed his city, but an unknown felon has buried the body. The guard is assigned to watch the body, but he fails. Throughout the rising action, the guard reveals Creon's insecurities, motivations, and the interactions develop the plot of the play. The guard’s interactions with Creon reveal Creon’s insecurities about his position of power. During Creon’s first interactions with the guard, Creon yells at him: “Money!/ There’s nothing in the world so demoralizing as money./ Find that man, bring him here to me, or your death/ Will be the least of your problems: ”(249-252). Through his speech, Creon reveals that he is insecure about his dominance over the guard. His interactions with the guard begin to show that he is a tragic hero because he seems frustrated by those who break the law, which contributes to his anger when determining the punishment of Antigone. On the other hand, the guard argues against Creon, “‘Bring me the man’ ––!/ I’d like nothing better than bringing him the man!” (274-275). The guard opposes Creon’s ideas aggressively through his speech which reveals the bolder side to him that was hidden when he …show more content…
During the rising action, creon tells the guard to bring the culprit: “May entertain you now; but unless you bring me the man, You will get little profit from them in the end” (272-273). Creon shows his hate for the criminal through his conversations with the guard. His hatred later translates to the punishment of Antigone, which would become an act of injustice, as punishing Antigone leads to a chain of unfortunate events for Creon, therefore advancing the plot and proving him to be a tragic hero. Whilst the guard was arguing with creon, he also helped to advance the plot: “How dreadful it is when
In the story, Antigone is caught by Creon’s workers. Antigone is confronted by Creon about breaking the law he created. Creon states “He would: for you honor a traitor as much as him” Antigone replies “His own brother, traitor or not, and equal in blood” C “He made war on his country.
Have you ever met someone that uses their power to their advantage and doesn't care how it affects another person; Well that is Creon. The actions that Creon took to punish Antigone for buring her brother costed him his wife and son. When you are born or brought up with power don’t use it to your advantage , use it for good.
Creon believes that his laws are absolute and must be followed above all else, even Divine Law. Therefore when Antigone, in accordance with divine law, goes against Creons edict by burying her brother she is forcefully imprisoned and sentenced to death by Creon. In Creons opening speech he says, “Of course you cannot know a man completely, his character, his principles, sense of judgment … Experience, there’s the test” (Sophocles, p. 67). How Creon handles Antigones unlawful actions serves as his first test as the new king of Thebes and ends up showing the Thebans a glimpse of his true nature, that of a tyrannical ruler. This can be seen again when Haemon comes to Creon with the hope of dissuading him from his current course of action. He does this by trying to make Creon understand that the citizens of Thebes don’t agree with his use of power and planned execution of Antigone. Again Creons authoritarian nature comes to light in his response to Haemon, “And is Thebes about to tell me how to rule… Am I to rule this land for others – or myself?” (Sophocles, p. 97). To which Haemon counters by saying that “its no city at all, owned by one man alone” (Sophocles, p. 97). Creon, being the tyrant he is, fails to heed the wisdom of his sons’ words, which ultimately leads to his downfall. Creon, like Machiavelli, believed that it was
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".
To open, the things he said showed how he changed and became the tragic hero of the play. Many of his statements reveal his personality including his admirable parts and his flaws. When Creon says: "I call to God to witness that if I saw my country headed for ruin, I should not be afraid to speak out plainly," (Sophocles, scene 1,24-26), it shows his strong sense of nationalism and leadership which catches up with him in the end. "The inflexible heart breaks first, the toughest iron cracks first, and the wildest horses bend their necks at the pull of the smallest curb" (scene 2,76-79) is what Creon says to Antigone after finding out she is the one who buried Polynieces. He thinks that if Antigone wasn't so headstrong and arrogant then she could have avoided the consequence he was about to give her. I think Creon was being a hypocrite because he is just as stubborn as she is. The reason why Creon and Antigone come in to so much conflict is because their ways of thinking are almost exactly alike. "It is hard to deny the heart! But I will do it: I will not fight with destiny" (scene 5, 100), is a statement that shows Creon detecting his fault and how he needs to correct it. After talking to Teiresias, the blind prophet, he realizes in order for the higher powers to forgive him he needs to release Antigone. "Fate has brought all my pride to a thought of dust" (exodos, 138). Creon recognizes his flaw and its consequences but it is too late because fate has already occurred.
Creon's character possesses an infinite number of glitches in his personality, but his excessive pride was the root of his problems. His pride leads him to make accusations, before he considers the wise advice of others. Creon's pride also fills him not just as a king superior to the Gods, but also a man superior to women. The issue of Antigone being condemned to die becomes more than just a person who disobeys Creon; instead, the punishment is given even more eagerly, because it is a woman who disobeys a man. Creon's intelligent son warns Creon the people of Thebes sympathize with Antigone, but Creon accuses Haemon of being a "woman's slave" (line 756). Even though he is suppose to be loyal to the state and her citizens, he defensively questions if "the town [is] to tell [him] how [he] ought to rule?"(Line 734)The Theban king is too prideful to obey even the wisest of prophets, blind Teresias, insisting that "the whole crew of seers are money-mad" (line 1055). Creon finally puts his pride aside and listens to the Chorus' wise advice. It is difficult even then, and he obeys only because he fears the punishment that he might receive. "To yield [for Creon] is terrible" (line 1095) meaning to swallow his pride and admit that he is wrong is a very difficult thing for him to do. When Creon loses his wife and son, Creon's pride disappears, and he admits that he made a terrible mistake by not listening to anyone's advice.
In Antigone by Sophocles, Creon is portrayed as a character with excessive pride. From the beginning, Creon demonstrates his authority and continues to make use of it throughout the play. At the end of Antigone, it may seem that Creon changed after realizing the consequences of his actions. However, his dialogue indicates that he still possesses a sense of pride. Creon remains a static character through the play. Creon’s arrogance is displayed in his language and behavior; interaction with others; and his reactions to his environment.
In the play Antigone, created by Sophocles Antigone is a foil to Creon because their personalities contrast. This makes Creon a Tragic Hero because he thinks that he is a god but in reality he is a mortal upsetting the god's and he will eventually meet his demise. At the start of the play the reader is introduced to a character named Creon, who is the king of Thebes, the previous king, Eteocles, was killed by his brother Polyneices. There is a law arranged by Creon, so nobody could bury the body of Polyneices but Antigone, the sister of both Eteocles and Polyneices, wants to bury her brother and is willing to risk her life to bury him. She eventually gets caught and is sentenced to death by Creon.
In addition, Creon disregards what had historically been the best counsel for the city, the blind prophet Tiresias. Despite Tiresias’ warnings that his “high resolve that sets this plague on Thebes,” will “strike [him] down with the pains [he] perfected,” Creon’s stubborn commitment to the laws of state turns to be his error. Eventually convinced by Tiresias’ warnings, Creon resolves to release Antigone from her isolated tomb. Regrettably, he’s too late and the consequences of his insolence for the divine laws were far worse than if he had “[L]ay[ed] [my] pride bare to the blows of ruin” (1220). Creon’s undoing can be viewed as an allegory of the calamities that ensue when the laws of man pursue to challenge the ancient laws of gods.
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.
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.
In “Antigone” written by Sophocles, Creon is the tragic hero. Creon is the tragic hero because of his error in judgement, stubborn way of ruling Thebes, his change, and all the tragedy brought on by his actions. Although Creon changed only when a
In “Antigone”,a play written by Sophocles, a girl who wants to properly bury her brother, Polyneices. The only thing in the way is that her uncle Creon, king of Thebes, has placed a law forbidding it because Polyneices had fought against the city; Creon later kills her. Many would say that he over reacted and burying Polyneices was the right thing to do. Throughout the play, he had many chances to change his mind and could have changed his fate but he didnt. Haemon, his son, started to question Creon’s actions which then lead to Creon showing his true personality which later leads to his downfall as a tragic hero.
In the story, Antigone, Creon plays as the leader of Thebes which was handed to him in the first of the trilogy Oedipus the King. Creon has many great ideas, that may seem work, but one can see his failure as a leader. One can see that Creon is a bad leader because of his lawmaking, him playing as a villain, and also his disobedience to the gods. Creon is a self-centered king, he wants only what he wants, and does not care for what the people have to say. Creon having so much pride begins to fall as the pride grows more and more, as the story continues He is supposed to be someone who everyone can look up to, but he is really the villain of this story. The one thing affecting his full potential of good leadership; was the fact that his hubris
In scene one Antigone goes against her uncle and buries her brother, Polynieces. Exhibiting Creon's paranoia because when he learns of the news he starts accusing the sentry of "selling their soul for silver"(line ). He starts to believe that any man who goes against the government is being paid to do so and can't even trust his own