Antigone Vs Creon Essay

“I know it too, and I am shaken in my mind. To yield is awful; but, by standing firm, to strike with my ruin my proud heart-why, that is awful too.” (Sophocles 1095-1097). Creon in the play, Antigone, by Sophocles plays a major role as the tragic king of Thebes and the uncle of Antigone. Creon and Antigone’s conflicting relationship highlights Creon’s tragic figure. In the play Creon tries to establish decisions for the common good of Thebes, but his results end in great tragedy. In this play, I sympathize more with the character Creon because he puts Thebes above everything else which makes him blind to what is happening around him and he ends up losing more than Antigone. While Antigone loses her brothers but remains strong and fights for what she believes is morally right until she chooses her own demise, Creon loses his family and ends up alone and can not fix his actions.

First off, Creon puts the city above everything else but he ends up

losing his son, Haemon, and his wife in the process. Creon’s efforts to put Thebes above what is morally right makes him act in tyrannical ways and blinds him from what is truly important which is his son and wife. In line 739 Haemon says, “You will do well ruling in a desert by yourself” (Sophocles 739). Haemon is saying that Creon wants to rule for himself so he is better off ruling a desert where no one can get in his way. Creon loses Haemon because of this due to the fact that he is putting the city above his relationship with his son. Creon is so blinded by the laws and Thebes that he destroys his relationship with his son. For instance, Haemon begins to view Creon in a more negative light by saying, “Yes, in justice I can see that you are wrong” (Sophocles 743). Haemon ends up killing himself due to Antigone committing suicide because she was willing to die for her cause and Creon’s wife in turn kills herself because Haemon commits suicide. Creon ends up losing his son and his wife because he puts the law above everything else. The messenger says, “Before she died, your wife denounced you as the one responsible for both the dooms of your two sons” (Sophocles 1312-1313). Creon blames himself for his wife’s death and he becomes full of grief. Creon’s mistake of putting Thebes above everything around him makes him blind to what he is doing to the people around him which in the end leaves him alone. Overall, I sympathize more with Creon because he values Thebes above all else and as a result he ends up losing his family.
In addition, I sympathize more with Creon because he realizes after he is left alone that his actions were wrong. Creon in the play is blinded by the laws and what he has to do to be king that it was not until the end when he finally sees the implications of his actions. In line 1270 the chorus says, “Alas! You seem now to see justice, but too late” (Sophocles 1270). Creon sees that he is truly wrong after the death of Haemon but that guilt builds more after he hears about his wife passing. Creon says, “Alas! I have learned, wretched that I am” (Sophocles 1271-1272). He was so blinded by what he was doing that he ends up regretful and alone which makes him more worthy of empathy because he does realize that he was wrong, but it is too late to fix them while Antigone who is certain of her actions and is willing to die for them. This plays into the fact that Creon had no choice but to do what was best for Thebes as king, which made him blind to do what was right. Creon ruled by doing what he believed was best for Thebes even though he might have not always believed it was morally right. This is unlike Antigone because Antigone was doing it out of her own free will while Creon was trapped in the title of king. Creon’s duty as a king portrays him as stubborn and leads him to become isolated from his family, but he only realizes when its too late. Creon does regret putting Thebes above his morals and his family and that is why I empathize with Creon more as a character.
On the other hand, I feel less sympathy for Antigone because she remained strong and fought for what she thought was morally right.

Antigone fought to her death against Creon about burying of her brother, Polyneices, who was left to be unburied. Antigone believed that dying with honor is better than living with no honor. She says, “What I shall will be far less dire than dying an ignoble death” (Sophocles 96-97). She chooses her own path to her honorable death while Creon has to put Thebes above doing what is right. Antigone chooses to die while Creon was left to live alone and regretful. Antigone’s choice to fight was more straightforward because she does not have the same responsibilities Creon has as king. Creon deserves more sympathy in this aspect over Antigone because Antigone remained strong after both her brothers died and stood up to fight against the king, whereas Creon had to deal with further internal struggles. In the end, Antigone dies by her own hand and her own will while Creon is left to live and

suffer.
Also, Antigone deserves less sympathy because she chooses her own path to her own destruction and in some ways, an easier path much like her father Oedipus in Oedipus Rex. Antigone chose to be a hero and go by her own free will. Antigone says in lines 546-547, “Don’t try to share this death with me. Don’t claim as yours a deed you did not touch. My own death will suffice.” (Sophocles 546-547). She chooses her own path to her death because she wants to prove a point that some things are worth dying for. Antigone is stubborn in this line when she is talking about her sister and it shows that she wants to die but not anyone else. She chooses to be the person who dies for what she believes in rather than Creon who faces the more difficult struggle of doing what is right for Thebes. This shows up again at the beginning of the play in lines 72-77, “…To me it’s fine to die performing such a deed…” (Sophocles 72-77). She is willing to defy the citizens unlike Ismene and choose to die honorably than to live not honored by the gods. Overall, Antigone deserves less sympathy than Creon because she chooses her own path to her death when Creon was trying to do what was best for Thebes.
In conclusion, I think that Creon deserves more sympathy because he has to live with his mistakes rather than Antigone who dies by her own hand. Creon as king puts Thebes above everything around him and causes himself to lose everything he cared about including his son and wife while Antigone fought for what she believed was right and died due to it. Also, Antigone was sure from the start and did not have the responsibility Creon had as king as well as Creon had to live with his regret while Antigone died and it was done. Creon being more of a tragic hero than Antigone, helps Sophocles develop conflicts between all the characters including Creon vs. Haemon and Antigone vs. Ismene. Then in the end there is more of a meaning behind what Sophocles was trying to tell us because Creon ends up alone and regretful. So in the end, Creon does deserve more sympathy than Antigone due him being so blinded by what is best for Thebes rather than what is morally right.