Essay On The Relationship Between Antigone And Creon

Aristotle once said, “A man cannot become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall.” A tragic hero is defined as a literary character who makes a judgement error that inevitably leads to his or her own destruction. In the play Antigone, King Creon was perceived as a powerful, respectable, and confident king; inadvertently his confidence and arrogance had led him to the termination of his reign. Creon was confronted with a difficult situation in which he must chose to abide the law or support his niece, Antigone. While being entangled with his pride, he had not given Antigone a chance to persuade him. He had done what he deemed appropriate as king by abolishing his own niece, unaware of the consequences that the future held for him. The interactions between Antigone and Creon in this play had exploited Creon’s flaws and had influenced his decisions which eventually

led to the downfall of this tragic hero.
“–At least we won’t be called inferior to any woman” (772-773), Creon stated. This statement accurately brought out Creon’s pride and his flaws. Creon believed that men, and more importantly himself, were above women. He did not view women as equals, but yet as an inferior group of people. Since Antigone was a woman, Creon allowed his ego to supersede the situation at hand. Seeing as if he was a firm believer of women being less dominant and authoritative than men, he choose to punish Antigone harshly to enunciate his powerful position as king.
Creon, being the confident king he is, did not expect anyone to challenge his decree. “For quite a while some people in the town have secretly been muttering against me. They don’t agree with what I have decreed” (345-347). Although Creon was aware of the disagreements of his decision, he had not expected one to whole-heartedly go against his own law. As a king, one must have a respectable balance of pride and empathy in order to be a successful ruler; Creon defied those expectations and had let his pride dominate his character. He would never have expected anyone, especially a woman, to defy his decree. When Antigone buried Polyneices and was later exposed, Creon was astonished to say the least. He heard the news that someone defied him and shortly after he was informed that it was a woman, Antigone. Creon was furious that Antigone went against his edict and he was bound to punish her to maintain his pride and reputation of King.
During the interaction between Antigone and Creon, Antigone explained that she desired to please the gods and to do what she believed in. When Creon heard this, he was absolutely outraged by the idea of putting one’s family above the law. This argument accurately depicted Creon’s conceitedness. Although she was a part of his family, he still chose to discipline her as an example for the rest of the people of Thebes. By punishing his own niece, he hoped to set the mentality that he will not hesitate to penalize anyone who betrays him. Antigone however, was not afraid of Creon and his power. She then stated, “So I did not mean to let a fear of any human will lead to my punishment among the gods” (516-518). This had only furthered Creon’s anger towards this situation, thus bringing out his flaw of arrogance. Creon was too arrogant to succumb to another’s decision. He put himself and his beliefs over everything else.
Antigone was faithful in the gods and her beliefs and was considered loyal to her family.

Although it was against the law, her burying Polyneices proved just how loyal she was towards her brother. Her loyalty was what had justified her reasoning behind her actions. Antigone stated, “But my nature is to love. I cannot hate” (598). This depicts Antigone’s true nature. It shows that she is good at heart and what she had done was purely in her morals and not solely for defiance. When Antigone asked her sister Ismene to accompany her in her plan, Ismene refused with fear of defying the law. When Antigone was caught, Creon was quick to assume that Ismene was an ally to Antigone because of their relation to each other. Ismene was brought in during Antigone and Creon’s interaction and Ismene admitted and supported Antigone; she had no true part in Antigone’s actions. Antigone, being loyal and trustworthy, stated, “No, no - justice will not allow you to say that. You didn’t want to. I didn’t work with you” (616-617). Not only was her loyalty towards her brother, but towards everyone she cared

about.
Antigone proclaimed, “Take me and kill me – what more do you want?” (565). Antigone was willing to accept death over abiding a law she disagreed in. The risk that she is taking by welcoming death shows the extent in which her stubbornness had led to. The stubbornness that Antigone portrayed made Creon’s stubbornness become more prominent. He noticed that Antigone was not backing down and she was not afraid of death. When she stood up to Creon and told him she would rather die than leave her brother unburied, Creon begun to get agitated by her stubbornness. As the King, he is used to people following his orders and not having people stand up to him. Having his own niece challenging him made him wearier of acceptance. Creon, needing a boost of confidence and pride decided to display his stubbornness as a rebuttal. His concept of law above family had stayed the same throughout their interactions; this defined him as a stubborn man. Creon’s stubbornness was revealed when he would not try to understand Antigone’s reason behind burying her own brother. Creon maintained his beliefs because of Antigone’s disagreement of the law. His loyalty and stubbornness matched with Antigone’s; this was a major factor that led to the downfall of Creon.
Antigone was set to marry Haemon in the future. During their interaction, Creon stated, “I have no desire my son should have an evil wife” (653). His arrogance and stubbornness had gone so far as to refuse his son to marry Antigone. Instead of giving his son the choice of whom he will marry, Creon chose for him. Even when refusing this, he had not accepted the blame for his choices. Creon stated, “No, not me. Hades is the one who’ll stop the marriage” (658). Creon’s arrogance overpowers his character so much as to determine his own son’s marriage. Although he was making the decisions, he decides to leave it up to the gods to preserve his reputation. He is not willing to accept his decisions and his faults. However, Antigone is keen on accepting the consequences of her actions. When she was faced up against Creon, she accepted the blame and would not let anyone else, including her sister, take the blame for her.
Creon’s characteristics and interactions with Antigone led him to his downfall. Creon made decisions for everyone around him, even if it was not his choice. While deciding his child’s marital life, he also refused to listen to a wise prophet. Teiresias stated,
“Then understand this well- 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 those corpses. You’ve thrown down to hose below someone from up above- in your arrogance you’ve moved a living soul into a grave, leaving here a body owned by gods below-unburied, dispossessed, unsanctified” (1192-1200).
This quote foreshadows how Creon’s actions will begin to affect him. It also shows how Creon’s pride overcame his ability to reason with others, especially Antigone. He had not bothered to listen to Antigone or anyone else; his inability to listen to Antigone and others leads to the end of his reign.
Creon’s decisions had eventually led his own son to shed his own blood. The messenger who had discovered this announced, “Haemon has been killed. No stranger shed his blood” (1303-1304). When Creon discovered this news, he was absolutely devastated. He was punishing his mind by saying how cruel mistakes can bring on death. He blamed himself and eventually accepted the blame before realizing it was too late. It only took him till his son’s death to realize what mistakes he had made. The Chorus Leader remarked, “Alas, it seems you’ve learned to see what’s right-but far too late” (Sophocles 375). It seems as if everyone around him had noticed his mistakes besides himself. To escalate matters for the worse, the messenger delivered word that his wife had already shed her own blood. This caused Creon to realize how large of a mistake he has made. Seeing as if he already lost his son, wife, and niece to his pride, he knew he would never be able to repay his mistakes.
Creon had once said, “But you should know the most obdurate wills are those most prone to break. The strongest iron tempered in the fire to make it really hard-that’s the kind you see most often shatter” (Sophocles 338). Ironically, Creon was the one who was ultimately broken. In the beginning, Creon was the strongest iron and the most obdurate person in all his kingdom. He believed he was the one who was above anyone and everyone. Eventually, his confidence and arrogance overcame him which led him to make many unfortunate mistakes. He was shattered when his family had taken their own lives and left him. The interactions between Creon and Antigone had only furthered Creon’s judgement and pride, furthermore leading to the downfall of the tragic hero, King Creon.