Examples Of Pride In Antigone

"How Zeus hates a proud tongue!"(Antigone 148) In the tragedy Antigone, pride plays a central part in the development of the plot and characters. Pride is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one's own achievement. Antigone provides an insight into Greek society, which valued individualism, and pride was viewed as a facet of greatness. However, the Greek philosopher Aristotle discusses pride as a hamartia, or a fatal flaw. Harmatias were an essential component of tragedy, snaring a mostly good character into ruin. In the play Antigone, pride causes death as well as the division of family. Excessive pride causes the downfall of characters in Antigone, as displayed through the two

main characters, Antigone and Creon.
The tragedy begins with a discourse between Antigone and her sister, Ismene. Ismene was coerced and fearfully followed Creon's laws. Ismene believed that Antigone's passion would cause her fall, and tried to warn Antigone.

However, Antigone was too stubborn to heed Ismene's advice. Antigone even implores Ismene to proclaim her forbidden act saying, "No! Go on, tell them all! I will hate you much more for your silence." ( Antigone 103-104) These actions of stubbornness led to her trial and questioning. Antigone embodies the harmatia of pride by deliberately burying her brother Polyneikes, despite Creon's orders. Burying Polyneikes was honorable, but the manner in which Antigone carries out Polyneikes's burial provokes Creon and his laws. This is explained by the Leader of the Theban elders, who states "Your pious conduct might deserve some praise, but no assault on power will ever be tolerated by him who wields it."(Antigone 957-959) She further insults

Creon by proudly admitting her crime and gloats about it saying, " I swear I did. And I don't deny it."(Antigone 480) When questioned, she further provokes Creon by defending her actions through the divine law of philia, which requires the burial of family members. She says," I deny your edicts because you, a mere man, have imposed them."(Antigone 490-491) By using the divine laws in defense of her actions, she attacks Creon and mocks his power, stating that he does not have the authority to create laws that defy divine command. She also asks questions such as "Who knows what what matters to the dead?" (Antigone 565) and "Since when is it shameful to honor a brother?"(Antigone 552), which creates an argument that questions the authority of kingship with basic individual rights.
Creon, the newly self-proclaimed ruler of Thebes, takes on the harmatia of pride through his belief that he can govern Thebes with impunity.

In his inaugural speech, Creon promises to act upon good advice, create policies that will protect the city of Thebes, and only honor faithful citizens of Thebes. He says, " To me, there is nothing worse than a man, while he's running a city, who fails to act on sound advice." ( Antigone 210-212) However, Creon fails to heed good advice in two instances. He initially disregards his son Haimon, and then, rejects advice from the prophet Tiresias. This is first shown in his discourse with Haimon, where Haimon expresses the importance of the citizens in governing a city, stating "It's not a city if one man owns it."(Antigone 815). Creon believes that his kingship allows him to do as he pleases. He argues this when he asks," Don't we say men in power own their cities?"(Antigone 815) Haimon even recognizes and calls out his father's misuse of power, exclaiming," What I attack is your abuse of power."(Antigone 821) This leads Creon to lash out at his son, and ultimately leads Creon to bury Antigone alive. The second instance where Creon fails to act on sound advice was when Tiresias foretold of misfortune on Thebes because of disrespect for the dead. Creon fails to heed sound judgment a second time, and insults Tiresias, believing that he was paid to change his mind. Tiresias warned Creon that the gods were displeased by his actions, but Creon

presumptively declared, "I don't accept that men can defile gods."(Antigone 1155) This statement shows that Creon elevates his status to a god-like figure in order to justify his actions. Because he elevated himself a god-like level, Tiresias becomes enraged and predicts harrowing events in Creon's future. Creon realizes his faults when his son Haimon tries to attack him, but instead, Haimon drove the sword into himself. This causes Creon's wife Eurydike to commit suicide, and ultimately rips Creon's family apart.
Based on examples of stubbornness in both Antigone and Creon, one can see the downfall of characters resulting from pride. Sophocles featured pride in his tragedy Antigone to caution audiences about the destruction of pride. Antigone embodied pride through the burial of Polyneikes, leading to her broken relationship with Ismene and ultimately her own death. Creon's stubbornness reveals his moral emptiness and leads to both Eurydike's and Haimon's death. Aside from death, another effect of pride is the division of family. Antigone loses her relationship with her sister, while Creon and Haimon become hostile to each other. Antigone's message survives to this day, reminding the audience to "Never fail to respect the gods, for the huge claims of proud men are always hugely punished."(Antigone 1514-1516)