Kreon's Obligation In Sophocles Antigone

When experiencing a conflict between his two obligations, Kreon chose to uphold his obligations as king to his community, which ultimately led to the death of his family and his demise. Despite his best intentions as king, he must live every day knowing he was the cause of his family’s suicide, which is a far more tragic punishment than death. In Sophocles’ Antigone, Kreon, being king, chose his community and people over his family. This approach to his obligations is shown through the punishments his nephew’s corpse and nieces face for disobeying what he deems right. “This girl knew well how to commit an act of outrage when she first transgressed against the published laws; and here’s a second outrage: after doing it to boast of it and laugh,

exulting in her deed. It’s clear enough that I’m no man, but she’s the man, if she can get away with holding power like this.

No, whether she’s my sister’s child, or tied to me closer by blood than all my household under Zeus, she won’t escape from a most evil doom, nor will her sister, her blood-kin, the other whom I hold equally guilty in the planning of this tomb” (480-490). This lack of empathy towards his niece’s emotions for her brother’s death and his insistence that she be punished for doing what she felt was morally right shows how coldhearted and stubborn he was to his family. He showed no regard or obligation for his family and only considered the law he imposed and enforced the consequences. This shows that he holds his obligations as king and lawmaker much higher than that of a family man. It is these tragic flaws of stubbornness and pride that blinded his judgment of what was the best course of action and resulted in his demise. An example of such pride and stubbornness is as follows, “To yield is awful; but, by standing firm, to strike with ruin my proud heart – why, that is awful too”

(1096-1097). In this particular scene, Kreon acknowledges his flaws of pride and stubbornness and did not want to admit he was in the wrong and retract the law he made. Tragic characters tend to have flaws that throughout the play leads them to their demise. In Antigone, Kreon’s flaws blind him from heeding advice from Antigone, the Chorus, Haimon, and Teiresias.

If he lacked these flaws, Kreon would have been able to understand the pattern of advice he was given and understood that his actions were not the wises and needed to be changed. Due to these flaws, he lacks to ability to see anyone else’s view and refuses to take any advice that contradicts with his own view. These flaws result in his demise since he lacks the ability to overturn his actions until it is too late for him. As a result, he must live with being the cause of his family’s death. This is another element of the play that makes him a tragic character. At the end of the play, Kreon exclaims, “I killed you, my son, without intending to, you too, my wife – ah, wretch that I am!” (1340-1341). This ending reveals that for the rest of his life he must live knowing that he ultimately caused the suicide of everyone he loved. While Antigone was able to die knowing she fought her brother, Kreon must live knowing he did not fight for his family and lost them because of that. That is a far crueler reality and punishment to a tragic character than a noble death. Kreon was a new king trying to help his people transition well after a civil war and a change of

power. He did what he deemed best for his nation to resume peace and that was punishing those that began the war by not offering them a proper burial. Kreon had pure intentions and did not realize the error of his actions. If Antigone would have spoken up to him, then possibly the ending could have drastically changed. Kreon was only trying to be a good king and made a wrong decision that he must live with. It is through his good intentions, error in judgment and flaws, and the consequences he must suffer that make him a more tragic character deserving of sympathy.
Having analyzed Sophocles’ Antigone and the characters, it has allowed for a better understanding of the internal struggles they had and understand the complexity of their situation. The characters in this play simply wanted to attain the good life and provide their community and family with it as well. Even with the best intentions in mind some choices can destroy others’ lives and prevent them from achieving the good life. This is reflective of reality since there is never truly a good or bad person, but simply someone making the decision they believe is best that ends up having dire consequences. The lesson at the end of the play is to heed the advice and try to correct mistakes before it is too late, and the damage is already done.