Pride in Sophocles' Antigone
Pride is a quality that all people possess in one way or another. Some people take pride in their appearance, worldly possessions, or position in society. The story of Antigone written by Sophocles has two characters who have a tragic flaw of pride. I will show how Creon’s pride of power leads to his destruction, and how Antigone’s pride makes her an honorable character who should be treated as a hero.
Creon is a man who has just become the king of Thebes and has a flaw of having too much pride. He can’t control the power of being over other people and he lets the power go to his head. “ I now possess the throne and all its powers. No, he must be left unburied, his corpse carrion for the birds and dogs to tear, an obscenity for the citizens to behold!”(1272) In getting his new powers Creon decides to make a decree that will not allow the brother of Antigone to be buried, and if someone does bury him then that person will be killed. This goes against the beliefs of most of the people in the town and many feel that it goes against what the gods would see as acceptable. A leader tries to suggest that it could be the work of the gods. “My king, ever since he began I’ve been debating in my mind, could this possibly be the work of the gods?”(1274) This again is a reference that the people are disgusted by what Creon has decreed. They feel like it is gross or disgusting to let a persons body have no burial rights and leave the remains to be agains...
Since Creon is so insecure he feels that people are conniving against him. When Polyneices was found buried after Creon clearly announced no one was to bury him, Creon completely dismissed the idea that it could have been the gods or a mere woman who buried Polyneices. He said, "There have been those who have whispered together. Stiff-necked anarchists, putting their heads together, scheming against me in alleys."(9) The mention of the word "those" shows that Creon feels many people are out to disobey his laws and make him look bad. Contrary to Creon's belief it was a woman, Antigone, who had gone to bury her brother Polyneices because she felt he deserved a proper burial. Creon's insecurity made him feel that a large group of people were against him when in reality it was only one woman who disobeyed his law.
After the two brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices, kill themselves in battle, Creon becomes the King of Thebes. Creon quickly establishes his authority over the City of Thebes. He states, “Polyneices, I say, is to have no burial: no man is to touch him or say the least prayer for him; he shall lie on the plain, unburied; and the birds and the scavenging dogs can do with him whatever they like” (Sophocles 1808). As for the brother Eteocles, Creon demands that he has a proper burial because he was fighting for his country. In addition, Creon explains to his senators that they are not to support anyone who breaks the law. Without hesitation, Creon expects everyone in Thebes to follow his decree. He does not care that the tradition has always been to give everyone a proper burial. In this case, Creon defies the laws of the Gods further demonstrating his stubborn ways. Within his establishment as King, Creon automatically has various demands and expectations from the senators and the people of Thebes.
It is very common for us to ignore a problem or refute the idea of its existence. we certainly can’t solve a problem by pretending that it isn’t there. Once the problem has been acknowledged, we can proceed to explore what the causes are. Shortly after Creon placed himself at odds with the will of the Gods with his new law that forbade burial to Polyneices, he is presented with the issue that someone has disobeyed his law. Choragos, his advisor, in an attempt to make him reason that the Gods do not favor his new establishment of the law, suggests that it may have been the will of the Gods for Polyneices to have been buried by an unknown person. We notice how Creon reacts furiously and orders Choragos to stop. “Must your doddering wrecks. Go out of your head entirely! The Gods! Intolerable! The Gods favor this corpse? Why? How had he served them?” (Sophocles Scene I 236-240). Creon has twisted Choragos’s words by interpreting that the Gods may have favored Polyneices over his rule. He feels as if questioning his final word is a sign of anarchy. He is presented with the problem and yet refuses to acknowledge it. Creon has failed to realize that he has challenged the Gods and once again his pride made him lack perception and overcomes his wisdom.
The opening events of the play Antigone, written by Sophocles, quickly establish the central conflict between Antigone and Creon. Creon has decreed that the traitor Polynices, who tried to burn down the temple of gods in Thebes, must not be given proper burial. Antigone is the only one who will speak against this decree and insists on the sacredness of family and a symbolic burial for her brother. Whereas Antigone sees no validity in a law that disregards the duty family members owe one another, Creon's point of view is exactly opposite. He has no use for anyone who places private ties above the common good, as he proclaims firmly to the Chorus and the audience as he revels in his victory over Polynices.
Steffi Graf stated, “You can have a certain arrogance, and I think that's fine, but what you should never lose is the respect for the others.” This quote helps me prove that there's no point in someone having a high status, if they don’t treat their people right. They'll just get disrespect in return and become a low status in their people’s hearts. In Sophocles tragic play Antigone, King Creon’s self importance and high level of arrogance caused many consequences in the drama such as death itself and miscalculations of choice making. The King of Thebes thinks of himself better than everyone because of his power of the throne. Thinking that the king rules alone and if one to ever disobey the King, they are to bare consequences.
“There are two kinds of pride, both good and bad. ‘Good pride’ represents our dignity and self-respect. ‘Bad pride’ is the deadly sin of superiority that reeks of conceit and arrogance”-John C. Maxwell, American author. In Antigone by Sophocles, Creon, the king of Thebes, typifies the tragic hero and Maxwell’s quote. Initially, he makes a huge error in judgment that eventually leads to his downfall. Also, his pure arrogance caused to go against the will of the Gods. After he gets over his self-pride, his view shifts away from that of ignorance.
Creon first abused his power when he decided to go against the God’s law that every human deserved to be buried after death not depending on what that certain per...
After her mother committed suicide, her father died and her brothers fought until they killed each other, Antigone projects her strong character with interesting ways of showing it. As the main character with strong values and a stubborn way, she follows the laws of god, without minding the consequences. Antigone is a strong willed woman who wins the respect of the audience by the inner strength and resistance of manipulation she has, showing the potential of human kind. She becomes a heroine with noble qualities of mind, heart and soul because she is willing to sacrifice her life, doing what she believes it is right. With a sense of family ties, she is an ideal for humanity, the issue is that she must burry her brother Polynices with an appropriate ceremony since she believes it is the last right for every human being.
Creon states, “Whoever places a friend above the good of his own country, he is nothing.” Therefore, he does not allow the burial of Antigone’s brother because he did not place the good of his country first. He was a traitor. Creon makes this law for the good of his country. The following statements that Creon makes exemplify this: “I could never make that man a friend of mine who menaces our country”, “never will the traitor be honored a...
...fe as life, but only a life trapped in a corpse” (1593). Creon was once a good King to the people. He saved the city of Thebes for the people, and by doing so became King. But now we see what may have curved his mannerisms. By taking the throne, Creon had more power than ever before, and that power caused him to lose his joy for the city and the people and became the ruler we see in the beginning. This explains why he ruled against the burial of Polyneices and decreed death upon those who would go against him. I think Creon feared he would lose his power over the people if he allowed Polyneices to be buried, bringing war to a now peaceful city in part due to Creon. Reading the excerpts at the end of the play has given me a better understanding of why Sophocles wrote the play in the style he did, as well as develop a better understanding of Antigone and Creon.
Antigone was a selfless person with pride as a strong characteristic of her personality. She possibly had feelings of loneliness and anger from the way society has looked upon her family from their past. It took a strong willed person who has no fear of the repercussions to stand up to a king as she did. To make everything all the worst she stood up to a king who was her Uncle and she being a female back in those time, standing up and speaking out for herself was not heard of.
In the play Creon goes against the Gods by making it illegal to bury Polyneices, Antigone’s brother because he is deemed a traitor. The burying of a dead body is seen as a necessity by all of Greece as it is an unspoken law of the Gods. Antigone goes to bury her brother so his afterlife will be better. She does it in spite of the law that Creon has made. “It is the dead, not the living, who make the longest demands” (192) She tries to explain to her sister, Ismene, that they must bury Polyneices, but even that close relationship has trouble because of the law. Ismene is unwilling to suffer the consequences of the law, to save her brother’s soul “Forgive me but I am helpless: I must yield to those in authority” (192) Even the two sisters who have just lost both of their brothers have different views on the matter. One will not stray from the law and what is deemed right by their king, while the other will accept any punishment, even death just to do what she believes is right.
Tragedy of Antigone The play “Antigone” by Sophocles displays many qualities that make it a great tragedy. A tragedy is defined as a dramatic or literary work in which the principal character engages in a morally significant struggle ending in ruin or profound disappointment. In creating his tragedy “Antigone”, Sophocles uses many techniques to create the feelings of fear and pity in his readers. This, in turn, creates an excellent tragedy.
Brad Moore, a famous athlete once said, “Pride would be a lot easier to swallow if it didn’t taste so bad.” In Sophocles’ well known Greek tragedy, Antigone, the main character undergoes immense character development. Antigone transforms from being stubborn and underestimated to courageous and open-minded. In reality, it is Antigone’s insular persistence that leads to her ultimate decline in the play as well as others around her. After the death of her two brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, Creon becomes the new ruler of Thebes. With this, he grants Eteocles an honorable funeral service for his brave fighting. Claiming that Polynices was a traitor, he shows complete refusal to grant Polynices a respectable and worthy service. Clearly disagreeing with Creon’s inexcusable demands, Antigone declares she will bury Polynices herself so that his soul can be at peace. Entirely aware of the consequences and dangers of this action, which include death, she goes forward vowing her love for her family. Antigone shows strength and determination towards her brother. However, her growing sense of pride leads to her downfall as she sacrifices everything for her family. Antigone develops into an admirable character in which she portrays her defiance and courage, pride and open mindedness, and sense of moral righteousness to show vital character growth as the play progresses.
Pride is not a bad attribute to have, it is actually very important. One definition for pride is: A sense of one's own proper dignity or value; self-respect. Self respect is a very good quality to have, however, there’s such thing as too much of a good thing. This is especially the case if you are a hero in a Greek play that has too much pride. Pride is the most central flaw in Greek tragedy, even in heroes. In the plays “Antigone” and “The Odyssey”, Antigone’s and Odysseus’ pride causes them unnecessary problems that could have been easily avoided if they had just kept their pride in check.