Similarities Between Antigone And Creon

One of the most well-known ideas in science, and common sense, is that opposites attract. Electrons and protons pull towards each other, and magnets with opposite charges will always stick together. Although Creon and Antigone show quite a bit of hatred for each other throughout Antigone, a drama by Sophocles, they really are not all that different. Which, any scientist knows that it takes the power of the sun to force together particles with the same charge. Creon and Antigone both share a single characteristic: pride. This may seem like a shaky bridge to connect them with, but all of the similarities and differences in their pride are what make them such an interesting and ultimately tragic duo.

Creon is the King of Thebes and uncle

of Antigone and her siblings. Antigone’s two brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices, are engaged in a fierce war before the story begins. Eteocles dies as a war hero; Polyneices dies as a disgrace. Eteocles is given a soldier’s funeral and all of the honors that go with it. For the other brother, Creon orders that no one shall mourn for him or bury him, and his body must lie in the fields for the birds and dogs to find. He also orders that anyone who breaks his command will be punished with a public stoning. At this point, Antigone’s pride takes charge, and she goes to give her brother a proper burial no matter what the penalty. Creon is very angry at Antigone’s disobedience.
Because pride contributes to most of the actions of Creon and Antigone, it can be concluded that they are both too prideful for their own good.

Sophocles was Greek, and the Greeks were known to define many people’s pride as hubris, a fatal pride that ends up destroying those who have it. There are people who are prideful, but they are prideful because they stand strongly for what they believe. There are people who are too prideful to admit that they are in the wrong, which sometimes makes them appear foolish, arrogant, and conceited; these are the people who have hubris.. Antigone has “positive pride”; she is willing to pay the death penalty to do what she thinks is right. Creon, on the other hand, has hubris; although I believe that he knows he is not doing the right thing, his pride will not let him admit that he is in the

wrong.
Antigone shows her pride off when she says to Creon:
It was not God’s proclamation. That Final Justice / That rules the world below makes no such laws. / Your edict, King, was strong, / But all your strength is weakness itself against / The immortal unrecorded laws of God. / They are not merely now: they were, and shall be, / Operative for ever, beyond man utterly. / I knew I must die, even without your decree: / I am only mortal. And if I must die / Now, before it is my time to die, / Surely this is no hardship: can anyone/ Living, as I live, with evil all about me. (1248)
This speech justifies Antigone’s pride as the “positive” kind. She has reasonings to back herself, even if others might disagree.
Creon shows his pride when Teiresias, a prophet who is known to be truthful in his claims, states, “But a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong, / And repairs the evil. The only crime is pride. (1250)” Creon’s prideful soul then retaliates when he says, “No, Teiresias:/ If your birds-if the great eagles of God himself / Should carry him stinking bit by bit to heaven, / I would not yield. I am not afraid of pollution: / No man can defile the gods (1250).” Creon lets his pride get in the way of listening to someone who is hardly ever wrong and very intelligent. This is another example of his pride, and it is hubris.
Antigone and Creon both want all the glory.

Antigone asks her sister to help her bury her brother. Ismene refuses and tells her sister that she is crazy. However, once Creon finds out about Antigone’s actions, he orders that they both be put to death. Antigone argues that her sister should not have the honor of death when she has not done anything to help bury her brother. Antigone wants it to be known that she has done this all on her own, and she wants the glory for it. Creon also wants a lot of glory. Creon has many people in the village scared of him because he does radical things when he commands orders. Creon is “power hungry.” Both Antigone and Creon are willing to do whatever they have to do to get what they want, glory or otherwise. Antigone’s love is Creon’s son; Creon is willing to stone his son’s love, Antigone, just so he can show that when he says something he means it. Antigone is willing to break the law and the orders of Creon to bury her brother, even if it means being stoned to death in

public.
Choragos says it best when he says, “Big words are always punished, / And proud men in old age learn to be wise (1256).” Creon learns that his pride makes him a fool. Creon knows that he should listen to Teiresias, but he lets his selfish pride get in the way. Creon also has to pay the consequences of his son’s death along with Antigone’s death. Antigone is proud of burying her brother and thinks it is wise. However, she does commit suicide. In order to bury her brother, she commits a crime. Because of pride, Antigone and Creon both have to pay a penalty. Consequently, throughout the entire play, pride is their downfall. Perhaps we can learn that positive pride and hubris are only ideas in essays, and we should strive to have more humility.