Creon, as head of state and lawgiver in Thebes, believes in obedience to human-made laws. Antigone appeals to a different set of guidelines, what is often called "natural law." As ruler Creon grants or denies burial rights based on the individual’s adherence to the law of society. Antigone's outrage that proper burial has been refused to her brother Ploynices’s shows that she does not use the same standard. An admirable and commendable character in a story is one who garners the most respect for their journey. Antigone features a good fight between two characters that garner no support from anyone for their platform. However, Antigone’s case is more commendable than Kreon due to that fact that she remained unwavering in her moral beliefs and …show more content…
He decided that any action taken against the state being disobedient and you must be punished or killed. Throughout the story, there are several times that both Haimon and Antigone tried to connect to the humanity and reasoning of Kreon but to no avail, he remained staunch in his belief in the uniformity of the law. Creon was less admirable than Antigone because his belief was only about himself and what he thought was right as a dominant force. During his reign, Creon was not a righteous king. He only believed in himself and not his people who believed Antigone should be punished. Haimon tried to reason with Kreon about this very issue. During a conversation, Haimon informs Creon that the citizens of Thebes want something other than his decree implying the release of Antigone. To that statement, Kreon replies, “and shall the city tell me what I should command?” (Sophocles, pg.50). This moment considers the tyrannical reign of Kreon I ruler who wanted to listen to no one else. His partial brutal reign was called into question multiple times. In a conversation with Antigone she compares him to believing he is Zeus, she states “It was not Zeus who made this proclamation mortal as you are you could outrun those laws” (Sophocles, pg.38). At this moment, she is saying that this isn’t a law made by a god like he thinks he, so it is possible for him to revert the decree. After this moment, Creon responded that he would break her stubbornness, and declared that Antigone and her sister, suffer a terrible
The main conflict in the story Antigone is between the king of Thebes, also the antagonist, Creon and Antigone the Protagonist. When Antigone's brother dies in war Creon does not want to bury him, But Antigone feels its her brothers rights bestowed on him buy the gods to be able to be buried and that it would be disrespectful not to. For example in scene one page two Creon says "He’ll be left unburied, his body there for birds and dogs to eat, a clear reminder of his shameful fate.That’s my decision." As you can see here Creon thinks he has the authority and makes the laws about what is going to happen but really that is divine authority. Another example is in scene two page three when Creon is interrogating Antigone, Antigone says "Yes. Zeus did not announce those laws to me. And Justice living with the gods below sent no
Creon's pride is that of a tyrant. He is inflexible and unyielding, unwilling throughout the play to listen to advice or Antigone. Creon’s love for the city-state cause him to abandon all other beliefs. He tries to enforce this upon the people of Thebes. He wants them to think that his laws should be followed before any other personal, moral, or religious belief. This is where the conflict of character occurs between Antigone and Creon. Antigone knows that the sacred laws held by heaven are far more important...
Jodi Picoult once said “Some lessons can’t be taught. They simply have to be learned.”; in life what defines a person is what they become after they go through a series of trials and tribulations. Oedipus The King tells the story of a king who tries to outrun his fate and in the end self-banishes himself out of guilt leaving the kingdom of Thebes to Creon. The play starts with King Laius, who appoints Creon to rule in his kingdom while he consults the oracle at Delphi. Enraged by the death of King Laius, the gods cast a plague upon Thebes, which is the Sphinx, who starts to destroy the city. Terrified by the destruction of the kingdom, Creon states that anyone who might solve this riddle,
Antigone’s views of divine justice conflict with Creon’s will as head of the state. Two brothers fighting against one another in Thebes’ civil war died while fighting one another for the throne. Creon, who had become the new ruler of Thebes, decided that one brother Eteocles would be honored, while Polyneices would be put through public shame. The body of Polyneices was to not be sanctified by holy rites, but was planned to be left unburied on the battlefield for animals to prey on it. Antigone, the sister of the two brothers wants to properly bury Polyneices’ body, but in doing so she would by defying king Creon’s edict. When Creon’s orders the Sentry to find out who had buried the body of Polyneices, Antigone is found to have buried the body of her dead brother. Since she disobeyed authority, her and her sister are temporarily imprisoned. He then wishes to spare Antigone’s sister Ismene and bury Antigone alive in a cave. To some up the foregoing, in honoring her brother she is performing the role of woman and warrior...
Antigone’s strength allows her to defend her brother’s honor against Creon, who wants to make a statement about traitors. However, both Antigone and King Creon commit faults while trying to protect the things they love. Antigone should not have died for her beliefs as it puts her loved ones and community in danger, and Creon should not have forbidden the burial of Polyneices as it angers the Gods and causes him great suffering in the end.
... by vultures because she had a strong belief in family honor and the will of the gods, one which as long as no harm is done should be upheld above other laws. There are two competing forms of justice throughout “Antigone” which inform the argument of whether or not Antigone should have followed Creon’s laws through the tension of the city state and the will of the people as well as the gods. Creon’s argument was flawed in his disregard for public opinion and that he overlooked Antigone’s valid argument because of her gender and his pride. Antigone argues that a mortal man cannot override the will of the gods, a valid argument of the times. It is and was crucially important to fully consider the best interest of the citizens that is being voiced at the time of decision making, if it is not taken into consideration the city, as seen in Thebes will fall into shambles.
For example in his decree, he states, “His brother Polyneices who broke his exile to come back with fire and sword against his native city... whose one idea was to spill the blood of his blood and sell his own people into slavery- Polyneices I say is to have no burial,” (1.1.165-166, 168-170). Creon declares that Polyneices shall not be buried because of his actions against the city. His brother, Eteocles, however was able to get buried because he fought for the city and not against it. If Polyneices had fought with the city he would have the same fate, but in turn Creon wanted revenge, so he would not allow the traitor an honorable burial. Creon had wanted revenge because of Polyneices’ action against the city. In the play he tells Haimon,“I will carry her far away/ Out there in the wilderness, and lock her/ Living in a fault of stone. She shall have food,/ As the custom is, to absolve the state of her death/ And there let her pray to the gods of hell,” (1.3.632-636). After arguing with Haimon about Antigone’s execution, he decides to lock her away. Antigone went against Creon’s decree so he felt very disrespected and wanted to make an example out of her. Other people living in the city would realize that they can defy him as well, which is why Creon has to lock Antigone away. Based on the evidence, it clearly represents Creon’s bias
The judicial hierarchy of Antigone is established early on in the tragedy, and is finally articulated clearly in the final lines spoken by the chorus. For the chorus, justice requires that the ruler of a polis have absolute power, and that his subjects follow his decrees to the letter. Early on, the chorus says, “to use any legal means lies in your power, both about the dead and those of us who live,” (ln.213-214). This could be interpreted simply as a citizen appealing to the hubris of his ruler, straying from honesty and moving toward appeasement, but given the manner in which the chorus interacts with Creon later in the play, it is much more likely that he truly believes that Creon, or any leader for that matter, is just in demanding that his laws be followed by his subjects. The implication here is that Creon has absolut...
In Sophocles play Antigone, Antigone is contrasted with creon in the play because everyone knows that Creon and Antigone had their differences about the burial of her brother, “Creon: yes, he will, if you give equal honors to a wicked man. Antigone: But the one who died was not some slave — it was his own brother. Creon: who is destroying this country — the other one went to his death defending it. (Lines 587-591) In that quote it’s saying that Creon doesn’t support the burial of her brother because in his mind he was destroying the country, and he didn’t want him going to the afterlife, but that’s what Antigone wanted. Ismene didn’t want Antigone to go behind Creon’s back and bury him anyway.
In the play Antigone, Creon, king of Thebes faces a harsh conflict with himself, involving the values of family and religion verse the civic responsibility he must maintain for the city of Thebes that comes with being the new king. In theory no decision Creon makes is going to be the rite one. Although both Antigone and Creon have justified reasons for believing in there own laws only one can be upheld by the play and how Sophocles interoperates the play himself. Creon must decide whether to punish Antigone, a princess, daughter of king Oedipus, or fail at enforcing his own law and look weak in front of the citizens of Thebes as their new leader. The law stated that anybody who touched the corpse of Polyneices, a prince, and son of Oedipus would be stoned in the town square.
Antigone’s opinions are distinctive as she clearly states her beliefs to Creon after being caught for performing her brother’s burial rituals. Antigone strongly believes that law has no validity when laid by a human as she questions Creon saying, “What laws? I never heard it was Zeus who made that announcement” (Antigone 450). This quote shows her reliance on the Gods for moral direction instead of the kings who reign over her. Although she disregards the law, she also accepts punishment; Antigone is able to follow her opinions and independently rule herself, yet also recognize the societal expectations of law and accept punishment. When being taken by Creon with her sister Antigone takes the responsibility of the crime all herself and recognizes what she did despite not being ashamed of it. One of the main views of Antigone that causes her disobedience is the belief that rulers should not keep loved ones from each other. Antigone clearly states, “He has no right to keep me from my own” this shows how she believes the connection between family overpowers that of a law passed by a vengeful king (Antigone 48). Antigone’s opinions contrast to those of Creon who is a gender biased ruler who sees women as lesser as he states “I will not be ruled by a woman” (Antigone 24). This shows his belief in who is credible within law. Not only does he have opinions on who
Creon believes that his laws are absolute and must be followed above all else, even Divine Law. Therefore when Antigone, in accordance with divine law, goes against Creons edict by burying her brother she is forcefully imprisoned and sentenced to death by Creon. In Creons opening speech he says, “Of course you cannot know a man completely, his character, his principles, sense of judgment … Experience, there’s the test” (Sophocles, p. 67). How Creon handles Antigones unlawful actions serves as his first test as the new king of Thebes and ends up showing the Thebans a glimpse of his true nature, that of a tyrannical ruler. This can be seen again when Haemon comes to Creon with the hope of dissuading him from his current course of action. He does this by trying to make Creon understand that the citizens of Thebes don’t agree with his use of power and planned execution of Antigone. Again Creons authoritarian nature comes to light in his response to Haemon, “And is Thebes about to tell me how to rule… Am I to rule this land for others – or myself?” (Sophocles, p. 97). To which Haemon counters by saying that “its no city at all, owned by one man alone” (Sophocles, p. 97). Creon, being the tyrant he is, fails to heed the wisdom of his sons’ words, which ultimately leads to his downfall. Creon, like Machiavelli, believed that it was
Sophocles play titled Antigone, embellishes the opposing conflicts between Antigone who stands for the values of family, and Creon who stands for the values of state. Sophocles explores the depths of Antigone’s morality and the duty based on consequence throughout the play, as well as the practical consequences of Creon who is passionate and close-minded. Although Antigone’s moral decisions appear to be more logical and favorable than Creon’s, a personal argument would be that both characters’ decisions in society can be equally justified.
In the beginning of Antigone, we see Antigone struggling with the conflicting expectations between divine law and man’s law. The problem throughout the play is Antigone is a believer in divine law while Creon is a believer in man’s law. In the first scene, Antigone tells her sister that she will defy Creon’s law and bury her brother. Antigone says, “He has no right to keep me from my own” (Sophocles 1008). She believes in divine law even if it means breaking man’s law. Creon commanded no one to bury her brother. Antigone knows it is not the right choice according to divine law and she should be able to bury her own brother, but Creon believes no one should break the law he has put before everyone. Ismene replies, “ The law is strong, we must give in to the law, in this thing and in worse. I bet the dead to forgive me, but I am helpless: I must yield to those in authority” (Sophocles 1009). Antigone ...
Creon does not learn a lesson from Oedipus' accusatory behavior. Instead he adapts this bad personality trait. Throughout Antigone, he accuses everyone who tries to give him advice of betraying him. Whereas, in Oedipus, he is falsely accused by Oedipus of trying to take over the throne. This paper will compare and contrast his behavior and evaluate if he learned anything from one play to the next.