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Analyzing the character of creon in antigone
Creon as the hero
Creon antigone character analysis
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Creon is the main antagonist in the play Antigone and is an absolute tyrant. Creon's hubris is what ultimately leads to being his downfall; Creon’s hamartia. In the play Antigone, Creon is a powerful, wrinkled, Man who is suffering the burdens of ruling. He has surrendered himself to the throne. Creon is a very practical man who has a very logical and literal mindset and even tells Antigone that his only interest is in political subjects and social order. Tragic irony is present in the play Antigone, as Creon is a very simplistic man who has who has positive intentions that ultimately leads to a very negative outcome resulting in tragic suffering. This being said, I do believe that Creon is the main antagonist of the story but I do not believe that he is a villain. Creon was the lawmaker and ordered that Eteocles was to be given a proper burial. However, if somebody were to bury Polyneices they would be sentenced to execution by stoning. Creon believed that Polyneices was a traitor for battling Eteocles. Antigone defies the law, and buries Polyneices (Polyneices is Antigone's brother). When Antigone is caught for the crime that she has committed, Creon has no choice but to execute her. Antigone was banished to a dungeon where she would inevitably die from starvation; however, …show more content…
Antigone kills herself before Creon's moment of anagnorisis and peripeteia. Creon’s hubris changes Creon's state by giving him a very literal mindset that disables his ability to see the familial bond between Antigone to her brother Polyneices which ties them together; This makes Creon arrogant. Creon favors the more rational laws of man over those of the gods. This passage is Creon thinking amongst himself of his actions in Antigone “Is it not arrant folly to pretend That god would have a thought for this dead man? Did they forsooth award him special grace, And as some benefactor bury him, Who came to fire their hallowed sanctuaries, To sack their shrines, to desolate their land, And scout their ordinances? Or perchance The gods bestow their favors on the bad. No! no! I have long noted malcontents Who wagged their heads and kicked against the yoke, Misliking these my orders, and my rule. 'Tis they, I warrant, who suborned my guards By bribes. Of evils current upon earth The worst is money. Money 'tis that sacks Cities, and drives men forth from hearth and home; Warps and seduces native innocence, And breeds a habit of dishonesty. … For by dishonesty the few may thrive, The many come to ruin and disgrace.” (Antigone Pg 11). The passage shows characterization in Creon by showing his arrogance and that he is a hubris. Creon’s arrogance and fatal flaw, hubris, affects his ability to be a leader by making him his stubborn and his pride so great, that he cannot acknowledge that he would ever be wrong.
Creon says to Antigone when they were arguing over the burial of Polyneices “Whatever you say, you will not change my will.” (Antigone, scene 5) Which shows Creon completely shutting out the chance that he is possibly incorrect. Creon’s self-righteousness exemplifies to the reader his arrogance in Antigone to such an extent to where he says “The state is King!” (Antigone, Scene 3) Saying that he even thinks he's better than the gods. The gods do not like this which leads to Creon’s hubris to be his
downfall. Based on Creon’s specific fatal flaw in the play Antigone, which is his arrogance and hubris, the play is saying that a leader should not be completely full of themselves to the point of stubbornness and arrogance; that a leader should be confident in his actions but not allow the power of the throne consume him. Although Creon finally realizes that his hubris has not let him effectively deal with his conflicts, his hyper-logical thinking and arrogance consumed him so that he was blind to Antigone's connection to Polyneices and Haimon's love for Antigone. This shows that a leader should not only think analytically and logistically but also to think of others and their emotions. Another Quality that the play may say a leader would need is to not see yourself as better than the Gods for it is Teiresias's prophecy that is the peripeteia and Creon recognizes or has his anagnorisis that his hubris was what has brought him his downfall all along.
Throughout the story of Antigone, particularly the end, Creon proposes the bad-boy in control personality. He acts as the ruler he is and puts his power to work. He fears nothing unless his family is involved. He has no mercy when it comes to the law. Additionally, he is greatly affected by the environment he creates around himself.
Creon’s hubris is the strongest case that can be made about Creon being the most tragic character in Antigone. For example, Creon says,”Am I to rule this land at someone else’s whim or by myself?”(Antigone 835-836). This is truly a profound statement that reflects Creon’s excessive self-pride; moreover, Creon refuses to listen to Haemon, the Chorus at some points, and even Theresias for while. Furthermore, Creon refuses to acknowledge that he has done wrong of any kind, and this eventually leads to the death of his entire family. In conclusion, this is why Creon is the most tragic character in this play.
Since the play’s inception, there has always existed a contention concerning the true hero of Sophocles’ Antigone. It is a widely held belief that Antigone must be the main character simply because she and the drama share name. This is, of course, a very logical assumption. Certainly Sophocles must have at least meant her to be viewed as the protagonist, else he would not have given her the play’s title. Analytically speaking, however, Creon does seem to more categorically fit the appellation of “Tragic Hero.” There is no doubt as to the nature of the work, that being tragedy. Along with this genre comes certain established prerequisites, and Creon is the only character that satisfactorily fits them all.
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
In the beginning of the play Creon is portrayed as King and a leader unwilling to bend the rules in order to protect the city. The way Creon responds to Antigone, “While I’m alive, no woman is going to lord over me”, shows he is stubborn and also his pride. (593-594) While the play continues Creon’s pride grows, and he thinks he can never be wrong and punishes Antigone by locking her up in a cave. However, things turn a different way when the Prophet tells Creon that he must free Antigone or face the wrath of Gods. After hearing this Creon changes his mind, “I shackled her, I’ll set her free myself. I am afraid it’s best to keep the established laws…” (1236-1238) But, as Creon tries to set Antigone free, he is faced with suicides of Antigone and Haemon, and followed by the suicide of his wife, Eurydice. This moment in the play serves as the downfall of Creon. But unlike Antigone, Creon reaches anagnorisis, which is the moment in the play when the tragic character realizes his hubris has led to his downfall. “And the guilt is all mine- can never be fixed…god help me, I admit all!”(1441-1445) Ultimately, Creon is more of a proper tragic character than Antigone because of he has an epiphany, a moment when he realizes his hubris has caused conflicts and deaths in the
Creon's insecurity blinds his ability to direct order in his country properly. After Antigone buried Polyneices Creon felt he needed to take a strong stand or people would think he would always be lenient toward criminals. However, to achieve this Creon felt he needed to take drastic action against Antigone. He once even said to his son, Haimon, who was about to marry Antigone, "The woman dies. I suppose she'll plead family ties. Well, let her. If I permit my own family to rebel, how shall I earn the world's obedience?" (19) This quote shows that Creon feels that to prove himself to the country he needs to earn the "world's obedience".
It is clear that Creon's tragic flaw was his pride, arrogance and beliefs of a leader that cause his downfall. His downfall began when he denied the burial of Polyneices and was firm when he condemned Antigone for her objection to his law. Creon represents the laws of the land and the divine ruler of society. He remains loyal in upholding his laws and trying to overpower the laws of the gods, until the end when he realizes that the divine laws are stronger than his own. His regards for the laws of the city cause him to abandon all other beliefs. He feels that all should obey the rules set forth by him, even if other beliefs, moral or religious, state otherwise. This is proven when he says, "As long as I am King, no traitor is going to be honored with the loyal man. But whoever shows by word and deed that he is on the side of the State-he shall have my respect while he is living and my reverence when he is dead" (40).
Antigone, in its simplest form, is a battle of wills. Creon is defending what he believes to be the right decision, and Antigone is doing the same. If either character practiced moderation in their views, their endeavor may have ended differently. It is important to think about why Creon and Antigone feel so strongly about their views, because they both have valid explanations. Despite these explanations having merit, they are useless when their owners will not budge on them. The eventual downfalls of both Creon and Antigone can be traced back to their blatant disregard for compromise throughout the
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...
In the play Antigone, I choose Creon to be the tragic hero because he is the King of Thebes and he looses everything he has. Creon being King makes the audience believe that something like that can happen to the King then what can happen to us. Antigone the niece of Creon, The sister of Polyneices was punished by Creon for burying Polyneces after his death, Creon has forbidden anybody to do so. Once Creon punished Antigone the blind prophet Teiresias told him that the Gods will take revenge for his actions, then Creon tried to change everything but he is too late. Creon's tragic flaws were his stubbornness, the abuse of power and the actions he took to cause the downfall of the Thebes.
Of the tragic figures in Antigone, Creon is the most obviously evil because his motives are self-serving and his fate the worst. As the play begins, we learn that Antigone has defied Creon's royal decree by performing sacred burial rites for her exiled brother, Polyneices. Polyneices has been declared an enemy of the state by Creon. The sentence for anyone attempting to bury him is death by stoning.
Creon is an antagonist in Antigone he is the bad guy and he opposes certain things like the right to burial. An example of his actions is can be seen here: “Polynices, who returned from exile with hopes of burning his native land and ancestral gods from top to bottom, wishing to feast on kindred blood and lead the rest into slavery, it has been decreed that in this city he shall be neither buried nor mourned by anyone, but everyone must leave him unburied, a feast for birds and dogs, an outrage to see” (Sophocles 200-209). Even though he is known for doing bad things he is still considered superior to everyone of Thebes. Antigone was known as the niece of Creon but she did not express herself as a famous and important person. Creon is proud of his position as king and he takes pride in his city and his decisions. “Do you realize you speak these lies to your king?” (Sophocles 1065). Creon shows his dominance in this quote. Antigone, however, is only recognized for being the niece of the former king and committing a crime against her own family member.
The views of Antigone and Creon are opposed, and they both possess the same stubborn belief in their own righteousness. This ultimately brings them both to their tragic fate. At first we believe that Creon acts from sincere, patriotic and unselfish motives, and that he is acting out of a sincere belief that his decision is best for the state. This is shown in the first episode (lines 163 - 331), where Creon hopes to be a wise and good ruler. Later on we learn that he is too inflexible and narrow to heed criticism or admit fault, and that this causes all the misery in his life. The same is true of Antigone. She appears to be a very compassionate individual in the prologue; however, later on we learn that she is also stubborn and unwilling to bend in her beliefs, which ultimately leads her to her tragic fate.
Creon in the play Antigone by Sophocles plays a major role within the play. Antigone also plays an important role, as these two character’s conflicting views led to utter disaster, which highlights Creon as a tragic figure. Within the play Creon attempted to establish decisions for the common good; however, his decisions resulted in tragedy. Creon highlighted as the tragic figure, initially created decisions he thought were for the welfare and well-being of Thebes. However, Antigone, who rebelled against Creon’s decisions, caused Creon’s rage to cloud his rational way of thinking.
In Sophocles’ play Antigone, the lines between protagonist and antagonist are blurred. In the Greek tradition, the title character is the protagonist, but in this play the supposed antagonist, Creon also displays characteristics of protagonist. Creon is portrayed as a strict leader who believes in adherence to his laws over those of the gods. He is not a fan of extenuating circumstances, either. His actions can only follow those of Antigone, so he cannot be the traditional protagonist like Oedipus in Oedipus the King.