How Does Creon Show Hubris In Antigone

Hubris is a major part of many Ancient Greek tragedies. Hubris can be found in the myth of Daedalus and Icarus, the tragedy of Oedipus Rex, and of course, Antigone, just to name a few (Gill). Aristotle first discussed hubris in his work, Rhetoric, where he said “Young men and the rich are hubristic because they think they are better than other people.”(Cudjoe, Grant, Otchere). Antigone could be considered simply as a battle of opposing hubris’. Both Antigone herself and Creon show great hubris throughout the play, but they show this excessive sense of pride for different reasons, and in different ways. It is the different reasons but similar principles and consequences of their hubris that show that displaying hubris can be heroic and brave;

In fact, everything that happens in the play comes as a result of his first decision as the new King of Thebes. This, of course, is when Creon announces that Eteocles will receive a full military burial, while his brother Polyneices will not receive any burial. Both Creon’s and Antigone’s hubris stems from that moment. Creon’s hubris comes simply from the fact that he is the king. He goes by the principle that a king cannot waver in his decisions and cannot look weak in front of his people. He explains that principle to his son, Haimon, who is also Antigone’s lover, when Haimon confronted him about putting Antigone to death. Creon says “Do you want me to show myself weak before the people?... If I permit my own family to rebel, how shall I earn the world’s obedience?” (1259). We are able to see where Creon is coming from with that principle. But as his son tries to convince him to change his mind about Antigone, Creon’s hubris is really brought to light. Creon says he will not heed the advice that Haimon is giving him because he will not accept advice from someone younger than him (1260). That statement reveals his main flaw stemming from his hubris: not accepting that he might be wrong and taking advice or opinions from

Antigone also had a big impact on the play. Her display of hubris was a direct result of Creon’s decision to give one of her brothers a burial with full honors and to give the other no burial at all. Antigone followed the principle of Greek Mythology that said the dead must be buried or their souls will not make it to the afterlife. Antigone made it known very quickly that she is willing to die for burying her brother, stating “I am not afraid of the danger; if it means death, it will not be the worst of deaths – death without honor.”(1248). Antigone felt that her will to die for what she believed was right was honorable, so if she had to die to give her brother a burial, she would. Antigone’s hubris affected others around her just like Creon’s did. Her sister, Ismene, was not on board to help Antigone bury their brother when Antigone told her of her plans. But after seeing that Antigone was being sentenced to death, she decides to admit guilt to Creon, even though she didn’t have anything to do with