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Family relationships in Antigone
Creon character analysis antigone by sophocles
Creon character in Antigone
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Antigone’s first words in Antigone, “My own flesh and blood”, strongly indicates that the play’s concern with family relationships. “I admit I did it. I won’t deny that.”(line 500) Antigone is bold in her defiance, believes firmly that she is right, and at times seems eager to die for the cause of burying her brother. “I have longer to please the dead than please the living herein the kingdom down below I'll lie forever.” (line 90) Antigone believes the burial rituals are the unwritten rules of the gods, and must be obeyed regardless of a ruler's political whims.
Loyalty plays a big part in the play with the characters. Antigone’s words, actions, and ideas contrast with Creon’s character to the point of these two characters having conflicting
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A tragic hero is supposed to either have a character flaw or an error of judgment. In the play, Creon has two flaws. He has the character flaw of willful arrogance and his unyielding behavior and he has the flaw of making and error of judgment when he passes the proclamation. Along with a character flaw, a tragic hero must realize the fall. Creon truly realizes his fall when he states “Alas, how miserable I feel to look upon this second horror.” (line 1430-1440) The mistakes that he made are exemplified when Creon states, “Alas, my son, you died so young a death before your time.”(line 1410) He is feeling so much regret and disappointment in himself. This is the first part in the play where he realizes his mistake in passing an unjust proclamation and accepts responsibility for all that has happened. It is the first time that he has woken up to the realities of what he has done to his family. He had already taken the first step towards repentance of his wrong doing when he personally sees to it that the body of Polynices received a proper burial. However, he was too late to rescue Haemon, Antigone, or his wife. Creon is truly paying the consequences of being inflexible and
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.
The hubris resonating throughout the play, ‘Antigone’ is seen in the characters of Creon and Antigone. Their pride causes them to act impulsively, resulting in their individual downfalls. In his opening speech, Creon makes his motives clear, that “no man who is his country’s enemy shall call himself my friend.” This part of his declaration was kept to the letter, as he refused burial for his nephew, Polynices. However, when the situation arises where it is crucial that Creon takes advice, he neglects the part of the speech where he says “a king... unwilling to seek advice is damned.” This results in Creon’s tragic undoing.
The plot revolves around a story of Antigone’s struggle to give Polynices, her brother, his final rights by giving him a proper burial, despite the fact that Creon has forbid for anyone to do so as Polynices was a traitor to Thebes and its people. One major struggle throughout the play is the apparent conflict between Antigone and Creon. Creon and Antigone have temperaments that clash with each other. Antigone values passion while Creon values the state. Although they have very different values, Antigone and Creon have very similar personalities. They are both stubborn, independent people who are so similar that they can never see eye to eye on issues. Both Antigone and Creon are filled with pride and passion in their beliefs. These traits can be considered both very advantageous and moral as well as being a negative trait that represents the stubbornness in human beings. Antigone and Creon are incredibly proud, making it impossible for either one to concede defeat once they have taken a stand for what they believe in. As stated by Tiresias “stubbornness brand...
There were three basic conflicts that caused Antigone and Creon to clash as violently as they did. First, was the conflict of the individual versus the state, in which Antigone represented the individual and Creon the king, the state. The second conflict can be described as following ones conscience and ideals versus following the law strictly. In this conflict Antigone makes decisions based on her conscience and ideals while Creon is the strict law abiding king. Finally, the main and most important discord, which is similar to the second conflict, is the debate of moral and divine law versus human law. In this most important contention Creon strictly observes human laws and Antigone follows the divine or moral laws. Creon’s beliefs and his unwillingness to change ultimately cause the downfall of Creon and everyone that he cares about.
Have you ever met someone that uses their power to their advantage and doesn't care how it affects another person; Well that is Creon. The actions that Creon took to punish Antigone for buring her brother costed him his wife and son. When you are born or brought up with power don’t use it to your advantage , use it for good.
“Look—what’s Creon doing with our two brothers? He’s honouring one with a full funeral and treating the other one disgracefully!” (Line 30) Creon and Antigone had a lot of conflicts throughout the story. Antigone had a different mindset from Creon, which created a conflict through their words, actions, and ideas. Creon is a tragic hero because he makes judgment calls that harm him in the future, he thinks they are good at the time, but they end up causing his own destruction. Other people's words influence him, such as Antigone's, to change throughout the story. The fact that Creon changes throughout the story advances the plot and makes the reader want to keep reading.
In the play, “Antigone” stubbornness leads to the downfall of two characters. Creon’s excessive pride reveals him as a tragic character. His pride is so high up he could not acknowledge the fact that he did wrong in anyway. He also views himself as a person better than the gods. “The State is King!” (Creon 598) he said, showing how cocky he tends to be. As a result of his cockiness, this creates conflict with the gods and eventually leads to his downfall. Creon wants his people to view him as a formidable and strong-minded leader who can handle things knowing that he’s in a position of authority. This is one of the reasons why he never reconsiders his decisions. He refuses to listen to others nor take their opinion into consideration, especially to Teiresias. Creon says,” Whatever you say, you will not change my will.” (Creon 840) Creon is given an opportunity to right his wrongs, but he decides to put his pride first.
The term “tragic hero” was first used by the Greek philosopher Aristotle. Aristotle defined this hero as someone neither better or worse than the average person. Tragic heroes are people with bravery and of a noble position, but they also have an imperfect nature. When tragic heroes show a weakness, usually pride, the audience can relate better to them. This relationship causes stronger and more passionate feelings from the people towards the downfall of the tragic hero. The hero’s punishment will be greater than what is deserved, and the hero must make a self-discovery along the way. Creon makes the decision to punish Antigone for burying her brother after he declared, “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.” Creon makes this decision based on his beliefs and thoughts alone, not on the opinions of others under him (too much pride.) This is the error in judgment that Creon made, and the reason for his change in character throughout the story.
The fatal flaw also referred as hubris is when a character leads him to his downfall. Creon shows hubris because he has excessive pride, he thinks he is better than everyone and he is an authority man. Hubris can be noticed in line 836-837 when he says,"So the city now will instruct me how I am to govern?” Another tragic hero characteristic is peripeteia, it's when a sudden of fortune or change in circumstances happen. That's a very clear characteristic in Creon because he lost the grip in his kingdom. Another fact that comprises peripeteia is that he also lost his family. Peripeteia can be comproved in line 1420 “Aaiiii . . . I’ve learned it in my pain. Some god clutching a great weight struck my head, then hurled me onto paths in the wilderness, throwing down and casting underfoot what brought me joy. So sad . . . so sad . . . the wretched agony of human life.” Creon also demonstrates other characteristics called anagnorisis. Anagnorisis is when a character recognizes his mistakes. Creon recognized his mistakes in the end of the play because he noticed that the decisions he made were wrong. In the play, we can identify anagnorisis in his own speech, "Aaiii—mistakes made by a foolish mind, cruel mistakes that bring on death. You see us here, all in one family— the killer and the killed. Oh, the profanity of what I planned. Alas, my son, you died so young— a death before your time.
Everybody makes mistakes, it’s just a part of being human and nobody is perfect so if we learn from our mistakes we can help to make this world so much better. In the play Antigone there is no exception to this, and we can see all of the characters making mistakes that lead to bigger problems in the future. But as the play progresses we can see the characters realizing that even though they tried their best they did something wrong and it needs to be fixed. Creon is a perfect example of this, because he has the best intentions at the beginning of the play but as it goes on he realizes his decisions although well intended we're not the best they could be and they need to be changed. But Creon realizes this fact to late and ends up receiving
Both Riot Antigone and Antigone focus heavily on the dwindling relationships Antigone has with members of her family. However, although the foundational aspects of Antigone’s relationships with her family, as portrayed in the original play, remain they were slightly warped in Riot Antigone in order to make the relationships more relevant under the circumstances of today’s society. Specifically, her relationship between her sister and uncle. In the original writing of Sophocles’ Antigone, similar to how it occurred in Riot Antigone, Antigone calls on her little sister, Ismene, to help her carry out her mission to bury her brother’s body that has been sentenced to never be buried. However, in the original Antigone, Antigone’s reaction to Ismene’s
Moreover, she threatens to disown her sister Ismene after she opts not to help her bury Polynices. Another defining instance of her stance on family ties is perceptible when she refuses her sister to be part of the punishment for her deeds. The refusal is traceable in the play when she responded to her sister Ismene, “No, justice will suffer that-not you, you were unwilling. I never brought you in” (Line 605). In contrast, Creon is a reflection of a person who does not respect the importance of the family. For this reason, Sophocles uses the perspective of Creon on family to warn the audience against the vice because of dire consequence. His lack of family appreciation is evident from his decision to not only kill his nieces; Antigone and Ismene,
Family is such a large part of both of these stories. The very first line of Antigone makes it clear that blood ties are very significant to Antigone: "Now, dear Ismene, my own blood sister," The fact that Ismene is her blood sister is important enough to verbalize it, even when addressing Ismene. Throughout the play, several other aspects of the story indicate that Antigone is slightly obsessive about her family. She is willing to give up her life to honor her dead brother, all the while discussing how she would be honored to "lay down with the man I love". This is horrifyingly close to implying incest. She feels she has a duty to bury him. "Yes. I’ll do my duty to my brother and yours as well, if you’re not prepared to. I won’t be caught betraying him."
..., this sense of arrogance angers Creon to a point beyond belief. Antigone’s refusal to cooperate causes Creon to go mad with irritation and frustration. Wanting to show his sense of power, he refuses to back down in fear of losing his position. His stubbornness grows stronger as Antigone continues to disobey his commands. Antigone’s strong and steady foundation helps her show defiance. She is able to overcome the opinions of the people and commit to helping her brother regardless of the after effects. She ignores what everyone says and does only as she wants. She is powerful, both physically and mentally, and is successful in her tasks. Antigone matures into a commendable and respectable character in which she depicts her rebelliousness and bravery, pride and tolerance, and sense of moral righteousness to demonstrate fundamental character development in the play.
Antigone really brings out the stubbornness in Creon throughout the play which gives the play more meaning.Creon is stubborn when he says “Take her and shut her up as I have ordered, in her tomb’s embrace.”(line 990). This Quote develops Creon as a tragic hero because it shows that he doesn't care what other people think and that he is going to do whatever he wants to do. Creon is does not worry about the hearts of his people what he thinks is right is always right in his eyes. Again Creon is being stubborn in line 600 when he says “No woman’s going to govern me-no, no-not while I’m still