Power is defined as “the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or
the course of events.” by the dictionary. Unfortunately, these influences paved the way for
certain events that followed, leading to tragedy in Antigone. Antigone is a strong female
character that choses to go against the decree of the King Creon by refusing to let her brother,
Polynices, remain unburied and without traditional burial rituals. Tiresias, a blind prophet,
advises King Creon against his stubbornness and challenges Creon’s power by predicting the
outcome of tragedy if King Creon does not adhere to his words. King Creon lastly declares that
not even the Gods above can save the unburied body of Polynices, thus exercising his mortal
I and my better judgment/ have come
round to this- I shackled her,/ Ill set her free myself I am afraid…(1233-1236). He quickly
realizes that it is better to listen to Tiresias prophecy then risk the chance of tragedy upon
himself and his family.
In conclusion, as a result of King Creon’s pride, Antigone is found dead by handing and
his son Haemon kills himself upon seeing her dead body. King Creon’s wife also kills herself
shortly after learning of the death of her son. In the end, King Creon directly caused these actions
because these characters were influenced by his decision. The power of influence affectively
impacted everyone in this play. Antigone was first affected by her brothers’ inability to be buried
with ritual because King Creon branded him a traitor. Because of this, she affected King Creon’s
refusal to bury Polynices and he paid for his pride and arrogance with the lives of his son, wife
and niece. If King Creon had listened to Tiresias warnings, he would have avoided tragedy
within his household. Tiresias was his second chance to rid himself of tragedy because he
refused to first listen to Antigone’s
...ut her son’s death, she goes and slits her throat. Creon then feels Antigone’s direct action when he is all alone at the end of the play. His edict caused so much pain in suffering for his family, he led them all to suicide.
First off, Creon’s belief in civil law caused him to do a grave action which in time lead to his downfall, he lied to the city of Thebes. Creon was never meant to be the king of Thebes, until the deaths of both princes, Polynices and Eteocles, he had no choice but to step up to the throne. He was unprepared and unqualified, he had to tell the city of Thebes the story of how both man died. So, Creon lied about what happened between the two brothers, making one the hero and one the villain; “Well, what else could I have done? People had taken sides in the civil war. Both sides couldn’t be wrong; that would be too much. I couldn’t have made them swallow the truth.” (Anouilh
There is a strong case to be put forward for Creon's personal responsibility for his tragedy at the end of Antigone. Even though the Chorus are hopeful about their new leader - `Creon, the new man for the new day' (line 174) - the first thing that the audience hear about Creon is the `martial law' (line 37) which he has imposed on the city of Thebes (we learn this indirectly from Antigone). He also sent a proclamation to forbid th...
Creon is in a position of great power, influence and responsibility. The extent of his power is quite clear when he sentenced Antigone to death for disobeying his order. Antigone's reasons for burying her brother were simply the fact that she was demonstrating her love, honor, and loyalty to her family. However, the reason Creon is furious is that he feels insulted that Antigone openly and publicly disobeyed him. He was also inflamed that she was his niece and his son Haemon fiancé. It is known that in ancient times when a man's authority is threatened, especially by a woman, his ego is irreparably damaged.
Throughout Greek literature, the blind prophet Tiresias makes several appearances. In Sophocles’ plays Oedipus the King and Antigone, Tiresias tries in vain to warn the kings of Thebes of their wrong doing. In Antigone, Creon, the king of Thebes, refuses to reason with Tiresias after sentencing his niece Antigone to death for burying her brother. Throughout the text Tiresias and the Chorus to help Creon see the errors he has made, but he is blinded by his stubbornness.
..., is the faulted factor in the situation. As was explained before, Antigone states that her death “is of no importance” and that the important factor is the denial of a proper burial for Polyneices (“Antigone” 1035 Line 70). The rhetorical devices she uses in her argument improves its overall persuasive strength.
though she was the daughter of his sister, Jocasta. Creon believes that if he does not
In the opening of the play, we learn that Creon has been proclaimed king. We expect Creon to be the same rational man as we saw him to be in Oedipus the King who stood up for justice and defended the right deeds. However, later on we can clearly see that this is not the same Creon. Creon, the King, has been corrupted by the power bestowed upon him.
... for his mistakes in the denouement. Devastated by Antigone’s death, Haimon ends up committing suicide. Creon then realizes how wrong he was, however it is too late. This is not the only karma that Creon receives though. Creon’s beloved wife, Eurydice, also met her death when she was told the fate of her son. Creon finally realizes how blinded he was, and how he was continuously making foolish decisions. Two losses in one day- Creon is filled with great remorse and regret. Like the ‘Sun King’, all the sunlight in Creon’s life has faded. The world no longer revolves around Creon, as all his valued things in life have vanished. If you attain power, use it wisely. Otherwise you will end up heartbroken and repentant, just like Creon.
Creon's character possesses an infinite number of glitches in his personality, but his excessive pride was the root of his problems. His pride leads him to make accusations, before he considers the wise advice of others. Creon's pride also fills him not just as a king superior to the Gods, but also a man superior to women. The issue of Antigone being condemned to die becomes more than just a person who disobeys Creon; instead, the punishment is given even more eagerly, because it is a woman who disobeys a man. Creon's intelligent son warns Creon the people of Thebes sympathize with Antigone, but Creon accuses Haemon of being a "woman's slave" (line 756). Even though he is suppose to be loyal to the state and her citizens, he defensively questions if "the town [is] to tell [him] how [he] ought to rule?"(Line 734)The Theban king is too prideful to obey even the wisest of prophets, blind Teresias, insisting that "the whole crew of seers are money-mad" (line 1055). Creon finally puts his pride aside and listens to the Chorus' wise advice. It is difficult even then, and he obeys only because he fears the punishment that he might receive. "To yield [for Creon] is terrible" (line 1095) meaning to swallow his pride and admit that he is wrong is a very difficult thing for him to do. When Creon loses his wife and son, Creon's pride disappears, and he admits that he made a terrible mistake by not listening to anyone's advice.
In order for a play to be considered a tragedy it must achieve the purgation of fear and pity. In the play “Antigone”, Sophocles does a great job of bringing out these two emotions in a reader. At the beginning of the play there is a conversation between Antigone and her sister Ismene. During the conversation the reader learns the two girls lost their father in battle and both of their brothers at the hands of one another. Then the reader learns that one of the brothers, Polynices, has been left out to die without a proper burial. At this time the reader begins to feel pity for the two sisters. They have lost their father and their two brothers all at the same time.
“The woman disobeys the King” is more prominent of an issue to Creon than it is the main offense of burying who was not to be buried. No “woman will get the better” of him, because that would be worse than a man. The idea that a women broke the law and that “women must obey such as men” with no “special treatment” (…..). Creon states this as if to say that women ever got special treatment in that time. The fact was, women didn’t usually break the law making times they got punished few and far between.
Like many other Greek epics and poems, Sophocles ' Antigone follows the theme that fate is a predestined series of events and consequences that are outside the control of mortals and are instead controlled by the Gods. The consequences of the battle between Eteocles and Polyneices serve as the precursor to the conflict between the principled views of Antigone and Creon. After the death of Eteocles and Polyneices at each other 's hand, Eteocles was given a ceremonial burial but the body of Polyneices, who was labeled a traitor as a result of Creon 's edict, was left unburied and rotting. In this story, fate is fulfilled because of the beliefs and characteristics of the characters. Antigone 's two main characters each follow two separate rules of law; Antigone follows religious law, or law of the Gods, and Creon follows, and creates, civic law, and these characters fates have been
Sophocles’ Antigone is a text rich with layers of meaning. In this essay, I intend to uncover some of these layers in order to assert the extent to which Antigone is responsible for her tragic end. I will argue that the protagonist is responsible for her own actions – actions that by her own choice result in her death. The catalyst for said death, however, is the result of other characters and events. I will focus particularly on the edict of Creon and his role in the tragedy, as it is the juxtaposition of their beliefs, which results in both of their tragic endings. Throughout the essay I will analyse scholarly works on the subject, as well as the events in the text itself, in order to weigh the ultimate accountability of Antigone.
the power of any king. If she had obeyed Creon, she would have disobeyed the