Creon's Downfall

“Pride comes before the fall.” This proverb, listed in the bible, means that a lot of the times, pride leads to the downfall of a person. A person who puts themselves above all others, is bound to fall at one point or another, even if it is for the good or for the bad. In Antigone by Sophocles, the protagonist, Antigone, wants to do everything in her power in order to avenge her brother’s death. By doing this, she puts the life of herself, and some of the people around her in danger. On the other hand, the antagonist, Creon, is also very prideful. In his mind, everything revolves around him, and he has to take responsibility for everyone. In the play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar is warned by many people

The only crime is pride.” What Sophocles meant by this is that when a man makes a mistake, he will try to fix it, but a proud man will just keep saying that what he has done was right. This is what happened with Creon. When talking to Teiresias, Creon thinks that he had been paid off to say that, when in reality, Teiresias was just trying to help him. He saw omens from the gods, and he wanted to let Creon know, but Creon’s hubris did not let him believe it. As a man, Creon also thinks himself superior to women. He believes that just because it was a woman that dared to defy his orders, she should be locked up. He also thinks himself superior to the people of Thebes themselves. When Creon’s son, Haemon, tells his father that the people of Thebes are upset that Antigone will be executed, he replies by saying “And the City proposes to teach me how to rule?” At the end, Antigone dies, Haemon kills himself, Creon’s wife, Eurydice, kills herself, and the city opposes his rule. Creon’s pride led to his downfall, and almost everyone hating

In Antigone, Creon’s condescending nature led to all of his loved ones dying, and the city turned against him. Instead of just listening to the city, and his son, and exonerating Antigone of her crime, he decided to keep going with the plan to punish her, and it led to his destruction. In addition, if Antigone were to have just listened to her sister, and not broken the law, she would have lived. Similarly, in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, if Caesar just took the advice from the people around him, he would have lived. All three of these characters just had to take advice from the people around them. If they would have just listened, everything would have been perfect, but instead they decided to be prideful, and it cost them