Creon's Role In Antigone

Sophocles ' Antigone is a tragedy based around themes that deal with fate and one 's free will, undying determination, the role of a woman under the hegemony of her male ruler, and the contrasting types of power and rules among gods and mankind. Although Antigone is the apparent character of focus within the play, Creon is the one who mistakenly and (arguably) unwillingly establishes a hierarchical relationship between divine or natural law, θεμίς and written law, νόμος. Because Creon is a new leader, he must have the right to interpret θεμίς and impose absolute power in the name of mortal men in order to become a fearsome, forceful and persuasive ruler to validate his position to all those in the πόλις. However, weaving together political and theological views as one notion proves to be dangerous for Thebe 's new king. Creon 's inability to recognize his wrongful interconnection of two things that should have remained separate is ultimately what leads this tragedy to multiple unnecessary deaths, including those dearest to him: his wife and son. Creon 's new crown compels him to be inflexible with those around him, especially Antigone, and this inflexibility leaves Creon bereft of all his family in the end, designating him as the real tragic focus of Antigone. According to the Liddell-Scott-Jones (LSJ)

Because it is a natural tendency to not recognize one 's own water, Creon is more of a victim of kingly life rather than a villain to those under his rule; it is being ἀβουλίαν, ill-advised or thoughtless, that is the greatest evil given to man, and especially in this case, given to Creon. The unfortunate king 's mistake was hidden in plain sight right under his nose; he was standing in his own