Similarities Between Antigone And Creon

In Sophocles’ Antigone, the embodiment of a tragic hero or tragic heroine is personified by two contrasting characters, Creon and Antigone. This comparison establishes a controversial theme that prevails on the true quality and conduct of the “tragic protagonist.” Despite similar efforts to exceed human limitations and ascend to the status of divine authority, Creon and Antigone suffer from personal weaknesses and downfalls, which allow them to partake in tragic actions that provoke the debate whether their character’s execution of the role of a tragic hero is far more superior to the other. On behalf of Aristotle’s criteria, Creon is presumed to be a tragic hero because of his hubris, unfortunate demise, and more specifically, recognition

Antigone pursues a life guided by divine law, in which she is subservient to each and every proclamation of the Gods and preserves her virtuous destiny. By embracing an honorable reputation in compensation for protection from the gods, Antigone convinces herself that she possesses the intelligence and greatness to disobey Creon’s civil orders and perform a sacred burial for her brother, Polyneices. For example, Antigone denounces Creon’s edict of providing Eteocles with a holy burial, while leaving Polyneices to rot above land and be devoured by birds. She even insists that the risk of death by punishment neither, instills fear nor proceeds as a burden, in which her brother’s burial will satiate her need for greater glory. Determined to bury her beloved brother for the sake of piety and morality, Antigone states, “I shall suffer nothing so great as to stop me dying with honor” (Sophocles 25). Aware of her dedication and devotion to sanctity, Antigone deems it unacceptable for an injustice to strike her family, without the perpetrator of the injustice being punished by the gods. She refuses to surrender to Creon’s power as she knows his mandates deceive and belittle the gods. Therefore, as Antigone entrusts her destiny in the hands of the divine powers, she also confides in their absolute authority, cleverly

Admired and adored within her native land, Antigone is held on the “high pedestal of justice” by the citizens of Thebes, who are represented by the chorus (Sophocles 53). More importantly, Antigone’s act of betrayal shocks Creon as he wills for her to become the new bride of his son, Haemon. However, although Antigone is highly revered, she realizes her family is tainted by miserable fates and that her origin emerges from the incestuous evils of her mother and father. Recalling the unavoidable pain and suffering of her parents, she states “You speak of my darkest thought, my pitiful father’s fame, spread through all the world, and the doom that haunts our house, the glorious house of Labdacus” (Sophocles 53). The unfortunate experiences of constant doom and grief as a child oblige Antigone to carry out a sense of integrity for her family through the acts of Polyneices’ burial, as well as her own death. Seeking justice and honor in a crude and abrupt manner, Antigone uses her noble stature to defend her brother’s burial, causing the chorus to proclaim her fierce disposition as a resemblance of her father. Antigone will not yield to trouble, even if her fate foresees greater suffering. In fact, she summons the gods of her father’s land as witnesses to the cruel suffering she, the last line of royalty, is forced to endure by her own people. Despite her