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Tragedies in greek mythology essay
Tragedies in greek mythology essay
Analysis of greek tragedies
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In the play of Antigone directed and made by Sophocles, Antigone, the daughter of Oedipus is the foil of Creon, because of her traits of being religious, brave, and rebellious, she counters Creon by him not being any of those things, he is instead prideful, strict, and arrogant. Creon and Antigone clash when the Guard that was accused earlier show’s up with Antigone brings her in, and we can just see how much Antigone shows Creon's personality, that Creon doesn’t care about the gods. ” Creon: And yet you dared to break those very laws to me?”
Throughout several of Sophocles’ plays, one trait leads to the downfall of even the greatest characters. Antigone refuses to follow Creon’s orders and therefore suffers the consequences of death because of it and Creon refuses to follow the laws of the gods and therefore is punished. Their pride led them to defy rules set in place by those who had greater authority than them. Although Creon is warned twice by Haemon and Teiresias of the eventual consequence of his actions, he is too proud to repent or recognize how his decision concerning Antigone led to the suffering of his family and Antigone herself. Even though Creon is warned of the consequences of his action by two different people, his pride and stubbornness prevent him from reversing his decision to kill Antigone before it is too late.
”Lead me away. I have been rash and foolish. I have killed my son and wife. I look for comfort; my comfort lies here dead. Whatever my hands have touched has come to nothing.
Antigone’s interactions with Creon highlights his angry, insulting, and unreasonable nature. Antigone reasons with Creon that her actions are justified by the Gods, as they would approve of her burial of Polyneices, her brother. He goes on to show his insulting, and disrespectful nature in his statements expressed in lines 549-550,” ...if she goes her way and
In this quote, she is trying to harn Creon that although he thinks very highly of himself, he will never be able to anything to disrupt the gods and their unwritten laws (being that all men deserve burial). Additionally, the word choice and tone used by the characters also differs. When Creon talks he makes it clear that he thinks of himself quite highly and is convinced that he is above everyone else because of his excessive pride and noble stature. This leads to a tone in his speech that is very obnoxious and off-putting. To the contrary, Antigone regards herself quite low and stands for
In the scene in which Creon will not allow her brother to be buried. This goes against her personal beliefs she confronts Creon when she says “if I had allowed my own mothers son to rot, an unburied corpse that would have been an agony.” Creon wouldn’t allow Antigone brother to be buried even tho Antigone felt it was the right thing to do. Antigone is talking to Ismene about burying her brother but Ismene tells her to keep the idea a secret but Antigone disagrees and says “But I know I’ll please the ones I’m duty bound to please.
In the classic play by Sophocles, Antigone is a tragic story of the bold Antigone who defied her uncle, King Creonʻs, edict by burying her brother, Polyneices, who died attacking the city of Thebes, trying to take the power away from their brother, Eteocles, who refused to share the throne with Polyneices. Even though Antigone knew that going against Creon and burying her brother would not end well for her, she still choose to risk her life to do what is right. After being caught breaking the law, Antigone is appointed to be locked away, isolated in a cave until she dies, but she hangs herself at the end. At the same time, things for Creon are not looking good, as everyone around him seems to be against him in his decision for punishing Antigone. Everyone Creon cares about kills themselves from a curse that is put on Creon for not following the Godsʻ laws.
Oedipus, holding Creon by the collar, begging Creon to promise him to take care of his children while he would be gone; but little did Oedipus know, Creon would go against Oedipus’s promise and try to kill his own daughter to uphold his image as king. Creon continuously lies to Oedipus and the people of Thebes throughout the course of Antigone and Oedipus Rex. He claims he isn’t killing her and says he isn’t a liar, but in truth, he knows the he is disregarding his friend Oedipus’s wishes for his own purposes. In Sophocles' Theban Plays, Creon is not fulfilling his promise to Oedipus by protecting his two daughters because he is about to kill one of them which shows that he is not trustworthy or reliable. When Creon makes his command to kill Antigone, who had been locked in a chamber in his basement, he claims that “his hands are clean” meaning he should not be accused for her murder and that she brought it upon herself (pages 104 ll. 975).
The play Antigone features a deep struggle of power for King Creon. Creon faced several insecurities, during his rule, as king of Thebes. These insecurities, which stemmed from an internal power struggle, went on to, not only affect his rule as king, but his personal relationships, and emotions as well. Other reasons for his actions stem from family matters that have hindered Creon's ability to successfully control and rule by himself.
In Sophocles’ play Antigone, Creon, the king of Thebes, best represents a tragic hero. Creon demonstrates goodness in his intentions for Thebes as well as his fragile state due to the fact that he recently lost several family members. Creon, newly named king, finds himself as highest ranking official around, showing superiority. Creon often acts stubborn and prideful, his tragic flaw. And lastly, he must come to terms with the fact that he caused the death of his wife, son, and niece.
Antigone being the one to fight for her beliefs and obeying the god's laws attempts the burial of Polyneices and goes against Creon’s law to prove to him that he’s in over his head that he has too much pride in himself, in lines 15-35 Antigone claims that she is going to go
The character Antigone is the protagonist in Antigone, the second play out of the Oedipus Rex trilogy. Out of the trilogy she is apart of she is the most tragic figure, though other claims say that Creon is a more tragic figure. A tragic figure in Greek plays, according to Aristotle, is a fictional character in a story or play that has an error in judgment, known as hamartia. This error of judgment causes his or her own misery, known as peripeteia. In Greek plays, such as the one Antigone premiers in, this person is must be of nobility.
Another reason why Antigone was so against Creon’s decision to with held Polyneices from a proper burial was because she thought that it's not what the gods would have wanted, and that the gods are much more powerful that Creon. However, Creon didn't just affect Antigone, he affected his whole family, but in particular, his son Haemon, destined to marry Antigone, when he sent Antigone to
“ Mistakes made by a foolish mind, cruel mistakes that bring on death.” (1406 to 1407.) In this quote, King Creon of Thebes is acknowledging that he has made tragic mistakes, because he wanted to the laws of his state, that he put in place, instead of preserving the safety of his family, which consequently lead to suffering for many. In the play Antigone, by Sophocles, the character Creon makes decisions based on what he feels is right, and refuses to pay attention to other’s advice. His stubbornness and selfishness prove fatal, and as a consequence of his moral deficiency, he kills an innocent woman, and loses his son in the aftermath.
From world wars to present day national elections, pride can always be connected to many appalling, life-changing issues. Pride has always either been negative or positive, and it has been around forever. In the epic play Antigone, Sophocles demonstrates how Creon’s hubris allows for the downfall of himself and the killing of his family. Creon’s fatal flaw is his hubris. Creon not only loses his family, he also loses the trust of his people.