Creon's Suffering In Antigone

Misfortune always seems worse when it is self-inflicted. In Sophocles’s Greek tragedy Antigone, Creon’s stubbornness contributes to his poor decisions and unhappiness. After he sentences Antigone to death, she wishes that “if the guilt / Lies upon Creon who judged me, then, I pray, / May his punishment equal my own.” Her wish is more than fulfilled in the ending of the play when Creon loses not only the love of his family, but also the favor of the gods and his respect for himself.

Although Antigone regrets losing her marriage, she has confidence that her parents and brother will be happy to see her in the afterlife, whereas Creon’s son and wife died angry at him and may still feel that way in the afterlife. Before her death, Antigone says,

Antigone’s beliefs lead her to protest her innocence before her death by saying, “I have done no wrong, / I have not sinned before God” (227). Antigone equates doing wrong with sinning before the gods. Since it would be a sin before the gods to deny anyone an afterlife, Antigone believes that burying Polyneices is the right thing to do. Therefore, when Creon asks why Antigone dared to defy the law, Antigone responds, “If I had left my brother / Lying in death unburied, I should have suffered. / Now I do not” (208). Antigone knows that she would have suffered by losing her respect for herself if she had not done what she believed was right. She does not regret her actions because they saved her, the gods, and Polyneices pain that they otherwise would have felt. [[IN CONTRAST]], Creon regrets many of his actions and as a result loses much of his self-respect. After Creon’s son dies, Creon says, “My own blind heart has brought me / From darkness to final darkness. Here you see / The father murdering, the murdered son - / And all my civic wisdom!” (242). Creon blames himself for the deaths of his family, and he feels so much guilt that he can barely live with himself. His poor decisions cause him to doubt his wisdom, and he feels that his actions were “rash and foolish” (244). At the end of the play, Creon says, “Whatever my hands have touched has come to darkness / Fate has brought all my pride to a thought of dust” (245). Creon feels that he is to blame for all of the recent deaths, and he has lost all of his pride. He no longer respects himself because of his