More handpicked essays just for you.
Creon in the beginning of the play antigone
Creon in the beginning of the play antigone
Creon in the beginning of the play antigone
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Creon, Tool of Despair Of the one hundred and twenty plays and tales Sophocles had written during his time, only seven have survived to today and Antigone a tale of the constant turmoil of the royal family of Thebes is one of those few ancient tales. Creon, the new king of the city of Thebes, strives for justice and absolute loyalty to the crown, however, after he discovered that an unidentified citizen had defied one of his recently announced laws, he inflicted his fury on himself and those around him. Creon is the tragic figure that functions as an instrument of the suffering of others and contributes to the tragic vision of the story, Antigone by Sophocles, as a whole by threatening his subjects and family with death, ignoring the thoughts of his elders and peers, and bringing the feeling of death to himself and also death itself to those around him.
In the short story titled “Antigone,” the author portrays Creon as a tragic hero by displaying flaws in Creon's character shown throughout the story. Creon’s character contains many flaws which lead to many problems. His decisions end up deciding the fates of his son, his wife, and Antigone. Creon finally realizes that what he has done is sinful to the gods. He has put his own pride over the appreciation of the gods.
He had ruled that Eteocles would receive a decorated military funeral, while Polyneices would not be buried at all. It is true to say that his law violated our custom of honoring the deceased, especially during wartime. However, he considered Polyneices a traitor for attacking Thebes and putting the kingdom at unnecessary risk. His actions threatened the safety of the kingdom, which Creon must protect, seeing it is his duty as king. When Sentry went to Creon with concerns about the law, Creon stated, “Is it your senile opinion that the gods love to honor bad men?”
In his essay, Holt argues that Creon, according to Greek eyes is not as evil as many modern readers assume (660). He is most likely to follow the law passed by his father to protect his regime and expects the same from his son. Creon asserts, “[t]hat’s the way to behave: subordinate Everything else, my son, to your father’s will. This is what a man prays for, that he may get Sons attentive and dutiful in his house,” (Sophocles 505). Creon tries to justify his kingship as he says “no one is so foolish that he is eager to die” (Sophocles 220 cited by Holt 676), he could have ordered to kill people who went against his law.
Fate has brought all my pride to a thought of dust”(Sophocles 1.5 142-146). Creon’s destruction resulted because of his misdeeds in having too much pride. His pride and his personal instability were the worst combination of possible qualities he could have. Creon’s past sins have built up and eventually burst and gave this man the worst punishment of all the characters in the play. In Antigone by Sophocles, Creon displayed many failing qualities as a king; most notably having displayed a giant ego by not accepting help from others, which warns the audience of the dangers
’s claim that the rule of the king must be obeyed, even if wrong, to avoid anarchy and chaos, showing instead that unfair ruling is what brought anarchy, chaos, and death. It is apparent that Creon’s law banning the burial of Polyneices was bound to cause anarchy and civil disobedience. While discussing the matter of Antigone’s crime, Haimon told Creon, “ 'She covered her brother’s body. Is this indecent?
The Tragedy of Antigone Have you ever been torn between two life changing decisions? You may be able to decide right from wrong, but that is not the case in Antigone. Written by Sophocles, Antigone is a tragic literary work about a young girl who fatally follows her beliefs. She risks her life to bury her brother for the sake of the gods.
“Not so self-centered that you never listen to other people” (Hugh Hefner). In the story of Antigone, Creon shows the characteristics of a tragic hero, as he is the king he shows his self-confident and he does not recognize his flaws until the end of the story. All of this leads into his downfall in the tragedy and causes him to realized what he had done. Creon is a tragic hero because of his self-righteousness, his excessive pride, and he does not listen to the opinion of others.
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.
Creon has many admirable qualities but within them a tragic flaw that causes great misfortune. Creon as a newly instated king of Thebes, makes a decree that Eteocles will
As demonstrated throughout the Greek tragedy Antigone, Creon’s tragic flaw is hubris which causes his downfall . The downfall begins when Creon refuses to give Polyneices, the son of Oedipus and the brother of Antigone, a burial. Creon believes that Polyneices did not die an honorable death as he broke exile and raised the sword against his home city, Thebes, so in return he will not receive a burial. Creon’s pride takes over and so he believes he is a man not only superior to women , but a king superior to the gods. He claims, Go out of your heads entirely?
The play, Antigone written by Sophocles, presents a tragedy that fits the classical definition, but it is the story of Creon, the king of the main character. Creon starts out as the king of Thebes , Creon’s tragic flaw is his pride and his arrogance which caused him reflecting upon his mistakes making him a broken man, recognizing what he did to his niece, he is a character within Antigone, even though he was portrayed as an antagonist he was the main character since he was. Creon’s tragic flaw, hubris, causes his downfall. Creon will not listen to anyone.
He expresses this by stating,”Unfortunately... the prince Eteocles and Polyneices, have killed each other... I, as next blood, have… full power of… throne... no traitor is honored...whoever shows by word or deed...shall have...my reverence when he is dead.” Creon is informing the people of Thebes not only that he has been crown king fairly but also that whoever goes against the law that was enforced will suffer the consequences.
All in all, due to his ruthless personality traits, Creon is the tragic hero in the play, not Antigone. If he didn 't express his anger and aggression it could have prevented many deaths. He could have prevented his wife and son 's death if he would have put his pride to the side, and was not so stubborn. Even though many have reason to believe that Antigone is the tragic hero, Creon is due to his lack of control over his emotions. Creon is most definitely
What “tragic ideas” do we see expressed in Sophocles’ drama? Answer with reference to the play Antigone. ‘Tragedy is the representation of a serious and complete set of events, having a certain size, with embellished language used distinctly in the various parts of the play, the representation being accomplished by people performing and not by narration, and through pity and fear achieving the catharsis of such emotion’- Aristotle, Poetics, Chapter 6. The play “Antigone” by Sophocles displays many qualities that make it a great tragedy.
