Creon: A Bad Leader

Creon is the king of an abroad place called Thebes, in Sophocles play Antigone. Creon doesn’t want Antigone’s brother to have a proper burial, because he was a traitor. Antigone’s brother was considered a traitor because he had attacked his own city Thebes. What that means is that if you had a proper burial in Thebes you would have a great afterlife.The two main people that are fighting for his proper burial are Antigone and her sister Ismene. It takes a long period of time for Creon to realize that he just has to let go sometimes, but within that time he has caused a lot of harm the people around him. Which is why I highly believe that Creon is a person that is responsible for a specific trouble or harm.

“A man who thinks that he is only wise, that he can speak and think like no one else, when such men are exposed, then all can see their emptiness inside.” (Lines 802-805) Haemon says this to his father meaning a man of his kind is only going to be seen as a failure from words when their true self is exposed. Haemon’s words, actions, and ideas contrast with Creon’s character to the point of these two characters having conflicting motivations. These conflicting motivations cause the characteristics of disrespect, careless, & selfishness to be highlighted within Creon’s character. In the end, these conflicting motivations develop Creon as a tragic hero by Haemon’s choice of word to his father and the character interactions advance the plot and develops the theme by

Creon is a man who has just become the king of Thebes and has a flaw of having too much pride. He can’t control the power of being over other people and he lets the power go to his head. “ I now possess the throne and all its powers. No, he must be left unburied, his corpse carrion for the birds and dogs

Creon’s leadership style “involves centralized decision making, with the leader making decisions and using power to command and control others” (Kelly, 8). This is also known as an autocratic leadership style. Autocratic leaders such as Creon, doubt their subordinate’s ability, and closely oversee and dictate people beneath them. They are dead set on their followers’ simple obeying their commands and are less troubled with outside opinions. Creon clearly illustrates this behavior in the conversation with his son, Haemon (lines 630-760).

audience feels sorry for Creon because now he is alone and lost all of his pride and glory as king.

Creon’s bad decision leads to his eventual downfall and demise. Creon realizes his hubris and his wrong decision a little too late. Antigone is already dead, and he cannot correct his wrong-doing. This makes the audience feel pity for him, for he

Creon’s was used to being the hero of Thebes after repairing the damage Oedipus’ horrifying end had caused, now he was faced with an uncomfortable choice. Being the new reigning monarch of Thebes, his morals were centered around keeping himself monarch. As a result, Creon’s selfishness tipped his internal scales3 of what was just and what was not. His pride was so great that he not only refused to bury the revolutionary, Polyneices, but declared, “he’ll have no burial mound, no

Due to his unwavering pride and refusal to see through the eyes of others, Creon falls from his position of immense power and wealth which in the end doesn’t matter because all his loved ones and family are now dead.

Even if he believes he is right and his son should obey him, he doesn’t show an ounce of sympathy for Haemon, who loves Antigone. Creon details his thoughts on the importance of the rule of law over other loyalties, and his belief that to allow any anarchy or, seemingly, freedom would threaten the state. Creon’s method of executing Antigone is interesting. By entombing a living person, Antigone, and denying burial to a dead person, Polynices, Creon’s laws seem to go against common sense, tradition, and nature itself. Creon does not keep a cool head, as a wise leader should, or look for a way to compromise. He is as stubborn as Antigone, as if this were a street fight, he feels he could never back down.

Throughout the whole play, Creon has not kept himself from showing his unruly attitude towards all the characters about his decisions for the people. There were many occasions in

Creon becomes so prideful to the point where he will not listen to anyone, and will not acknowledge he is wrong. During a conversation with Haemon, Creon tells him, “No. I am king, and only

Creon came into power when Oedipus was exiled and died. Throughout the play, Antigone, Creon exemplifies many characteristics. Some are selfishness, stubbornness, and pride. He is selfish because he does only want he wants to do and listens to no one else. He shows his stubbornness when he is unwilling to let Antigone live even

Creon states “am I to rule this land for others, or myself”? (Sophocles, 441 BC, line 823). This statement shows how Creon has little consideration for others around him. He does not care that

All in all, Creon started out as a stereotypical, mean and power hungry ruler. Pitching two brothers against each other so he could have the throne, then making an unpopular and unnecessary law, he was not liked by the people. Breaking his sons heart by sentencing his fiance to death, and in turn breaking his wife's heart, he ended up alone. For the first time we see him lost. This makes him a better leader as he is now able to empathize with his people. His vulnerability helps him stay in his spot of

Creon has no toleration for people who place personal beliefs over the common good. He believes that government and law is the supreme authority, and civil disobedience is worst form of sin. The problem with Creon’s argument is he approaches He approaches every dilemma that requires judgement through descriptive generalizations. In contrast to the morality defined by Aristotle in his Nicomachaean Ethics, Creon shows that he is deaf to the knowledge of particulars--of place, time, manner, and persons, which is essential for moral reasoning. In short, he does not effectively bring together general principles and specific situations Creon does not acknowledge that emotion, and perception are as critical to proper moral consideration as reason. This explains why he does not respond accordingly with the reasoning of the guard, Tiresias the prophet, Antigone, her sister Ismene, or even his own son Haemon. Throughout the whole play, Creon emphasizes the importance of practical judgement over a sick, illogical mind, when in fact it is him who has the sick, illogical mind. He too exhibits pride in his argument. To Antigone and most of the Athenians, possessing a wise and logical mind means acknowledging human limitations and behaving piously towards the gods. Humans must take a humble attitude towards fate and the power of the gods, yet Creon mocks death throughout the play. He doest not learn his lesson until the end of the play when he speaks respectfully of