Saint Augustine once said, “It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels” (Saint Augustine). In the human brain, one’s pride can quickly switch to arrogance. It was King Creon’s own pride, in Antigone, that lead to his downfall. Thinking he was superior to those surrounding him, he ignored advice and criticism. He never let himself feel that humility and was blinded of the fact that he was nothing but correct. It was the citizens under his ruling that were thinking incorrectly. Antigone begins once King Creon takes power of the kingdom of Thebes, replacing Polyneices and Eteocles. He stretches his rights as ruler by declaring Polyneices a traitor and denies him the right to a proper funeral. Out of rebellion, …show more content…
Awaiting her death, Antigone remained in the tomb of stone. Knowing that her plan to bury her brother and remain loyal to the gods had failed, she no longer saw a point in living. She took her veil and hanged herself. When Haimon found Antigone lifeless, he cried “out That his father had stolen her away from him” (241). Haimon was right in saying that. Creon caused Haimon great despair. Enough for him to lunge at his own father. But when he missed Creon with the sword, he instead sunk it into his side and take his own life beside his true love. The death of Haimon brought his mother, Eurydice great heartache. It was too much for her to handle. Like the rest of Creon’s relatives, she killed herself as well. The demise of Creon’s loved ones is all to blame on his arrogants. “And now it has all gone from him! Who can say That a man is still alice when his life’s joy fails?” (238) Not only has Creon destroyed the lives of his family, but he also ruined his own. He is left with nothing. Not just his family, but with his control of Thebes. Many of his citizens began to express their opinions on Antigone and her bravery, and when they were ignored by their king, he lost some respect. If only Creon had listed to the warnings of others surrounding him. If those messages were acted on, Haimon, Antigone, and Eurydice would still be alive, and Creon would be a successful and …show more content…
Creon frequently made decisions out of arrogance and pride, such as deciding to not bury Polyneices because it was what he thought was right. Never did he ask or listen to other’s advice or critism because he thought because he has a high status, that other’s opinions were irrelevant. By not thinking through his choices, he ultimately caused the death of everyone he loved and lost the respect of the city he cared so much for. When making decisions, one must fully think through if the sacrifice is one they are willing to take. This lesson repeats itself through every human’s life. As a child learning to not eat too much or they will be sick, teenagers face many temptations, leading to addiction and reckless accidents, adults learn that if they do not work to their maximum potential, the bills will not be paid. Thinking of the future should motivate others to make the best decision for themselves and everyone else around them. By not thinking about the consequences, one could have everything stripped from them in a blink of an eye, like Creon in the tragedy,
Pride acts as another major theme; it is what got Creon in this situation in the first place. Creon has too much pride to admit to anyone that maybe he was wrong. Even when he has Antigone he has too much pride to let her go. Creon's own son questions him and he replies, "Am I to stand here and be lectured to by a kid? A man of my experience"(1063)!Creon shows that here he is too proud to change his decision for his own son even if he made the wrong choice. The king's friend the Leader tries to convince Creon to change his mind by telling him "My king, ever since he began I've been debuting in my mind, could this possibly be the work of the gods"(1050). The Leader was trying to tell
Sometimes a main character will suffer a great downfall. Maybe he or she will die, a friend dies, or anything just as bad. In the play Antigone by Sophocles, Creon is the tragic figure because he was born of noble birth and possess a fatal flaw or error of judgement caused by excessive pride.
In sophocles play Antigone Creon’s flaw is his pride. In the quote “ Now I am no man, but she is a man, if power lies with impunity.” Creon feels that if he isn't hard on Antigone, then he isn't a man. He doesn’t want to look weak to his subjects which hurts his pride, so he decides to kill Antigone instead of being nicer. You see Creon's pridefulness again when he goes to the prophet. Creon contradicts the prophet insisting that they are wrong and he is right. This pride leads to everyone he loves dying. Other characters even tell Creon that he is being arrogant and that he’s not always right. Haimon tells Creon “ I beg you not to be unchangeable. Do not believe that you alone can be right.” Creon believes that he is even above the gods at
Lily Bryden Kessler English II 14 May 2024 Pride in “Antigone” In the play Antigone, pride is a major theme throughout the play, being the reason that Polyneices isn’t buried, and the reason the conflict begins. One of the major characters in the play, the King Creon, is an example of this extreme pride. Creon’s pride is his downfall, causing all of the misery in the play to come to him so suddenly. For example, in the 3rd scene of the play, Haemon, Creon’s son, tries to convince him to rethink his decision on imprisoning Antigone.
Yet, “[Haimon, Antigone and Eurydice] are dead, [Creon is] guilty [for] their death.” (733, 170). But once Choragos is able to convince Creon to bury Polyneices and free Antigone, because of what Teiresias’s prophecy had said. When they reach Antigone’s vault they saw, “She had made a noose of her fine linen veil// And hanged herself,” (734, 59-60). Haimon was found by her side, he was furious with his father. This brought him to, “suddenly [draw] his sword,” (735, 690) and go at his father with the intention of killing him. But Haimon, “desperate against himself, drove it half its length// Into his own side,” (735, 71-72), he had killed himself. Creon’s wife, Eurydice, could not live with herself knowing that her husband had been the reason for her son's death, so she took her own life. Creon realizes then how his arrogance caused all the issues in his
Blind pridefulness can lead people in the wrong way because of the uncontrollable urge to be in charge and be in the right. In the story of Antigone for Creon this was his hamartia his palpability to be the best king, he blindly saw his failure. For his peripeteia in power led to his family’s destruction. Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta, she wanted to avenge her brother Polyneices from his grave battle with Eteocles. Creon as he had just become the king had made his first decree that whoever touches the traitor Polyneices will be stoned in public.
“Alas- it’s difficult but I’ll give up./ I’ll not do what I’d set my heart upon,” (Scene 5: 1236-1237) states that Creon unwillingly gave up hope in achieving what he wanted and listened to the wise ones, because he, himself, were not wise. Creon realized that he made a scene out of nothing when all he had to do was make a proper burial for his nephew. He weeps for what he did in scene 5, lines 1179-1180, “I killed you, my son, without intending to,/ and you, as well, my wife. How useless I am now.”
In the Antigone, unlike the Oedipus Tyrannus, paradoxically, the hero who is left in agony at the end of the play is not the title role. Instead King Creon, the newly appointed and tyrannical ruler, is left all alone in his empty palace with his wife's corpse in his hands, having just seen the suicide of his son. However, despite this pitiable fate for the character, his actions and behavior earlier in the play leave the final scene evoking more satisfaction than pity at his torment. The way the martyr Antigone went against the King and the city of Thebes was not entirely honorable or without ulterior motives of fulfilling pious concerns but it is difficult to lose sight of the fact
Until Creon follows the simple burial rites, numerous misfortunes, including the deaths of his loved ones, will occur as a result of his actions. One may think that Creon must challenge the Gods because Antigone challenges his laws; however, fear of the Gods and guilt motivate Antigone to defy Creon. Antigone’s defiance does not lead to the deaths of others because she defies an individual who did not follow the law, while Creon’s disobedience ends in violence.
Throughout the play, Creon shows many examples of how he is imperfect. One example would be how he believes that the state is primary to his family and relationships, “If this is your pleasure, Creon, treating our city’s enemy and our friend this way … the power is yours, I suppose, to enforce it with the laws, both for the dead and all of us, the living,” this quotation said by the leader of the chorus describes how the elder people of Thebes respect their family more than the state, but they held back on their opinions, knowing of what Creon, the leader, wanted to hear (235-240). Another example of how Creon shows the audience of how he is imperfect is when, Creon meets with Haemon. Creon argues with Haemon about how people should act towards the country which they reside in, “But whoever steps out of line, violates the laws or presumes to hand out orders to his superiors, he’ll win no praise from me. But that man the city places in authority, his orders must be obeyed, large and small, right and wrong,” Creon believes since he has the highest throne in his country, that he should be obeyed whether the circumstance (745-751). Lastly, Creon demonstrates to the audience that he is imperfect by wanting to protect his country too much. This is visible when Creon sentences Antigone to a slow death, because of burying her brother, who was outcasted as a traitor. Creon put the state over his family which will lead to the complete
This quote explains the main conflict of the play. Creon has ordered that Polynices, Antigone’s brother, cannot receive a proper burial because in Creon’s eyes he is a traitor. Polynices fought against his brother to claim the throne of Thebes, the pair ended up killing each other. Tiresias tries to tell Creon that he is wrong to do this because it is angering the gods that he is denying them a body. Tiresias even warns Creon not to be stubborn, “Stubborness/ brands you for stupidity-pride is a crime.” (1137-1138). Pride in Greek tragedies is most often the cause of a characters downfall and Creon is no exception.
Soon after his decision of the fate of Antigone, Creon’s tragic flaw blooms the greatest. This Hubris focuses on the Creon’s relentless, uncompromising, and egotistical attitude. Many try to convince Creon to reconsider on his misguided decision, however, Creon does not yield. It is at this point when one realizes the Hubris of Antigone. Creon possesses a false sense of pride and/or confidence in his intelligence. He believes he cannot be wrong, therefore his uncompromising and egotistical attitude shines brightest. It portrays him as “superficial, pigheaded, self-important man.” (Porter) This is Hamartia, his relentless,
When Creon passes his law, it is used to protect Thebes from being betrayed again. But Creon betrays the gods’ law and does not bury Polyneices, his nephew. As a result Tiresias, a blind prophet approaches Creon and says that if Polyneices, that “before you have surrendered / one of your born flesh and blood, / a corpse for a corpse given in return”(1183-1185). Shortly afterward, Creon realizes that his authority has overstepped into his family and now will go honor his family, by going against his own law. But little did Creon know things were not going to be that simple. When Creon and Haemon arrive at Antigone’s tomb, they are greeted with a hanged Antigone. As a result Haemon lunges at his father and kills himself after he misses. Creon’s authority led to his son ending his own life because he saw the woman of his dreams, hang lifelessly due to his father's action. Creon realizes that Tiresias was correct about the prophecy, but it was too late. Shortly afterwards, Creon finds out his wife, Eurydice, had also killed herself because of her son’s recent suicide. This would lead Creon alone without any family members except his own law to comfort him. He then realizes that “the guilt is all [his]” and he must repent (1442). Creon’s authority led to him being alone without any other family members to comfort him,and also lifetime of guilt
In the play Antigone, Creon starts off as the loyal king of Thebes. He is loyal to the gods and loyal to the welfare of Thebes. However, over the course of the play, Creon degenerates into a tyrant. His degeneration is showing his character development. Creon’s pride about the human law also develops throughout the play, creating conflict with the divine law. When Antigone rebels against his law, he becomes stubborn, and makes myopic decisions and grows into his hamartia. Besides his hamartia, Creon’s position as the king makes him a power hungry man. His power madness degenerates him into becoming a ruthless and vindictive man, even to his family. However, over the course of the play, Creon begins to see that because of the laws of men, he was being blinded of what’s
Finally, Creon is a dynamic character. He undergoes changes in emotion throughout the work. He realizes his mistakes when Tiresias forecasts the future. Thus, Creon attempts to correct himself by releasing Antigone. But he is too late. He is forced to live, knowing that three people are dead as a result of his actions. This punishment is worse than death. Although Creon’s self-righteousness and inflexibility did not change until the end of the play, his motivations traveled from patriotic ones to personal ones. This created a major portion of the