Creon is a character who plays a major role in both Greek tragedies of Oedipus the King and Antigone. He is a powerful man in both texts as Creon is the brother of Oedipus's wife, which basically means that he has the same amount of status as King Oedipus does. In the myth of Oedipus the King, Creon conquered the throne of Thebes after the previous king Laius died. Creon appears again in another myth, this one being in Antigone which is the continuation of Oedipus the King. Although, the Thebes did not fall in Antigone, both Eteocles and Polynices died in the process of trying to become king which lead Creon to became the new ruler. Creon plays a very similar yet different role in both Greek tragedies, while he is in power, puts the throne …show more content…
His character in Antigone becomes absolutely cruel and oppressive. For example, he acts very arrogant and cold towards Antigone when he punishes her for wanting to honor and bury her remaining of family, her brother. Even with Antigone crying out to him by saying, “All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong, and repairs the evil. The only crime is pride” he still does not consider forgiving her because she has committed a crime in his eyes. In the literature of Antigone, Creon believes that he is always right and he does not bother to listen to the citizens opinions. Overall, Creon is especially different as the ruler of Thebes because with his power he becomes unperceptive, and completely mean towards people around him. Creon uses the power he has received in a tyrannical matter which leads to a tragic outcome for both himself and his …show more content…
Creon’s cruel character in Antigone leads him to losing not only his identity but also his wife and son. Haemon, Creon’s son killed himself due to his father’s actions of punishment towards his fiancé Antigone. Haemon could not bear to witness her hanging dead in the cave so he plotted revenge on his own father and tried to kill Creon. Since Haemon was unsuccessful and missed while he tried to stab his father he instead killed himself. Once Eurydice was aware of this tragedy and the loss of her son she then committed suicide leaving Creon with absolutely no one as he deserved. It is evident that in Antigone, Creon ultimately loses everything he has in the process of ruling the Thebes. Family is a huge part of ones identity and once family is taken away so is their identity as we see in Antigone when Creon is left feelings sorry for himself for causing all this tragedy in his family. The identity Creon once had of a gentle and kind ruler ultimately goes out the window in Antigone as he becomes a complete cruel person while having the identity of a King and ruling the
In Antigone, King Creon had just taken the throne and he needed to portray someone who had the qualities to be king. King Creon said, “of course you cannot know a man completely, his character, his principles, sense of judgement, not till he’s shown his colors, ruling the people, making laws,” (Sophocles 2.194-197). Therefore, King Creon knew that he had to be harder on his family and on the people of Thebes to show his capability to be a ruler. He was so focused on being respected and accepted by the people that his actions turn him into a stubborn, arrogant and close minded individual.
He was a perfect example of a unfit ruler through the use of conflict and became a more proper ruler for the people of thebes. Creon was a selfish ruler who believed his rules were better than the rules of the gods and with that mindset the gods wanted to teach him a lesson by slowly killing everyone he loved. Once that happens he thinks about why all this pain has been brought upon him and he realizes and says “Lead me away. I Have been rash and foolish. I have killed my son and my wife.
Creon believes that he can’t change because he needs to be a leader. Creon was thought to be this new great king but in his begging he made an unwanted action that put hatred towards him from the people. All people in the world have options to do what is right and wrong and we have those around us to help us make those correct
People don’t always listen to the right thing. One time I told my brother to stop hanging from the basketball hoop because one day it was going to fall over because it wasn’t a very heavy basket ball hoop and he would get hurt, but he didn’t listen to me and broke his arm; kinda like creon did, creon did not listen to antigone about burying her brother with a proper burial and when the city started talking about him and antigone buried the body probably would have felt like the equivalent to my brother breaking his arm in his eyes. Creon is very quick to anger because he doesn’t let anyone speak, doesn’t let anyone that thinks their mind speak about them. Creon is very selfish and wants everyone to think what he want them to think. I will be writing about creon and him being full of himself, thinks people only thinks what he thinks, and follows rules and only if it is his rules.
Creon shows an extraordinary amount of stubbornness throughout the story. An example is seen when Antigone wishes to give her brother, Polyneices a proper burial so he can have a pleasant afterlife with the Gods. Creon, as king wishes to have him rot in the fields because he turned his back on the state in which the events occurred.
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?
”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.
Creon does not even give Antigone a second chance. He is sticking to his rule and there is nothing that will change that, even with his own nephew. He has no mercy. He has proven to be a brave and committed leader. Oedipus does not show this.
The play, Antigone, is a tragedy written by the Greek poet Sophocles. A common theme among tragedies is that they have a tragic hero, and Antigone is no different. The tragic hero of this poem is Creon, the King of Thebes. Creon is faced with the difficult task of punishing his niece, Antigone. She has broken one of his laws stating that no one is to give proper burial rites to Polyneices, Antigone’s brother, because he tried to overthrow Creon.
Antigone Essay Creon's wife and son commit suicide out of grief as a result of Creon’s actions as king. In the play Antigone by Sophocles, Creon has become king and has power over Thebes. His rule over Thebes led to his downfall due to his excessive pride. It causes him to have an epiphany, realizing that his pride is in control and that it is his fault that his son, Haimon, dies.
All of these three reasons are connected to each other, when Creon has too much of self-righteousness and too much of a pride because he is a king, he does not listen to others and so the problems occur. So, all the things that he did comes back to him and strike him hard. He lost all his love ones, his son killed himself, his wife cursed him of as being the killer of her son before she died. Also, Antigone has to die because of him, his characteristic of a tragic hero in this tragedy in not to follow. We can learn from Creon that do not make ourselves higher than other and be self-centered.
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 is the protagonist in Antigone, because his motivation throughout Antigone is the stability and wellbeing of Thebes. Moreover, Antigone is the antagonist in Antigone, because her motivation is selfish and deceiving. In Antigone the setting is Thebes post the death of both airs to the throne. Eteocles dies defending his country from his brother Polynieces which died attempting to reclaim his right to the throne. The conflict throughout Antigone is Antigone’s responsibility to bury her brother Polynices and the law created by Creon, the new king of Thebes, which states that “No one shall bury him, no one mourn for him.”
Question - King Oedipus has been called a tragedy of the state as well as of the individual (Implying the Thebes will suffer under Creon). Look closely at the qualities of Creon and Oedipus, and present your research materials to your group. Ensure your group discusses who the better leader is: Oedipus or Creon. Lesson Breakdown: TIME LEADER’S ROLE PARTICIPANTS’ ROLE MATERIALS 14 min Objective: To get my group members thinking about Oedipus and Creon’s character and how they will affect the other parts of the trilogy.
In the play Antigone, Creon became the ruler of Thebes after both of his nephews (Oedipus’s sons) were killed in a fight over who would become the ruler and take the throne. Creon gave the nephew who was attacked a proper burial, while Polynieces’s