Creon is a man of great noblility. He stepp

After stripping off his excessive pride and losing his beloved wife and son, Creon, a man with his dignity, has been left with nothing but a valuable lesson. A wise man should never try to alter the will of the gods. According to Bernard Knox, “A wailing wreck of a man stripped of all dignity.” “Haimon’s words are prophetic. He has been ‘laid open’ and there is nothing there.” (Knox p.195-197) The audience would almost feel sorry for Creon at the end of the play. Creon was stubborn at the beginning and let his pride rule his mind, the consequences has brought to Sophocles’ point of view that excessive pride requires an equivalent amount of punishment in order to achieve a leader’s wisdom. Creon suffers from the dilemma of being a weak man who is unable to show generosity and reverse a bad decision. Due to his unwillingness to compromise with the law, his downfall came swiftly while he has lost the most and needed to live with it, Creon has earned the title as a true tragic hero.

He sentenced Antigone to death by way of starvation or loneliness in a cave. “We must support the cause of order, and in no wise suffer a woman to worst us. Better to fall from power, if we must, by a man’shand; then we should not be called weaker than a woman." Creon displays his negative attitude toward women when he tells the guards to watch Antigone and Ismene carefully, “For they are but women, and even brave men run…When they see death coming.” (Scene II 164-165) Being challenged by a woman makes Creon stand his ground even more. Critic Jelena O. Krstovic’ defines Creon’s character by saying, “Creon is a victim of pride which breeds destructive infatuation.”(Krstovic) Creon’s hubris is one of the factors that will eventually lead to his downfall.

Creon’s hubris has created flaws on his character. His arrogance and anger are both displayed repeatedly throughout the play. His hubris is revealed when the sentry who has been assigned to guard Polyneices’ dead body comes to him with the news that someone has covered the body with a layer of light dust. Creon arrogantly questions the sentry, “And the man who dared do this?” (Scene I 71) and the Choragos suggests that the gods could have done it. The response irate Creon replies as “Must you doddering wrecks” “Go out of your heads entirely?” (Scene I 98-99) Austrian critic Albin Lesky defines Creon’s character as “driven on by that arrogance which only recognizes itself: a hubris that is doubly dangerous, doubly culpable when it claims to speak with the voice of authority.” Creon has overwhelmed as being a new king as he has carried his excessive pride over ruling his country. He becomes so headstrong that he is willing to sacrifice his own family if any disagre

Some topics in this essay:
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