Eliza Hackworth

Mrs.Tatum

STEM Advanced Comp, 4th Period

9 September, 2018

Antigone: The Downfall of Creon

In Sophocles classical Greek tragedy, Antigone, where Antigone is fighting hard for the

proper burial of her brother, Polyneices, who was put to death by his brother, Eteocles, in

war. Creon is Antigone’s uncle, who becomes king when the king and queen die. Creon does not

believe that Polyneices deserves a proper burial, although Antigone says the divine laws say

otherwise. Creon’s interactions with Antigone, highlights Creon’s stubbornness which causes his

downfall, ultimately proving to the audience that people in power should not only listen to

themselves, but consider other people's ideas as well.

Creon makes his laws stating whoever buries polyneices will be killed in front of the

kingdom, this makes Antigone mad and she wants to revolt. Antigone says to Creon, “They share

my views, but they keep their mouth shut, just for you” (Sophocles 578-79). Antigone explains

to Creon that the other people in the kingdom agree with her and not him. Creon is not going to

believe this, so he acts like she is lying. Antigone feels as though Creon’s new laws are unjust

and go against the “divine laws which require her to bury a family member” (Bobrick 44). These

laws show interactions between Antigone and Creon by creating a conflict of belief between the

two.

Creon’s stubbornness throughout the play is exemplified by many people, Antigone

included, telling Creon his laws are wrong. After arguing about the law, Antigone retorts to

Creon, “There is nothing shameful about having my mothers child buried” (Sophocles 580-81).
Antigone and Creon do not agree on the burial of Polyneices, this demonstrates Creon

stubbornness by showing that he always has to be right. Creon and Antigone “both suffer from

excess of being right”(Bobrick 42). Creon is not being considerate of everyone else’s thoughts,

when Antigone wants to bury her brother, the stubborn Creon makes laws for bidding it.

Antigone keeps trying to get her point across to stubborn Creon to do the right thing for

Polyneices.

People in power should take into consideration other people's ideas and not just their

own. Antigone explains to Ismene the wrongful act Creon is bringing on them, “ he’s honouring

one with a full funeral, and treating the other one disgracefully.” (Sophocles 27-28) , Antigone is

disgusted by the way Creon did not take into consideration her feelings and wants to get Ismene

to help her show Creon what should have happened to both brothers, a burial for Polyneices and

Eteocles. Creon’s placement in the kingdom gives him a rite to lots of power: “ It is important to

stress again that Creon, although not a sympathetic character in the play, is not simply a villain.

Although he does acknowledge his fault, attempt to undo it, learn from it, and grieve intensely

because of it, tragically, it is inside and change occurred too late.”(Lansky 51). Creon had no bad

intentions, he just wanted to do what he thought was going to make the kingdom better.

The classical Greek tragedy, Antigone, is still important to us because it reminds us as

humans that we need to rely on constructive criticism to be the best we can be for ourselves and

for the people around us. If Creon would have listened to his peers sooner, he could have

avoided many tragedies that occurred in the play. If Creon was not in a position allowing him to

have great amounts of power he would have most likely listened to his peers. His stubbornness

prevented him from being the best he could be, making up his “flaw”.
 Works Cited

Bobrick, Elizabeth. "Sophocles’ Antigone and the Self-Isolation of the Tragic Hero."

Psychoanalytic Inquiry, vol. 35, no. 1, Jan. 2015, pp. 40-46. EBSCOhost,

V oi:10.1080/07351690.2014.957128.

Lansky, Melvin R. "The Escalation of Conflict in Sophocles’ Antigone." Psychoanalytic Inquiry,

vol. 35, no. 1, Jan. 2015, pp. 47-52. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/07351690.2014.957130.

Sophocles. Antigone. Trans. Ian Johnston. SpringBoard English Language Arts, Grade 10, ed.

Jennifer Duva, et al., The College Board, 2018, 316-77.