The Character of Creon in Sophocle's Antigone - Essay Example

Sophocles. Antigone. The character of Creon 2007 The play ‘Antigone’ was written by Sophocles in 442 BC. The major themes touched upon by the are those of conflicts between duties to one’s family, gods and state, pride and reason, male and female ways of feeling, thinking and acting. Obviously, Sophocles lived in the epoch of changing customs, when old traditions were contradicted by the new ones. The author seems to be the follower of both sides. He tries to reconcile the opposite parts appealing to common sense of the wrong doer. Sophocles ‘Antigone’ reminds us much of the best dramatic plays by Shakespeare, such as “Romeo and Juliet” and “King Lear”. His Creon is really a dramatic character. The plot of the play is simple. Events take place in Thebes, in front of the royal palace. First, we learn the tragic fate of Oedipus’ children. His two sons have slaughtered each other struggling for the crown. Creon, the ruler of the state, issues the law ordering to bury “Eteocles, who perished in the fight to save our city, the best and bravest of our spearmen” “with all those purifying rituals which accompany the noblest corpses, as they move below”, while “Polyneices, who returned from exile, eager to wipe out in all-consuming fire his ancestral city and its native gods, keen to seize upon his family’s blood and lead men into slavery” is “to have no burial mound, no funeral rites, and no lament”. He is to be left unburied with “his body left for birds and dogs to eat” [190-200]. However, this proclamation contradicts all the traditions prescribed by gods and minded by people for many centuries. Antigone, Oedipus’ daughter and Polynecies sister, is going to bury the brother. Sophocles’ Antigone is ruled by the laws set by gods. As she explains her firm decision to Creon: Zeus did not announce those laws to me.                          They’re not just for today or yesterday,           And Justice living with the gods below                    but exist forever, and no one knows           sent no such laws for men. I did not think                   where they first appeared. So I did not mean             anything which you proclaimed strong enough           to let a fear of any human will           to let a mortal override the gods lead to my punishment among the gods [450]. and their unwritten and unchanging laws. Creon is outraged that someone has dared to disobey him. Most of all, he is irritated by the fact that this person is a woman. He feels insulted and, blinded with his pride and rage, is not able to hear any advice given to him by his environment. He sentences Antigone to being buried alive in a cavern, notwithstanding the fact that she is his son’s (Haemon) bride. Haemon’s attempts to bring his father to reason result in even stronger rage of Creon. The end is tragic. Creon realizes his mistake, but too late. The state is rejected by gods, Antigone hangs herself, Haemon kills himself, as well as Eurydice, Haemon’s mother and Creon’s beloved wife. Creon is broken. He understands that the tragedy has taken place only due to his foolishness and admits his guilt. “Now what I am in life is nothing, [1320]” summarizes Creon the results of his pride and wrong acts. Creon is a dramatic character, and to some extend he can be called ‘a character in conflict’. The change that occurs to him at the end of the play is sudden. Till that time Creon is a man, who abuses his power, for the sake of his pride. Creon’s pride is the central theme. It is clear from the lines written for chorus, which is to reveal the authors perception of things. These lines, pointing out the author’s message, immediately forerun the Creon’s entrance to the stage and summarize the moral of the play at the end, following Creon’s last words: Zeus hates an arrogant boasting tongue. The most important part of true success Seeing them march here in a mighty stream, is wisdom—not to act impiously in all their clanging golden pride,            towards the gods, for boast of arrogant men he hurled his fire and struck the man, bring on great blows of punishment— up there, on our battlements, as he began so in old age men can discover wisdom [1350]. to scream aloud his victory [130] . As it becomes clear from the lines cited, Sophocles believes that pride and wisdom are incompatible. He also emphasizes that Gods always punish people for their pride, no matter what this man is. The lines serve as anticipation of Creon’s fate, and highlight the author’s idea. The same message is put into the mouths of other characters. First, we hear it from the Guard, who is to find the guilty. “How strange and sad, - he says, meaning Creon, - when the one who sorts this out gets it all wrong” [320]. He also teaches the ruler not to think too much of himself and his words: “My lord, human beings should never take an oath there’s something they’ll not do—for later thoughts contradict what they first meant” [390]. However, this only irritates the proud king. Haemon also asks his farther to be reasonable and give up his pride: “So end your anger. Permit yourself to change. For if I, as a younger man, may state my views, I’d say it would be for the best if men by nature understood all things – if not, and that is usually the case, when men speak well, it good to learn from them” [710-720]. Haemon tries to explain to his father that the ruler should listen to his people, while it is impossible to be the king in the dessert and the state means people. However, Creon is outraged that his son does not obey him silently and dares to teach him. Even Haemon’s threat to kill himself in case Antigone dies does not sober Creon up. Creon continues keeping to his position even when oracle Teiresias comes to him with prophecy that a man of royal blood is to die, while the earth is polluted with “rotting flesh” of Oedipus’ son lying “miserably dead”. Teiresias teaches Creon that it is not a sin to make a mistake if men “try to fix the evil into which they’ve fallen” [1140]. However, “men who put their stubbornness on show invite accusations of stupidity”. The oracle points to Creon’s foolishness: “What’s the glory in killing a dead person one more time?”[1030]. Teiresias tries to open Creon’s eyes, saying that his luck is “on fate’s razor edge”, that Creon is “infected” with pride and behaves dishonestly [1050], and at last leaves, angry with the king’s stubbornness. At the same time, Creon contradicts himself. Struggling Antigone, he, in fact, struggles his own demerits. “But anyone who’s proud and violates our laws or thinks he’ll tell our leaders what to do, a man like that wins no praise from me” [690]. Not realizing it, he speaks about himself. He is proud, he violates the laws of the state, and he does not want to listen to the wise. It was Teiresias who helped Creon to get the throne and rule the state. Now Creon forgets that the oracle holds a position higher than his one, while this was that way in ancient times. Creon also violates the principles of democracy, when people have the right to judge what it is right and what is wrong. At last, he violates the legacy of gods, who are higher than any mortal man. The principles stated by Creon sound great. He claims that a good king should do his best, be wise and reasonable in order to defend his state and people. He also pretends to be against any tyranny and intimidation of the subjects: For me, a man who rules the entire state moving here against the citizens, and does not take the best advice there is, a threat to their security. For anyone but through fear keeps his mouth forever shut, who acts against the state, its enemy, such a man is the very worst of men— I’d never make my friend. For I know well and always will be [170-180]. our country is a ship which keeps us safe, Let Zeus know, and only when it sails its proper course the god who always watches everything, do we make friends. These are the principles I would not stay silent if I saw disaster I’ll use in order to protect our state [180-190]. However, his acts entirely contradict his ideas. As we have shown above, Creon does not follow any advice. Moreover, violating the customs prescribed by gods, he jeopardizes the whole city and turns the “ship” away from its “proper course”.   Sophocles depicts Creon as a ruler, who has turned into a tyrant. People are afraid of him. For instance, the guard thanks gods for staying alive after he has brought bad news to Creon: “This time, against all hope and expectation, I’m still unhurt” [330]. From Antigone and Haemon we learn that people are afraid to express their real attitudes: All those here would confirm this pleases them Your gaze makes citizens afraid—they can’t  if their lips weren’t sealed by fear—being king, say anything you would not like to hear. which offers all sorts of various benefits, But in the darkness I can hear them talk— means you can talk and act just as you wish [500]. the city is upset about the girl [690]. Creon claims that to preserve the state one must be ready to harm his beloved ones, if they go against the state. “And a man who thinks more highly of a friend than of his country, well, he means nothing to me,” states Creon [180]. In practice, this principle turns against anyone, who tries to contradict Creon himself, while he identifies himself with the state he rules. The guard, the oracle, Ismene and Haemon risk their lives defending Antigone. Antigone, who is ready to sacrifice her life in order to bury her brother according to traditions, also violates only the decree issued by the king. In his argument with Haemon, Creon states: “According to our laws, does not the ruler own the city?” [730]. This position of Creon is obviously wrong. The city does not belong to him and he is not the only law here. Haemon’s answers indicate that tyranny is not the usual way of ruling for the world of Sophocles: “A city which belongs to just one man is no true city”, “By yourself you’d make an excellent king, but in a desert” [730]. Certainly, a good ruler should sacrifice his beloved and relatives for the sake of general good. Yet, all the actions of the king are governed by his own selfish interests and foolish ambitions. Creon does know that people do not support his proclamations as to Polyneices and Antigone, and he is irritated that they do not agree with what he has decreed. He thinks people “have secretly been muttering against” him [280]. As a typical tyrant he is afraid of people under him and sees a secret conspiracy in their actions instead of realizing that they are simply filled with fear for their lives. He also believes that people must demonstrate implicit obedience to him, only because he is of royal blood, forgetting that gods are worshipped much more. “They shake their heads and have not kept their necks under my yoke, as they are duty bound to do if they were men who are content with me” [290], - expresses his indignation Creon. So what is truly at stake for Creon? This question brought us to an interesting conclusion. Creon is struggling not simply for his “dignity”, but for his dignity as a male. The conflict itself starts mostly because a woman dared to disobey, not even the man. The women in ancient Greece at times of Sophocles had low social status. According to Rodney Stark (1995), numerous ancient sources demonstrate that Athenian and Roman women had hard life. They were viewed as property of men (first fathers, then husbands), and had no right to live independently, being forced to marry at early ages (often at 11-12, even before pubescence) and to remarry in case of their husbands’ death. They could not arrange their properties, leave home without permission, had no access to learning, etc. On the one hand, these data demonstrate the difference in perception of the play between Greek and modern reader. On the other, it becomes clear, why Sophocles’ Creon could be so irritated by Antigone’s brave act. Several lines confirm that Creon is indignant and entirely lose common sense exactly for the reason that the disobedience came from a woman, and Creon considers it the greatest insult. “If she gets her way and goes unpunished, then she’s the man here, not me”, [480] – explains he to his son Haemon. “No woman’s going to govern me – no, no – not while I’m still alive” [520], - exclaims he the next time. Actually, Creon defends family bounds just like Antigone does, simply he does it from the position of a man. The lines, where he reasons on the importance of the proper way the family should be built, also show male worldview: That’s what men pray for— A man who fathers useless children—           obedient children growing up at home what can one say of him except he’s bred who will pay back their father’s enemies, troubles for himself, and much to laugh at          evil to them for evil done to him,                               for those who fight against him?  [640]                while honouring his friends as much as he does. Creon is the embodiment of a man, living according to a warrior’s code of ethics. A warrior gets honor for bravery, for a kind of immaculacy. At least, legends and myths always describe great warriors as people, who do not make mistakes and who rarely can be laughed at. Their children always revenge on the enemy for the offence caused to their fathers. A man always dominates a woman in most of the myths, though women can reach their aims with the help of some deceitful maneuver. Creon has just become the king of Thebes, and he cannot afford his subjects feeling his weaknesses. If he cannot manage even his household, how can he be considered a strong king? “The man who acts well with his household, will be found a just man in the city” [660], - believes Creon. On the other hand, he realizes that it is against gods’ will to kill relatives. That is why he chooses an unusual punishment for Antigone. “As far as she’s concerned, we bear no guilt” [890], - calms himself Creon, reasoning that if he does not kill her and only isolates her from the world, so that it’s up to Antigone to decide whether to live or die. The situation of Creon is not that simple as it may seem from the modern point of view. He is clutched between several traditions: to honor one’s family and to dominate over females. At the same time he is a ruler and must also mind the interests of the state. For this reason, at the beginning of the paper it was said that Creon can be called “a character in conflict to some extent”. Sophocles’ ‘Antigone’ seems to be one of the first feminist works in the modern literature. Sophocles likes his heroin very much, numerous lines being dedicated to her praise. Antigone is vividly opposed to Creon in motifs governing her life and acts. While Creon’s beliefs represent purely male position, Antigone embodies female traits, such as love and forgiveness. “An enemy can never be a friend, not even in death”, - insists Creon. “But my nature is to love. I cannot hate”, - responds Antigone [520]. On the other hand, she obviously bears male features, such as firmness of character and strength of spirit. People admire her for “her most glorious act” as a woman, who “deserves golden honor” [690]. Sophocles praises her for her ability to be in charge of her fate [820]. The author is delighted with the nature of people, who are able to change the world, but it can be done only with the help of love and intuition. Besides, Antigone is a person, who “treats the country’s laws with due respect and honours justice by swearing on the gods”, while Creon “grows bold and turns to evil”, that is why he “has no city” [370]. Turning to evil, Creon is not able to feel his fate, and goes the wrong path. As a result, he falls into his own pit. Speaking of Antigone, he says: But you should know the most obdurate wills I’m well aware the most tempestuous horses           are those most prone to break. The strongest iron are tamed by one small bit. Pride has no place           tempered in the fire to make it really hard— in anyone who is his neighbour’s slave [470].           that’s the kind you see most often shatter.                           The punishment prepared for Antigone catches him breaking his life. He loses everything he loved and at last comprehends the path of love and forgiveness. He burns in the flame of his pride. Sophocles Creon is certainly a man who abuses his power. On the other hand, notwithstanding the seemingly simple plot, Creon is not portrayed as an embodiment of evil. The entrance of the character is accompanied by the words of Chorus: “But here comes Creon, new king of our land, son of Menoikeos. Thanks to the gods, who’ve brought about our new good fortune” [160]. The power spoils him. Pride blinds him. He goes against his people’s laws and traditions and is not able to listen to his heart. It is really difficult to define the reason of his evil acts except calling it foolishness. As a result, he harms not only the state he was going to defend, but himself, losing everything he had. Perhaps, Sophocles wanted to create a portrait of a tyrant, but his Creon is perceived as a dramatic character. References: Stark, Rodney (1995). Reconstructing the Rise of Christianity: The Role of Women. Sociology of Religion, Vol.56, pp.229-244 Sophocles (442 BC). Antigone. Translated by Ian Johnston. Last revised in May 2005. Retrieved September 11, 2007 from Read More