The Yin and Yang of Sophocles’ Antigone “A round of yin, then a round of yang, that equals Tao” (Fallon). Just like yin and yang, obligation to one’s people and one’s family must be balanced in order to achieve harmony. This is best seen in Sophocles’ Antigone, where Antigone is the yin with a fatal commitment to her brother and Creon is the yang with a staunch resolve to uphold the laws of his kingdom. Both these characters are lacking a crucial element of the other, and consequently reach a tragic end. However due to Creon’s conviction throughout and responsibility, his guilt and moment of catharsis ultimately makes him the more tragic character. In this paper, I will show how each character reaches their unfortunate demise due to their
…show more content…
Creon faced more guilt, and a much more cathartic end. While Antigone lost both her brothers in one fell swoop, Creon was directly responsible for his son and wife's death. This wracks Creon with guilt making him state, “Ah me, this guilt can never be fixed on any other of mortal kind, for my acquittal! I, even I, was thy slayer, wretched that I am-I own the truth.” Additionally after the passing of his wife and son, he reaches a moment of catharsis where he realizes he deserves his fate, “Oh, let it come, let it appear, that fairest of fates for me, that brings my last day,-aye, best fate of all! Oh, let it come, that I may never look upon to-morrow's light” (Sophocles). While Antigone never even gets a moment of catharsis, this moment elevates Creon’s tragedy in particular because of how adamant he was throughout the play. His stubbornness makes his catharsis all the more redeming and sympathetic. A similar effect can be seen with the Andy Murray. His “aloofness and volatility” made him come across as “petulant, spoiled, even unpatriotic” in the public’s eye. However after a single moment of humanity and weakness, he quickly “won over the British public” (Van). The combination of Creon’s guilt and acknowledgement of his mistakes overshadows the misfortunes of Antigone. Sophocles’ Antigone featured two characters that worked as perfect foils for each other, Antigone and Creon. Both characters were trapped in their own mindsets and thusly received their just deserts. Had either character considered the others perspective the play would not have ended the way it did, with Creon as the more tragic
Creon faced more guilt, and a much more cathartic end. While Antigone lost both her brothers in one fell swoop, Creon was directly responsible for his son and wife's death. This wracks Creon with guilt making him state, “Ah me, this guilt can never be fixed on any other of mortal kind, for my acquittal! I, even I, was thy slayer, wretched that I am-I own the truth.” Additionally after the passing of his wife and son, he reaches a moment of catharsis where he realizes he deserves his fate, “Oh, let it come, let it appear, that fairest of fates for me, that brings my last day,-aye, best fate of all! Oh, let it come, that I may never look upon to-morrow's light” (Sophocles). While Antigone never even gets a moment of catharsis, this moment elevates Creon’s tragedy in particular because of how adamant he was throughout the play. His stubbornness makes his catharsis all the more redeming and sympathetic. A similar effect can be seen with the Andy Murray. His “aloofness and volatility” made him come across as “petulant, spoiled, even unpatriotic” in the public’s eye. However after a single moment of humanity and weakness, he quickly “won over the British public” (Van). The combination of Creon’s guilt and acknowledgement of his mistakes overshadows the misfortunes of Antigone. Sophocles’ Antigone featured two characters that worked as perfect foils for each other, Antigone and Creon. Both characters were trapped in their own mindsets and thusly received their just deserts. Had either character considered the others perspective the play would not have ended the way it did, with Creon as the more tragic