Antigone Creon Character Analysis

“Conductors may of course be instruments as well as victims of the divine lightning.” In Sophocles’ Antigone, the protagonist, Antigone, is both the instrument and the victim of the divine lightning. The suffering imposed upon Antigone by Creon allows her to discover the importance of democracy. She becomes both the spark that ignites the electricity of social change and the martyr who dies for the flame she kindled. Through dialogue that displays expressions of civil disobedience, idealism, and martyrhood caused by Creon’s tyranny, Antigone reveals her role as a catalyst of the tragic vision in Sophocles’ play. In Antigone, Creon’s tyrannical rule inspires Antigone to seek democracy. Creon forbids anyone from burying Polynices. Creon views obedience to his orders as imperative, and rules tyrannically over the city. Creon tells the Leader to, “See that [he] never sides with those who break [his] orders (Sophocles 69).” Creon also emphasizes loyalty to him as …show more content…
Many characters describe Antigone in the way one would typically describe a radical catalyst of social change that appears idealistic. Ismene calls Antigone, “fiery” (Sophocles 62) and “irrational” (Sophocles 63) and says that she is on a “hopeless quest” (Sophocles 63). The Leader makes note of the “same rough winds” and “wild passions raging through [Antigone]” (Sophocles 112). The most important characteristic of Antigone is her idealism. While many people would have suffering inflicted on them by another person and not turn the limited possibility of the situation improving into an idea for change, Antigone is, according to Ismene, “in love with impossibility” (Sophocles 62). To Antigone, impossibility does not exist. She believes that she can be the spark that turns the tragic vision of democracy into a