The Tragic Character Of Creon In Sophocles Antigone

Antigone, a play written by the ancient playwright Sophocles, is a tale of a ruler learning through tragedy. This play is the third part of the trilogy, Oedipus Rex. After Oedipus’ death, his son-brothers both die in a battle over the throne. The throne is ultimately inherited by Creon, the next male in the blood lineage. Creon declares a law to punish the brother, Polyneices, for initiating the attack on the kingdom by leaving his corpse unburied. Polyneices’ sister, Antigone, cannot accept this law and decides to bury her brother in defiance. Creon, in his hubris(excessive pride or self-confidence or defiance of the gods) and rage, sentences her to death, despite the warnings and concerns of his advisors and the prophet Teiresias. This later leads to his anagnorisis(protagonist discovers the true nature of his own situation) as his pride and defiance towards natural law causes his son and wife to commit suicide. Faced with this tragedy, Creon is forced to recognize his flaws as a leader. He realizes that even as king, he cannot act self-righteously, rule with uncompromising pride, and create laws to impose his form of justice onto his subjects. It becomes evident that Creon is the tragic hero of Sophocles’ story when …show more content…
Leaders cannot ignore the voices of those who follow them. When they are stubborn and overly prideful, they rule with the error. These characteristics of pride and uncompromising stubbornness are also apparent in our current President Donald Trump. We see the president routinely make outlandish statements with unpredictable impacts on foreign affairs, without evident thought before doing so. Perhaps if the president took the time to listen to his advisers and the public, the number of ridiculous statements produced would decrease. Ultimately, Sophocles’ playwright teaches the value of patience, open-mindedness, and modesty in a