The Negative Effects Of Authority And Power In Antigone

Authority and power are very similar; people who possess them are often view themselves as superior. In the play “Antigone”, Sophocles uses Creon to depict the effect of power on a human being. Sophocles portrayal of the negative effect of power becomes especially convincing when he discusses the extent of individuals oppose authority, how individuals of power neglect the ideologies of others, how upper class individuals are in constant validation of their authority, and how those individuals lack compassion and empathy towards the misfortune of others.
Individuals will have different attitudes towards obeying authorities or commanding individuals. The Sentry, for instance, is the lowest character in the plays hierarchy and has no power. Every other character has and knows their place in the society; however, the sentry is unsure. The great difference in power between the Sentry and Creon makes him terrified of Creon and afraid of the way that Creon will react to the news that someone had buried Polynices body on his watch, so he is careful to obey Creon to prevent being punished. Alternatively, characters who are more powerful and …show more content…
His insecurity about his power was translated into fear of being made a fool of by his citizens; he couldn’t bear the thought of anyone disobeying him. Creon determined that he needed to instill fear in his citizens by instating unreasonable laws that contradicts the laws of the gods. When Antigone broke his laws, he was furious that someone had the nerve to question his authority. This caused his insecurities to drive him to insist on punishing Antigone, despite many characters in the play warning Creon that it would bring ruin on himself. To a commanding individual, their power is fragile thing, driven by fear and narcissism; they are afraid of being found out to be not as competent as they wish to appear to