Theme Of Creon In Antigone

Around 440 BC ancient Greek playwright Sophocles wrote the tragedy of Antigone. This play is tragic because Creon creates a lot of death that would have been preventable if it were not for his hubris. Throughout the play, the conversation that takes place between Creon and his son Haemon reveals this pride, emphasizing the tragedy of the deaths. Starting on page 138 of the novel, Haemon and Creon have a conversation that reveals the various forms Creon’s pride takes. During the beginning of the conversation, they talk about Antigone and Creon refuses to remove the punishment for anyone who buries Polyneices. In another part of the conversation, it is made clear that Creon believes that as king he is above the people of Thebes. Finally, near …show more content…
The entire conversation is Haemon trying to convince his father to remove the death penalty for giving Polyneices a proper burial. After various approaches in his attempts to persuade his father to change his ways, Haemon finally says, “I see you offending against justice … You do not respect them when you trample on the gods’ honors” (141). This quote is important for many reasons. First, it characterizes Creon, it shows how stubborn Creon truly is. The quote is a response to Creon’s stubbornness. The stubbornness was born from the pride and confidence that Creon held in his ability to be a competent ruler. Another reason why this important is that it highlights the nature of Creon’ relationship with his son. If it was not for Creon’s stubborn pride, he would have listened to Haemon’s point of view on the situation. How this is not the case. Creon obviously does not value nor listens what Haemon has to say. Finally, this quote is important because it re-establishes the conflict between Creon and the gods. When Haemon says that Creon is “[trampling] on the gods’ honors” he makes a point about how Creon is the one who is in the wrong (141). It is ironic because Creon is too stubborn and proud to admit that he is the one who is being disobedient. It is because of Creon’s pride that he admits to his wrong doing too late that Antigone, Haemon and …show more content…
The conversation itself was Haemon trying to persuade Creon to lift the ban on Polyneices burial, freeing Antigone from her death sentence. The conversation begins with Haemon and Creon discussing Antigone. This portion of the dialogue showed Creon’s pride because Creon refuses to “make [himself] a liar to [his] people” and revoke the laws against burying Polyneices, and he decides to continue to defy the gods’ will by doing so (139). During the middle of their conversation Haemon compares the relationship between his father and Thebes as that of a captain and his ship. The symbolism behind the metaphor Haemon uses to describe the relationship between the two reveals Creon’s pride because he “keeps the sheet of his sail taunt and never slackens it” by creaking many strict and harsh rules in order to maintain order (140). Finally, as the conversation comes to an end with Creon being stubborn and refusing to change his ways. It is an ironic way for his pride to be revealed because throughout the entire conversation, Creon continuously mentions how it is extremely important to obedient to the ruler and how disobedience will cause destruction, and yet his pride pushes him to disobey and “trample the gods’ honors” (141). These three points of revelation contribute to the tragedy of the play’s ending because all of the deaths were