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Essay / Review of Sophocles' play Antigone
In Sophocles' play Antigone, Creon was seen to play the villain of the plot. His position as king was acquired illegally due to the deaths of Eteocles and Polyneices. Creon, had only authorized the burial of Eteocles and declared that Polyneices must remain on the battlefield because he was leading an opposing army. Polyneices' sister, Antigone, opposed Creon's decision and decided to bury her brother anyway. When Kreon found out, he was outraged and later decided to have Antigone sentenced to death. Antigone believes that even though Polyneices led an opposing army, her brother was still a citizen of Thebes and had every right to a proper burial. The moment Creon decided to sentence Antigone to death was the moment the dark side appeared in him. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Kreon is a complete fascist, which gave him all the power he wanted. Creon retains the throne and rules Thebes according to his own will and for his benefit, rather than for the good of the people. Kreon's powerful desire for power makes him dark and vengeful; even towards his own son. Full of his ego and ambition at the start; in the end, Creon suffers the wrath of the gods and ends up becoming a cipher. Creon's motivations are more complex than those of the typical antagonist. Throughout the play he speaks with wise words. It is practical and very pragmatic in most scenarios. Like Antigone, he is also very proud. Unlike Antigone, on the other hand, Creon is willing to put his beliefs and values aside and forgive Antigone's crime. When he hears from the gods that Antigone's death will bring death to his own life, Creon decides to free Antigone, but it is too late as she hangs herself. Motivated by his pride and illegal accusations, Kreon's antagonistic role is debated among readers. Her faults and those of Antigone are in fact very identical. Antagonists in Greek tragedies are usually terrible characters, but Creon is different in that he shows Tiresias' emotions, which reveals how vulnerable he was when it came to his thought process. Later, Antigone's death causes Haemon's suicide, which then leads to the suicide of his wife, Eurydice. Creon feels hopeless and says, “I alone am guilty.” (1021) Creon makes the mistake of putting his personal opinions over sacred laws and fails in the eyes of the gods. He makes the mistake of testing the power of the gods. After Antigone's crime, Creon reveals himself to be the only warrior for his own cause and his family and supporters begin to oppose him. As the plot progresses, Creon becomes more and more hostile and through the destruction of his family he is punished by the gods. Antigone is shown to have laid the groundwork for Kreon's downfall throughout history. Kreon showed his stubbornness by not wanting to be wrong. When Choragos tried to tell Creon that he had made a mistake by saying that no one could bury Polyneices' body. Creon did not listen to the citizens of Thebes who tried to tell him that Antigone did what was right. “Creon buried our brother Eteocles with military honors, gave him a soldier's funeral, and it was right that he did so; but Polynicês, They fought with as much courage and died as miserably. - It is said that Creon swore that no one will bury him, no one will mourn him, but this body must lie in the fields, a sweet treasure. " (15) Thought Creon by making an example of Antigone's execution, everyone would be afraid and not try to turn against him.