The tragedy “Antigone” depicts the conflict between the king Creon and his niece Antigone. What is the cause of the conflict? Antigone’s brothers (who were the sons of the late King Oedipus) both die in the war for power. Eventually, their uncle Creon inherits the throne. The new King ordered to bury with honor his nephew Eteocles, who was a defender of the city, while his brother Polynices was claimed to be an attacker and left without burial. Antigone decides to violate the order of Creon and buries her brother in accordance with the laws of the gods.
In my view, the conflict between Creon and Antigone, to a certain extent, is based on their different attitudes towards the family values. For Creon, Polynices was only a traitor who dared to encroach on the most sacred - their homeland. However, for Antigone both Polynices and Eteocles were, above all, her brothers, her family and her beloved ones. Creon appreciates his power, Antigone loves her family. Therefore, the heroine`s decision to go against the will of Creon is an act of unprecedented boldness and courage:
But I will bury him; and if I must die,
I say that this crime is holy: I shall lie down
With him in death, and I shall be as dear
Antigone buries her dead brother, even though she knows that she can face the most terrible punishment. And then, when Polynices body is finally covered with a thin layer of soil, the heroine is caught by the Sentry and brought before Creon. Nevertheless, Antigone is ready to accept the punishment from Creon.
Therefore, she boldly admits her crime before the King. However, at the same time, Antigone claims that she is innocent as long as she only followed the will of God. All in all, she openly contradicts with the King. It is evident that Creon considers such behavior to be not only an act of Antigone`s disobedience, but also a protest against him as the King as well as against all the people of Thebes. So he condemns the heroine to death in a stone crypt.
I believe that this order of Creon brings before us a question whether a human, even the King, can consider himself to be above the will of God? All in all, I am entirely convinced that this conflict is the main driving force behind the tragedy as long as Creon didn`t reflect much on the family values.
On the other hand, it is important that, until the end, Antigone remains true to herself. She is not afraid of death, because she is sure that she has completed her main duty. Antigone is ready to die with a clear conscience. However, the heroine not only condemns Creon, but also curses him:
I have not sinned before God. Or if I have,
I shall know the truth in death. But if the guilt
Lies upon Creon who judged me, then, I pray,
May his punishment equal my own. (Antigone, Scene IV: 723-726)
It should be stated that Sophocles used the Chorus to present his own view on the tragedy. In Ode III, Chorus sings the ode to the humankind, which recounts the achievements of the human race. The Chorus celebrates Antigone and prays for her future. Along with that, the Chorus is longing for Creon. The Chorus glorifies the ones, who honor the power of oath, the family roots and the will of gods. However, those, who choose the path of injustice, are ignominious. I am entirely convinced that the Chorus symbolizes the union of free citizens and the whole phenomenon of Greek democracy, where a person is allowed to make independent decisions, regardless of the society opinion. (Antigone, Ode IV: 738-771).
Moreover, Ode III highlights the equal power of the two wills (those of Antigone and Creon) as well as the conflict between them, which is caused by different understanding of such concepts as duty, loyalty, justice and love. However, the Chorus doesn`t act as a judge, leaving Antigone and Creon alone in the conflict (Antigone, Ode IV: 738-771).
Therefore, can we clearly say that the Chorus condemns Creon? The Chorus understands that both Creon and Antigone desire to reach their own goals. For Creon it means saving his throne, while the heroine is eager to save the conscience of the city.
Who deserves our sympathy? In my view, the key moment of the conflict takes place when Antigone is brought before Creon. We realize that the tragedy can be settled neither by conciliation nor by concessions. Creon and Antigone look each other in the eye. And we feel the internal similarity of their characters - uncompromising, hard and rigid. It is as if the heroes were looking in the mirror, not at each other. This similarity further inflames them. This is not a conflict; it is a question of life and death.
Creon is arrogant, selfish and full of lust for the power, while Antigone is humanistic, humane and full of love. However, this struggle has revealed one more of their common features: neither Antigone nor Creon is able to forgive. The King feels that his power has no impact on the views and opinions of Antigone. Eventually, he decides to turn to his last resort, which may be interpreted as a defeat, - the King uses power and force.
Later we see that Creon is lost and confused because the people of Thebes are unsatisfied with his decision. The King also hears the prophecy of Tiresias. Tiresias warns Creon that the gods are angry with the King because he was unjust to Antigone and Polyneices. Creon is expecting a terrible disaster.
Frightened and broken, Creon decides to release Antigone. However, he is late because the heroine has committed suicide. And this death was the beginning of the Creon`s brutal punishment. The son of the King, Hemon, kills himself in front of the Antigone`s body. After hearing about her son`s death, the wife of Creon, Eurydice, also commits suicide.
All in all, I consider that Antigone won the struggle between her and Creon. In this work, Sophocles puts the law of the sovereign and the law of gods on the scales. Antigone, who symbolizes the will of the gods, becomes the winner. She is a real heroine with a strong, determined, courageous character, able to resist even the King.
On the contrary, Creon is depicted in the tragedy as a man, who considered himself to be as powerful as the gods. Creon allowed himself to violate the supreme law and was punished. The King paid a very high price for his arrogance. All the events in "Antigone" are aimed at exposing the tragedy of Creon, whose responsibility was enormously huge provided that the gods handed him the supreme power in Thebes. I believe that the main error of Creon the King is that he had misunderstood his rights as well as overestimated his capabilities. Generally speaking, Creon broke the moral laws of the human society.
Moreover, if we study their opinions separately, we will see that they are both right and wrong at the same time. On the one hand, Antigone cannot be considered as a purely positive character as long as she was stubborn and rigid. On the other hand, Creon was trying to carry out his duties of the King, assigned to him by the gods and by the people of Thebes. In such a case, the tragedy of Creon teaches us that the interests of a state can never coincide with the family values. Furthermore, the heroic death of Antigone undermined the solid foundations of the state. All in all, I am of the opinion that the tragedy of Creon was bigger than the one of Antigone, because the King was doomed to a lonely life in a rebellious state of Thebes.
All things considered, in this essay I have analyzed the tragedies of Antigone and Creon. Apart from it, I have also argued that the main reason for the tragedies is the conflict between the state and the family values. Along with that, I have stated that the tragedy of Creon is worse that the story of Antigone.
Works Cited
Sophocles. Antigone. Trans. D. Fitts, and R. Fitzgerald. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1939. Print.
