-
Essay / Creon – The Dominant Individual in Sophocles' Antigone
Many people balance the individual, the community, and the divine differently depending on their values. In the tragedy Antigone by Sophocles, Creon is the king of Thebes. Creon balances individualism in his own way based on his own morals rather than what others may consider right or wrong. Individuals who favor community are often influenced to do things a certain way based on what the people around them think is right, something Creon ignores. The divine is balanced when people conform to a particular religion. Religions allow people to follow the laws of a higher being who plays a role in their decision-making. Sophocles portrays Creon as favoring the individual at first, but then Creon's balance changes for the better where he is now portrayed as valuing the laws of the gods instead of his own selfish morals when ruling the city of Thebes. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Creon's individualistic attitude demonstrates what a selfish ruler he is. At the beginning of the play, it was clear that the Thebans must obey Creon's rules, otherwise there would be punishment such as the death penalty. Creon's rules can be perceived differently by different people. In Plato's Hierarchy of Being, the concept of truth is at the top of the hierarchy. The truth is good, and the gods all know the good and the beautiful. The truth can be represented in different ways. In Creon's case, he values justice which sits at the top of his own hierarchy. He believes his laws to be fair and morally right, even if his community does not view them that way. Creon's rules challenge the gods' laws of truth. One of Creon's selfish rules is that if someone betrays the city, their body must not be buried. A corpse left unburied goes against one of the laws of the gods. Creon forbids the Thebans from burying Polyneices' body after calling him a traitor, and what Creon says must be followed by everyone. This rule cannot seem selfish, for it is right that a traitor to a city should be punished and should not be afforded the respect of a proper burial. However, Polyneices is Creon's nephew. Creon is primarily motivated by power and chooses not to value his family or the opinions of others. He is shown throughout the play constantly choosing to rule selfishly rather than having a relationship with a member of his family. Creon believes that only his rules are best for the community and does not listen to the ideas or points of view of others. Haemon tries to show and convince Creon that he is too selfish, but Creon does not listen to his own son's opinion. This shows how he governs selfishly and values the power he has over his own family and community. However, he does not reign this way throughout the play as he goes through a significant conversion that changes his mentality. Although individualism dominated Creon's mindset for most of the play, he experienced an important conversion from the blind prophet Tiresias that would change his life and his selfish ways of ruling. Teiresias goes to speak to Creon in the name of the gods. Teiresias mainly speaks in a way to intimidate Creon and prove to him that his actions are wrong. Teiresias said to Creon: “Remember that now, once again, you are on the edge of destiny.” These words would have made Creon worried about what would happen in the future, because what he did was unacceptable and upset the gods. His destiny is determined by gods in.