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Character Of Creon In Antigone

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Character Of Creon In Antigone
In Antigone, a Greek tragedy written by Sophocles, Creon is a tyrant and arrogant character who sees the world through the veil of his beliefs. When he decrees the punishment of death upon Antigone, he completely disregards every opinion that is against his own. By ignoring the views of others, he jeopardizes his strength as a ruler. Sophocles uses the extended metaphor of the ship of state to show how Creon’s self-righteous way of thinking leads to unwanted outcomes. From Creon’s mistakes we learn that if you let your pride stand in the way of seeing other people’s opinions you can impair yourself more than you had planned.
Creon refuses to see the views of anyone else, and his adamant ways will lead to his eventual demise. When Haemon, his …show more content…
And although the previously explained phrase can be translated to the ship-at-state metaphor, this example more directly answers it. Haemon speaks to Creon that, “the same thing happens in sailing…” Haemon is telling him, that his ornery, headstrong manners are ubiquitous, and they do not go unpunished. Sophocles uses keywords like “your”, in “make your sheet fast…” shedding light on Creon’s self-centered, arrogant ways. The phrase “…never slacken and over you go, and there’s your voyage…” is describing a situation in which the captain does not adjust the sails, and consequently causes himself, his ship, his crew, and passengers to go overboard. And that is the legacy the captain leaves behind. Creon is the “captain” of Thebes, and Haemon is foreshadowing to him that if he does not compromise he is going to have atrocious outcomes. Creon needed to not stand in the way of himself in seeing that he wasn’t always right. It would have been not only in his, but in everyone’s best interest if he considered someone else’s opinions. Creon leaves behind the legacy of being someone who was stuck to their own path, faulted because he refused to show weakness in taking help from other people. By not considering anyone but himself, he weakened his power as a ruler and hurt more than he
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