Antigone, a Greek tragedy written by Sophocles and translated by Ruby Blondell, is a story in which the “hero” (Antigone) is easily praised and the “enemy” (Kreon) is easily hated. It is human nature to root for the underdog, or the one who is being wronged, and not give the other side a chance. The very opening scene of the play immediately shows us the thoughts and feelings of Antigone, and her hatred towards Kreon. This almost forces the audience to side with Antigone because we are given no insight to Kreon’s point of view until later on when it is almost too late. However, after a careful examination of the play, I developed more respect and sympathy for Kreon than I did Antigone, just by further studying their motives behind their actions. …show more content…
It is clear to us that Kreon is trying to be a leader that is feared among the people, so no one would even dare to overthrow him. When Antigone was revealed to Kreon as the perpetrator of the crime, the sheer fact that she is the future wife of his son has no effect on Kreon’s stance. Once he announcing that she will be executed, Kreon’s own son begs of his father to reconsider his decision, and all that Kreon responds is “Let him be gone to do or think, things greater than a man; he will not free those two girls from their doom,” (768-769). Even the prophet, Teiresias, tries to warn Kreon of the fate of the city, and Kreon responds, “Know that you’ll never use my thinking for your trade,” (1063). These examples show us that it doesn’t matter who did the crime or what power comes to try and convince Kreon to back down from his word, he will stand by his original law no matter what. As tragic as it may be, Kreon’s ability to stand so true to his word and offer no exceptions is a quality that makes for a strong leader, and a strong leader is Thebes’ only hope of regaining stability. The tragedy that is the end of the play leaves Kreon looking like the only one to blame for the death of Antigone, Haimon, and his wife. Kreon does not deserve to be blamed for the death of these characters, because he was not the one who directly ended …show more content…
In the time period that the play was written in, when a member of a family died, it was the family’s duty to perform a proper burial. Not performing a proper burial was strongly looked down upon by the gods. When Ismene is trying to convince her sister to avoid disobeying the law, Antigone replies “I know that I am pleasing those I should please the most,” (88). Antigone admits to the audience that she is not trying to please her family or her king, but she is doing this so that she can be on good terms with the gods. Antigone is willing to bring about more tragedy on her own city so that her and the gods have no bad blood, which shows just how selfish of a character she