Pride in Antigone, Essay Example

Antigone is a play that has many different lessons that can be taken from it to showcase the importance of morals, duty, and honor.  The brothers of Antigone are descendents of Oedipus and are set to rule the land by alternating years.  Both of the sons, Eteocles and Polynices, die in battle over the control of the crown.  Creon, Antigone’s uncle, takes over the throne and orders Eteocles to have an honorable burial, while declaring it unlawful for anyone to bury Polynices.  This immediate conflict that has taken place before the timeframe of the play has even begun sets the stage for the larger conflicts in the story, especially as Antigone seeks to bury her brother Polynices against her uncle’s wishes.  The play Antigone shows various instances of pride which is characterized by how Creon ruined his life by being too proud and how Antigone risks her life to give her brother a proper burial.

One of the first instances of pride in Antigone is in the conflict of Part II of the play where the two sisters argue over their beauty and burying Polynices.  Ismene, the sister of Antigone, begs Antigone not to bury their brother or Creon will definitely put them both to death.  Antigone argues that Ismene is the brat sister and has always been very privileged and does everything that is right and proper, even if it is not exactly the right thing to do.  This scene makes it clear that Antigone’s pride is set to prove to Ismene that she can and will bury their brother and that she is not afraid of the consequences.  In Part III, Ismene continues to argue with Antigone about the burial, which leads to Antigone stating that Polynices never loved Ismene.  In this same scene, Antigone tells her sister and the audience that she has just come from burying their brother.  As George Crane recalled, “the Chorus does not admire the person who buried Polynices. … Greek Choruses simply do not celebrate those whom they unequivocally condemn” (108).  This factor proves that Antigone is to be put to death for ultimately attempting to show her brother and family respect and holding true to her pride in setting out to bury Polynices; however, Creon believed otherwise.

The major conflict between Creon and Antigone showcased multiple scenes of them both arguing about what is right.  Antigone held to her position that she wishes for death for what she has done and her pride forces her to taunt Creon.  Creon, on the other hand, maintains his own sense of pride because he is unwilling to let the kingdom be punished and relieved of the next heir inside Antigone.  Further into the play, Creon explains the true story behind Eteocles and Polynices calling them both gangsters who sought to overthrow their father and take over the kingdom.  He told Antigone that the two brothers used to make fun of her and their father, to which she angrily screamed was a lie.  She continued to bemoan and jeer at Creon calling him names and ridiculing him for being impotent.  His pride made him fearful that the kingdom would hear her comments and think ill of him, so he had Antigone arrested.  Creon later recited to the Chorus that death was Antigone’s prime motive throughout the entire ordeal, and it is clear that his pride will not allow for him to forgive Antigone and keep her alive.

The play ultimately sees the deaths of Antigone, her fiancée and Creon’s son Haemon, and Creon’s wife all of whom committed suicide.  Creon’s pride completely killed his family.  Never once in the entire play did Creon understand things from anyone else’s perspectives and maintained his pride that he was the ruler and thought only about the good of Thebes.  Antigone’s pride forced her to die.  Whether it was truly her goal to die is debatable, but it is clear that when offered the opportunity to swallow her pride and not be punished as a normal citizen would, she chose to yell and belittle Creon for everyone to hear.  Antigone was not only killed by her own pride but she was also killed by the pride of Creon.  Antigone used Creon’s pride as a weapon to strike him down and kill his entire family.  In the end, everything returns to normal and none of the characters truly feel any remorse for what has occurred.

Works Cited

Crane, Gregory. “Creon and the “Ode to Man” in Sophocles’ Antigone.” Harvard Studies in Classical Philology. 92. (1989): 103-116.

Cropp, Martin. “Antigone’s Final Speech (Sophocles, ‘Antigone’ 891-928).” Greece & Rome. 44.2 (1997): 137-160.

Peterkin, L. Denis. “The Creon of Sophocles .” Classical Philology. 24.3 (1929): 263-273.