Antigone vs Creon

Antigone Essay In Sophocles’ Antigone, there are many instances of suffering and sacrifice in defense of Antigone’s and Creon’s cause. Between Antigone and Creon, Creon suffers the greater sacrifice. This is shown in the way that he sacrificed his own family’s life, while Antigone took her own life on purpose so she was not sacrificing anything, she wanted to die. This is also shown in the fact that Creon lost all respect from his kingdom, or citizens, and his self, while Antigone died with respect.

Throughout the course of Antigone, Creon lost all respect from his kingdom and own self by choosing to make decisions that only benefited himself. In the story, Haimon tells him “Your temper terrifies them [the people]; everyone will tell you only what you like to hear. But I, at any rate, can listen; and I have heard them muttering and whispering in the dark about this girl” (3. 59-62). In this quote, Haimon is referring to Creon’s decision to kill Antigone, which made his citizens and the people he ruled doubt his leadership.

This decision also caused the kingdom to talk about Creon behind his back and lose all respect. By the end of Antigone, Creon has lost his self-respect also. He says “Lead me away. I have been rash and foolish…whatever my hands have touched has come to nothing. Fate has brought all my pride to a thought of dust” (Exodus 134-138). He loathes himself so much that he can’t even live with himself anymore; he’s lost all of his pride. His decisions have caused him so much grief, that he just wants to give up, as if he’s begging for death.

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Creon definitely suffered the greatest sacrifice, not only losing all sense of respect; he sacrificed his own family’s life. Creon says himself “I have killed my son and my wife” (Exodus 135). He didn’t physically kill his wife and son, but he was the reason for both of their suicides. He made the decision to kill Antigone, who was to be Haimon’s future wife, which caused Haimon to kill himself, which caused Eurydices, Creon’s wife, to also kill herself.

He made these decisions knowing it would cause grief upon Haimon, but he didn’t care at the time, he was only focused on his self, which eventually came back to haunt him. Creon was also the fault for Eurydices’s, his wife, death. The story tells us “She [Eurydices] stood before the alter and her heart welcomed the knife that her own hand guided, and a great cry burst from her lips for Megareus dead, and for Haimon dead, her sons; and her last breath was a curse for their father, the murderer of her sons” Exodus 114-116). This quote explains how Eurydices blamed Creon for both of their sons’ deaths, which was the reason for Eurydices’s death. So, in the end, it turned out the reasons for Eurydices’s, Haimon’s, and Megarues’s death can all be traced back to Creon. Both characters suffered and went through great tragedies and suffering, but Creon made the greatest sacrifices compared to Antigone and suffered in a way that Antigone did not.

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