Antigone Essay

People of power such as kings are often forced to choose between family and law. In the play Antigone, Creon has to make such a decision. He issues the edict to outlaw the burial of his traitor nephew, Poleneices. Creon makes all of his decisions based on his pride and his he position as the king. In Antigone, Sophocles uses characterization to emphasize that “There is no happiness where there is no wisdom.” (Sophocles, 767) and that too much pride is never good.
"Fate has brought all my pride to a thought of dust." (Sophocles, 767) Creon was once full of pride, that was until his talk with Teiresias. Teiresias told Creon about his fate, which was not going to end well for him unless he did the right thing and let Antigone be free. On his way to the vault to release her, his own son attempted to stab him, when he failed, he turn around and killed himself. In the end, Creon had lost everything that mattered to him.
"Proud men in old age learn to be wise." (Sophocles, 767) This quote was said by Chorgus after Creon has realized he has brought around his own downfall. In Antigone, Sophocles eleborates on how Creon thinks he is always right and that no ones opinion is more important than his own. He was being stubborn. Towars the end of the play he realizes he was wrong and he must fix things before his own fate turns against him. He becomes wiser. "Creon was happy once...And now it has all gone from him!" (Sophocles) This shows that everything was going