Antigone

            In Antigone, Sophocles presents the downfall of a Homeric king and the consequences of his unjust acts. His vision was blinded by his pride, loyalty and patriotism to the state. The values that he followed were set in stone, characterized by his unwillingness to listen and adhere to his people. The future family that he would have possessed crumbled before his eyes. He became a dictator who took control of his people and stripped the laws the land had once had; therefore, his laws were absolute and divine. Kreon becomes part of a tug-of-war between the divine laws of the gods and the laws of the state. Who is to say which laws exceeded the others? According to ancient Greece, a king was once thought to have a god-like stature. A king's rule; therefore, should be justified as being the will of the gods. From this perspective, the reader can see the justification in Kreon's reasoning. However, his characteristics as being a tyrant are too heavy to be ignored. Any disrespect for his authority is an insult to his rule as king and to his homeland in which he has a deep love for. Throughout the play, Kreon is seen as being overprotected not only of the state, but of his manhood. Living in a patriarchal society, it is understood as to why Kreon would be filled with rage by the defiance of Antigone, his future daughter-in-law. Animosity and hatred fills his mind giving him the freedom to assert his rule in any way, shape or form. Nothing can sway from the fact that Kreon has become a tyrant; this is what he has become and this is what he will suffer for....

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