Explore the Theme of Kingship and Ruling in Sophocles’ Antigone.
In Sophocles’ Antigone, the audience experiences a catharsis wherein sympathy and fear is evoked for Creon, a tragic hero whose Kingship was spoilt by corruption, human fallibility and pride. Throughout the play, Creon has demonstrated how even rulers with a strong moral stance can still fail in their attempts to do good, unfortunately due to exceeding the limits of their humanity.
To begin, the tragedy that befalls Creon as a man devoted to his country and to his religion seems to feel undeserved. Creon declares “whoever places a friend above the good of his own country, he is nothing” as an expression of his loyalty to his State; the dramatic element is accentuated through the term “nothing” which reverberates off the script in an echo that demands the viewer’s reverence and attention. In this way, Creon’s stance on leadership is magnanimous because Creon no longer works on the order of his family’s needs but on the order of the Gods and his state. To highlight this, we see the chorus exclaim: “the king of the realm is coming… whatever the gods are sending now… / what new plan will he launch” The significance of this “realm” is interpreted as something divine yet disconnected from humanity, so as to highlight Creon as merely a servant to the Gods. In this sense, Creon is a character that is empathized with for his respect towards the Gods, thus his actions can be attributed to the will of the Gods. “Exactly when did you last see the gods celebrating traitors? Inconceivable!” exclaims Creon, whose actions are characterised by a morality modeled after their will. A modern audience will interpret the duty of the King to come as a direct order from the Gods, therefore whatever law Creon enacts, and whatever cause he chooses to pursue, would have been the Gods’ law. The question thus arises: was Creon’s tragedy truly of his own doing? The authority of the King diminishes when put into perspective with the Gods, and the audience can view how even a man of superior
To begin, the tragedy that befalls Creon as a man devoted to his country and to his religion seems to feel undeserved. Creon declares “whoever places a friend above the good of his own country, he is nothing” as an expression of his loyalty to his State; the dramatic element is accentuated through the term “nothing” which reverberates off the script in an echo that demands the viewer’s reverence and attention. In this way, Creon’s stance on leadership is magnanimous because Creon no longer works on the order of his family’s needs but on the order of the Gods and his state. To highlight this, we see the chorus exclaim: “the king of the realm is coming… whatever the gods are sending now… / what new plan will he launch” The significance of this “realm” is interpreted as something divine yet disconnected from humanity, so as to highlight Creon as merely a servant to the Gods. In this sense, Creon is a character that is empathized with for his respect towards the Gods, thus his actions can be attributed to the will of the Gods. “Exactly when did you last see the gods celebrating traitors? Inconceivable!” exclaims Creon, whose actions are characterised by a morality modeled after their will. A modern audience will interpret the duty of the King to come as a direct order from the Gods, therefore whatever law Creon enacts, and whatever cause he chooses to pursue, would have been the Gods’ law. The question thus arises: was Creon’s tragedy truly of his own doing? The authority of the King diminishes when put into perspective with the Gods, and the audience can view how even a man of superior