Creon's Mistakes In Antigone

When it comes to being human, it’s no surprise that mistakes happen when we try to live our everyday lives, but how can one learn about other people’s mistakes, and what those mistakes caused? The simple answer to this question is the history of human beings, and the empires that we’ve built and destroyed. Humans that would be especially important to study in this case would be the leaders of these aforementioned empires, and exactly how their mistakes caused their downfalls. In Sophocles’ play, Antigone, a king by the name of Creon acts on his emotions to decide the fate of one of his own flesh and blood, and in the end, he’s severely punished for his impotence, which brings about his downfall. Creon is a king that goes against the gods, and
For example, whilst Creon is away from the palace, his wife hears of their son’s untimely demise. As the messenger states, “Two bodies lie together (Haemon and Antigone), wedded in death, their bridal sleep a witness to the world how great calamity can come to man through man’s perversity” (Sophocles 159). When the messenger mentions that this calamity came from “man’s perversity”, he is trying to make the specific statement that this misfortune was brought upon Creon by his own stubbornness, hence the use of the word, “perversity”. He also mentions that the couple were, “wedded in death”, which is a hint to the fact that if not for Creon’s actions, the two would have been a happy couple. Unfortunately, Antigone passes away, causing Haemon to feel nothing but grief for his lost love, and contempt towards his father. As much as Haemon suffers from his father’s stubbornness, another person suffers as well. As Creon states, “The sin, the sin of the erring soul drives hard unto death. Behold the slayer, the slain, the father, the son, O the curse of my stubborn will! Son, newly cut off in the newness of youth, dead for my fault, not yours” (160). Indeed, the person that suffers from this strong will is Creon himself. When Creon mentions, “the slayer, the slain, the father…”, he is implying that he is not only responsible for his son’s demise, but he is also defeated by the gods for
In the case of King Creon, he acted on his pride as a king to uphold the laws, and his stubbornness to uphold said laws. Another character that acts on their emotions in literature would be Edmond Dantes, from Alexandre Dumas’ novel, Count of Monte Cristo. In the novel, Edmond is extraordinarily determined on getting revenge against three men that wronged him, and throughout the story, he acts on this determination to get revenge. Unfortunately, once Dantes does find his much sought after vengeance, he finds that having too much determination can be a terrible curse. In the case of both Creon and Edmond, their emotions got the better of them, and they both suffered for it by causing nothing but pain and suffering for others around