Antigone Vs Creon Character Analysis

In the greek play Antigone, by Sophocles, Antigone and her sister return to Thebes hoping to avoid a prophecy that predicts Eteocles and Polynices will kill each other in a battle for the throne of Thebes. But when she arrives in Thebes, Antigone learns that both of her brothers are dead. Creon misunderstands many things from that point and things start to go downhill. The chorus, a group of common elder men who follow the actions of the play, change in their support of either Antigone or Creon, depending on their actions during a certain part of the story. Early on in the play they are on Creon’s side, but in a short time later they seem to lean in the direction of Antigone and support her. In Antigone, the chorus, at times, directly affects …show more content…
The Chorus says, “You have given your judgement for the friend and for the enemy. As for those that are dead, so for us who remain, your will is law” (512). The chorus does not argue anything King Creon says to begin with. Although, later in the play, Teiresias leaves, after offering his advice to Creon, and the Chorus reminds Creon that Teiresias is never wrong. The old men of the chorus try to convince Creon to take Teiresias advice and free Antigone. That eventually works but far too late. They could have affected the outcome even more by urging Creon right away and not beginning on his side. They also try to change what Creon is going to do into punishing Ismene who did not participate in the burial of Polynices.
The chorus also hints at to what is gonna happen later in the play. The old men foreshadow Antigone and Creon’s downfall by singing about mastery of man and his limits. The chorus says that man has conquered all but death which is foreshadowing what ends up happening to Antigone. The chorus says “Alas, that word had the sound of death” (Antigone, line 784, page 529). The chorus is hinting that Creon wants to kill Antigone but he is trying to get in Creon’s head so he won’t kill her. The chorus doesn’t just foreshadow, but they are also very experienced and help us learn

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