Sophocles’ tragedy, Antigone (441 BCE), is the third play in the Oedipus trilogy which was

created during ancient Greece and follows the tragic heroine, Antigone, who adheres to the
gods and defies the king’s decree to give her brother, Polynices, a proper burial. After
completing the noble task, she is punished and sentenced to be walled up with minimum
rations to keep her alive but instead of complying with the king, her uncle Creon, she
decided to end her life. On the other hand, Creon, uncle of Antigone and Ismene, father of
Haemon and the king of Thebes, is also a tragic hero whose downfall was caused by
irrational decisions and his blind hubris. By analysing the characterisation of Antigone,
Ismene and specifically Creon as well as plot and dialogue we can apply different reading
practices such as feminism, theocracy and humanism. Using these reading practices, we can
interpret that the downfall of our tragic heroes is caused by breaking gender norms and
expectations, Creon dishonouring the gods and his unethical choices.

When read through a feminist lens, we can decipher that breaking gender expectations
caused the downfall of the tragic heroes. During Sophocles’ lifetime, ancient Greece was a
patriarchal society meaning that women were considered inferior to men having little to no
rights. By using the characterisation and dialogue of Antigone, Ismene and Creon, Sophocles
showed the patriarchal society at the time the inequalities between the sexes. At the
beginning of the play, Antigone asked her sister Ismene whether or not she would want to
assist in burying their brother but Ismene refuses and reminds Antigone that “we are
women, we’re not born to contend with men.” This dialogue shows that Ismene knows her
place in their society and she fears that Antigone is steering too far from her gender norms.
This also depicts that Ismene conforms with the patriarchal system and follows her gender
expectations. She continues to show this attitude when she tells Antigone, “I’d do them no
dishonour… but defy the city? I have no strength for that.” This depicts that Ismene does not
have the power and courage to oppose the king or a man because of her identity. In
contrast, Antigone challenges these beliefs because she is stoic and brave which is
commonly known to be masculine traits. Antigone shows this when she states that she will
not break the divine law, “not out of fear of some man’s wounded pride.” This reinforces
the idea that she is courageous as well as defiant. This is again supported but now by Creon,
who is a cruel and egocentric man who believes women are just “fields to plow”, when he
finds found Antigone just violated his law and he tells himself that “I am not the man, she is
the man.” Creon calls Antigone a man because she has damaged his pride and he believes
that only a man can do something that devious. Later on, in the play, Creon begins to act
irrational such as when he decided that Antigone should be walled up for her crime or when
he thought his son was threatening him. This sudden irrationality is generally associated
with women. Ultimately, Antigone and Creon breaks gender expectation and they both
suffer but Antigone dies and Creon lives because he is subsequentially a man. Ismene also
lives because conforms with their society and does not break the gender norms. I believe
that Sophocles used the characterisation of Antigone, Ismene and Creon to show the
injustice of the genders in a patriarchal society.
After reading Antigone as a theocentric reading, we can depict that gods have control over
people’s life and Creon’s hamartia or tragic flaw was caused by his hubris. Theocracy is a
form of government in which one of more gods are recognised as the supreme ruling
authority, giving divine guidance to human. In ancient Greece people believed in many gods
and their divine power. Through the use of characterisation of Creon and his attitudes
towards the gods, Sophocles showed the audience at the time the importance of honouring
the gods. At the start of the play, after Creon declares that Polynices shall not have a proper
burial, Creon is told that some man has gone and buried his body by a sentry. Then the
leader, who is a representative of the chorus, questions Creon whether or not it could
“possibly be the work of the gods?” but Creon stops him from talking and ask him if “the
gods could have the slightest concern for that corpse?” This demonstrates that Creon
assumes that his authority is greater than the gods who then are offended by his pride. He
then goes on to disrespecting several gods, Hades, Zeus, Aphrodite and Dionysus with his
hubris which is Creon’s tragic flaw. At the end of the play, Creon has his anagnorisis as he
realised, “it was then, when the gods came down and struck me,” he had been punished,
losing his son, his wife and his power for dishonouring the gods. Therefore, I presume that
Sophocles wanted to convey the idea to the audience at the time, that gods are supreme
beings who control everything and need to be respected, through Creon’s tragic flaw.

When we apply a humanist reading, we can interpret that the tragic hero’s, Creon, downfall
is the direct result of his own pride and unethical decisions. Humanism is a set of ethics or
ideas about how people should live and act without religious ideology. To a modern
audience, Creon’s actions would be seen as inhumane and unethical. In episode two, Creon
announces that the two brothers have killed each other and now he “possess the throne
and all its power.” This line from Creon constructs him as a very egocentric and power-
hungry king which are attributes that work in opposition to the pursuit of perfectibility. He
shows even worst traits when makes a decree he “has forbidden the city to dignify him with
burial, mourn him at all” and Polynices body shall “be left unburied, his corpse carrion for
the birds and dogs to tear, an obscenity for the citizens to behold!” This illustrate Creon as
an immoral, heartless human being who believes that it is right to leave a body unburied
and food for the animals to eat. This attitude leads to Creon’s inability to reflect on his
decisions, refusing to listen to Haemon and Tiresias as well as planning a brutal punishment
for Antigone, who is his niece and part of his family, which causes his downfall at the end of
the play. Thus, I believe that Sophocles used the characterisation of Creon to construct him
as an inhumane and immoral king to convey to the audience what is unethical and how they
should behave.