Antigone: The Character Growth and Catharsis of the Tragic Hero

The Greek tragedy often leaves the audience in turmoil as they are left contemplating the fate of characters who often lose control of their own actions and are left to suffer. In Sophocles’s play Antigone, several characters become victims of uncontrollable predicament which leads to their eventual downfall. Due to her unrelenting desire to give her brother proper burial rights, Antigone is sentenced to death by the king of Thebes, Kreon, who insists that the brother is an undeserving traitor. The stubbornness of Kreon sets off a chain of events that leads to the deaths of several characters close to the king, including Antigone. It is easy to feel empathy for Antigone due to her selfless act to honor her brother, however, a stronger emotional response is generated for Kreon. Despite being a pitiless leader, whose actions eventually lead to the demise of multiple characters, Kreon generates strong empathy as he unintentionally kills the others due to his status as a victim of the society in which he lives.

It is easy to come to a conclusion that Kreon is simply a ruthless leader that is power hungry and inconsiderate of the true desires of the people of which he rules over. However, upon further analysis one can realize that Kreon’s actions, although inconsiderate upon first glance, are well intentioned. The decision to deny proper burial rights of Antigone’s brother is due to Kreon’s desire to maintain integrity of his own state. Kreon compares the rule of Thebes to the journey of a ship: “I have the honor to inform you that our Ship of State, which recent storms have threatened to destroy, has come safely to harbor at last, guided by the merciful wisdom of Heaven.” (180). Kreon views the city as a ship that he is responsible to guide towards stability; in his eye’s he must ensure that the townspeople are distant from the enemy and prepared to defend and protect Thebes. Due to his obsession to keep the town stable and safe, Kreon lost sight of the ultimate goal of stability for the “ship”, or in this case city. Kreon is caught up in trying to fulfil his responsibilities of leader set upon him by society, that he forgets that the reason he must ensure stability is so that the people of the state can pursue happiness, worship freely, honor family and friends, etc. Unfortunately, Kreon’s error in judgment and the ease at which he conforms to society’s pressures leads to him directly and indirectly contributing to the deaths of other characters, however, the blame for his mistake cannot be placed upon him alone as “No man alive is free from error” (1023). I would feel little to no sympathy for Kreon had he intentionally killed Antigone, his son, or his wife; this is not the case, however, as Kreon is just acting the way he thinks he must. As a leader, I think Kreon felt that if he did not make a statement on the strength of his rule, people would consider him weak and perhaps question his leadership. Despite being wrong when he decided to punish Antigone, I do not believe anyone is free of faults, and I think that when analyzed thoroughly, Kreon’s decisions are justifiable to an extent.

Kreon is stubborn, yet as more characters attempt to change his mind and he recognizes the dissatisfaction amongst the community members in his decision to kill Antigone, Kreon makes his best effort to alter the mistakes he made. Unfortunately, it is too late and Kreon realizes that it was impossible to stop the domino affect he created: “All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong and repairs the evil. The only crime is pride” (765). Kreon is not afraid to swallow his pride after he realizes that he has done wrong and that is something that I think deserves tremendous respect. In fact, Kreon greatly regrets his actions and even wishes death upon himself by the gods. I think it is also important to note that Kreon has no issue admitting his wrongdoings; Kreon realizes his stubbornness and regrets it whereas Antigone dies never admitting she was stubborn or perhaps partially incorrect in her thoughts. A great amount of empathy is felt as the reader recognizes the remorse and grief that Kreon is going through knowing he has inadvertently caused the deaths. The pain and regret that Kreon will have to live through is great: “From suffering that has been decreed no man will ever find escape” (1335). Kreon’s life will forever be stained by his actions and he will never forgive himself for the turmoil that he created. I feel more sympathy for someone who has to live their entire life thinking they made a terrible mistake, then someone like Antigone who took her own life and no longer has to suffer.

I think that Antigone is an easy character to feel great empathy for due to her death being a result of courage, bravery, and respect for her brother. While this is true, I believe that Kreon will suffer the most out of any of the characters as he will be forced to live with the results of the tragedy for the rest of his life. All of the mistakes that Kreon made were inadvertent and at no point did he actually intend such great harm. Kreon’s decision to kill Antigone was because he believed this would be the best way to maintain the integrity of the state and protect it. As the plot progressed, Kreon was eventually convinced of his errors and made every attempt to stop the tragedy from occurring. If he had been convinced of this earlier, none of the deaths would have occurred. Catharsis is experienced by the audience because after the events of the play ensue as they are able to realize that Kreon unintentionally caused the turmoil as he believed he was actually doing good from the society as they people expected him to. Instead, however, he will suffer greatly as he led to the deaths of those closest to him and is left helpless due to his own actions.

While Antigone takes her own life due to the unjust punishment of Kreon, we are left to sympathize for Kreon as he is nothing but a victim of the society he is a part of. Kreon never intended for the tragedy to occur and is left in sorrow and pain due to his own actions. The audience, although initially brought to dislike Kreon, is able to realize that Kreon is not heartless and his position in society forced him to act in the way he did. Both characters, Antigone and Kreon, are victims of the tragedy, however, I think Kreon suffers the most due to the event of the play which leads to more empathy.