Timur Karimov
The Peculiar Relation of Creon With the Underworld
Timur Karimov
English HL
Works in Translation
Word Count: 1358
In the Greek tragic play Antigone written by Sophocles, The king of Thebes, Creon does not feel confident despite seemingly unlimited power. He publicly announces his decision to capitally punish an offender of his order. The sole offender, Antigone, Polynices’ sister, is caught and brought to him for judgment. Nevertheless, she behaves provocatively, yet Creon hesitates to bring her to death. He is building his arguments in conversations with Antigone, the chorus and his son Haemon as if he is not sure that he is right, or does not have enough authority to do it, or both. At one moment, driven by rage, Creon wants to execute Antigone in the presence of his son, but later withdraws his intention. His decision to bury Antigone alive is not only contentious and awkward, but also incomplete and potentially reversible. Creon gives the impression that he wants to offer Antigone a choice. Why does he do it and why is he so controversial in his attitude to Antigone’s punishment? This essay uncovers the weaknesses of his character that explains his behavior. Creon’s inconsistent attitude towards death and burial reveals a controversial and a vulnerable character hidden under the mask of an autocratic ruler.
Creon wants to be a resolute king but fails to fulfill his public promises. He cares about the his city of Thebes and its ancient laws. Yet, his country is in danger and he seems to feel that he, “a mere mortal, could override the gods” in his desire to deny dead Polynices a proper burial. This may well be a violation of the unwritten divine laws, but no one dares to dispute it except Antigone. Her iron determination and defiance of death shatter the Creon’s confidence. Antigone is not the kind of offender that Creon expects, not even because she is a fiancé of his son. Rather unexpectedly, she claims that religion is on her side and thus openly challenges Creon’s authority. His seemingly sound decision to punish the traitor and thus deter others from treason looks arbitrary and dubious during the course of the play. In a desperate attempt to find more arguments, Creon finally loses his temper and throws an unthinkable challenge to the gods: he would not allow to bury the body of Polynices in the grave, even if “Zeus’s eagles rip the corpse/and wing their rotten pickings off to the throne of god!” Creon reveals that he is driven more by emotion than by logic by elevating himself above the gods. Emotional as he is, Creon may be determined to bestow a punishment upon Antigone as quickly as possible. Yet, something stands in his way, something that does not allow him to execute Antigone without delay.
The author provides an explanation to Creon’s indecisiveness earlier in the play when the king delivers strange sentence to Antigone. When Creon meets his loyal son Haemon, he calls for his support and initially receives it. Creon is well satisfied and, being in a pleasant mood, propagates his son to “let [Antigone] find a husband among the dead”. Thus, Creon appears to be determined to execute Antigone. Yet Haemon is adamant and pleads mercy for his fiancé. In the following passionate rant, Creon once again displays his emotion and, at one point, is ready to execute Antigone “in front of [Haemon’s] eyes, besides her groom!” The end is nearing, yet the king of Thebes is hesitant again. When Haemon exits the stage, Creon crafts Antigone a bizarre punishment to “wall her up alive/in a rocky vault, and set out short rations…” Such penalty looks incomplete and potentially reversible. It is odd to see a king undo his decision in a matter of minutes. Creon is however not without a reason: simultaneously, he releases Antigone’s sister, Ismene, “the one whose hands are clean”. There must be a reason for Creon’s awkward change of course. He seems to be torn between the demands of his king’s duties and his increasing indecisiveness. There is powerful symbolism present in his act: Creon has prior ordered that the dead body of a traitor Polynices be left unburied and has now arranged the entombment of Antigone alive. Creon appears here as a weak and controversial character and the author provides further evidence of this when Antigone is taken to her custody.
Parting with Antigone, Creon in a few lines reveals the ultimate reason for his perverse verdict. In this act, his orders are finally served. Polynices lies bare in the heat with no one left to bury him; Antigone is walled in her tomb; the Chorus is supportive as ever. What else would Creon want? As he openly says for himself, “[Creon’s] hands are clean”. Creon did not execute Antigone, moreover he left her a precarious choice – “death or buried life with a good roof for shelter”. Creon’s actions reveal that he left the choice for himself instead: to reconsider. Such ambiguity allows him to defer the inevitable, or consider himself clean in case Antigone kills herself. What he needs is to demonstrate that he is a resolute governor, and also to prevent Antigone from openly challenging his authority in public. Creon knows that Antigone is determined to die – not only she has stated that clearly to him: “… if I am to die before my time/I consider that again”. She also confirmed it by all her behavior: she came twice to bury Polynices as if she wanted to be caught in the act. She confessed in the very first interrogation. She also challenged the king openly. For Creon, the odds are that she will die regardless, thus releasing him from a cruel act and keeping his consciousness clean. He made his cowardice calculation but it goes spectacularly wrong.
Instead of killing Antigone and coming clean out of it, Creon faces humiliation and personal defeat. Sophocles does not leave Creon a chance to retain dignity. Upon hearing a fateful prophecy, Creon suddenly loses all characteristics of a confident king. He hesitates and seeks advice of the Chorus if “it’s a dreadful thing to yield … but resist now?” In a desperate attempt to avoid his fate, Creon makes an abrupt reversal of his deeds. He is unable even to make an order and leaves it to the leader of the Chorus to call to “free the girl from the rocky vault/and raise a mound for the body [Creon] exposed”. Creon finally appears here as a weak and controversial character that has fallen as a victim of the circumstances and his own indecisiveness.
Creon’s controversial attitude to death and burial is highlighted by his personal tragedy. By announcing his interdict to bury Polynices, he launches a fateful set of events that destroy his family and ruin his life. Creon is torn between his duties of a king and his calculated desire to keep his hands clean. However, in politics, especially when dealing with human life and death, hands often get dirty. Weak and hesitant Creon is not ready to rise to the occasion and to reverse his decisions. Unable at first to bury Polynices and then to release Antigone, Creon shows early signs of hesitation and controversy. By keeping one dead body exposed and entombing another live person with food rations, Creon challenges ancient laws and plots a dramatic background for his personal ruin. The forces of destiny are set into motion and Creon finally breaks under their pressure – too late for him and for other characters. By attempting to return the dead to earth and the live to the daylight, Creon demonstrates the weakness of his character hidden behind his mask of a firm and stubborn ruler.
Sophocles. The Three Theban Plays. Trans by Robert Fagles, (New York: Penguin Books, 1984), page 82, line 504
Sophocles. The Three Theban Plays. Trans by Robert Fagles, (New York: Penguin Books, 1984), page 112, line 1152-1153
Ibid., page 93, line 730
Ibid., page 99, line 854
Ibid., page 100, line 871-872
Ibid., page 100, line 867
Ibid., page 104, line 975
Ibid., page 104, line 974
Ibid., page 82, line 515-516
Ibid., page 116, line 1219
Ibid., page 116, line 1224-1225
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