Table of Contents
- 1 How does Creon feel about the power of the gods?
- 2 How does Creon come to power?
- 3 How does Creon’s view of power contrast with Oedipus?
- 4 How does Creon’s character evolve over the course of the play what are his defining attributes values?
- 5 What does Creon say makes a good leader?
- 6 What happens to Creon at the end of the play?
- 7 What does Creon value above friendship in his first speech?
How does Creon feel about the power of the gods?
Creon believes the gods are on his side primarily due to his arrogance and hubris. The Greeks believed that an unburied body was doomed to eternal unrest. Antigone loved her brother and did not want this fate for him, so she risked her life to make sure Polyneices was given a proper burial.
How does Creon come to power?
Creon took over the throne because Oedipus’ two sons, Eteocles and Polyneices, were too young to become rulers. As time passed, and the two sons aged, Eteocles claimed the throne for himself, exiling his older brother Polyneices. Polyneices then gathered a giant army and attacked Eteocles for the throne.
What does Creon threaten to do to the sentry when he finds the man who did it?
Refusing to listen to the sentry’s desperate denials, Creon threatens the sentry with death if no other suspect is found, and then enters the palace. The sentry declares his intention to leave Thebes forever, and flees.
How do the gods punish Creon?
Creon has broken the laws of the gods by refusing to bury Polyneices, choosing instead to leave him on the battlefield where he fell, as carrion for scavengers. When Antigone criticizes this edict, Creon gives her the harsh punishment of being sealed in a cave alive.
How does Creon’s view of power contrast with Oedipus?
At lines 651–690, Creon argues that he has no desire to usurp Oedipus as king because he, Jocasta, and Oedipus rule the kingdom with equal power—Oedipus is merely the king in name. Eteocles and Polynices, like their father, are dead, and Creon holds the same unquestioned supremacy that Oedipus once held.
How does Creon’s character evolve over the course of the play what are his defining attributes values?
Over the course of the play Antigone, Creon becomes a more sympathetic character. At the beginning of the play, Creon is entirely stubborn and insists that there should be no mercy for Polyneices. When he learns that Antigone has in fact attempted to bury her brother’s body, Creon orders that she be put to death.
What does Creon’s fear indicate?
Polyneices did not deserve to be buried in Creon’s mind. Eteocles had served as king whereas Polyneices had done nothing. His fear indicates that he is starting to go crazy in the sense that he really wants to catch who buried her. It shows that his ability to govern is not good.
What does Creon tell the sentry?
When Creon enters, the sentry tells him that after he and the other sentries dug up the rotting body, a sudden dust storm blinded them. When the storm passed, they saw Antigone, who cursed them and began to bury the body again.
What does Creon say makes a good leader?
Being a good leader means that someone is humble, thoughtful and unselfish.
What happens to Creon at the end of the play?
Full of pride and ambition at the start, by the play’s conclusion Creon suffers the wrath of the gods, and ends, in his own words, as “no one. Nothing” ( Antigone 1446).
Why does Creon say Polyneices will receive no burial?
He says that Polyneices brought the army against his own people, a traitorous act. Creon believes the traitor should be punished, not honored, as a hero like Eteocles. Therefore, Polyneices will receive no burial.
How is Creon manipulative in Oedipus the king?
In Oedipus at Colonus, in contrast, Creon emerges as wily and manipulative, willing to do anything to gain his ends. When Creon sees that flattering words will not move Oedipus, he has no compunction in holding Antigone and Ismene hostage and threatening Theseus with war.
What does Creon value above friendship in his first speech?
According to his first speech, what does Creon value above friendship? Creon claims to care more about public welfare than anything. In other words, anything done to endanger the kingdom will be punished regardless to the culprit’s relation to the king. How does Creon justify his decision regarding Polyneices?