Creon's Hubris In Sophocles Antigone

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Hubris impacts greatly on one’s biases, forging them to be stubborn and dismissive of others’ processes and suggestions. During the Second Episode, where Antigone fights with Ismene and Creon, she jousts at Ismene stating, “No, for you choose life, and I choose death” (Sophocles 217). Ismene tries to recompense with her sister, however Antigone pushes her away, declaring her decisions to be inferior with her actions; meaning Antigone doesn’t include Ismene as an accomplice due to her unwillingness to bury Polyneices. Creon then sentences the two to death, and as they are swept away, he says, “Yes, let us both be quite assured of that… They are woman now… The breath of Hades pressing close to kill” (Sophocles 217). During the olden times, …show more content…
In the Third Episode, Haemon tries to support his father by helping him understand other perspectives, however gets vetoed, Creon asserting, “This boy is hopelessly on the woman’s side” (224). Creon’s pride has blurred his reasoning, and he believes everyone is plotting against him, always on the enemy side; while in reality Haemon and the people are simply trying to support his leadership. Creon’s hubris can also be seen between the discussion with the Sentry in the First Episode, where Creon states, “No, you just sold yourself for silver” (204). He is so consumed by his pride that he loses trust in his people, and believes that the soldiers’ discoveries were based on human temptation. Antigone suffers from her own blinding hubris, as in the Fourth Episode, she exclaims, “I’ve earned this recompense… I go alive toward these sepulchers of death… if I find the sin was theirs, may Justice then mete out no less to them than what justice now metes out to me” (232). Antigone is willingly embracing death because of her hubris, convincing herself that she must sacrifice herself for her family. Rather than take command of the situation, she takes on the path of her overbearing love and forces herself to die, hanging herself in the Epilogue. Intentions are meant to be of good reason, but one’s hubris twists their reasoning, causing delusion of what truly is
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