The consequences of hubris no.2

How Sophocles reveals the consequences of hubris:

Ancient Greek tragedies were used to worship the gods and humble the people during festivals such as the Great Dionysus. Throughout “Antigone” Sophocles portrays a damning indictment of the flaw hubris- a term invented by the Greek meaning excessive pride and self-confidence. Sophocles induces this “fatal flaw” in his main antagonist, Creon, (who because of his hubris inevitably leads himself to his own demise) as prolepsis to a tragic ending, creating a play where the audience is constantly alert for disaster and returns from the play vicariously humbled by the calamity that befalls Thebes due to the arrogance of one mere mortal.

Hubris is used by Sophocles simultaneously to cloud Creon’s proper judgment and make clear to the audience the antagonists true super objective. When Creon first comes to power he announces his edict with a speech about the need for great leaders to exhibit their worth and extols the “unshakable loyalty” of his subjects yet suspects them of taking bribes; “money has ruined many men.” Although his initial paranoia reflects his insecurity as a newly risen leader it is not until the play nears its climax, during Creon’s confrontation with Haemon that Sophocles reveals Creon’s super objective.

“But the man the city places in authority his orders must be obeyed, large and small, right and wrong.” This quotation reveals the hidden fissures in Creon’s patriotic façade. Contrary to what was previously suggested, Creon expects respect and utmost obedience, rather than earning it he believes these to be the prerequisites of power. The quotation;

“Better to fall from power, if fall we must, at the hands of a man- never be rated inferior to a woman, never” emphasizes how self-motivated and ego-driven Creon’s objectives are. His plight to disgrace Polyneices corpse- angering the gods and triggering a plague in Thebes is no longer to keep “The ship of state” safe but to prevent Creon’s pride from being lain “bare to the blows of ruin”.

There is much evidence to suggest that Creon is wary that he is acting selfishly and is putting his own interests before those of the people of Thebes’, “Am I to rule this land for others- or for myself?” when previously, “…who menaces our country…our country is our safety.” Instead of carefully planned speech that encompasses plural pronouns such as “our” that suggests the great country is shared by its inhabitants. Yet in a fit of anger, Creon ironically shows his “colours” and his speech is laden with personal pronouns such as “I” and “myself” whilst the “our” has disintegrated and split a body of people into “others” and “myself”. Perhaps these slips in speech are induced by Sophocles to shed light on the self contradiction people show when they act on ego yet know deep down that they are wrong. Greek philosophers also created the concept of logic, Haemon also suggests that “only the gods endow a man with reason, the finest of all their gifts, a treasure.” Even the leader of the chorus encourages Creon to give Harmon’s advice some thought yet Creon stubbornly replies “What? The city is the king’s-that’s the law!” To the audience it must have been frustrating to see a character so rigid and dogged in his own ideals, a man armored by pride. However the use of question marks may serve to suggest Creon’s self doubt as well as provocation to Haemon, “What?” and “Oh?...and is Thebes about to tell me how to rule?...-or myself?” Haemon accuses Creon of “talking like a child” This reminds us of how young children react when their arguments are failing yet are too proud to confess their mistakes. Speech often becomes laden with question marks intended to taunt, provoke and reinforce their arguments, adding exclamation marks “that’s the law!” to represent volume and dominance. They also make poorly backed references to authority (the law) when they lack reason and knowledge, and therefore have little else to justify their points.

Creon’s ignorance as a result of his overarching hubris will definitely generate much ire with ancient Greek audiences. Sophocles uses irony when characterizing Creon to emphasize his consuming pride and foreshadow the catastrophic denouement. From the beginning of the play Creon expresses much contempt for money “you squandered your life for silver!” characterizing money as a disastrous force that can corrupt even the noblest of men. “Money- you demolish cities…you train and twist good minds and set them on the most atrocious schemes.” The pathetic fallacy attributes much power to the inanimate object and makes money sound like the makings of evil, as if money were a monster, running rampant in Thebes. Creon’s paranoia to money is ironic as Sophocles leads the audience to think- isn’t hubris just as much a monster as money? Feeding on the ego of mere mortals, It has the capability to restrain judgment, and as seen at the end of the play, to bring endemics to cities and cause death and destruction. Ironically, even though Creon thinks Thebes effectively belongs to him the King, the future of Thebes is dependent on Hubris. Furthermore, Creon displays a great deal more fear of money and recalcitrance than to the wrath of the omnipotent gods. Creon’s lack of fear (led by his hubris) and mockery of Antigone’s reverence towards Zeus whilst her future lies in Creon’s palms brand him for sacrilege. Comments made by Creon such as “a twisted mind is the worst affliction known” to Tiresias are both shockingly disrespectful and awfully ironic, again heightening climax and implying a dramatic downfall from power later on in the play. “Never...all my family clustered at my altar worshipping Guardian Zeus-she’ll never escape” Creon is so bold and so brash that he does not consider the stance of the gods whatsoever when determining another beings life and death, especially to immure a reverent, righteous, and dutiful daughter, denying her a quicker death, where all have equal rights. His torture of a girl trapped between life and death will no doubt assure his own punishment.

Sophocles emphasizes on the expected duties and characteristics of the ideal son, who according to Creon should; love unconditionally, “subordinate to your father’s will in every way” and must fulfill the duties, paying the “enemy back with interest” so in effect upholding his father’s reputation. These must have been widely held and conformed beliefs in ancient Greece, as blood ties link family for eternity “Zeus who defends all bonds of kindred blood” and therefore children inherit congenital duties upon birth. This makes Creon’s punishment of Antigone all the more unjust and blatantly portrays Creon’s sensitive ego. Antigone places her familial duties first and sacrifices her duties and privileges of being a woman and a bride respectively. It is therefore harder for the audience to accept Creon’s punishment and increases the emotional climax. Also, his actions against a member of his own family will predictably result in more death within his immediate family.

When the sentry, a soldier of low status and therefore expected to exhibit less wisdom than those in high authority expresses; “Oh it’s terrible when the one who does the judging judges things all wrong.” Sophocles again uses irony to show how Creon’s self-conceitedness clouds his ability to judge and think logically whilst the sentry, albeit of low status remains humble and meek especially to the Gods and is thus the one to see clearly.

Sophocles also emphasizes how the men with the most pride are easily the most sensitive. With Creon’s confrontation with Haemon, Sophocles emphasizes the fragility of the situation as well as the volatility of Creon’s temperament by structuring Haemon’s confrontation in a circumlocuted fashion. At first Haemon appears to praise his father, “only the gods endow a man with reason, the finest of all gifts…I rejoice in your success…nothing more precious…Now don’t please, be quite so single minded, self-involved, or assume the world is wrong and you are right.” Sophocles then allows climax to build as Haemon becomes increasingly frustrated with his father’s obstinate views and finally comes to a climax as Haemon storms off “And you will never see me, never set eyes on my face again.” This final warning where climax reaches its peak acts doubly as a warning to Creon, to foreshadow Haemon’s suicide in the final act of the play.

Sophocles generates an intense build up of dramatic climax in “Antigone” featuring powerful literary devices such as irony to accentuate Creon’s dogged ideology and eminent hubris. This heightening of climax signals a drastic tragedy where wisdom is learnt to late and all is too late for hope. Ending with a choral verse on the joy of wisdom or the wisdom in joy, Sophocles delivers a moralistic play in which all can sympathize the death of the righteous and understand the consequences of hubris.