Michelle's+Antigone+writing

Creon possesses hubris when it comes to concerns related to the law. He believes that his decisions are always the right ones and what he is doing is the right way of doing something. He mentions that “a man who rules the entire state and does not take the best advice there is...is the very worse of men—and always will be. And a man who thinks more hight of a friend than of his country, well, he means nothing to [Creon].” (178-179, 181-184). From this we can interpret that Creon believes he is worth a lot as a ruler and as a human being because he is thinking about his country before anything else. To him, that is the most important thing a man could have. He finds immense pride in that fact.

Another example of hubris is found in Antigone herself. Creon was one who stuck to his principles and never let that go. However, that didn’t have any affect on Antigone’s beliefs either. With a person in a position like Creon constantly insisting that her thoughts were wrong, it would have been likely that she gave up on her obstinacy. Nevertheless, Antigone’s response was completely the opposite. Her hubris was greater than no other and she stuck to what she believed was the best for not only herself, but also for her beloved brother, Polynice. She didn’t budge to the consequences that would follow after she buries her other brother. She wanted them both to be celebrated for their bravery and leadership. There was nothing in the way of stopping her from burying her brother. Yes, it may have been a little over the top, but what would any loving family member do in a situation like that? That’s how much she cared for her brother. Her sister found Creon’s threats quite alarming and backed off. Polynice’s fate seemed to be held by Creon. Antigone stepped up and turned that fact around.

This hubris furthers the themes of the play because it indicates what is valued in not only just this play, but also what was valued during the time in which this play was written. Although the two examples portray complete different examples of the same situation, they both exemplify the meaning of hubris and its effect in the overall meaning of the play itself. Some major themes of this play would be tragedy and family. In this case, the intense hubris leads to an irreversible tragedy that leaves Creon all alone in the end. Also, hubris adds to the effect of different opinions in a family. Antigone and her sister were going the opposite directions about what to do with Polynice’s body. Hubris ended up taking control over Antigone’s emotions and committing something that would lead to more deaths than just Polynice’s. Her fiancée, Haemon, also kills himself next to Antigone. Creon is devastated that Haemon died because of “not [Haemon’s] own foolishness but [Creon’s]” (1414). Then, Haemon’s mother “killed herself, with her own hands she stabbed her belly, once she heard her son’s unhappy fate” (1460-1462). Hubris is acceptable just until it reaches out of bounds—with excessive hubris comes excessive deaths.