Antigone and Oedipus: Comparison and Contrast
Hegel’s central insight with regard to Greek tragedy has been clearly articulated by
Walter Kaufmann: “He realized that at the center of the greatest tragedies of
Aeschylus and Sophocles we find not a tragic hero but a tragic collision, and that the
conflict is not between good and evil but between one-sided positions, each of which
embodies some good” (Tragedy and Philosophy [Princeton University Press, 1979],
201-202). This interpretation of Greek tragedy is diametrically opposed to one that is still
very current today and that is traced back, erroneously, to Aristotle: according to this
interpretation, tragedy presents us with a “tragic hero” who falls into misfortune as a
result of some “tragic flaw.” This view is on the face of it hard to apply to Antigone.
Who, first of all, is the “tragic hero,” Antigone or Creon? If Antigone, then what is her
“tragic flaw”? If, on the other hand, we view Antigone as a flawless heroine and find a
“tragic flaw” only in Creon, then Creon becomes the “tragic hero” and the play should
have been named after him.
Points of Contrast:
Characters: Oedipus, Antigone, Creon
In Oedipus, the tragic hero is evident; in Antigone, there is the question of who
the actual tragic hero is, Antigone or Creon. Consider Aristotle’s concepts of Anagnorisis
and Perepeteia in regard to which of the two is the proper tragic hero.
Aristotle says that two of the most important elements of Tragedy are:
Anagnorisis: discovery or recognition.
Perepeteia: reversal of fortune or condition.
Another concept to consider:
Hamartia: 1. an error arising from ignorance, or 2. a mistake in judgment or a
miscalculation, sometimes erroneously defined as “tragic flaw.”
What hamartia does the hero of each play commit?
Hubris: pride or exuberance: Oedipus’ action of saving Thebes from the Sphinx makes
him a hero in Thebes. He is proud of his status and reputation as a “riddle solver,” and is
eager to solve this latest riddle—finding the killer of Laius
Are the actions of the tragic heroes determined by fate, or do they have free will?
Antigone
What themes are explored in Antigone?
1. the rights of the individual vs the rights of the state (clash of two rights).
2. the demands of religion (burial of the dead) vs the demands of the state
(obeying the law in war-time).
3. resistance of tyranny.
4. the evil brought about by absolutism.
Creon’s characteristics:
1. seems paranoid and unreasonable (709)
2. his male pride is at stake (715)
3. implacable—overly sure of his view (716)
4. can be cruel and insensitive (718)
5. Haemon warns his father not to allow his pride to blind him (722)
6. the conviction of a dictator that the ruler is the state (722)
7. Tieresias finally shatters Creon’s conviction that his way is best (734)
Antigone’s characteristics:
1. prideful will similar to Oedipus’ (702)
2. Strong convictions—believes that the god’s laws are superior to the state’s
(714)
3. Antigone seems as implacable in her position towards Ismene as Creon does in
his position towards Antigone.
From The Way of All Flesh, Samuel Butler.
Ch. 68: “Then he saw also that it matters little what profession, whether of religion or
irreligion, a man may make, provided only he follows it with charitable inconsistency,
and without insisting on it to the bitter end. It is in the uncompromisingness with which
dogma is held and not in the dogma or want of dogma that the danger lies.”
Other points:
Creon is unaware that public opinion is with Antigone. He is blind to the fact that his
tyrannical demand for absolute allegiance silences any hint of opposition. Tyrants thus
bring about their own downfall. (721)
Compare Tiresias’ speech to Creon with the similar situation in Oedipus. (721)
Irony: Creon refuses to bury a dead man, and insists on burying a live woman.