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Kyle Krichbaum
Mrs. Schalter
11 Lit B Hour 4
19 December 2011
Self Destructing Pride
“No; death will do that for me” (Ode 1. 180) Creon said most confidently.
Antigone was written in 430 B.C. by Sophocles, and one of the main themes is pride.
King Creon, Antigone, and Haimon all have issues with too much self pride. Creon
believes he knows what is good for everyone, so what he says goes. Antigone, although
she means well, she has no respect for authority. Finally, Haimon is so young and so in
love, that he is willing to kill himself over it. All three of the main characters struggle
with the idea of having too much self pride and they end up losing everything. This topic
is very relevant in today’s world with the recent celebrity scandals that have been
happening. Too much pride is a self destructing phenomenon.
Haimon is the son of Creon and fiancé to Antigone. He is very young, but knows
what he wants. Haimon usually respects his father, until he arrests his fiancé and
threatens to kill her in front of him. Creon does not care that Antigone is Haimon’s
fiancé, and he will kill her anyway. Haimon is falling madly in love with Antigone and
Creon does not like it and believes Haimon is stupid for doing so. “Then she must die,
but her death will cause another” (Scene 3. 122) Haimon announces with pride. He will
not go on living without his love, Antigone. In a way this is Haimon’s pride punishing
Creon. “Not here, no; she will not die here, King. And you will never see my face again”
(Scene 3. 140-142). Haimon goes as far as trying to kill his father. When he fails, Haimon
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commits suicide in front of him by stabbing himself with his sword. Haimon’s amount of
self-pride resulted in his own death.
Antigone, who is the niece of Creon and the fiancé to Haimon, is not unlike
Haimon at all. Antigone has no respect for authority. “Creon is not strong enough to
stand in my way” (Prologue. 36). Just like Haimon, she thinks she knows what she wants
but she is so young. Antigone also has too much self-pride. Antigone knows she will
likely get into trouble with the law for burying her brother’s dead body. “You shall not
lessen my death by sharing it” (Ode 1. 36) she tells her sister Ismene, who is accused of
helping her. Antigone does not want to share the “glory” of being put to death for
properly taking care of her brother’s body. Following Antigone’s arrest she knows she
will be put to death, so she ends up hanging herself while she is being kept in prison.
Antigone has no respect for authority and has too much self pride, leading to her own
death.
Last, but certainly not least, is Creon. Creon is the King who believes he is above
everyone else. Creon’s laws are do or die. “This is my command, and you can see the
wisdom behind it. As long as I am King, no traitor is going to be honored with the loyal
man. But whoever shows by word and deed that he is on the side of the State – he shall
have my respect while he is living and my reverence when he is dead.” (Parodos. 48-53)
Creon declares. Creon thinks so highly of himself that he is above the Gods and he has it
made. Creon is not invincible though. When he arrests Antigone and Ismene, people start
to lose respect for him. “And the city proposed to teach me how to rule?” (Scene 4. 106).
When Creon threatens to kill Antigone in front of Haimon, he loses his son, and when
Creon loses his son, he also loses his wife. “No; death will do that for me” (Ode 1. 180).
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Finally, when he proceeds to let Antigone free, she is already dead. Creon is left alone
because of his excessive amount of self-pride. In the end, Creon is left living, sorry, and
alone. All things he brought onto himself because he thinks too highly of himself and his
rule.
In today’s world, we can see the qualities of Creon, Antigone, and Haimon
reflected in celebrity, Charlie Sheen. His slogan, “Winning”, shows his amount of selfpride. However, in reality, he is a bum who lost his job, his wife, his children, and has a
drug problem. This does not sound like a “winning” person based on today’s standards,
nor in the time of Sophocles for that matter. It proves that the theme of self-pride being
destructive is still very relevant today.