Neither would being challenged by a willful, bratty child bring out my compassionate, loving side. Antigone feels a duty and a necessity to bury her brother Polyneices, but rarely does she mention any kind of suffering or loss. She seems concerned only with doing the righteous thing. Meanwhile, Creon makes his decree out of passion and anger, and that makes him more human to me than Antigone could ever be. Antigone becomes distraught over her brother only when she discovers that he has ben re-buried, and it seems that her distress springs from her actions being undone; the fact that that action is burying Polyneices is only a coincidence.Vickers believes that Creon has a "sadistic enjoyment of his brutality," (Vickers 531) such as when Creon challenges the guard who reports that Polyneices has been buried and threatens that guard with death if he does not uncover the culprit. I don't see Creon as enjoying his threats here. I believe that he is furious at being disobeyed. He is enraged that someone cannot see things the way he does: a traitor's body should receive no special treatment. Vickers also says that Creon is especially angry at being challenged by a woman; to this, I say: so what? The traditional role of women in ancient Greek society, aside from the polis of Sparta which was the exception, was to stay indoors and raise children. It stands to reason that Creon would indeed be angrier at being opposed by Antigone, whose mission in life seems to be instigation anyway.I can definitely relate more closely to H.D.F. Kitto's interpretation of the play. Kitto believes that Creon is the main character, and that Sophocles deliberately portrays him as such. Creon has more dramatic forces deployed against him than Antigone, who only has to face Creon's wrath. Creon's tragedy grows before our very eyes, while Antigone's doom is "forseen and swift." (Kitto 127). The real conflict of the play, according to Kitto, is the gods against Creon. Un...
