ivil war the he had to take punish Polynices as a criminal. This was not an action based on personal hatred. This was an action taken as a rightly appointed ruler for the overall welfare of his state. This is a duty that must be upheld by any ruler, president or politician. Their main responsibility is the welfare of the people the serve. This means putting family matters second to the good of the entire people. Another point made by several different critiques is that the play focuses on the actions of Creon, not Antigone. By focusing on the action of Creon then it seems that Sophocles intended Creons actions be given highest priority. This is further support by the removal of Antigone from the play only two-thirds of the way through. Sophocles might have done this to allow the chorus of the play to follow Creon and therefore side with him on his decisions. Creon undoubtedly suffers the most for his actions. His decisions cause him to loose many members of his family. The grief he must have felt for these decisions is hard to comprehend. Whether or not Creon wanted to be king was not a circumstance that he had power over. But since he was king he know had a responsibility to lead and protect his people. This meant punishing those that opposed the state of Thebes family or not. Therefore it was a correct decision. It served to good of the whole not Creons own selfish desires. Antigone defied this decision putting her in the same category of her brother a trader of the state. Therefore she must also be punished in much the same way as a criminal of the state was punished. Through looking at the history of the time period, the statements of the chorus, and the critical analysis offered, I believe it was Sophocles to portray the character of Creon as the character that acted correctly....
