Pride and Pain: Follow Up to Antigone

In life, one needs to have pride, pride in oneself and pride in what one does, but there is such a thing as having too much pride. One can have too much pride in him or her, which makes one ignorant of what other people may think. The Chorus in the play titled Antigone, by Sophocles, suggests that pride leads to suffering and pain, and to some extent, this is true, but it is excessive pride that leads to pain and suffering.

Antigone has pride, but it is not excessive. She takes pride in burying her brother, Polynices. She gives him a proper burial, conscientiously knowing that she is going against Creon’s law. She also has enough self-respect as to not break when Creon tells her that what she has done is wrong. She argues her point even though it is futile. Although she does end up dead at the end of the story, she does not die in vain. She teaches Creon a lesson in life. He was too full of himself to let Antigone have her own way.

One of the lessons Sophocles want to teach is what having too much pride may bring, for at the end of the book Creon loses his most loved ones'. Creon is not willing to back down from his original rule because his pride will be hurt if he did. He feels his pride would be severely hurt if he lets Antigone bury her brother, especially because she is a female. He says in line 759 that it is “better to fall from power, if fall we must, at the hand of a man—never be rated inferior to a woman, never.” Creon believes his power among the people will fall if he were to allow Antigone go against his rules; therefore, he cannot lose face. It is at the end of the story that Creon changes his mind about what to do with Antigone, by then it is too late, just like the chorus suggests at the end of the play.

In the story it is not only the Chorus whom point out that pride will return in blows of wisdom but also Tiresias, the blind prophet gives the same warning. In line 137 Tiresias tells Creon that “pride is a crime.” Before this Creon is too into himself to be able to listen to Antigone’s and his son’s pleas. It is until the end that Creon decides to change his mind because he has gained the wisdom necessary to understand his folly.

The Chorus does suggest that wisdom and humility come too late to do any good, but this is not always the case. It is true in this play because everyone is too scared to give Creon the wisdom he requires to correct his wrong. Creon’s humility is also too late; for in the end he loses is son, wife, and his soon to be daughter-in-law. He is left with pain and suffers. This is not the case in all the stories.

It is good to have pride and other qualities, but one should not let these certain qualities go over-board for they may bring suffering and pain, like in the play. Because we are humans it is inevitable to avoid doing mistakes, but because we are humans we are also able to correct our wrongdoings. (558)