"Antigone" by Sophocles

              

              The characters in Antigone all resemble and play significant roles. Ismene, sister of Antigone is obedient, passive and a conforminist. She does what she is told and listens to the head of her society, her uncle, Creon. “Would you bury him, when it is forbidden the city?” (Ismene 50). This just shows how Ismene knows it’s wrong and forbidden to go against what Creon told the town. She reminds Antigone that it’s against what their uncle said but that doesn’t stop her. Ismene tries to stop Antigone and let her realize it’s wrong but Antigone being confident, does what she believes is the right thing to do.
            

               Haemon, Creon’s son, argues with him about women and how to never trust them. Creon tells Haemon “When an evil woman shares your bed and home. What greater wound can there be than a false friend? No. Spit on her, throw her out like an enemy, this girl, to marry someone in Death’s house” (Creon 702-705). He finds women as “false friends” and “evil” compared to men. Creon doesn’t want Haemon to fall into their “trap” and to be strong against women and their theories. Haemon goes against his father and tells Creon is he ridiculous for not listening to what he has to say. All Creon does is listen to himself and if others say things he doesn’t want to hear, he just tunes them out. Haemon’s role is to show the reader that there is a man defending women; letting people know that there will be a gender conflict in this Drama. Men vs. Women will be a long struggle throughout the play. Haemon also realizes that even though Creon is his father, he stands up for what he believes in regardless to what Creon thinks about women.

              

               Teiresias, the blind prophet, is significant for warning Creon. He gives Creon advice and encourages him to take it just like the previous times. Creon, being the strong and unreasonable person he is, sticks to his ground and doesn’t listen to what Teiresias tells him. In fact, Creon believes that Teiresias is telling him all this for the money. “Well, the whole breed of prophets certainly loves money” (Creon 1109-1110). Teiresias’s role is to change Creon’s mind in following through with his plan on making Antigone suffer for going against Creon’s rule.

             
               All these characters show an ongoing argument between one another. Conflicts with each character foreshadow what may happen later on in the plot. Teiresias’s explanation to his warning allows Creon to rethink what he was going to do. “For my part, since my intention is so changed, as I bound her myself, myself will free her. I am afraid it may be best, in the end of life, to have kept the old accepted laws” (Creon 1179-1182). By listening to Teiresias, he may have saved Antigone and himself based on what the future may bring him.