"Too Late" and Greek Tragedy

If Antigone can teach us anything, it's to not ignore the signs and let our pride overshadow our reason. Creon, whilst setting an important principle in his mind and, originally, with some degree of reasonableness, also shunned several important people who may have been able to save him from the tragedy to befell his family at the end of the play.

Creon's hubris was his downfall, even though he felt he was doing the right thing for Thebes, he let his ego dictate all of his actions, and eventually struck Thebes with such fear that no one felt comfortable or safe disagreeing with his increasingly hostile actions except for his own son, who even then sacrificed his life for his principles and love. The Leader of the Chorus represents an interesting side to the story, while he tells Creon the truth, he often does it with tongue in cheek because he is so afraid of what the King may do in anger if he feels as though HIS right is being questioned. Creon forgets very quickly that the King is to protect the right of Thebes, not his own, and becomes more and more filled with his own egomania until eventually everyone dies who he held dear.

He acted too late, a theme characteristic of Greek Tragedy. After finally understanding his foolishness (with finally being the important word) he finds that he has taken too long to come to truth, and all that he could have saved are gone. Creon's hubris is just that, it exists to show what happens when Pride and Ego supersede logic and fairness. Creon began the story with a somewhat level head, regressed into lunacy and as his son put it, behavior like a "child", and eventually ended the story a damn fool who had found out just too late that his previous foolishness was pointed out to him and made apparent, but he was too full of himself to notice.

Important lessons can be taken from this, as even a King, if not especially a King, can find himself thrown off of his high horse with his high ego and his high "rights" and down onto the ground with logic and reason; and more often than not, the actions he made will come down with him, damning both him and the ones he loves.