Comparing Creon And Brutus In Antigone And Julius Caesar

The tragic heroes Creon and Brutus are lessons against being too prideful to listen to others and conversely, being too gullible. In the tragedies Antigone and Julius Caesar, by Sophocles and Shakespeare, the characters Creon and Brutus are similar tragic heroes. Both have noble statutes, and are driven to make their nations prosperous, but their fatal flaws, Creon’s pride and Brutus’s overt idealism and trustingness, cause their downfall. Furthermore, before their downfall, both realize their mistakes, but despair at the knowledge that they cannot change the course of action they have taken. Creon and Brutus are both in high positions in their nations’ governments, having the potential to bring prosperity to their nations. Creon is†¦show more content†¦Then, he refuses to listen to Teiresias’s warning prophecies, burying Antigone alive for disobeying his order. Right as Creon realizes his mistake and recalls this order, Antigone kills herself. This leads to the suicides of Creon’s son Haemon, and his wife Eurydice, with Eurydice cursing Creon for the deaths of Antigone and Haemon. At the end of the play, he is left alone with the knowledge of his mistakes, wishing for death. Because of Creon’s pride, he refused to listen to the counsel of others, leading to tragedy. In contrast to Creon, Brutus’s fatal flaw is that he is too trusting of others’ advice and flattery, which leads him into the conspiracy against Caesar. Cassius plays on Brutus’s love for Rome to bring him into the conspirators’ group. H e has Cinna put forged letters â€Å"where Brutus may but find [them],† (Julius Caesar, Act 1, Scene 3, Line 144) and Brutus, believing the letters, joins the group. Then, he trusts Antony to give a speech at Caesar’s funeral, even though Antony supported Caesar. Because of this, Antony is able to stir up a mob against the conspirators, forcing them to flee the city and form armies to take control of Rome. The conspirators eventually fall in battle, and at the end of the play, Brutus kills himself, remarking that he did not kill Caesar as willingly as he now kills himself. He realized his mistake, but despaired, knowing that he cannot change what has happened. Furthermore, the audience learns aShow MoreRelatedRay Bradbury s Fahrenheit 4514443 Words   |  18 PagesShakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Ceasar. In Julius Ceasar, a group of conspirators plot to kill Ceasar because they fear that he will try to gain too much power and be a bad ruler. Taking this into account, Caesar’s best friend Brutus joins the conspiracy. Brutus is a man who puts the state of the country and people before himself, so he too, believes that Caesar would be a bad ruler and plots to kill him before he can get more power. They succeed and assassinate Caesar during a Senate meeting. A