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... the gods celebrating traitors? Inconceivable!' (p 73) Creon speaks of citizens that loyally submitting to their king would follow their kings in good times as well as bad. But his own nephew turned against him and his state, and an audience can understand the problem Creon was faced with as the ruler of the city and can empathize that the decision not to pay the last rites to a traitor is just. By empathizing with this it gives credit to Creon as a ruler, but raises ambiguity about Creon's character as an uncle. In turn this effects the audience to think Creon holds little family value and this proves true as he sentences his own son's bride to death.
Although some of Creon's actions and decision lost him empathy and understanding from the audience, Creon begins to gain some empathy as he realises that 'blood is thicker than water'. Creon spares the life of Ismene in spite of her claims that she helped her sister bury their brother. This is one of the first acts of compassion shown towards his family, even though Creon spares life for Ismene who cannot care for life, cut off from Antigone. This creates ambiguity for the character of Creon, by saving Ismene we realize he is not sinister and his initial purpose is not to act destructive.
The audience can understand the pressures of being the ruler of Thebes and making state laws that effect him as well as his relations, but a lot of empathy is lost as it is difficult to understand why Creon pursues what obviously seems to be the 'wrong' decisions. This allows the audience to read Creon's character with complexity as his character does have two sides, there is the political ruler of Thebes and then a mere man belonging to a family. Creon's complex pursuit for the wrong decision sets him up to become a tragic character. Creon gains empathy from the audience as he loses his son, Haemon, and his wife, Eurydice, despite his redeeming revelation to spare Antigone's life.
After speaking with the blind prophet, Tiresias, Creon takes the advice given by the Leader of the citizens of Thebes to give in. 'Go! Free the girl from the rocky vault and raise a mound for the body you exposed. ' (p 116) Out of better judgement Creon obeys this good advice, admits it will be hard but is prepared to undo the 'wrong' that he has committed and he goes to set Antigone free with his own hands. This redeeming decision makes the audience realize that Creon isn't a cold hearted man of destruction and that brings his character closer to the audience. They understand that Creon has misjudged the situations and his character gains respect from the audience because once Creon realizes his mistakes he take immediate action to fix them himself. This is why the suicides of his son and wife seem unfair and create sympathy and empathy for his character. Knowing that Creon had planned to free the sole of Polynices and then free Antigone the audience can share Creon's sorrow as he was punished so harshly because he lacked judgement.
The audience offers Creon's character empathy because they can understand that every man makes mistakes but it seem unfair to pay for them in the life destroying way Creon had to. This empathy lets the audience read his character with condolence and he is viewed as a tragic hero. The character of Ismene has the same inherited empathy as Antigone, for being the daughter of Oedipus and because she just lost her two brothers, but Ismene generates empathy from the audience as she too is faced with the difficult decision her sister faced. Denying to help her sister was obviously not easy for Ismene, she didn't want to dishonor the gods but also didn't want to defy Creon. 'I'd do them no dishonor but defy the city? I have no strength for that. ' (p 63) Although Antigone's decision to bury Polynices won her empathy from the audience, Ismene's decision not bury him also won her character empathy. As Ismene explained to Antigone she hasn't got the confidence, power or strength to choose the same decision as her dear sister. 'Remember we are women, We " re not born to contend with men. ' (p 62) The audience understands that Ismene is inflicted with fear and doesn't want more death in her doomed family, as she explains to Antigone how they are left so alone.
The audience can give Ismene empathy, as it is easy to understand that she feels trapped in her decision and they can empathize with Ismene's fear for her wild, irrational sister. This empathy does convince the audience to pity Ismene's character and that pity is carried out in the text as Ismene is left with no family but her devastated Uncle Creon. The character of Haemon and Eurydice represent suffering of the innocent and are both easily empathized with. Even after Haemon desperate plea to spare his future wife's life he still lost Antigone.
The audience can easily sympathize with Haemon's loss of a loved one and that allows the audience to empathize what it would have been like to lose a loved one and know it was because of your own fathers misguided decisions and his stubbornness to change them. The audience can share the pain of Haemon when his father still denies his own son's person plea for appeal. 'Then she will debt her death will bring another. ' (p 99) Eurydice held no main part in the play, made no decision or committed any 'wrong doing' but she had no choice in sharing the consequences of Antigone's and Creon's decisions. She lost her niece and son because of her husband's mistakes. The empathy felt for the loss of innocent lives, for both Eurydice and Haemon's, serve as consequences for Creon and escalates the misery of the whole tragic affair.
The loss of innocence is what makes the play Antigone a 'tragedy'. Antigone is a tragedy about the decisions that mortals make when concerned with love and life and when faced with laws regarding politics and religion. The drama works though those decision as the audience is directed to feel different degree's of empathy for each of the characters. The empathy depicts what sort of reading the audience will have of the character and that reading effects the interpretation of the play and decides which issues are important: like being faced with decisions that have to be made regardless of whether you are in a fit mind to. 'Wisdom is by far the greatest part of joy, and reverence toward the gods must be safeguarded.
The mighty words of the proud are paid in full with mighty blows of fate, and at long last those blows will teach us wisdom. ' (chorus, p 128)
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