Why Does Haemon Visit His Father, Creon?

Long story short, Haemon visits his father to talk him out of killing Antigone. Creon’s law forbids anyone from burying Polynices, but Antigone decided to break it. After her crime, the king ordered her death, and nothing could change his mind. Haemon tries to reason with Creon and save his fiancé. 

In Sophocle’s Antigone, Creon becomes the new king after the war and immediately passes the law regarding the previous rulers of Thebes. They were brothers who killed each other in the battle for the throne. However, Creon favors only Eteocles, who was protecting the kingdom. Polynices’ body is about to be left outside with no honors. Therefore. The king forbids anyone to bury him under the fear of death. However, Antigone cannot stand such a violation of traditions and goes to perform at least some kind of burial ritual. 

As soon as Creon finds out that Antigone broke his law, he condemns her to death. The reason why he is so ready to kill his son’s fiancé is that he is blinded by his pride. Creon sees manhood as one of the most important qualities in a ruler, so taking his words back would mean that he is weak. However, not everybody agrees with such a point of view. His son, Haemon, comes to visit Creon to ask for something. He begs his father to be reasonable and listen to a piece of advice. People are against Antigone’s punishment, and it should mean at least something. Haemon asks the king to free Antigone. 

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