Which character trait can be used to describe the antagonist in the play antigone?
merciful
religious
humorous
ruthless

The right answer is ruthless, and this character trait is featured in Creon, the King of Thebes in this tragedy by Sophocles. Creon has become the new ruler, after the brothers and heirs to the throne, Eteocles and Polyneices, killed each other in battle. He orders to bury and honor the former, and to punish the latter by leaving his body unburied in the battlefield. Their sister, the merciful Antigone, wants to honor and bury his rebellious brother's body, even if that entails disobeying Creon's edict, and she proceeds to do so. She is discovered and Creon punishes her by burying her alive in a sepulchre. Creon eventually decides to bury Polyneices and to release Antigone, but when he arrives at the sepulchre he finds out that she has already taken her own life. While Antigone puts her family before her own life, Creon respects and obey the will of the gods whatever the cost.