Creon Tragic Hero Essay

Antigone is a tragedy written by Sophocles in 441 B.C. that details a young girl’s quest to avenge the death of her brother. It is the third of the three Theban plays in Sophocles Oedipusex. In his works, Aristotle suggests that a tragic hero in a Greek play must fulfil certain requirements. A tragic hero is defined as a character of noble stature, the hero has a defining flaw allowing the audience to relate to him, the downfall of the hero is caused by his fate, and the realization of the character’s defining flaw leads to their downfall. Although the name of the play is Antigone, I believe that Creon fits the role of a tragic hero more so than Antigone does. His role in the development of the tragedy, his sensible tragic flaw, and his dynamic

Creon is first off born of nobility. Creon was the son of Menoeceus and the brother of Jocasta. He is also the uncle and brother-in-law of Oedipus. Creon becomes king after Oedipus was banished, being the King of Thebes, Creon can be considered a tragic hero. Creon’s tragic flaw is that he is too stubborn and lets his pride obscure his decision making. When Eteocles and Polynices kill each other in battle, Creon orders his men to give Eteocles a complete military burial and decree Polynices’ body to remain unburied. Stubbornness is another defining tragic flaw of Creon. Creon demonstrate his stubbornness by not wanting to be proved wrong because of pride. When the Choragos tried to tell Creon that he made a mistake by telling that nobody can bury the body of Polyneices. Creon did not want to listen to the people of Thebes who tried to tell him that Antigone did the right thing, but of fear to Creon the could not really say anything. At the end of the play, Creon comes to realize his tragic flaw after he ultimately caused all of his family and Antigone deaths. Creon lost his will to live after this point, unwilling to forgive himself for the attroisty he caused. The same can be said for Antigone. She was born into royalty with her father, Oedipus, being the son of the former king and Creon was one of his brothers. She also has a hamartia of being too obdurated on the burial of her brother Polynices. Antigone believes it is her duty as a sibling to right the wrongs of Creon’s skewed judgement. However unlike Creon, Antigone never comes to the realization of her hamartia, which leads the her demise. From the beginning of the play, Antigone willingly accepts her fate for upholding her moral beliefs. She believes that the burial of her brother was just throughout the play and paid the ultimate price for her beliefs. This moment of the lack of