Antigone: The Tragic Hero

Have you ever read or watched a play that left your heart in pieces? Then, you have definitely come across what is called a tragedy. A tragedy is a form of drama in which the ending is a deep, serious, and sad one that leaves the audience in sorrow; this devastating ending is caused by the hero’s downfall, which is due to their “tragic flaw.” Every tragedy has a fallen hero known as “the tragic hero.” In the drama, “Antigone,” by Sophocles, there are two main tragic heroes, Antigone and Creon. Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus, the king of Thebes, who dies at the beginning of the play leaving his two sons Eteocles and Polyneices, fighting over his thrown. Both of his sons die in the battle leaving the throne to their uncle, Creon, who clashes with Antigone; this clash leads to a tragedy where the two tragic heroes have their own

At the end of the play, the tragic flaw is unveiled to the tragic heroes in what is called a moment of recognition or anagnorisis. In this play “Antigone” there were two central tragic heroes, Antigone and Creon, with both similarities and differences. Antigone’s tragic flaw was relatively due to a positive quality, which is extreme loyalty to her brother in addition to another negative quality, which is being revolutionary. On the other side, Creon’s tragic flaw had a negative motive of extreme tyranny and stubbornness against the laws of nature and gods and human emotions, which caused tragic effects that could not be reversed despite his efforts at the end; consequently, Antigone and Creon’s characters meet at the point of recalcitrance. In this artistic drama, the writer delivers a significant message that utmost obstinacy and pride results in harsh punishments known as “the blows of fate” which are surely acute for anyone to