A tragic hero is a character who makes a mistake due to a flaw that inevitably leads to their own destruction. The play Antigone is a very good example of showing what a tragic hero is. This play was written by Sophocles and tells the story about Antigone’s uncle, Creon, declaring to only bury only one of her two brothers after they killed each other in a battle over ruling the kingdom. She goes against her uncle’s law and buries Polynieces, who was left unburied while Eteocles was. Creon finds out about her doings, and sentences her to live in a cell until her death. Many people believe that Antigone is the tragic here, although I think Creon is the true tragic hero. Many people could confuse the tragic hero with Antigone because the play was named after her. She could be a good choice, but she is lacking the main characteristics for being a tragic hero: the feeling of remorse for her actions and a moral flaw. Creon is the one with the key element for being a tragic hero: having a flaw which causes something to go wrong, realizing what you’ve done, and accepting the things that will come to you because of that.
Although Creon acts as a great king who will do what is right, he obviously has the flaw that leads to his demise.
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She is brought to Creon by the guards and tries to explain why she disobeyed the law. Creon asks her why she did this, and she says, “It was plain...Because it was Zeus who ordered it.” Antigone wants to respect the gods and their laws, while Creon would rather follow man’s law. She tries to tell him that he is doing wrong but he thinks that his “voice is the one voice giving orders” in the city. He has too much pride to accept that he is wrong and fix what he has done. Even though he is warned by Antigone that what he has done is displeasing the gods, he doesn’t want to be told that he is wrong. That is the problem that will cause him to
Creon is stubborn enough to disobey the gods when he and the audience knows that there would be negative consequences for such a transgression like that. Antigone then proceeds to say that justice dwells with the gods, meaning that their law is above all else. She also says that the gods will not listen to the laws of Creon. Creon thinks that his law and order is higher than those of the gods, never wavering in his position. In other myths, when someone thinks they’re higher than the gods, they usually end up suffering for their belief.
¨All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong.¨ This is one of the many concepts that tragic hero's fail to understand in greek tragedies. A greek tragedy is a play in which the protagonist, usually a man of importance, falls to disaster through the combination of a personal failing and circumstances that he cannot control. In greek theatre this protagonist is called a Tragic Hero. A tragic hero is someone who is born into nobility, and through his own doings, losses everything in the end..
Antigone is an admirable character, for her steady and unwavering determination is something to applaud her on. But this same exact character trait is responsible for her inevitable death. Antigone is a prime example of a tragic hero. A tragic hero is typically a man or woman with an outstanding quality or characteristic, which eventually leads them to their downfall. Antigone’s stubbornness and unrelenting attitude lead her to disobey King Creon, which in turn, leads to her solemn and unfortunate fate.
There are several aspects of Greek society that is present in Antigone. One is that the Greeks thought that excessive pride was a sin. The Greeks thought that having pride made one seem to be above the gods. Creon was a very proud person. He is too proud to admit when he is wrong.
Creon is not aware of his flaws until the end; after he loses everything important to
Creon is the tragic hero in the Greek play “Antigone” because of his characteristics and the flaws that he creates as the story progresses. Creon is know as the tragic hero in Antigone. One of the many traits that show him actually being the tragic hero is the fact that he was born into nobility. The
Tragic heroes characterize tragedies because they tell the tragic story of those heroes and their tragic flaws. In the book Antigone written by Sophocles, we are met with many characters of the book, and the tragic hero is depicted into two characters, Antigone and Creon. We see the tragic death of Antigone as she took her life in the end of the book, and Creon the king of Thebes, who also faces his tragedy in the book. To begin with, Antigone tells the story that depicts the tragedy of Antigone, who also seems to be the tragic hero.
In the play Antigone, there is some disagreement on who the tragic hero is. While some claim it to be Antigone, she is merely the title. The real answer is Creon, whose storyline almost perfectly emulates the definition of a tragedy. While he begins high and mighty, ruler of Thebes, his own personality and mistakes bring his downfall. Antigone continues irritating Creon, eventually leading to her death.
In the play Antigone, the idea of a tragic hero is thrown between characters. Two of the characters that are best described as tragic heros are Antigone and Creon. In the play, the main character, Antigone stands up for what she believes is right and honorable. To do this, she has to break the law. As a result she is prized with death just because of standing up for what she believes in.
Throughout Antigone, there are two characters that could be described as a tragic hero. Aristotle first defined the definition of a tragic hero. According to him a tragic hero is, “ the protagonist of a Greek Drama, who because of an error of judgment or tragic flaw, suffers a reversal of fortune.” Along with being a tragic hero, one has to contain certain qualities to qualify as a tragic hero. A tragic hero must be neither good nor bad, contain a tragic flaw, and also realize the fall in their life.
As demonstrated throughout the Greek tragedy Antigone, Creon’s tragic flaw is hubris which causes his downfall . The downfall begins when Creon refuses to give Polyneices, the son of Oedipus and the brother of Antigone, a burial. Creon believes that Polyneices did not die an honorable death as he broke exile and raised the sword against his home city, Thebes, so in return he will not receive a burial. Creon’s pride takes over and so he believes he is a man not only superior to women , but a king superior to the gods. He claims, Go out of your heads entirely?
Against the warning of others, Creon goes on with his plan to essentially sentence Antigone to her death. Creon continually ignores what others counsel him to do because he believes that just because he is king, everything he does is right. It is this thinking that ultimately leads to the death of not only Antigone, but also Creon’s son and wife as well. All tragic heroes suffer from a tragic flaw that leads to their downfall. Creon suffers from two tragic flaws, pride and stubbornness.
Antigone is one of the greatest tragedies ever written by Sophocles. There is a controversial question about this play: Who is the tragic hero? Could it be Antigone or Creon? Even though the play’s name is Antigone, but as I read the story. A sensible and responsible king, Creon, is a tragic hero because of his power madness, self-righteousness, and ruthlessness.
When asked, “Who is the tragic hero in Antigone?,” you might automatically think of the character Antigone. The character’s name is the title of the play like in “Hamlet”. The only difference is that Hamlet was the tragic hero in “Hamlet” moreover Creon is the tragic hero in “Antigone”. It all comes down to the definition of Aristotle’s tragic hero. Aristotle states that a tragic hero is, “a person who must evoke a sense of pity and fear in the audience.
The tragic hero is a character in a book that comes from a noble background that has a tragic flaw which brings the character the greatest suffering which results in their downfall. In “Antigone”, there are two characters who can be considered the tragic hero of the story: Creon and Antigone. Antigone is a brave and fearless women who dies for a noble cause, while Creon is a controlling and powerful king of Thebes. Both Creon and Antigone have qualities to make them the tragic hero, but Creon is the true “tragic hero” because his hamartia causes his downfall. Creon is the tragic hero of “Antigone” because his hubris muddles his judgment and makes him cause his own undoing.