Despite Creon’s past successful leadership, it often appeared as though Creon’s common choice of decisions and following threats led to his loss as his actions caused his people enough fear to want to either escape his rule. Such examples are seen with the guard who says “you won’t see me coming here again.”(Sophocles, 286) which clearly showed his loss of loyalty to Creon after he and the other guards had been threatened under false accusations, or Antigone whose main purpose in the story was to cause to incite conflict by defying Creon’s laws. The worst example of his ignorance to other’s opinions was when Creon’s own son Haemon one of the few people who would be in his favor, enraged Creon into a blind fury simply by stating that he disagreed with his choice in “No, not when I see you making a mistake and being unjust” (Sophocles,847/848). Unfortunately for all involved, no matter their intentions or actions, it always seems as though Creon’s judgements were precisely incorrect and poorly
In the short story titled “Antigone,” the author portrays Creon as a tragic hero by displaying flaws in Creon's character shown throughout the story. Creon’s character contains many flaws which lead to many problems. His decisions end up deciding the fates of his son, his wife, and Antigone. Creon finally realizes that what he has done is sinful to the gods. He has put his own pride over the appreciation of the gods.
The play, Antigone, is a tragedy written by the Greek poet Sophocles. A common theme among tragedies is that they have a tragic hero, and Antigone is no different. The tragic hero of this poem is Creon, the King of Thebes. Creon is faced with the difficult task of punishing his niece, Antigone. She has broken one of his laws stating that no one is to give proper burial rites to Polyneices, Antigone’s brother, because he tried to overthrow Creon. 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. Both of these flaws lead Creon down a path of destruction that he is unable to return from.
Another characteristic that defines a tragic hero is that they experience misfortune that is not entirely deserved, and in this case, Creon did; he experienced the loss of both his wife and son. In Antigone, it states, Messenger:“we saw Antigone hanging by the neck/… Haemon had his arms around her waist-/ he was embracing her and crying out in sorrow for the loss of his own bride/...Angry at himself, the ill-fated lad/ right then and there leaned onto his own sword,” (Lines 1359-1377). After Antigone decided to take her own life, Haemon, Creon’s son and Antigone’s husband, saw Antigone’s body and decided to end his own life as well. Not only did Creon cause the death of Antigone, he also inadvertently caused the death of his son, Haemon. In addition to the death of his son, Creon also caused the death of his wife, Eurydice. In Antigone, it states, Messenger:“She killed herself,/ with her own hands she stabbed her belly,/ once she heard her son’s unhappy fate,”(Lines 1460-1462). Once Creon’s wife, Eurydice, received the news of her son’s suicide, she decided to take her own life as well. So, in addition to Antigone’s and Haemon’s death, Creon also caused his wife’s death because he refused to let Antigone go sooner than he did. This whole ordeal stems from Creon’s stubbornness which embodies the play’s tragic vision because it shows how one’s
Creon is a tragic hero because he is born into nobility. He was never elected leader but he was just put there as a leader because of who his family is. The first instance that shows how Creon is born into nobility is when he is talking about how he is blood of the previous kings and how people must now obey him. Creon says, “As the next in blood, have succeeded to the full power of the throne. This quotes supports why Creon is born into nobility because it is stating that Creon is the next in the bloodline of kings and queens and therefore he will be the next king. The next spot where Creon shows that he is born into nobility is when he the people are talking about him. The people are saying, “But now at least our new king is coming, Creon of Thebes, Menoikeus son.”
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.
“A city which belongs to just one man is no true city,” (Lines 812,813) Haemon informs Creon, his father, to show that he cannot run a city without the ideas and opinions of others. There are many different ways to view this play and many different people visualize it in a different way, but in the play Antigone the themes Love and Betrayal are used carefully together to create Creon’s tragic hero. The events that occurred initially exposed Creon’s selfishness, megalomania, and anger which is showed throughout the play.
Countless times, Creon was implored to change his mind to preserve the safety of others. However, due to his uncompromising and egocentric nature, he repeatedly denied this aid, and therefore caused the tragedies of the deaths of his niece and his son. The events that occurred in the play Antigone accurately represent the characteristics of a tragic flaw and subsequent suffering that define a
The first tragic fall that leads Creon to his downfall is his power madness. His power madness fall can be supported by Antigone’s dialogue, “Further: he has the matter so it that anyone who dares attempt the act will die by stoning in the town.” (Antigone 2). The quote means that anyone who didn’t follow Creon’s decree will die. Another support can be seen when Creon said, “ Not to take sides with any who disobey.” (Antigone 8). This quote shows that he wants everyone to obey him and anyone who disobeys him will get in trouble. The last support can be found when Creon said, “ Not to take sides with any who disobey.” (Antigone 8). This quote shows that he wants everyone to obey him and anyone who disobeys him will get in trouble. The last support can be found when Creon said, “But he who crosses law, or forces it, or hopes to bring the ruler under him, shall never have a word of praise from me.” (Antigone 23). This means that Creon is “madly in love” with his power and thinks that he can do anything because he is the king.
“But now at last our new King is coming; Creon of Thebes.” After Creon sends Antigone to live in a cave until death, he realizes a mistake he’s made and tries to get her out. He realized it’s too late to try and save her. She's already dead, so is everyone he loved. Creon is a tragic hero because he was born into nobility, had an endowed with a tragic flaw, and realized they have made an irreversible mistake.
In the play Antigone Creon is king and he has made many irreversible mistakes and judgments because of how he has all the power of the city they live in. Most tragic hero’s have made huge mistakes because of the power they get. In the play Antigone Creon is a tragic hero because he has realize he has made an irreversible mistake, was born into nobility, and doomed to make a serious error in judgment.
In the book, Antigone, written by Sophocles The Oedipus Cycle, Creon is portrayed as a tragic hero. He literally came from the ground up. He was the despised one in the family that wasn’t really ever given much importance to. Creon was always living in the shadow of his big brother, Oedipus, which was the king of Thebes before Creon was. Straight off the bat you could noticed Creon’s hatred he would always feel against anyone and everyone who didn’t agree with him. Creon became the king of Thebes shortly after Oedipus blinded himself. At the begin of the book, there was a rivalry between two brothers, Eteocles and Polynices. They were both arguing about who would get the throne, but at the end they ended up splitting the kingship between them.
In Sophocles’ Antigone, Antigone and Creon both have qualities of a tragic hero according to Aristotle’s definition. Aristotle believes a tragic hero is a decent human, but falls due to a weakness in one’s character. In the plot, Antigone decides to bury her brother, which defies the laws of Creon, the dictator of Thebes. Antigone believes she must hold her family values and the gods’ beliefs with utmost respect. Antigone refuses to deny her crime, so she is sentenced to be death by Creon. Antigone is the tragic hero because she inspires pity and fear when her devotion to the gods and her morals lead to her downfall.
Creon showed that he was doomed to make a serious error is in judgement is when he made bad decision as the king. Creon is telling the people of the town of thebes, “Polyneices, I say, is to have no burial”. It is wrong for not having a proper burial for his nephew. Creon showed that he was doomed to make a serious error in judgment when he thought he was the only one to have a voice. When Creon is talking about his new law is when he says, “My voice is the one voice giving orders in this city creon”. This is saying that his voice is the only voice of the city and no one else's voice is visible. The two statements show that creon was doomed to make a bad judgement when he started to become
First of all, Creon fits Aristotle’s definition of tragic hero, which is excessive pride, also known as hubris. Creon is overconfident about himself and he doesn’t listen to others. For example, when the Choragos asked Creon: “I have been wondering, King: can it be that the gods have done this?” (Scene 1, Line 13), Creon says, “Stop! Must you doddering wrecks go out of your heads entirely? “The gods!” Intolerable!” (Scene 1, Line 114-117) in a very vilely way. By this quote, we can know that Creon’s attitude to Choragos shows his fatal flaw. Another example of Creon’s overconfidence is when Haemon and Creon were having a conversation. When Haemon was talking about what Creon did was wrong, Creon says, “And the