Creon: The Tragic Hero In The Play Antigone

Antigone’s interactions with Creon highlights his angry, insulting, and unreasonable nature. Antigone reasons with Creon that her actions are justified by the Gods, as they would approve of her burial of Polyneices, her brother. He goes on to show his insulting, and disrespectful nature in his statements expressed in lines 549-550,” ...if she goes her way and

In the story of Antigone by Sophocles , the character Creon is the tragic hero. Creon is a Tragic Hero because he was born into nobility, doomed to make a serious error in judgment, and realizes he made an irreversible mistake.

To start off with, Creon is a tragic hero because he realized that he made an irreversible mistake. Creon realizes that he made a horrible mistake after he locked Antigone up in the cave. Antigone fearlessly states, “It is hard to deny the heart, But I will do it: I will not fight with destiny.” (Sophocles, 783).

A tragedy is a difficult and rewarding form of drama for the audience, which was made into an art by the Greeks. A tragic hero is a character that of a noble stature, brought down by an act of injustice, has a tragic flaw, has a choice that results in the characters downfall, a misfortune not entirely deserved, and most importantly, the character gins self-knowledge. This skillfully describes King Creon. In the Greek drama Antigone by Sophocles, Teiresias, the prophet, is a foil to King Creon. Teriesias display of stubbornness highlights Creon’s hamartia of pride.

Courage is the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear; bravery. In the Greek tragedy Antigone, continues to fight for her for her family’s name although it has been slandered because of mistakes her ancestors made in the past. When Creon creates a law that forbids anyone to her brother, Polynices, Antigone heroically attempts to save her brother’s honor her brother even though she knows the harsh consequences that may follow. Although Creon is always loyal to the state based on what he believes, Antigone’s courage to her family can't be matched by any other character. Antigone is the courageous character of this play because she would accept any consequences for her brother, she would die for him, and let her dream of being a mother and wife vanish.

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.

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.

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.

Cindy Yoon Mr.Constantini English 1A 18 September 2015 Real Tragic Hero of Antigone The play, Antigone is an Ancient Greek play mostly about myth written by Sophocles. There are two main characters in this play which are Antigone and Creon. Antigone is a girl who tries to bury her brother, Polyneices who died during the war and she chooses family instead of the government. Creon, is Antigone’s uncle, and also a King of Thebes who didn’t allow the people to bury Polyneices.

Nicholas Woolery Mrs. Simpson English 10 – Per 1 26 March 2023 Antigone Final Essay V2 In life we are often faced with multiple perspectives, it is our job to be able to see other points of view and make justified decisions based on these perspectives. If not, we will end up much like Creon. Creon is a character who is often given the title of a tragic hero. The idea of a tragic hero is the central character of a play, film, etc., depicted as a noble figure who experiences a downfall.

In Sophocles’ play Antigone, Creon, the king of Thebes, best represents a tragic hero. Creon demonstrates goodness in his intentions for Thebes as well as his fragile state due to the fact that he recently lost several family members. Creon, newly named king, finds himself as highest ranking official around, showing superiority. Creon often acts stubborn and prideful, his tragic flaw. And lastly, he must come to terms with the fact that he caused the death of his wife, son, and niece.

Would you deem it fair if one brother receives a proper burial and the other one does not? Antigone was faced with this question, when she is had to face Creon’s decision of how her two brother’s deaths will be honored. Antigone had decided to break the law that Creon had set up, in order to give her fallen brother the proper burial that she felt he deserved. She had chosen to follow her moral conscience rather than listen to the creed that had been decided. While Antigone had chosen loyalty to her family and old traditions about burial, her uncle Creon had chosen power over family, deeming that love only makes you weak.

In Antigone, the titular character buries the body of her brother, Polynices, despite a declaration from Creon that no one shall bury him or else they will face death as well. Antigone believes that divine law, the right of all bodies to be buried, is greater than Creon’s law. She also claims she could not leave the body and live on in grief and she is not afraid of death. Antigone makes the right choice in sacrificing her life to bury her brother because she makes Creon a better person, does what she knows is right, and receives eternal benefits. Antigone’s decision to bury Polynices makes Creon a better person after she faces death for her disobedience of Creon’s decree.

Almost always, in Greek tragedies a “tragic hero” has a hamartia, or tragic flaw, which will cause their concluding demise. In the Greek playwright, Antigone written by Sophocles, the interesting character, Creon, is a prime example of this. According the Aristotle’s theory, to be a tragic hero you have to have three traits: a flaw, a fall, and acceptance of your current situation. Creon’s flaw is his ego, which blinds him and lures him to do rather profane activities. Due to Creon’s ego, him losing everything caused by that very hamartia, and acceptance of the series of unfortunate events that occurred; Creon is the tragic hero in Antigone

In Antigone, there was two brothers who shared being the King and one of the brothers, Polynices, wanted to start a war with the kingdom because he wanted to be the main ruler. Polynices and his brother Eteocles fight and they both end up killing each other. Their Uncle Creon, who takes position as King when they are both killed, decides that only Eteocles will have a proper burial and Polynices will be left to rot. Antigone, Polynices and Eteocles sister, thinks that Creon’s decision is unfair and takes upon herself to give Polynices a proper burial. When their other sister Ismene finds out, she is stuck between helping her sister bury their brother and following Creon’s demands.