Creon: The Tragic Hero Of Antigone

The article “The Tragic Hero in Greek Drama” claims that Sophocles, through the tragic heroes in Antigone and Oedipus the King, suggests, “we could do everything right, act on the best information available, and with the best of intentions, yet still commit unspeakable horrors” (“The Tragic Hero in Greek Drama”). Aristotle, a well-known ancient Greek literary critic, created a definition of a tragic hero. His definition is known as the Aristotelian tragic hero, which has many requirements that the character must possess. Creon is the character that best exemplifies Aristotle’s tragic hero because of his virtue, his hubris, and his realization of his fate; however, others may argue that Antigone is a better example of a tragic hero because of

A tragic hero is defined as a man or woman of high standing and respect. A person who has many positive character or personality traits, but has one major character flaw. This flaw will ultimately be the downfall of the hero. They also have the ability to endure great suffering. Also the audience must relate to the character but also accept that their downfall was necessary. Antigone easily demonstrates all of these qualities through her short and tragic life.

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.

He was blind to his own hubris and let all of these terrible things happen. He started out the play being strong about what he believed in and didn’t let anyone, even Teiresias, tell him that he was making the wrong decisions. In the end, Creon’s fate turned on him and he became the epitome of humiliation and regret. I feared Creon because he was a ruthless leader who let his own self kill three people. He might not have physically killed them, but his actions did. He sentenced a woman to death for trying to put her dead brother to rest. It didn’t matter that Eteocles betrayed his city. It was the god’s unwritten law for him, or anyone, to be buried. Antigone says, “Your edict, King, was strong,- But all your strength is weakness itself against- The immortal unrecorded laws of God.- They are not merely now: they were, and shall be,- Operative for ever, beyond man utterly.” (359-363) Creon denied this law because he thought that he was higher than the

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.

Love is a powerful motivation it can even drive you into hating someone, love drives you to do even what you wouldn’t normally do. Creon makes a law that forbids anyone from burying Antigone’s brother. When she finds out she goes against the king and buries her brother. When he is informed about what happened he punishes her. Antigone kills herself and then his son kills himself when he finds out that his love had died. Antigone’s love is so great for her brother that she went against the king and buried him with religious rights. Then Haemon kills himself because Antigone had died and he wanted to be with her. In the end Creon’s wife killed herself because her son had died. Creon is perceived as the tragic hero of the play when he is talking

Creon shows nobility when he was announced as king. In the text Creon says, ¨As the next in blood, I have succeeded to the full power of the throne.¨ When Creon says ¨As the next in blood¨ what he means is that he is the next person to receive the title as king in his family and being a king is definitely a noble position. Also he says that he will receive ¨full power of the throne.¨ The only person who has the full power of the throne is the king, so Creon must be a very noble man. Another example of Creon being born into nobility is when the citizens of thebes acknowledge Creon as king, ¨Have I told you of the new decree of our king Creon.¨ Not only does the townsperson say that Creon is king, but he also acknowledges a new decree Creon has made. Kings are the only one who have the power to make new laws, so Creon must be king. Creon is a tragic hero because he was born into nobility as king and makes new laws for the citizens of

He tries to prove himself as a worthy ruler by making an example out of his niece, Antigone, when she breaks his new decree that her brother is not to be given a proper burial. Creon sentences her to death to prove a point, but it ultimately backfires on him, and his loved ones die because of it. His downfall is excessive for what choices he makes leading up to it, and he even proclaims: “Whatever I touch goes wrong- once more a crushing fate’s come down upon my head!” (Sophocles, Antigone 127); this is a truly tragic fate for a good intentioned

Of the one hundred and twenty plays and tales Sophocles had written during his time, only seven have survived to today and Antigone a tale of the constant turmoil of the royal family of Thebes is one of those few ancient tales. Creon, the new king of the city of Thebes, strives for justice and absolute loyalty to the crown, however, after he discovered that an unidentified citizen had defied one of his recently announced laws, he inflicted his fury on himself and those around him. Creon is the tragic figure that functions as an instrument of the suffering of others and contributes to the tragic vision of the story, Antigone by Sophocles, as a whole by threatening his subjects and family with death, ignoring the thoughts of his elders and peers, and bringing the feeling of death to himself and also death itself to those around him.

Creon is an example of a tragic hero. He is one of the major characters in Sophocles’ trilogy that consisted of ‘Oedipus the king’, ‘Oedipus at Colonus’ and ‘Antigone’. Over the course of this saga, we see Creon’s character develop with noticeable flaws. In the first story, ‘Oedipus the king’, Creon is portrayed as a cool and rational advisor to Oedipus who tried to prevent him from taking rash decisions such as banishing himself. Creon ultimately fails, and his hamartia is revealed in the subsequent story ‘Oedipus at Colonus’. Creon’s hamartia was that he had a strong belief that his reasoning and decisions were

He believes that loyalty should be dedicated and given to the state and the state only. He strives for power and loyalty from his citizens. He believes that no one individual has the right to be put above the state than himself. “And whoever places a friend above the good of his own country, he is nothing: I have no use for him.” (Sophocles, 203-204). Creon believes that all of his powers are above those of the gods. He believes he should be respected and this belief leads him to act stubborn and arrogant. “Never at my hands will the traitor be honored above the patriot, But whoever proves his loyalty to the state: I’ll prize that man in death as well as life.” (Sophocles, 232-235). Creon proves that he puts himself above the gods and says that he will praised them in death and life. The gods do not give him the authority to say he can praise them after they are dead. Creon does not get to chose whether they have a pleasant afterlife or not. He has no regards for the gods authority or power and only fights for glory and power for himself.

Creon shows that he is the tragic hero in “Antigone” because he is born into nobility. Creon shows nobility when he is announced as King of Thebes. The text states, “As the next in blood, I have succeeded to the full power of the throne.”(pg.755) Creon has now become King of Thebes because Oedipus, the last king, has died and so have his sons, and Creon is the next in the line of nobility to be King. Creon is born into nobility when he starts enforcing laws that he makes as soon as he is made King. Creon says, “As long as I am King”.(pg.758) Now that Creon

As his inner self shows, and so does his own downfall. As he has already angered the gods by not only refusing burial rights to his nephew but also punishing his niece Antigone for burying him anyway. Creon does not fall from power, he fell from his ivory tower, he come back into the era of reality. As Creon did not listen to his son Haemon, the people of Thebes, and also the prophet Teiresias’s order of which to save Antigone, Creon brought forth upon himself his own downfall due to his pride and ignorance to others. These tragic flaws are present in tragic heroes. Even though the name of the story is “Antigone” the main character and tragic hero is Creon, because of his high power, and also the fall of his family. His fate is his own doing, he had the opportunity to fix it, but his tragic flaws kept him from doing what was

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