Lord Creon The Tragic Hero In Sophocles Antigone

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 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.

Tragic heroes are apart of almost all plays worldwide weather you know it or not. In the play Antigone. One of the main characters who is the king of the city,Creon, is the tragic hero for three main reason. First of all he is born into nobility, he meets a tragic death, and lastly, Creon is endowed with a tragic flaw.

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.

All people can have power in our world, but only a few can have power and fewer can wield it with control in “Antigone”. Creon in the play “Antigone”, is the tragic hero because of the choices he makes and the way he acts. Creon is the tragic hero because he was born into nobility, responsible for his own fate, and doomed to make a serious error in judgement.

“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.

As defined by Aristotle, a tragic hero is one who is not entirely good or evil. They are an individual who experiences a “reversal of fortune through a fault of character or an uncontrollable accident” (Boucquey). He or she undergoes a dramatic change from happiness to misery (Boucqyey). In Sophocles’ Antigone, Creon is the tragic hero. According to Aristotle, a tragic hero should contain four traits: goodness, appropriateness, lifelike, and consistency, which Creon most prominently displays.

Sometimes we are not responsible human beings. Sometimes decision are made that we regret - decisions we wish to revert and ones we wish were never made. Who is the tragic hero in “Antigone”? Every character makes some very questionable and admittedly remorseful decisions in this Greek play that has led them to downfall. But who, out of all the possible candidates, is the main tragic hero, and what are the characteristics that make them one? Creon is the tragic hero in the Greek play “Antigone” because of his characteristics and the flaws that he creates as the story progresses.

Some people think that elders are always wise and true, but not in this case, “It is not right if I am wrong. But if I am young, and right, what does my age matter?” (Antigone. III, 96-99). The play Antigone, written by Sophocles, tells the story of how a girl named Antigone who buries her dead brother Polyneices breaking a law, causing a huge controversy between Creon, the ruler of Thebes, and Antigone. Creon believes she should die and sentences Antigone to death, but Creon is convinced it is wrong to do that, but before he can redeem his punishment for Antigone, she hangs herself. This causing a rippling effect of Haemon, Creon's son, and the Queen killing themselves. This all happened because of the tragic hero Creon, causing him to be the blame of the whole story, losing everything he had. Sophocles uses the tragic hero archetype in order to demonstrate the theme that what seems right is not always the best way to handle something.

“With great power comes great responsibility.” - Ben Parker. A tragic hero is a character that makes a mistake that leads to their own downfall. In “Antigone”, Creon is the tragic hero. Creon is the tragic hero because he realizes that he made an irreversible mistake, he is born into nobility, and he is responsible for his own fate.

In the story, Antigone by Sophocles, there is a tragic hero and that is Creon. Being self-centered can affect the surroundings of those who are acting like that, people act like this without knowing because they are too focused on themselves as in not taking other people advice or thinking that they are always correct. Creon became king of Theses and saw himself on top of everyone else. His selfishness affected everyone and himself.

In most cases, Greek plays fall under one of two categories: tragedy or comedy. A tragedy is an event causing great suffering, destruction, and distress, such as a serious accident, crime, or natural catastrophe whereas, a comedy is a professional entertainment consisting of jokes and satirical sketches, intended to make an audience laugh. The acclaimed play, Antigone, written by Sophocles, can be portrayed as a tragedy. In this play, the main character, Antigone, rebels against Creon, king of Thebes, by burying her brother, Polyneices, after Creon announces to everyone that he is not to be buried. Creon later discovers what she has done, and sentences her to death. His actions cause numerous to become enraged, including Antigone, which ultimately

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

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.

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. He is considered a man of misfortune that comes to him through an error of judgment.” Notice that Aristotle uses the words he, man, and him and not she, woman, or her. This hints that the tragic hero must be a man, not a woman. A tragic hero must also have certain characteristics such as hubris, hamartia, peripeteia, anagnorisis, nemesis, and catharsis. These all mean that the character’s tragic downfall must have a beginning, middle, and end and emanate a feeling of pity and fear in the audience.