Sophocles Antigone: The Hero's Journey

Antigone is last book in a play trilogy by Sophocles about the tragic downfall of a family. The play focuses mainly on Antigone’s conflicting motivations developing Creon as the tragic hero in the play, causing him to be greedy and power crazed and unwilling to take others opinions. This leads to Creon’s tragic downfall and the death of Antigone and others important to Creon.

A tragic character is one whose errors and misfortunes lead to one’s own downfall. In Sophocles’ Antigone, Creon and Antigone are two characters whose adherence to their principles causes extreme conflict. Antigone believes in what is morally just, while Creon believes in what is civilly just. They both are passionate about fighting to prove that their principles are justifiable. Antigone and Creon, both expressing loyalty and pride toward opposing forces, are unable to come to a consensus, which ultimately leads to the destruction of both characters.

A hero is not always someone with power. A true hero can be a person that inspires you to be better in life. Many heroes simply help other in danger. Police officers, firefighters and even doctors give people strength to overcome problems. What kind of qualities makes a hero? In the play Antigone, the play writer Sophocles had different type of qualities for a hero. The character of Creon is a true tragic hero that wants to be respected by the city. His pride for the city caused pain to his family and himself.

Pride can be one of man's strongest qualities. In Sophocles' play, Antigone, the Theme of pride becomes the cause for destruction for both Creon and Antigone in the play.. Creon's Pride blinds him to the injustice he commits against Antigone and the gods. Antigone's pride leaves her no choice but to be killed because of her beliefs. They Both automatically surrender to their own hubris and demonstrate how uncontrolled pride leads to personal downfalls and destruction in Antigone. The excessive pride of Creon and Antigone lead to their downfalls in Antigone.

Creon is the protagonist in Antigone, because his motivation throughout Antigone is the stability and wellbeing of Thebes. Moreover, Antigone is the antagonist in Antigone, because her motivation is selfish and deceiving. In Antigone the setting is Thebes post the death of both airs to the throne. Eteocles dies defending his country from his brother Polynieces which died attempting to reclaim his right to the throne. The conflict throughout Antigone is Antigone’s responsibility to bury her brother Polynices and the law created by Creon, the new king of Thebes, which states that “No one shall bury him, no one mourn for him.” (Antigone 59) Antigone proceeds to disobey the law and dies in her own hands to ensure her own martyr status. Antigone is not the protagonist because of her selfish motivation and need to

You can easily link the events within Antigone to the Stanford prison experiment and the idea that people will assume roles because of their dispositions and/or their situations. This applies especially to Creon because before Oedipus left and his nephews died, he stated that he didn’t want the role of king, only the rights a king had. But as soon as he had to become king, he took to the role very quickly. He became a serious threat. He was quick to anger and couldn’t be reasoned with. When he found out someone had covered the body of Polyneices, he threatened to kill the sentry that had brought the message, even though he did nothing. When Antigone was brought to him, he didn’t hesitate in sentencing her to death. He sentenced his own niece to death for disobeying him. When Haimon tries to change his mind, imploring him to consider how his actions may hurt him since he is supposed to marry Antigone, Creon replies: “Let her find her husband in Hell! Of all the people in this city, only she had contempt for my law and

Creon is responsible for his own fate when he makes the decision to outlaw Polyneices’ honorable burial. Antigone states to Ismene, “They say that Creon has sworn no one shall bury him.”(pg.751) Creon’s decision to outlaw Polyneices’ burial has led Antigone to go out and bury Polyneices which ultimately leads to her death showing that Creon a tragic hero for being responsible for his own fate. Creon feels his decision was very right and he didn’t stop to think of what will others feel or say about him and his decision. It says in the play, “Polyneices, I say, is to have no burial: no man is to touch him or say the least prayer for him.”(pg.756) Creon, as a stubborn king, doesn’t even consult or argue with the high counsel about what they should do, he just makes his decision right away when he feels he has the only right to. Creon’s choice to outlaw Polyneices’ burial without advice or consulting ultimately gave him a trait of a tragic hero in

Upon being crowned king, Creon is portrayed as a responsible leader. However, Creon becomes a ruthless leader who did not abide by the laws of the gods and rules by his own will. In the book, Creon decides not to bury Polyneices after being told by Antigone that it is against the gods to not bury someone who fought with valor. After being told numerous times by Antigone to bury Polyneices, he decides to punish her by imprisoning her. This shows that Creon believed that not even the gods can go against his decision. In other words, Creon is concerned only with his

In Sophocles’s play Antigone, the throne of the city of Thebes has fallen into the hands of Creon, Antigone’s uncle, after the sudden and tragic death of Eteocles and Polynices. Under his rule, a new law forbidding anyone from burying Polyneices causes Antigone to decide between staying loyal to her country or to her family. In the play Antigone, the most real tragic hero that prevails is Creon because he embodies all the characteristics that a tragic hero must have while Antigone lacks some important characteristics.

Creon see Antigone as a person who is scheming against him for his crown because she bury Polyneices. Creon did not want to seem weak as the new king, and he wanted to make an example out of Antigone this is why Creon sent her to death. His family and the blind prophet warn Ceon of his actions, but he was too stubborn to care about the consequences of his actions. Creon explains and that Haemon should not care because that she is just a normal women now not even family when she bury Polynices. Creon say: “Do you want me to show myself weak before the people? / Or to break my sworn word? No, and I will not / The women dies. / I suppose she’ll plead “family ties.” Well let her”. (840). Then Creon was visited by the blind prophet Teiresias. Teiresias tells Creon that his actions as king have affected all people of Greece: “This was a sign from heaven. My boy describes it, / Seeing for me as I see for others. / I tell you, Creon, you yourself have brought / This new calamity upon us” (850). Creon tried to save Antigone, but it was already too late. Creon’s downfall is when loses his son, wife, and his willing to rule Thebes because didn't want to change his opinion when putting Antigone in a stone

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.

There has been some debate over which character in Sophocles', Antigone is the tragic hero of the tragedy. Two characters in general show most, if not all of the qualities of being a tragic hero. Both Antigone and Creon show some of the qualities of being a tragic hero. Antigone show four of the five qualities, but Creon shows all of the five qualities of being a tragic hero. That being said Creon is the tragic hero of Sophocles', Antigone.

How would you feel if you were locked away to rot by one of your own family members because you did something they didn’t approve of? In Sophocles play, Antigone, this is just the case for the niece of Creon, King of Thebes. After getting word that her “own two brothers [...] slaughtered one another and brought about their common doom” (Sophocles 318), Antigone is distraught. What makes her infuriated is when she learns that her uncle, Creon, has decided that one of her brothers, Eteocles, will receive a proper burial and be honored while the other brother, Polyneices, will receive no burial and be remembered as a traitor. Soon after, Antigone takes action and performs a secret burial and ritual on her dead brothers corpse, but she is also

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.

Sophocles play “Antigone” introduces a lot of debatable topics such as Human law vs Divine laws, pride, but most importantly the topic of woman’s movement for empowerment. Long before 442 B.C.E, women were belittled because of their gender however, after the birth of “Antigone” it demonstrated a strong outreach towards women and their roles in society ”Antigone, a woman who defines King Creon’s edict without any fear, doubts, or regrets. This courageous woman, the fruit of incest, has fascinated philosophers in the nineteenth century, inspired playwrights in the twentieth century, and intrigued feminist thinkers and activists for decades” (Söderbäck). Birth from a respected bloodline, Antigone doesn’t feel respected at all within her town, especially from her uncle Creon who became entitled as the King after Antigone’s blood