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.
As a noble king, the mistakes and errors you make can affect you in the future and other people. Creon is a king and he makes a lot mistakes that will affect him and others from death and a lot of sadness. The claim that Creon is a tragic hero is that he was born into nobility, doomed to make serious errors in judgement, and there is a lot of suffering and calamity and its widespread.
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.
As demonstrated throughout the Greek tragedy Antigone, Creon’s tragic flaw is hubris which causes his downfall . The downfall begins when Creon refuses to give Polyneices, the son of Oedipus and the brother of Antigone, a burial. Creon believes that Polyneices did not die an honorable death as he broke exile and raised the sword against his home city, Thebes, so in return he will not receive a burial. Creon’s pride takes over and so he believes he is a man not only superior to women , but a king superior to the gods. He claims,
Creon is finally realized his mistakes when it was too late to change the damage he has done. Realization is part of why he is a true tragic hero. Creon states “Oh no, another, a second loss to break the heart. What next, what fate waits for me? I just held my son in my arms and now, look, a new corpse rising before my eyes wretched, helpless mother” (1420-1425). Creon pride when too far and it ended up killing his
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
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.
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.
“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.
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.
Aristotle once said, "A man doesn't become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall." In the play, Antigone, by Sophocles, King Creon is the main tragic hero, because of the decisions he made leading to his destruction. After the death of Polyneices and Eteocles, Creon was crowned King of Thebes. All of the citizens of thebes feared Creon because of the prideful tone he showed in his first speech, and in Aristotle’s description of a tragic hero, the character almost always displays excessive pride. Another decision that Aristotle said most tragic heroes go through is an error in judgement, which Creon made when sentencing Antigone to death. While some may argue that Antigone is the tragic hero, she did not display as many characteristics
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.
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. He doesn’t like people who disobeys the rules of the government.They both are tragic characters because Antigone kills herself and Creon asks for his death to the gods.It can be argued that the tragic hero is Creon because of his excessive pride and his intense suffering at the end of the play.
"It is never reason never to yield to reason"-Sophocles, Antigone. Creon is Antigone's tragic hero as well as the antagonist. Like many other tragic heroes, Creon's tragic flaw that causes his destruction is hubris, excessive pride in oneself. At the end, Creon faced the loss of both his wife and son, and he suffered from pain and regret. Although he thought he is making the right decisions, King Creon misused his power and caused the termination of others' life. Creon portrayed his hamartia in many of the situations he encountered, and this affected his life greatly. Moreover, Creon's life would have turned upside down if he behaved in a less prideful manner.