Creon As A Tragic Hero In SophoclesAntigone

Antigone has been acclaimed as a model that challenges authority and insists on just acts. However, according to Aristotle, a tragedy requires a man’s harmartia, which means error. Therefore, as a main character of a great tragedy, Antigone must possess flaws.

Antigone however is more prideful than Creon and unlike Creon, Antigone’s pride directly cause her down fall. “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 forever, beyond man utterly.” (Page 823, scene 2, lines 60-64) This quote describes Antigone’s hubris. Antigone believes that she knows what the will of the gods is and that she’s following it. She thinks Creon as “just a man” who believes that he can and is surpassing the gods. Antigone however “knows” that Creon is under the gods. Antigone also believes that if her action (of burying Polyneices) “means death, it will not be the worst of deaths- death without honor.” (Page 817, Prologue, lines 80 and 81) Antigone is almost “obsessed” with getting an honorable death as she thinks that dying by trying to bury Polyneices is

Within the first few hundred lines of Antigone, Sophocles shapes the reader’s perception of Antigone and her philosophical beliefs. When speaking to her sister, Ismene, about her plan to bury their brother, Antigone states “I’ll do what’s honorable, and then I’ll die” (Sophocles, 750). Antigone’s willingness to die for a cause that she feels is honorable and right demonstrates a particular value in regards to her philosophies on right and wrong. Antigone demonstrates that the conflicting nature of her beliefs and the king’s beliefs on the right way to deal with Polyneikes’ death will not hold her back from doing what she believes is right.

In his “Poetics,” Aristotle originally identified a tragic hero as someone who possesses an arete, hamartia, peripety, and anagnorisis. An arete shows human excellence or nobility in a character. On the other hand, a hamartia reveals a character’s major flaw. The tragic hero also undergoes a change in fortune from good to bad known as a peripety. Through the peripety, the character realizes his hamartia. In the Greek playwright “Antigone” by Sophocles, Creon, the King of Thebes is a tragic hero because he possesses all four of these traits.

There has always been a great debate over who is the true tragic hero in Sophocles' Antigone. Many scholars would stake claim to Antigone possessing all the necessary characteristics of a true tragic hero, but many others would argue that Creon holds many qualities as well. It is hard to discount Antigone as a tragic hero, because in fact, the play bears her name, but from careful reading, Creon meets Aristotle's criteria exactly and fits perfectly into the role. In order to determine whether or not Creon is the true tragic hero, one must answer the question: 'What is a Tragic Hero?' In Aristotle's Poetics, he discusses the basic criteria regarding a tragic hero. Aristotle

After she is caught burying her brother, Antigone makes no attempt to explain her actions, only replying to Creon's accusations with: "I did it. I do not deny a thing" (492). Because she does not make an effort to justify her work, or convince Creon that it was to appease the gods, Antigone seems to be a rash, impetuous woman with a death wish. Perhaps the just and correct thing to do was to bury her brother, but Antigone's pride and the disrespect she showed may have displeased the gods more than if she had stayed silent. As stated by the leader of the chorus, "Such loyalty is a holy thing/ Yet none that holds authority/ Can brook disobedience. O my child,/ Your self-willed pride has been your ruin” (872-875). This insinuates that her loyalty to the gods is admirable, however, she is still seen as discourteous by the Creon for blatantly ignoring his instructions. Antigone's belief that her judgement is better than Creon's is a display of hubris, however justified her actions may have been in the

What makes tragic heroes different from an ordinary hero? A tragic hero is a character who is complex by nature, having the ability to give off distinctive impressions to different readers. Creon, king of Thebes, is the tragic hero in Sophocles’ “Antigone” who can be perceived as the antagonist on account of his behavior. One can say that Creon’s decision to prosecute Antigone for burying her brother made Creon look like the enemy. However, with further examination of the totality of his character, one can begin to understand that his seemingly immoral actions were not only justified, but rather also required of him. Although his behavior can create the impression that he is wicked, one

To Antigone leaving her brother Polynices unburied would result as the bigger crime. So she decides to bury him with honor and if it means death at least she knows she’ll die with honor as

Greek tragedy would not be complete with out a tragic hero. Sophocles wrote Antigone with a specific character in mind for this part. Based on Aristotle’s definition, Creon is the tragic hero of Antigone.

Although Antigone recognizes that the law is unfair and acted on her own to break the law and bury her brother. Even though she recognized the law as unjust, it is still perceive as a just law because Creon (the head ruler) demands it as a just law. Antigone’s version of justice is embodied through this notion of a higher authority (Ancient Political Theory reader 22). Antigone believes that the gods have commanded people to give the dead a proper burial, so she decides to act on this act giving faith into the higher authority. Also, it is arguable that her human virtue to bury her own kin is a sense of her own justice because it brings up both a moral and legal obligation of hers to her brother.

            To identify the tragic hero in Sophocles’ renowned play “Antigone”, we should first consider both the elements present in Greek tragedies and what characteristics define a tragic hero. Aristotle’s definition of tragedy is: “Tragedy is a story taking the hero from happiness to misery because of a fatal flaw or mistake on his part. To be a true tragic hero he must also elicit a strong emotional response of pity and fear from the audience. This is known as catharsis or purging of emotion.” In most cases the tragic hero begins

The line between bravery and recklessness is very thin, and sometimes the two are indistinguishable; however, there are times when one becomes the other. Throughout the Greek tragedy Antigone, Sophocles portrays Antigone as a bold and fearless character. Even after her uncle Creon, the king, forbids the burial of her disgraced brother Polyneices, she defies his orders to follow the gods’ commands. When her act is discovered, she makes no effort to defend herself, and readily accepts her fate: a penalty of death. At the end, she hangs herself in her last act of defiance. Although Antigone is hailed as a tragic hero with honorable intentions, it is her own foolishness that caused her demise and others’ misfortune. While her intentions are courageous and noble, Antigone’s fatal flaw of recklessness ultimately leads her and the people around her to tragedy.

During the time of Ancient Greece, tragic plays were commonly used to deliver a moral message to their audience. Sophocles’ “Antigone” demonstrates the dangers of hubris and the disaster it can cause using the conflict between the two central characters, Antigone and Creon, as the basis of the tragedy. Although they are honourable in their own different ways, Antigone and Creon’s excessive pride contributes as a major factor to the tragedy of the play. This, as well as other factors like the impact of religious and moral beliefs and state laws, and fate, are to blame for the tragic end of the

“For of our two brothers, Creon/gives honorable burial to one,/but dishonors the others”, Antigone cried to Ismene in the play Antigone (4). Antigone’s brother Polynices started a war against Eteocles, when Eteocles decided not to give up the throne. The new king of Thebes, Creon, believed Polynices should not be buried because he was a traitor. However, Eteocles would be honored with a burial because he attempted to save the city of Thebes. Since, Polynices was a traitor, Creon created a law that prohibited one to honor Polynices with a burial. Antigone believed her brother deserved to be honored with a burial. Without anyones help, Antigone attempted to bury her brother. She was caught and Creon was sentenced to death. Since, Creon is the King, he expected everyone to obey the laws he has created. Antigone felt she had a legitimate reason for breaking Creon’s law. Throughout the play, I thought Antigone would be considered a hero to her brother only. Creon would be the hero overall because of his dedication in following through with the law.

The world does not contain an ideal individual for every man is flawed in some aspect. The imperfectness of an individual and the Problems developing from them are the same way in which the Greek tragedies are written. The leading Character of a tragedy( the protagonist) is called a tragic hero and a tragic hero has to have a tragic flaw that will lead to his destruction or victory at the end of the story. In “ Antigone ” a book by Sophocles, the tragic hero would be Creon for he has a tragic flaw that he possessed, which is his absolute arrogance.