Creon As A Tragic Hero

Second, Creon’s faults brought an endless life of pain upon himself. He carried an easily describable tragic flaw. Of course, this defect is a vital trait of the tragic hero of any work. Creon’s flaw was that he was stubborn. I could not reason what Antigone’s tragic flaw could be. I believe that if Sophocles wanted Antigone to be the tragic heroine, he would have stated it more clearly in the story. I am convinced that she was simply a victim of Creon’s stubbornness, therefore leading her away from the role of the tragic heroine. I would simply consider her as a type of “puppet” character that Sophocles ingenuously used to emphasize Creon’s flaw. Creon’s defect brings misery to his life, for that his stubbornness indirectly kills Antigone, Haemon, and Eurydice. This, of course, fits the definition of a tragic hero. This can be easily reasoned by simply reading the work.

Antigone takes place just after a war between Antigone’s two brothers, Eteocles and Polynices. Eteocles fought on the side of Thebes whereas Polynices resembled an invader. Afterwards, Eteocles is buried and seen as honorable. However, Polynices is denied a proper burial because he is considered a traitor to Thebes. In this play, Sophocles uses Antigone and Creon as foils by characterizing Antigone as a martyr and Creon as a tyrant to urge the reader to realize that one’s own morals are more significant than the decrees of any government.

Aristotle once said, regarding his principles that a certain character is a tragic hero, "A man cannot become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall." This quotation is an accurate statement regarding the actions between Creon in the beginning of the play, and at the end once he has lost his family. A tragic hero is defined as a character of noble stature, the hero is imperfect allowing the audience to relate to him, as well as the hero’s downfall is caused by his own fate, leading to the punishment exceeding the crime and the character’s realization leading to the fall. The audience experiences a catharsis at the end of the play, which allows the audience feel that society is “right” again. All six of

In the Greek tragedy Antigone, the characters Antigone and Creon can both be thought of as the tragic hero of the play. Though Antigone does show some of these characteristics of a tragic hero, Creon demonstrates the attributes more clearly and concisely. Creon is the King of Thebes, as well as the uncle of Antigone. Creon took the throne after a tragic quarrel between his two nephews, Eteocles and Polyneices. Despite his harsh governing and his crude ideals, he is not good or bad. Creon is the tragic hero of the play Antigone, because of his superiority in his society, his nobility, and his tragic flaw, self-pride.

Every Greek tragedy must have a tragic hero. In Sophocle’s play, Antigone, the most tragic hero is Creon. He is an essentially good man of high position who takes pride in his role as king. He possesses the tragic flaws of excessive pride and an oversized ego. This causes the tragic reversal that leads to his emotional ruin and eventual remorse and repentance.

Sometimes, the cause of one’s downfall can be found inside themselves. The play Antigone written by Sophocles, is about a girl named Antigone who chooses to defy the king’s law and bury her brother. Creon, the king of Thebes, finds out about Antigone’s actions and decides to punish her with death. Creon’s pridefulness and stubbornness causes him to create selfish and close minded decisions that lead to future consequences.

Aristotle, an ancient Greek philosopher, defines a tragic figure as one who represents goodness, superiority, a tragic flaw, and a realization of their tragic flaw and inevitability. A tragic figure is normally someone of royalty, or importance, and also experiences a great devastation. A big flaw of a tragic hero is usually their pride. The figure will experience an ironic plot twist, where they realize things are not what they expected, and then are to face the reality of their fate. In, The Theban Plays, by Sophocles (translated by E. F. Watling), the characters Creon and Antigone represent tragic figures. In the play “Antigone,” Sophocles depicts the character Creon as a tragic hero. Creon portrays many characteristics of a tragic figure. His tragic story begins when makes the decision of becoming a hubris. A hubris is one who ignores the gods, and follows their own path. When Creon does this, his decisions greatly affect the fate of his loved ones; his son, wife and Antigone. Along with Creon, Antigone portrays a tragic hero in as well. Antigone’s tragic fate comes from her loyalty to her family and the gods. She chooses to stick to her own beliefs, rather than having obedience towards the king, and this was the cause of her downfall.

what do people believe a tragic hero is? In this essay there is one person who meets the criteria for tragic hero. Creon, in this case, is the tragic hero because Creon possesses most of the qualities for the tragic hero. Creon has shown that he is the leader of many thing. In Antigone Creon says "And I as the next in blood, have succeeded to the full power of the throne.

The tragic hero of a story has to have his/her tragic flaw. Creon and Antigone both shared the beliefs of freedom and the protection of personal dignity; those must be their tragic flaws. Creon believed that if he made a direct command he would carry it out all the way and not bend the rules for anyone. That shows how stubborn he was and how heartless and vile he was. Those are the traits of his tragic flaw. Antigone believed that everyone has their equal rights no matter whom they are fighting for, especially if they are part of her family. She would be stubborn and would not bend her ideals for anyone like Creon. She would go as far as it would take for her to get her point across. A tragic hero must realize that he/she has a tragic flaw and must then try to change themselves.

Aristotle describes a tragic hero as someone with good intentions, high class, and must suffer a fall from grace. Creon, the new King of Thebes, fits this bill quite nicely. While other tragic hero’s have suffered horrible fates, like Hamlet or Antigone, they did it with a selfish pursuit. Creon’s journey involved the country of Thebes scrutinizing all his actions; this influenced his actions and the tragedy he suffered. In literature history, Creon proves to be the most tragic character because he fulfills all the qualities Aristotle deems as a tragic hero while also trying to balance his powerful position.

The qualifications of a tragic hero vary between Aristotle and Shakespeare. Aristotle thinks of a tragic hero as someone who is a noble character by choice and makes his/her own destiny, while Shakespeare sees a tragic hero as someone who is born of nobility and born to be important. Although both tragic hero's end in a tragic death that effects many people, not all tragic hero's fit perfectly into both categories. In Sophocles’ Antigone, Creon is considered a tragic hero. Creon follows Aristotle's definition of a tragic hero by being a noble character by choice, having important potential, and falls due to "miscalculations" with circumstances that are beyond control.

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

A tragedy, as defined by Ms. Tozar, is “the story of a falling from a high place to a lower place by a character.” In other words, a tragedy is a story of an individual who starts in a high position and descends throughout the story to end in a position that is lower than original position. The individual who makes the descent is known as the tragic hero. The tragic hero, as defined by Ms. Tozar, is “the character who falls from grace as a result of fate and/or a weakness. In the drama, Antigone by Sophocles, one could argue that there are many tragic heroes. However, the one who stands above them all is that of the character of Creon. Creon is understood by most as the tragic hero in Antigone as evident in his

Antigone, a classic tragedy by Sophocles, based on Antigone’s family and life, leads many people to believe that she is the actual tragic hero, but is she really? At the beginning of the play, Antigone argues with her sister, Ismene, about wanting to bury the body of their brother who died in battle, Polyneices. Creon, the predecessor of the Oedipus’ sons, is shown as rational and logical, but as the play begins to develop, he becomes a ruthless tyrant who loses everything after one bad choice. Although Antigone is the protagonist, Creon is the perfect example of a tragic hero due to his excessive pride that was later punished, error or choices leading to his demise. Pride is displayed in this quotation: “Know’st thou of whom thou speak’st?

A hero's tragic flaw is usually due to the character's lack of knowledge, lack of judgment, and overwhelming pride. The flaw leads to destructive consequences but that does not define the hero as a "bad" character. More so Aristotle believes that the tragic hero brings their downfall to evoke the feelings of pity and fear among the audience. Aristotle says that "pity is aroused by unmerited misfortune, fear by the misfortune of a man like ourselves." This is why majority a of tragic hero's have those traits, pity and fear, in their plays. In his play Antigone, Creon can be