Creon is the Tragic Hero in Sophocles' Antigone Essay

Antigone is a tragic play written by Sophocles in about 441b.c. The play is a continuation of the curse put upon the household of Oedipus Rex. Sophocles actually wrote this play before he wrote Oedipus, but it follows Oedipus in chronological order. The story of Antigone begins after the departure of Oedipus, the king of Thebes, into self-exile. Oedipus’ two sons, Eteocles and Polyneices, were left to rule over Thebes. An argument over rights to power forces Polynices to leave Thebes. Some time passes and Polynices returns with the army from Argos and attempts to overthrow his brother. The two brothers fight and kill one another and the war ends. Creon, the uncle of the two

Sophocles’ Antigone is, without a doubt, one of the greatest tragedies ever written. There are many questions that somebody could ask about this work, but this one intrigues me the most: Who is the tragic hero? Could it be Antigone? Or could it be Creon? Antigone might be the name of the tragedy, but I believe that Creon is the winning candidate. His role in the plot of this tragedy, his sensible tragic fault, and his dynamic character are the obvious reasons why I chose him as the tragic hero.

Tragedy always involves human suffering, but not everyone who suffers is a Tragic Hero. According to Aristotle, there are five basic criteria that must be met for a character to be considered a Tragic Hero. Aristotle’s ideas about tragedy were recorded in his book of literacy theory titled Poetics. In it he has a great deal to say about the structure, purpose and intended effect of tragedy. His ideas have been adopted, disputed, expanded, and discussed for several centuries. In this essay, I will examine these criteria in regards to Antigone’s Creon, King of Thebes.

In the play, Antigone by Sophocles, at first glance readers assume that Antigone is the tragic hero. However, this is not the case. Although Antigone does display some characteristics of a tragic hero, I believe that Creon is the true tragic hero. For many readers, it may be a challenge to see Creon as the tragic hero; however, when you take a second look at the play, you can see that Creon displays every quality of a tragic hero. Creon’s power and pride as well as going against the gods all lead up to his downfall which in return helps him to become a tragic hero.

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.

The play, Antigone, written by Sophocles shows the different downfalls of characters. One of these characters is Creon. Creon does not realize that his pride and stubbornness has interfered his ability to deal with problems and rule of Thebes properly. By analyzing Creon, one could see that he is considered a tragic hero in this play. The characteristics a person must have to be a tragic hero is he has “a hamartia, or tragic flaw. More often than not that tragic flaw is excessive pride, or a hubris. The character then goes through a peripeteia, which is a twist where the character realizes that things will not turn out the way he expected. Finally, the character has an anagnorisis, which is their epiphany that makes them realize their hamartia” (Cap, Creon as a Tragic Character in “Antigone”). The tragic hero characteristics in Creon are clearly shown when he speaks with blind prophet, Teiresias. The character interaction between Creon and Teiresias helps develop Creon as a tragic hero in Antigone.

In the story of Antigone, an argument of who is the tragic hero between Antigone and Creon exists. I firmly believe Creon is the tragic hero of the play. Creon becomes the typical fallen hero in Greek drama. He faces many conflicts, internally and externally, and undergoes quite a bit of painful emotions. One might say Antigone should receive the title of being the tragic hero, but Creon plays a more significant role by learning his lesson the hard way and ending up as the classic tragic hero who loses everything at the end of the dramatic play.

Later on in the play, Creon finds out that the body had been buried, he was furious. Creon orders one of the Guards to find whoever buried the body, or the guard would face death himself. When the Guard finds the culprit, Creon questions her, it was Antigone, and she wasn't denying what she did. Creon and Antigone argue back and forth about her choices, Creon even because in her Ismene, who falsely claims she was part of the disobeyance. Creon decides to spare Ismene and to imprison Antigone in a cave. Tiresias, the blind prophet, warns Creon that the gods side with Antigone. Tiresias spoke that bad things will happen to him for his injustice. At the end of the play, a Messenger comes to tell Creon that Haemon, his son, has killed himself. When the messenger told Creon’s wife, Eurydice, she disappears. A Second Messenger later arrives to tell Creon Eurydice has killed herself. In her last breath, she cursed her

Just because the character’s name is the title does not necessarily mean that that said character is the protagonist. Sophocles’s play Antigone, presents two distinct characters: Antigone and Creon. At first glance, Antigone is known as the poor lady whose family’s reputation is tarnished because of an incestous relationship between her brother and mother. She wishes to bury her dead brother properly, which resulted in her banishment and terrible death. The man in charge of this punishment was her uncle, Creon.

In Antigone , a tragedy by Sophocles it is debated that Creon or Antigone is the true tragic hero. Creon is the true tragic hero because of his complicated and unpredictable downfall, his position as a prideful king to a destitute man, and his unyielding arrogance.

Tragic heroes have littered greek theatre since the beginning, One hero sticks out the most though. Creon, from Antigone, serves as a prime example of Greek Tragedy. The man was responsible for the death of both his wife and son. His pride and stubbornness led to his own downfall. People would call this his Hamartia, or his shortcoming or downfall. What he did in the story showed us what really caused all of this.

Since a tragic hero is a literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction, then Creon is the tragic hero in the play Antigone. In the play “Antigone”, Sophocles at first portrays Creon as a just leader. He has good, rational reasons for his laws and punishments. By the end of the play Creon’s hubris, or excessive pride, has taken over him, which leads to his demise This started by two brothers leading opposite sides in Thebes' civil war died fighting each other for the throne. Which were Polyneices and Eteocles. Creon, the new ruler of Thebes, has decided that Eteocles will be honored and his body will be sanctified by holy rites, and will be buried, and Polyneices will be in public shame and will left unburied. Antigone (Eteocles /Polyneices sister) wants to bury Polyneices' body. But, Creon has stated if anybody was to due so he would have them killed.

In the play “Antigone,” there were many tragic heroes. In my opinion Creon was one of those. Creon was a tragic hero that was trying to be noble, but losing his entire family was extreme; he was set to fail from the start.

In Poetics, Aristotle describes a tragic character as someone who experiences an error in judgement, experiences a reversal of fortune due to the error, has an excessive pride, and receives a fate much greater than what is deserved. In Sophocles’ Antigone, many would argue that Creon is the tragic hero of the play. However, he is not alone as the recipient of tragedy. A young woman by the name of Antigone also fits the characteristics for being considered a tragic heroine.

Throughout the Greek play Antigone by Sophocles, there exists a dispute as to who should receive the designation of main character. Antigone, the daughter of the cursed King Oedipus, as well as Creon, stately king of Thebes, both appear as the key figures in this historic play. I believe that Creon, king of Thebes, should be considered the main character in this work of Greek theater. Three points can be used to make this argument: Creon suffers greatly, he learns a lesson, and is a tragic hero.