Creon's Tragic Hero In Sophocles Antigone

Sophocles’ play Antigone continues the calamitous story of the Theban royal family, recounting the conflict between Creon’s authority as king and Antigone’s sense of justice. While many of the events of the play are certainly tragic, whether or not Antigone and its characters should be considered tragic is less definite. Aristotle’s theory of a tragic hero calls for a basically good character who experiences a fall due to some flaw or error, experiencing a transformative realization and catharsis as a result. When considered together, the traits of both Antigone and Creon come together to fulfill all of the requirements for the play to be a tragedy, but neither character can be considered an Aristotelian tragic hero standing alone.

     Finally, Creon is a dynamic character. He undergoes changes in emotion throughout the work. He realizes his mistakes when Tiresias forecasts the future. Thus, Creon attempts to correct himself by releasing Antigone. But he is too late. He is forced to live, knowing that three people are dead as a result of his actions. This punishment is worse than death. Although Creon’s self-righteousness and inflexibility did not change until the end of the play, his motivations traveled from patriotic ones to personal ones. This created a major portion of the

Tragic heroes have identifiable flaws which cause their destruction. In this situation Creon’s major flaw was that he was self-centered, and never listened he thought he was always right. Haemon points out that Creon needs to stop being narrow-minded and stubborn, "...Not far off when you shall pay back corpse for corpse..." (Scene 5, 72-73). Teiresias the fortune teller warns Creon that his inflexible ways

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.

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.

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.

The tragic heroes Creon and Brutus are lessons against being too prideful to listen to others and conversely, being too gullible. In the tragedies Antigone and Julius Caesar, by Sophocles and Shakespeare, the characters Creon and Brutus are similar tragic heroes. Both have noble statutes, and are driven to make their nations prosperous, but their fatal flaws, Creon’s pride and Brutus’s overt idealism and trustingness, cause their downfall. Furthermore, before their downfall, both realize their mistakes, but despair at the knowledge that they cannot change the course of action they have taken.

Creon, King of Thebes, has done much wrong. He abused his power, he made harsh laws and he forced people do what he wanted. Creon was born into nobility and was able to take full power to the throne. He possesses a tragic flaw that is vital to his downfall. Finally, Creon realizes that he has made an irreversible mistake that was his own doing. Creon identified as the tragic hero through the characteristics he has as a person that are similar to those of a tragic hero.

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.

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

Oedipus is the quintessential Greek tragic hero; his story marks a tale of inevitable distress and sorrow. However, in Antigone, this was not the case and the tragic hero was not easily identifiable. A tragic hero is a character, usually of high birth, neither completely good nor evil, whose downfall is brought about by some weakness or error in judgement. In Sophocles' Greek tragedy, Creon is portrayed as a struggling king who must come to the reality that his actions are in favor against him. Stubbornness and excessive pride are the driving force behind Creon’s downfall as a tragic hero. He is reluctant to acknowledge the views of others, ignores familial values, and executes his rule as a king in a tyrannical manner.

Creon fits Aristotle’s tragic hero traits as a significant person who is faced with difficult decisions. Creon is significant because he is king. This makes him both renowned and prosperous. Creon is not completely good nor completely bad; he is somewhere in-between, as humans are. The audience can relate to this and they admire his qualities of intelligence in political affairs. They can also relate to his ability to make hard decisions with apparent ease. These hard decisions are

Creon, also in Antigone, exemplifies a true tragic hero. In the beginning of Creon’s leadership, he was convinced that he was the best King ever, and that everyone had to abide by his law and his law only. He was born into a high social class and thought everything revolved around him. “See that you never side with those who break my orders” (Sophocles 245) demonstrates Creon’s overconfidence because he believes that the laws of the god are below the importance of the laws of men. A mistake of Creon was how he determined Antigone’s punishment because he was more concerned about his public reputation, and he didn’t want a woman to rise above him. Creon was blinded by his own pride and dignity which ultimately caused his downfall. Tiresias had a prophecy and even tried to warn Creon that his pride was being frowned upon by the gods. “Stubbornness/brands you for stupidity---pride is a crime”(Sophocles 1136-1137). An epiphany occurred, “I know it myself—-I’m shaken, torn/ it’s a dreadful thing to yield.../lay my pride bare to the blows of ruin?/ that’s dreadful too” (Sophocles 1218-1221), in which he realized his hubris affected his place in the world and how he dealt with challenges. A journey occurred as his flaws came to light in his eyes. He felt guilty about his actions and at the end of the play he stated that, “I killed you, I, god help me, I admit it all!”(Sophocles 1443-1444), even though it was too late for him to be taught wisdom.