Examples Of Creon In Antigone

The final aspect that makes Creon a tragic hero is the fact that he suffers more greatly than he deserves. For example, not only does Creon’s son kill himself, but according to the messenger before Haimon commits suicide he, “Spat in (Creon’s) face. He said not a word, Staring / And suddenly drew his sword / And lunged. Crein shrank back, the blade missed…” (Sophocles 734-735). Not only did Creon’s only son die, the last image of Haimon is him spitting in Creon’s face. The guilt Creon will have for the rest of his life will be tremendous, because he is going to feel responsible for leading his son to suicide. Not only does Haimon curse his father,

In the play Antigone by Sophocles there is more than one tragic hero. In the story the tragic hero of this play is Creon which is the king of Thebes. Creon’s flaw is his pride and stubbornness. He expressed these traits when challenged by his niece Antigone, and even his own son, through many different ideas, actions, and words.

In the play Antigone, Creon starts off as the loyal king of Thebes. He is loyal to the gods and loyal to the welfare of Thebes. However, over the course of the play, Creon degenerates into a tyrant. His degeneration is showing his character development. Creon’s pride about the human law also develops throughout the play, creating conflict with the divine law. When Antigone rebels against his law, he becomes stubborn, and makes myopic decisions and grows into his hamartia. Besides his hamartia, Creon’s position as the king makes him a power hungry man. His power madness degenerates him into becoming a ruthless and vindictive man, even to his family. However, over the course of the play, Creon begins to see that because of the laws of men, he was being blinded of what’s

     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

Haemon stated that his father had dishonored the gods by sending Antigone off to her death, but Creon responded by saying, “You, you soul of corruption, rotten through-/ woman’s accomplice!” (836-37) Creon refused to acknowledge his son’s point, therefore, not changing his mind on Antigone’s fate. In another scene, Creon showed his independence by refusing to listen to Tiresias’ prophecy. Knowing that Tiresias’ prophecies were never wrong, Creon still ignored him. Creon stated, “You and the whole breed of seers are mad for money!” (1171) He claimed that Tiresias was wrong, and he was doing the right thing. In this scene Creon showed his independence in a cruel manner by disrespecting Tiresias. Antigone and Creon both showed that they wanted to be independent. Antigone’s will to be independent ultimately caused her death, and Creon’s caused him to lose his son, niece, and wife.

He feels that Haimon is too young to know what he is talking about especially when it comes to Antigone. Creon believes that Haimon is blinded by love. Creon wouldn’t even take anything that Haimon said into consideration. He also did the same thing with Teiresias, a blind prophetwho has always been right in other situations. Teiresias told Creon that his actions have angered the Gods and that it would be in his best interest to let Antigone go free, otherwise his family would be cursed and he would suffer a great deal. Creon, whom was obviously in denial, didn’t believe a word Teiresias said and accused him of lying and taking bribes from the people.

Teiresias: “You’ve thrown down to those below someone from up above- in your arrogance you’ve moved a living soul into a grave, leaving here a body owned by god's below- unburied, dispossessed, unsanctified.” (Lines 1196-1200). Teiresias has given Creon insight on how he drove his fate to its edge. In Antigone by Sophocles, Creon is portrayed as a tragic figure who functions as a tool for suffering because he had brought a series of unfortunate events to those who were close to him by not allowing his emotions to surpass his overwhelming power and taking drastic actions towards Antigone and Haemon leading to unwanted deaths.

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.

Sophocles portrays Creon as an ineffective leader because in Antigone, he is seen as very stubborn. Creon does not take the advice that the Guard, Chorus, or even his own son, Haemon, gives to him. For example, Haemon tried to persuade his dad to be smart and make the right decision whether to spare Antigone’s life or to punish her. Creon then replied to Creon saying “What? Men of our age go to school again and take a lesson from a very boy?”. This is a perfect example that portrays Creon’s stubbornness because he does not listen to Haemon because Haemon is a boy and not of age to be listened to by a man. Someone who does not listen to another person because they

Creon is stubborn, and when is talking to Tiresias, he thinks he is being payed off. He does not want to believe he could be wrong about Antigone. He says “WHatever you say, you will not change my will.” He is stating that nothing will change what he thinks, and believes his law is perfect. Creon is having his excessive pride especially when he says “The state is king!”, showing that he is better than the Gods are.

Unfortunately, Creon does not always make the correct decision because of personality traits that he possesses. When Creon sentences Antigone to death, he is wrong. This decision is based on Creon’s downfalls. He has hamartia and he judges wrong, and he also suffers from hubris. He is excessively prideful and believes that his choice is the only correct one. Creon also has an inaccurate view of his place in relation to the Gods. He believes he is in a position to know what They want and know what They feel is best. No mortal truly knows what the Gods want, but Creon believes he does because he cannot imagine that what he believes is wrong, even to the Gods. Antigone’s death is a bad decision that Creon makes based on his beliefs that the Gods view Polyneices as a traitor and would not want him honored in death.

Soon after his decision of the fate of Antigone, Creon’s tragic flaw blooms the greatest. This Hubris focuses on the Creon’s relentless, uncompromising, and egotistical attitude. Many try to convince Creon to reconsider on his misguided decision, however, Creon does not yield. It is at this point when one realizes the Hubris of Antigone. Creon possesses a false sense of pride and/or confidence in his intelligence. He believes he cannot be wrong, therefore his uncompromising and egotistical attitude shines brightest. It portrays him as “superficial, pigheaded, self-important man.” (Porter) This is Hamartia, his relentless,

Despite his status, Creon continues to be arrogant and passes judgment quickly on others. Creon believes that he alone can judge what is right and wrong and wields his power over all. “I’ll have no dealings with law-breakers, critics of the government: Whoever is chosen to govern should be obeyed–– must be obeyed, in all things, great and small, just and unjust!” (Lines 525-529). Creon quickly punished Antigone for her crime.