The Tragedy Of Antigone And Aristotle's Description Of A Classic Hero

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.

     First, Creon plays a significant role in the plot of Antigone. He, of course, is the center of the plot. It develops mostly around his actions. For example, Creon could have had the chance to live “happily ever

Sophocles, a great tragedian, was the one who gave Greek tragedies their traditional form. An important part of traditional Greek tragedies is the presence of a tragic hero. All tragic heroes should have the characteristics of rank, a tragic flaw, a downfall, and a recognition of mistakes. The seemingly tragic hero is Antigone. She wants to bury her brother Polyneices even though this would be going against Creon, who is her uncle and the king. When Antigone buries Polyneices Creon sentences her to death because of it. In Antigone by Sophocles the tragic hero is not Antigone because she only meets the characteristic of a tragic flaw, hers being pride, but doesn 't meet the other three characteristics of a

Secondly, Aristotle suggests that to be a tragic hero, one must not be perfect although his character is pre-eminently great. This is certainly true of Creon’s case. For example, in the above paragraph, we proved that Creon is essentially good because he chose to punish Polyneices. However, his choice of punishment—not burying Polyneices—does not rank as high on the moral spectrum. In fact, Antigone believes that Creon "dishonors" Polyneices by not burying him, by not "honoring what the gods have honored" (line 89). By going against his people’s centuries of beliefs, Creon’s character finds its imperfection.

Antigone, a Greek a tragedy, is the third of the Three Theban Plays by Sophocles. Throughout the play, readers are introduced to few, but intriguing characters, one being the protagonist of the play, Antigone. Antigone is the tragic hero of Antigone; she presents recognition of the gods, exemplifies good virtues, and possess a fatal flaw, or hamartia. A tragic hero is a great or virtuous character in a dramatic tragedy who is destined for downfall, suffering, or defeat.

Lastly, Creon was a tragic hero because he realized his flaws too late in time. Referring back to the prophecy of Tiresias, after the prophecy of Thebes was declared and Creon denying it, it soon came to pass. The chorus leader cries “My lord, my lord, such dreadful prophecies- and how he's gone..Since my hair changed colour from black to white, I know here in the city he's never uttered a false prophecy” (Antigone line 1220). Creon then replies to him by acknowledging his wrong and the effect of his wrong in the situation. “Aaii- mistakes made by a foolish mind, cruel mistakes that bring on

Throughout the play, Creon shows many examples of how he is imperfect. One example would be how he believes that the state is primary to his family and relationships, “If this is your pleasure, Creon, treating our city’s enemy and our friend this way … the power is yours, I suppose, to enforce it with the laws, both for the dead and all of us, the living,” this quotation said by the leader of the chorus describes how the elder people of Thebes respect their family more than the state, but they held back on their opinions, knowing of what Creon, the leader, wanted to hear (235-240). Another example of how Creon shows the audience of how he is imperfect is when, Creon meets with Haemon. Creon argues with Haemon about how people should act towards the country which they reside in, “But whoever steps out of line, violates the laws or presumes to hand out orders to his superiors, he’ll win no praise from me. But that man the city places in authority, his orders must be obeyed, large and small, right and wrong,” Creon believes since he has the highest throne in his country, that he should be obeyed whether the circumstance (745-751). Lastly, Creon demonstrates to the audience that he is imperfect by wanting to protect his country too much. This is visible when Creon sentences Antigone to a slow death, because of burying her brother, who was outcasted as a traitor. Creon put the state over his family which will lead to the complete

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.

Creon is first portrayed as a leader with rational laws and consequences for breaking them. But by the end of the play, Creon is a completely different character; he has let his excessive pride and hubris take over him. He doesn’t realize his change in character until it is brought to him through the prophecy of Teiresias, when it is already too late. Creon can be identified as a tragic hero because he shows great signs of stubbornness and pride. Considering he is the King of Thebes, he follows his rules and laws without listening to his citizen’s concerns, nor does he care about the gods wishes. His role as a hubris influences many of his choices, he believes in only his own thoughts and wishes. Creon abuses his power just because he can, without thinking of the consequences.

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.

Creon said, ?...And whoever places a friend above the good of his own county, he is nothing: I have no use for him.? (203-205). Again, his high standards and honor for his country are shown in great detail: ?I could never stand by silent, watching destruction march against our city, putting safety to rout? (207-208). Creon shows a high sense of morality when he properly buried Eteocles, and then is showing his noble character by not burying Polyneices, who attacked Creon?s country; again his value of his country is shown. Creon is a good ruler because he like any king would punish evil and reward good. Creon is seen by the chorus to have ?goodness? and leadership. (Lines 691). The chorus praises Creon for his loyalty to the country after the great war, they look forward to his kingly rule and nobility in the future by saying, ?. . . Creon, the new man for the great new day?(Lines 173). Love of his country and his punishment of Polyneices show this great nobility and loyalty talked about by the chorus. Clearly Creon qualifies under the first criterion of being a tragic hero.

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

Antigone has a possible flaw in that she is too stubborn and persistent to obey Creon’s order; “I know my duty, where true duty lies” (Antigone, 128). Her punishment then encourages feelings of pity from the audience because her deed was honorable and respectful towards her brother Polynices. The chorus supports this view by bidding her a respectful farewell when she is taken away, “But glory and praise go with you lady” (Antigone, 148). Antigone is also very proud, and this may have contributed to her death. Even when she is caught she remains strong and defends herself by claiming that the chorus thinks that her act was honorable, “All these would say that what I did was honorable” (Antigone, 139). This causes Creon to remain angry with Antigone, “you are wrong, none of my subjects think as you do” (Antigone, 140). If she had been more patient and less defensive, Creon may not have been as harsh in the punishment he set for her.

In the play, Creon and Antigone can be seen as good or bad characters. Both of them show traits of justice. Antigone wanted to save her brother, Polyneices, by giving him a soldier’s funeral with military honors. Creon realized his mistake of putting Antigone in a cave to die for burying Polyneices, and he tried to fix it. Unfortunately, he

The four main characteristics that define a tragic hero are that they are born into a powerful family, responsible for their own fate, cursed with an unfortunate flaw, doomed to have a tragic fall.