The play, Antigone written by Sophocles, presents a tragedy that fits the classical definition, but it is the story of Creon, the king of the main character. Creon starts out as the king of Thebes , Creon’s tragic flaw is his pride and his arrogance which caused him reflecting upon his mistakes making him a broken man, recognizing what he did to his niece, he is a character within Antigone, even though he was portrayed as an antagonist he was the main character since he was.
Creon’s tragic flaw, hubris, causes his downfall. Creon will not listen to anyone. He is stubborn, and his pride is so great, he cannot bring himself to acknowledge that he could ever wrong. King Creon also possessed the character trait of being very strict and inflexible, even though his character may have brought protection, or a sense of safety among the Theban people, even when his. When Creon is talking to Teiresias, he thinks that he is being paid off. He does not want to believe he could be wrong about Antigone. Creon even says, “Whatever you say, you will not change my will.” Creon also has a self-righteousness and cockiness, a feeling a he is
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Creon finally realizes that his hubris has not let him effectively deal with his conflicts. Creon has his epiphany and even says, “I have been rash and foolish.” He finally acknowledges that he has let his pride take over for the worse. Creon also realizes that it was his fault Haemon dies. He would not listen to Haemon and take his advice. Creon almost seemed like he wanted Haimon to be angry so he put Antigone in the vault. He couldn’t see that Haemon was in love and Antigone was just trying to honor the dead because of his hubris. Creon also says, “My own blind heart has brought me from darkness to final darkness.” This shows he knows he didn’t use his intelligence to solve his problems. He was already heading the wrong direction with his pride and it finally was too much. Creon’s hubris has not let him effectively deal with his
Creon is blind from the prejudice he is spelling out in the land he governs, and he is extremely stubborn to change his views in any
In his fury of her “pridefulness,” he gives her the worst kind of punishment which is death. He makes a rash decision based on how Antigone acted towards him and that really affected the story. Like other tragic heroes, Creon made a regretful decision thinking he was doing what was right even if it would change everything dramatically. It also contributes to the theme of wisdom in the play because Creon was not so wise making these decisions. He made a decision based on Antigone’s actions and no one could convince him to change it because of his stubborn
Creon does not keep an open mind, and refuses to see her point of view. Antigone said she buried the body because of God’s law, but Creon puts his law above the God’s. This shows an extreme amount of pride and confidence. Another example of Creon showing hubris is when Haimon says. “It is no City if it takes orders from one voice,” (221).
Haemon, Creon’s son, goes to him in order to convince his father to release Antigone, arguing that the people are opposed to the actions of Creon against Antigone but are too afraid to speak their mind in front of the king. Creon arrogantly responds with the question “Am I to rule by other mind than mine?”(Ant.736). Creon considered his opinion to be
The messenger goes on to say,in lines 1371 to 1380, that Haemon first swings towards his father with a dagger, then pitifully and fatally stabs himself. The messenger agrees that Creon’s inability to give in to another’s point of view and have humility are the causations for Haemon’s suicide in lines 1383 to 1835, “The unfortunate boy has shown all men how, of all the evils which afflict mankind, the most disastrous one is thoughtlessness,” which references Creon’s tragic flaws. Following the death of his son, and eventually his wife, Creon realized the failures in his actions and judgements, and is left to suffer due to his own actions. In lines 1406 to 1407, after the discovery
As long as I am King, no traitor is going to be honored with the loyal man. But whoever shows by word and deed that he is on the side of the State,––he shall have my respect while he is living and my reverence when he is dead ( Scene 1). Creon’s regards towards his own laws cause him to withdraw from all other beliefs or opinions that others have to offer him. He believes that the people of Thebes should obey his rules if they want his support.
When Antigone and Ismene tells Creon, they were the ones who buried their brother he says,“ And all the time I never knew that these two sisters were aiming at my throne!”. Creon thinks that people are trying to take his place in royalty. This is one of his flaws because he doesn’t want to hear people out he just does what he feels is right. There’s another example that shows Creon’s flaws, “Your temper terrifies them, everyone will tell you what you only what you like to hear.” This example show his flaws because he has a bad temper and the people are scared to speak up or do anything because they’re scared of what he might do to them.
Relating to his self-centered attitude, Creon always thought he was in the right, not matter what he did. Creon blurted many words without any thought before or after speaking them. He thought whatever he did and said was absolutely correct. Antigone blurts “The Good Fortune of Kings,Licensed to say and do whatever they please!”(Sophocles 1.2 116-117). Antigone described Creon’s attitude towards ruling pretty accurately.
Against the warning of others, Creon goes on with his plan to essentially sentence Antigone to her death. Creon continually ignores what others counsel him to do because he believes that just because he is king, everything he does is right. It is this thinking that ultimately leads to the death of not only Antigone, but also Creon’s son and wife as well. All tragic heroes suffer from a tragic flaw that leads to their downfall. Creon suffers from two tragic flaws, pride and stubbornness.
Antigone is one of the greatest tragedies ever written by Sophocles. There is a controversial question about this play: Who is the tragic hero? Could it be Antigone or Creon? Even though the play’s name is Antigone, but as I read the story. A sensible and responsible king, Creon, is a tragic hero because of his power madness, self-righteousness, and ruthlessness.
These conflicting motivations cause the characteristics of anxiety, anger, and selfishness to be highlighted within Creon’s character. Ultimately, these conflicting motivations develop Creon as a tragic hero by giving Creon his free choice that makes his downfall exclusively his own fault and the character interactions advance the plot by pushing King Creon to insanity and showing that even the King’s own family was trying to urge him to change his decree, and develops the theme of love and loyalty by showing the struggle between faith and family. Through the words, actions, and ideas of Haemon, the visible contrast between Creon’s character and Haemon’s character are present. Creon’s inner anger, anxiety and selfishness cause him to lose sight
He can act quite stubborn and overconfident in himself and his ruling, and he needs to see this situation from another point of view in order to prevent anarchy. We find Creon irritated and belligerent when speaking with Teiresias. TEIRESIAS. King, you will drive me to words that - CREON. Say them, say them!
Creon, with his hubris, does not listen to the words of his son, Haemon. When he reluctantly calls for the release of Antigone from her imprisonment, he is too late. She has died and Haemon kills himself after failing to kill his father. “Nothing you say can touch me any more. My own blind heart has brought me.
Cindy Yoon Mr.Constantini English 1A 18 September 2015 Real Tragic Hero of Antigone The play, Antigone is an Ancient Greek play mostly about myth written by Sophocles. There are two main characters in this play which are Antigone and Creon. Antigone is a girl who tries to bury her brother, Polyneices who died during the war and she chooses family instead of the government. Creon, is Antigone’s uncle, and also a King of Thebes who didn’t allow the people to bury Polyneices.
Creon realizes it’s too late his mistakes, and now that he lost his family, he realizes he should of listened. All his family dead, he is now alone because he was blinded by his pride that he didn't listen. He realized too late of all the consequences that his ignorance brought upon him. Throughout the play Antigone by Sophocles Creon is seen as a tragic hero, due to the fact that he is rude to others when they try to talk to him and acts childish when insulting others.