King Creon has good intentions. But he has very little virtue. Creon is afraid of things getting out of hand after the Trojan War. Creon forbids anyone to give Polyneices a proper burial. When Creon finds out that someone has given Polyneices a proper burial, he knows that to maintain order he must punish the person who did the act.
King Creon’s flaws are his stubbornness and his abuse of power. Creon stubbornness can be seen when he doesn’t want to be proved wrong. When the Choragus tried to tell Creon that by not allowing anybody to bury Polyneices body, he made a mistake. Creon refuses to listen to the people who tell him that Antigone did the right thing. Creon thought that he could make an example of Antigone. Creon abused his powers. He thought that he could change or break the laws of the gods and not allow other people to break the laws. He didn’t want to
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According to A.C. Bradley, Shakespearean tragedy have the following elements “although a tragedy may have many characters, it is pre-eminently the story of one person or at most two. The story leads up to and included the death of the hero. The story depicts also the troubled part of the hero’s life which precede’s and leads up to his death. The hero is a conspicuous person, a person of high degree. The suffering and calamity are exceptional, of a striking kind. They are as a rule unexpected and are a strong contrast to previous happiness or glory. The suffering or calamity extend far and beyond the protagonist so as to make the whole scene one of woe. The scene becomes the chief source of the tragic emotions, especially pity”(Goodman, Barbara. Tragedy. Clayton State, Clayton. 8 Apr. 2018). A Shakespearean tragedy is seen in Macbeth. Macbeth was written by William Shakespeare in 1500 A.D. (Goodman, Barbara. World Literature, Part 2, Notes on tragedies and travel literature. Clayton State, Clayton. 8 Apr. 2018). The tragic hero in Macbeth is
Being a person with a high authority, has control and with that amount of power comes responsibilities a they have to deal with . Power has a negative effect on people because it can affect how they see themselves in relation to others. In the play Antigone, King Creon, someone who likes nothing more than to feel superior than others, has an argument with his son Haimon over the injustice he is giving Antigone (Haimon’s lover) for burying her dead brother Polyneices in a respected manner. “ And the city proposes to teach me how to rule?”
Creon is a very stubborn man because he was the king of Thebes,Antigone challenged his decree,by burying Polynices. Creon is a stubborn man because he refused to bury his own nephew, he thought his nephew was a traitor. “They say that has sworn,no one shall bury him,no one mourn for him,but his body must lie in the fields,a sweet treasure,for carrion birds to find as they search for food”(line 19-23 page 970),By saying no one shall bury him and no one mourn for him Creon is showing how stubborn he is, He’s not only saying that he won’t do it, but other people can’t do it either. Creon’s law is an example of how stubborn he is because he doesn't care of what other people think,only what he thinks matter.
¨All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong.¨ This is one of the many concepts that tragic hero's fail to understand in greek tragedies. A greek tragedy is a play in which the protagonist, usually a man of importance, falls to disaster through the combination of a personal failing and circumstances that he cannot control. In greek theatre this protagonist is called a Tragic Hero. A tragic hero is someone who is born into nobility, and through his own doings, losses everything in the end..
One way of how Creon represents the problematic nature of man-made laws is through his character. One characteristic of Creon that leads to his problematic man-made laws is that he is ruthless. Although Polyneices is said to have brought war on the State, he is still considered family. Even then he still shows no pity toward Polyneices. Creon leaves the boys body out for shame and to be eaten by wild animals.
In the play "Antigone" by Sophocles, Antigone rightfully decides to bury her brother, Polynices, but when the king, Creon, finds out, she does not repent for her actions. She is a woman that stands for what she thinks is right, which in this case is that Creon is wrong for condemning the burial of her brother. She shows braveness with her actions because not all people have the courage to risk their own lives so that their brother can rest in peace. For instance, Ismene states "What? You 'd bury him – when a law forbids the city?"
“Humble yourself or life will do it for you,” is a common quote used by many. This idea of being humble to avoid consequences applies well to the book Antigone by Sophocles. It shows how if one has too much pride, they will be humbled in one way or another. In Antigone, Creon had tunnel vision, not listening to anyone. His fatal flaw was hubris, ultimately leading to the downfall of him.
/Must I rule the land by someone else’s judgment rather than my own? (Antigone, 790 & 792) This bold statement made by Creon suggests that he sees himself as a leader with the power and dignity of the state entirely with himself. With that power Creon also comes off as prideful as he states “I swear I am no man and she the man/ if she can win this and not pay for it. (Antigone, 528-529), this quote is evidence that Creon decision to stick to punishing Antigone is based off of his pride as a male as he deems that he won’t lose to a woman, as well as his belief that he has absolute say as the king.
A Greek tragedy would not be complete without an evil or immoral character. In Antigone, Creon was not only the tragic hero, but he was also the most immoral character. Creon’s excessive pride results in his downfall, and it negatively influences many of the other characters in the play. If it wasn’t for his title of ruler of Thebes, readers would not act as sympathetically towards Creon throughout the play. The most obvious immoral decision that Creon made in Antigone was the decision to deny Antigone a burial for her brother, Polyneices.
As demonstrated throughout the Greek tragedy Antigone, Creon’s tragic flaw is hubris which causes his downfall . The downfall begins when Creon refuses to give Polyneices, the son of Oedipus and the brother of Antigone, a burial. Creon believes that Polyneices did not die an honorable death as he broke exile and raised the sword against his home city, Thebes, so in return he will not receive a burial. Creon’s pride takes over and so he believes he is a man not only superior to women , but a king superior to the gods. He claims, Go out of your heads entirely?
Tragic Hero Essay “But now at last our new King is coming; Creon of Thebes.” After Creon sends Antigone to live in a cave until death, he realizes a mistake he’s made and tries to get her out. He realized it’s too late to try and save her. She's already dead, so is everyone he loved.
Character Assumption When we watch a performance, we try our best to associate with one of the many characters on stage. At least that’s what I do. If we cannot find any resemblance within a character we judge them quickly on what we do know. For example, we judge people on appearance by how they dress, how they walk or talk, and how they act around others.
The tragedy, Antigone by Sophocles is a well developed take on the fight between who is applicable to be the protagonist of a story. In most stories, plays, poems, written works in general from the first literary works discovered surrounded the Hero’s Journey. The tragedy of Antigone is the one play that seems to accept Joseph Campbell’s theory but master the ideals of a protagonist but still battle for the position at the same time. It’s more or less a toss up to put it simply, but there are strong events and decisions within the tragedy that unfolds somewhat who the antagonist and protagonist is. Similar to the characters in Finding Nemo, Nemo and his father, Marlin, are a debatable pair in deciding who is the lead in the film.
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.”
After reading the tragedy of Antigone by Sophocles, one is left to wonder who the protagonist of this play is. Is it Creon or is it Antigone? To answer this question, one must define what a protagonist is. By definition, a protagonist is a leading actor or a character. Creon fits this description because not only do his actions lead into the whole tragedy, but his character shows a great development and the values he teaches to the readers.
Before the deaths of Oedipus and his sons, Creon had dedicated himself as an art patronage for the king, but ever since he had become king himself, he has then surrendered himself entirely to the throne and to the power he has now have. In the play, Creon has Polyneices body defined on the ground while Eteocles body is honorably buried. Creon feels that he cannot give equal share to both brothers because one was a traitor and the other was loyal. Creon’s pride oversees any other way in justify them so he then enforce a law in which states Polyneices body will remain untouched and not buried and those who disobey will be punished.