Creon: A Tragic Hero In Antigone By Sophocles

In Sophocles’ play Antigone, Creon, the king of Thebes, best represents a tragic hero. Creon demonstrates goodness in his intentions for Thebes as well as his fragile state due to the fact that he recently lost several family members. Creon, newly named king, finds himself as highest ranking official around, showing superiority. Creon often acts stubborn and prideful, his tragic flaw. And lastly, he must come to terms with the fact that he caused the death of his wife, son, and niece. Therefore, Creon best represents a tragic hero. For a character to represent goodness, they must evoke pity from the audience. Creon must step up to take the throne of Eteocles, one his recently fallen nephews. Meaning that Creon, still grieving, must take to

(Scene 1. 39-42)

Creon must rule with iron fist in order to gain respect from the people. He loses two family members,, takes the throne, and must banish the prayers for his poor, fallen nephew. Additionally, Creon loses his wife and son in scene five. CREON. Oh pity! All true, all true, and more than I can bear! O my wife, my

Son! (5. 109-111)

Creon’s death sentence for Antigone led to his son’s suicide, which then caused the suicide of his wife. The reader feels pity for Creon for his lack of time to grieve and his tragic mistake that led to the loss of his family, this demonstrates his goodness.

Creon, recently succeeded to take the throne of Eteocles, making him king. Therefore, giving him the title of royalty and showing superiority. His power and control over Thebes makes him important, and this power and importance leads to a lack of mercy for criminals.. CREON. I have summoned you here this morning because I know that I can depend on you: your devotion to King Laius was absolute; you never hesitated in your duty to our late ruler Oedipus; and

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! Only remember: I will not pay you for them.

Creon takes Teiresias’ words with a grain of salt, if only Creon knew that Teiresias was correct all along. As the new king, Creon must make complicated decisions and the people must trust him to choose wisely. However, Creon finds himself in a difficult situation. His son, Haemon, will soon marry Antigone, Creon’s niece who just lost both of her brothers. Antigone decided to give her brother, Polyneices, a proper burial however against Creon’s ruling. And now, Creon must do as he promised - execute the one responsible. CREON. But this is Antigone! Why have you brought her here? SENTRY. She was burying him, I tell you! CREON. Is this the truth? SENTRY. I saw her with my own eyes. Can I say more? (Scene 2.