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Creon: A Tragic Hero

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A tragic hero is a character who makes a mistake due to a flaw that inevitably leads to their own destruction. The play Antigone is a very good example of showing what a tragic hero is. This play was written by Sophocles and tells the story about Antigone’s uncle, Creon, declaring to only bury only one of her two brothers after they killed each other in a battle over ruling the kingdom. She goes against her uncle’s law and buries Polynieces, who was left unburied while Eteocles was. Creon finds out about her doings, and sentences her to live in a cell until her death. Many people believe that Antigone is the tragic here, although I think Creon is the true tragic hero. Many people could confuse the tragic hero with Antigone because the play was named after her. She could be a good choice, but she is lacking the main characteristics for being a tragic hero: the feeling of remorse for her actions and a moral flaw. Creon is the one with the key element for being a tragic hero: having a flaw which causes something to go wrong, realizing what you’ve done, and accepting the things that will come to you because of that.
Although Creon acts as a great king who will do what is right, he obviously has the flaw that leads to his demise. …show more content…

She is brought to Creon by the guards and tries to explain why she disobeyed the law. Creon asks her why she did this, and she says, “It was plain...Because it was Zeus who ordered it.” Antigone wants to respect the gods and their laws, while Creon would rather follow man’s law. She tries to tell him that he is doing wrong but he thinks that his “voice is the one voice giving orders” in the city. He has too much pride to accept that he is wrong and fix what he has done. Even though he is warned by Antigone that what he has done is displeasing the gods, he doesn’t want to be told that he is wrong. That is the problem that will cause him to

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