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Creon And The Tragic Hero In Sophocles Antigone

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The quote, ‘Sometimes in tragedy, you find your life’s purpose’ has a strong impact on the play, Antigone by Sophocles. Within Antigone, there is a tragedy and the tragedy consists of a tragic hero. According to the Aristotelian model, the tragic hero consists of having and or starting from a high place of royalty, a fatal flaw called hamartia, a catastrophe caused from the hamartia; increase self awareness and realization called anagnorisis that happens right after the catastrophe and finally a reversal: a punishment that is even worse than the crime for the tragic hero. The tragic hero in Antigone is Creon. Creon fits the first model for a tragic hero because he is a king and starts out from a place of high power. In stories like Antigone …show more content…

A catastrophe is a disaster that is caused by the hamartia. In Creon’s catastrophe, his wife, son, and daughter in law all commit suicide because of his prideful actions. First Antigone, his daughter in law goes against Creon’s rules making him extremely angry; he punishes her by locking her up in a cell and threatens to execute her. Creon's son, Haemon is engaged to Antigone so naturally he doesn't agree with Creon’s actions and makes an attempt to stop Creon. In the process of trying Haemon trying to stop Creon, Antigone commits suicide. Haemon goes on his way to visit Antigone while Creon has a conversation with the choragos. After talking to the choragus, Creon realizes he is wrong and that his hubris has led to his divide in his family; and goes to free Antigone. However Haemon thinks that Creon is coming to execute Antigone and challenges Creon one last time. During the brawl between Creon and Haemon, Haemon commits suicid. Then Creon’s wife, Eurydice finds out about her son's untimely death and kills herself, saddened with grief. The aftermath of the catastrophe causes Creon to become more anagnorisis. He realizes that his catastrophe wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t had been so hubris and the audience feels catharsis for him. Catharsis is the purging of emotions of pity and fear and why the audience especially feels catharism for Creon because he realized his fatal flaw

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He is the center of the play, which causes events to happen. The first tragic fall that leads Creon to his downfall is his power madness. His power madness fall can be supported by Antigone’s dialogue, “Further: he has the matter so it that anyone who dares attempt the act will die by stoning in the town.” (Antigone 2).

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Haemon’s misuse of words and actions, Creon’s development of a tragic hero, and the interactions between Haemon and Creon brings the reader to Creon’s eventual downfall. Fore he was to late, Antigone had hung herself, causing Haemon to follow through with his suicide out of love for his Antigone, in which causes Creon’s wife to kill herself as well. Making Creon realize how he destroyed everything he loved. Leaving him with nothing except a crumbling

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The story take place in Thebes where the main character, Antigone’s brother passes away and she wishes to honor him but, her uncle who rules over Thebes, Creon, disagrees and thinks he does not deserve a admiral death, and so from this the major conflict arises. A tragic hero is someone who wants to do something right, but in the process their flaw leads to their downfall at the end of the story. In Antigone the tragic hero happens to be Creon because he has a tragic flaw or a hamaritara and heis nobility in the city of Thebes, however Antigone may also be considered a tragic hero. Creon is considered the tragic hero because of his tragic flaw of him being stubborn. When Haemon is trying to talk to Creon on letting Antigone go he questions, “So, men our age, we’re to be lectured, are we?-schooled by a boy his age?”

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A tragedy is a difficult and rewarding form of drama for the audience, which was made into an art by the Greeks. A tragic hero is a character that of a noble stature, brought down by an act of injustice, has a tragic flaw, has a choice that results in the characters downfall, a misfortune not entirely deserved, and most importantly, the character gins self-knowledge. This skillfully describes King Creon. In the Greek drama Antigone by Sophocles, Teiresias, the prophet, is a foil to King Creon. Teriesias display of stubbornness highlights Creon’s hamartia of pride.

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Almost always, in Greek tragedies a “tragic hero” has a hamartia, or tragic flaw, which will cause their concluding demise. In the Greek playwright, Antigone written by Sophocles, the interesting character, Creon, is a prime example of this. According the Aristotle’s theory, to be a tragic hero you have to have three traits: a flaw, a fall, and acceptance of your current situation. Creon’s flaw is his ego, which blinds him and lures him to do rather profane activities. Due to Creon’s ego, him losing everything caused by that very hamartia, and acceptance of the series of unfortunate events that occurred; Creon is the tragic hero in Antigone

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“When we meet real tragedy in life, we can react in two ways- either by losing hope and falling into self-destructive habits, or by using the challenge to find our inner strength…” -Dalai Lama. In two of Sophocles’ famous plays, Antigone and Oedipus, the King, the character Creon is the victim of an unparalleled tragic fate that exemplifies Aristotle’s “tragic figure.” His definition being a character whose “tragedy should evoke pity…[they] must be essentially admirable… [their] demise must come as a result of some personal error…” (Simpson 1).

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