ipl-logo

Antigone Vs Creon Tragic Hero

761 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The role creon played in antigone

Who starts out at the top, but ends up at the bottom? Who has everything, but ends up with nothing? Who suffers a fate worse that death? That’s right, the tragic hero. Antigone, a play written by Sophoclese has a classically flawed tragic hero. Creon, the king of Thebes, perfectly fits the wrole of tragic hero. His’ tragic flaws and downfalls make him the best fit for the role. His actions and consequences support the idea that he is the tragic hero, rather than Antigone, another main character. Creon, the king of Thebes, is a dignified, superior character. He was unexcpectedly thrust into this role of authority and now has a lot of pressure on him. With his newfound power, he issues a decree outlawing burials for traitors. Once his own family member, Antigone commits this crime, he decides that he must punish her just as he would anyone else, and that is final. Here he shows his tragic flaw, stubborness. He also shows this when his son Haemon begs him not to sentence her to death, because he will not change his mind no matter what. He is so …show more content…

First of all, she is not a superior character at the start. She also does not really have a tragic flaw, her bad qualities only make her seem annoying and selfish, but do not heavily affect others. Her tragic end also does not occur as a result of her fate. She forces her own glorified end with the attention seeking action of taking her own life. As Katherine Callen King says, “...Antigone as she is lead to her death in punishment for disobeying her uncle’s order”.(Katherine King, The Women’s Review of Books), anything that happened to herself was by her own doing. A tragic hero is supposed to realize their flaw and consequences, while suffering a deep pain. She never acknowleges her flaw, she remains self righteous, and never suffers loss by her own doing, because she releases herself from the world through

Show More
Related
1104 Words | 5 Pages

She has a heroic and courageous personality. Throughout her quest to bury Polyneices, Antigone encounters many hindrances along the way. The death of her father Oedipus led to her greatest disputant being given power, her Uncle Creon. He would show her no mercy for breaking his laws, until it is too late. Even when her sister Ismene states “Our own death would be if we should go against Creon And do what he has forbidden!

Read More
161 Words | 1 Pages

Creon vs. Antigone The tragic hero from “Antigone,” written by Sophocles is Creon. A tragic hero is a character that has a downfall caused by his/her tragic flaw. The tragic flaw is usually having an excessive amount of pride, or being arrogant.

Read More
195 Words | 1 Pages

In the short story titled “Antigone,” the author portrays Creon as a tragic hero by displaying flaws in Creon's character shown throughout the story. Creon’s character contains many flaws which lead to many problems. His decisions end up deciding the fates of his son, his wife, and Antigone. Creon finally realizes that what he has done is sinful to the gods. He has put his own pride over the appreciation of the gods.

Read More
655 Words | 3 Pages

All people can have power in our world, but only a few can have power and fewer can wield it with control in “Antigone”. Creon in the play “Antigone”, is the tragic hero because of the choices he makes and the way he acts. Creon is the tragic hero because he was born into nobility, responsible for his own fate, and doomed to make a serious error in judgement. Creon shows that he is the tragic hero in “Antigone” because he is born into nobility.

Read More
945 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
701 Words | 3 Pages

As defined by Aristotle, a tragic hero is one who is not entirely good or evil. They are an individual who experiences a “reversal of fortune through a fault of character or an uncontrollable accident” (Boucquey). He or she undergoes a dramatic change from happiness to misery (Boucqyey). In Sophocles’ Antigone, Creon is the tragic hero. According to Aristotle, a tragic hero should contain four traits: goodness, appropriateness, lifelike, and consistency, which Creon most prominently displays.

Read More
824 Words | 4 Pages

Antigone’s most important trait is also the fatal flaw that leads to her own demise. Antigone is so loyal ad determined to bury her brother that she would go against the word of the king to do so. It is because of this determination that she antagonizes Creon into sentencing her to death. Sophocles not only portrays Antigone as a tragic hero, but also as a martyr. She believes in something so much that she is willing to go against the law, and in turn die for it.

Read More
660 Words | 3 Pages

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

Read More
1234 Words | 5 Pages

“Not so self-centered that you never listen to other people” (Hugh Hefner). In the story of Antigone, Creon shows the characteristics of a tragic hero, as he is the king he shows his self-confident and he does not recognize his flaws until the end of the story. All of this leads into his downfall in the tragedy and causes him to realized what he had done. Creon is a tragic hero because of his self-righteousness, his excessive pride, and he does not listen to the opinion of others.

Read More
1501 Words | 7 Pages

In the classic play by Sophocles, Antigone is a tragic story of the bold Antigone who defied her uncle, King Creonʻs, edict by burying her brother, Polyneices, who died attacking the city of Thebes, trying to take the power away from their brother, Eteocles, who refused to share the throne with Polyneices. Even though Antigone knew that going against Creon and burying her brother would not end well for her, she still choose to risk her life to do what is right. After being caught breaking the law, Antigone is appointed to be locked away, isolated in a cave until she dies, but she hangs herself at the end. At the same time, things for Creon are not looking good, as everyone around him seems to be against him in his decision for punishing Antigone. Everyone Creon cares about kills themselves from a curse that is put on Creon for not following the Godsʻ laws.

Read More
1092 Words | 5 Pages

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.

Read More
850 Words | 4 Pages

The tragic hero is a character in a book that comes from a noble background that has a tragic flaw which brings the character the greatest suffering which results in their downfall. In “Antigone”, there are two characters who can be considered the tragic hero of the story: Creon and Antigone. Antigone is a brave and fearless women who dies for a noble cause, while Creon is a controlling and powerful king of Thebes. Both Creon and Antigone have qualities to make them the tragic hero, but Creon is the true “tragic hero” because his hamartia causes his downfall. Creon is the tragic hero of “Antigone” because his hubris muddles his judgment and makes him cause his own undoing.

Read More
1133 Words | 5 Pages

Creon cannot be the protagonist because his intentions were for the order and safety of Thebes. Thebes just lost both of its kings and needed a new ruler that could stabilize the city, keeping it safe from neighboring attacks. Although Creon might not have been the rightful heir to the throne, he is the best fit character to rule Thebes. Creon steps in because there no longer is a rightful heir to the throne in the blood line.

Read More
798 Words | 4 Pages

He sentenced a woman to death for trying to put her dead brother to rest. It didn’t matter that Eteocles betrayed his city. It was the god’s unwritten law for him, or anyone, to be buried. Antigone says, “Your edict, King, was strong,- But all your strength is weakness itself against-

Read More
1113 Words | 5 Pages

She does not understand why she is being treated so unjustly for trying to do the right thing. The chorus in the play tries convincing Antigone that justice is behaving in accordance to Creon’s laws but Antigone is stubborn and sustains to her convictions. Even though Antigone ends up dying she dies achieving her goal of wanting to bury her brother properly. Mostly everyone in this play goes against what the main character feels is justly because they want to follow the kings laws and they believe she is acting immorally. Antigone is not acting immorally, she is doing the right thing to follow the law of the gods.

Read More

More about Antigone Vs Creon Tragic Hero

Related Topics

Open Document