Creon Tragic Hero In Antigone

In the play Antigone by Sophocles, many tragic events and characters appear throughout the play.The King, Creon, outlaws the burial of Polyneices, but Antigone buries him anyway because he is her brother. Creon then sends Antigone to a cave to die, but when he finally sees that his edict and punishment are wrong, he is too late, for Antigone has killed herself, also leading to the suicide of Creon’s son and wife. This story includes a tragic hero: a character who makes a bad decision that leads to his or her demise. A tragic hero must be noble, have extreme pride, experience a downfall, realize their wrongs, and accept his or her consequences. After reading Antigone, it is clear to see that the tragic hero is Creon.

Throughout the play, Creon

Creon is stuck in his ways and believes very strongly that what he says is right, that he cannot even imagine someone else, let alone someone younger than him, could be more wise than he. He asks this question rhetorically, showing how the idea of his rule being incorrect is crazy to him. This arrogance is again shown when the prophet Tiresias is warning Creon of his fate, and Creon accuses Teiresias of taking bribes and explains how “[n]ot even if Zeus’s eagles come and fly away/ with carrion morsels to their master’s throne/ [e]ven such a threat of such a taint/ will not win this body burial/ [i]t takes much more than human remains/ to desecrate the majesty divine” (376-377). Creon is so stubborn

Antigone expresses extreme pride from the start of the play, telling her sister how Polyneices “is [her] brother still and [...she] shall not abandon him” (345). Although the burial of Polyneices is outlawed, Antigone will stick to her morals before following the law. The diction of abandon shows how Antigone feels as though not defying the law would be wrong because it goes against her principles. Not only does she show her pride, but she has a very noble cause, something some may argue Creon lacks. Antigone displays this nobility again, when she is in the custody of Creon and her sister end up being brought in as well. Ismene tries to share the blame of the burial, but Antigone will not allow this, saying that Ismene, “[does] not share [blame] with [Antigone] nor did [Antigone] grant [Ismene] partnership” (361). Antigone is both noble and filled with pride in this action; Antigone wants her sister to know that she did something wrong and does not want Ismene to be punished. Although Ismene went against Antigone, Antigone is still trying to protect her from being punished. At the same time, Antigone is showing that she is not ashamed of what she did, though the diction of “grant” and “partnership”. Antigone treats the blame of the burial as something one needs to earn or be granted. She shows her satisfaction with her actions while still being virtuous as she saves her sister from