Examples Of Hubris In Antigone

Aristotle’s ideal image of a tragic hero is someone pure hearted, an inspiration, and royalty with a tragic flaw. A tragic flaw consists of weaknesses like hubris, ruthless ambition, or jealousy. The story all began when Oedipus fulfilled his legacy and then had four children, Antigone, Ismene, Polyneices, and Eteocles. Polyneices and Eteocles got into an argument which results in both of them killing each other and Creon is left as the new King of Thebes; however, Creon only buries Eteocles body and leaves Polyneices body to rot outdoors. This starts conflict within the family. The minor characters each create a different environment which reveals the hubris in Creon leading to him not being a tragic hero.

Being a tragic hero requires

Due to his obsessive pride, Creon sees himself as greater than the Gods which angered them and as a result, Creon loses his family emotionally and physically. The start of the conflict in “Antigone” was because of Creon’s obsessive pride and the image of being greater than the Gods. In Greek culture, a burial is very important and must be “...performed with immense care, as the Greeks feared that the gods would punish those who neglected even the smallest detail” (Ancient Greek Burial Practices). Creon had no power on deciding rather Polyneices should have been buried at all because now not only did he receive a punishment from the Gods, but he has lost the trust of those around him, especially his family. And when Creon finds out that Polyneices body has been buried, he doubts the Gods for choosing to favor Polyneices, the traitor of his own kingdom. Haimon comes in in Scene 3 to tell his father that a man must not believe that he “...alone can be right. The man who thinks that, the man who maintains that only he has the power to reason correctly, the gift to speak… a man like that, when you know him, turns out empty” (Scene 3, 74-78). Choragos agrees with Haimon and tells the king that he “...will do well to listen to him… if what he says is sensible” (Scene 3, 92-93). As a