Is Creon Or A Tragic Hero In Antigone?
In Sophocles’ Antigone, the protagonist, Antigone, possesses the characteristic flaw of blind passion. Antigone tells the tragedy of a recalcitrant woman’s agony due to a new edict declared by the ruling power of the state, King Creon. The young woman, Antigone, wants to bury her brother, Polynices, but Creon’s edict announces that anyone who does so will be punished in death. Antigone rebels against the law of the state because she is assertive in her decision to bury her brother in order to honour the gods and maintain family loyalty. She courageously decides to act upon her free will and is prepared to face the consequence of death that proceeds.
Tragic Hero Essay Loyalty, being a foundation or moral in the lives of most, can refrain one’s mind and actions from rationality. This concept causes decisions to be altered in ways that don’t always result in positive outcomes. In Sophocles’ Antigone, loyalty is the root cause of some of the characters being in adverse circumstances. Defying her king's edict, Antigone went to bury her brother Polynieces, which set off a whirlwind of unfortunate events for her and those around her. Antigone's high and noble social status, her tragic flaw of inviolable loyalty, and her familiarity with hamartia make her a tragic hero.
One final characterization trait that makes Antigone and Creon tragic heroes is how both characters have a moment of realization of why their downfall occurred. This moment of realization is typically the final step of a tragic hero’s journey and is what solidifies a character as a tragic hero. For Antigone, she knew from the beginning of her journey that she was doomed to fail, however in her last words she spoke of how she understood why her downfall occurred, “ANTIGONE: O tomb, vaulted bride-bed in eternal rock, soon I shall be with my own again where Persephone welcome the thin ghost underground: And I shall see my father again, and you, mother, and dearest Polyneices–– dearest indeed to me, since it was my hand That washed him clean and poured the ritual wine: And my reward is death And yet, as men’s hearts know, I have done no wrong, I have not sinned before God.
I consider Antigone as the tragic hero for what she faced, defending her righteous goal. Despite the royal decree that anyone who does what she done, shall be put to death. Her honor and will are both remarkable characteristics, for a hero. She sets an example of defiance for all generations, even though she lost everything.
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
“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.
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.
Through various points of the story, Antigone does not change and has the same personality throughout the entire story. Compare her from Line 80 to Line 845, in comparison to Creon between Line 162 and Line 1269. As you can tell, his personality dramatically changed from the start of the story to the end. Overall, despite the name of the tragedy, Antigone is not the tragic hero. Due to the definition of a tragic hero as defined in the beginning, Creon would be the tragic hero, because of his fatal flaw, personality change, and inability to be replaced in the story.
The story of Antigone by Sophocles is a story of a sister on a quest to bury her brother who was killed in combat. The new incoming king forbids such acts of burial for the brother, as he is labeled a traitor. Antigone has shown that she is a strong woman as she continues to believe in her ways of things. Even if she is told by others to stand down, she continues to hang on to her beliefs till the end. Creon who is told by his son and Teiresias is late to think about how her punishment was unreasonable that he took it too far.
After reading the tragedy of Antigone by Sophocles, one is left to wonder who the protagonist of this play is. Is it Creon or is it Antigone? To answer this question, one must define what a protagonist is. By definition, a protagonist is a leading actor or a character. Creon fits this description because not only do his actions lead into the whole tragedy, but his character shows a great development and the values he teaches to the readers.
In the play "Antigone" by Sophocles, Antigone rightfully decides to bury her brother, Polynices, but when the king, Creon, finds out, she does not repent for her actions. She is a woman that stands for what she thinks is right, which in this case is that Creon is wrong for condemning the burial of her brother. She shows braveness with her actions because not all people have the courage to risk their own lives so that their brother can rest in peace. For instance, Ismene states "What? You 'd bury him – when a law forbids the city?"
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.
Although Antigone ultimately fulfilled her duty, she was arrested and ultimately faced a tragic death in the end. In her own way, she
I do not think Antigone wanted to be a hero in any matter but of love for her brother, and the loss, honoring the deceased. Antigone even proves that she will never turn her back on family; “And now you can prove what you are; a true sister, or a traitor to your family.” (Sophocles, Line 26-27) She went against her own uncle, the Kind of Thebes, Creon. He ordered that no one should honor, or mourn Polyneices and that he should not be buried for being a traitor.
Sophocles is the playwright for the very popular tragedy “Antigone” written in ancient Greece around 440 B.C.. “The Burial at Thebes” is a play based on Sophocles “Antigone”, but written by Seamus Heaney in the early 2000’s. Both of these plays portray the main character, Antigone, as a strong, independent activist for the equality of women by pursuing what she believes is right and just. Traveling back to ancient Greece around 440 B.C., we learn that women don’t have many rights and are often treated as objects, rather than people. It was custom for women to have arranged marriages, having their husbands selected for them from a male relative, most likely their father.
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