Even though there are two possible tragic heroes, each has an important goal. A tragic hero is a character who exhibits the characteristics of a powerful person who meets a terrible downfall. In “Antigone” by Sophocles, the turmoil of characters' opinions about the laws of men versus the laws of the gods is about which is more important. Crucial differences in religion, social class, and wisdom reveal the true tragic hero. Antigone and Creon have great differences. Opinions about religion and how it affects the laws of the kingdom of Thebes is an important point of conflict in the story. Nonetheless, Antigone is extremely dependent on the laws of the gods, she has an extreme way of thinking about religion. The gods are the first powerful …show more content…
Yet it is not outright said in the story, he acknowledges the gods and their power but disregards their words. Tiresias attempts to warn him but Creon says, “If your birds––if the great eagles of God himself should carry him stinking bit by bit to heaven, I would not yield.” (Lines 816-818). Doing what he believes is morally right to him personally, why respect a murderer? He valued the laws of man over the laws of the gods. This is his first mistake, By not burying Polynices he angers the gods and causes all the unfortunate events to come. The fact that he is King contributes to why so many agree with him. He feels as though his words should be final since why wouldn’t his words be correct? He is doing what he thinks is best for the people, therefore they should all side with him. This isn’t always the right thing to do though. Specifically, saying one has much wisdom usually suggests that they don’t have much of it to begin with if he is arguing with so many people. If your words conflict with what the public thinks, that means that some sort of change with what you are doing must occur. His own son attempts to warn him, Creon argues his opinions with most characters in the story. Yet, he still disregards their opinion for the fear of being