Tragedy In Antigone

In most cases, Greek plays fall under one of two categories: tragedy or comedy. A tragedy is an event causing great suffering, destruction, and distress, such as a serious accident, crime, or natural catastrophe whereas, a comedy is a professional entertainment consisting of jokes and satirical sketches, intended to make an audience laugh. The acclaimed play, Antigone, written by Sophocles, can be portrayed as a tragedy. In this play, the main character, Antigone, rebels against Creon, king of Thebes, by burying her brother, Polyneices, after Creon announces to everyone that he is not to be buried. Creon later discovers what she has done, and sentences her to death. His actions cause numerous to become enraged, including Antigone, which ultimately

In most tragedies, pride is the most significant role in a tragic hero 's personality, and Creon does not shy away from showing the pride he possesses. Creon shows his pride by exclaiming, "No woman shall subdue us. If we must lose, let 's lose to a man at least! Is a woman stronger than we," (Sophocles 707). Recognizably, Creon shows pridefulness and arrogance when he says that men are superior to women. Creon 's primary concern about the death of Antigone is that he does not want to "lose" to a woman. This undoubtedly shows that Creon is not essentially concerned about other citizens disobeying the law. He has pride in being a man and is not willing to lose to a woman, which leads to his

His downfall can be foreshadowed throughout the play, and one of the most significant reasons is because of his anger and aggression. Sometimes people say comments that they do not mean due to anger, but that is no excuse for Creon. He takes it to a whole new level that causes most to be afraid of him. Which in a way, leads to him believing that his decisions are right, due to no one standing up to him. This is clearly shown when the Sentry indicates, "I didn 't do it. I did not see who did it. You must not punish me for what someone else has done"(693). Here, the Sentry has just figured out that someone has buried Polyneices. He brings the news to Creon, fearful that he will assume it was him, which evidently shows that the people of Thebes fear him. Therefore, if Creon wasn 't so open with his anger, they might have been more vocal in stating their opinions, whereas Antigone was able to hear others out.

All in all, due to his ruthless personality traits, Creon is the tragic hero in the play, not Antigone. If he didn 't express his anger and aggression it could have prevented many deaths. He could have prevented his wife and son 's death if he would have put his pride to the side, and was not so stubborn. Even though many have reason to believe that Antigone is the tragic hero, Creon is due to his lack of control over his emotions. Creon is most definitely