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Who Is Creon A Tragic Hero

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The King of Pride Throughout history, kings have been seen as noble, wealthy, or even stuck up. Usually people don’t think someone with so much, could end up with so little. Antigone by Sophocles, and Poetics by Aristotle can help with understanding what a tragic hero is. Antigone is about a girl with the title name, who defies the law and buries her brother after the King, Creon declares it illegal. Creon sends Antigone off to her death, losing his own son and wife soon after. It may seem like Antigone is the tragic hero, but she isn’t. A tragic hero has excessive pride, loses many people close to them, and is physically or spiritually wounded by what happens. Creon displays these traits and more. As stated in Poetics by Aristotle, “The hero must have a weakness, usually it is pride.” Poetics also says, “Hero must be noble in nature, but imperfect so the audience can see themselves in him.” Creon has …show more content…

Tiresias, the blind prophet, tried to warn Creon that putting Antigone to death would ruin his life. Creon didn’t listen, but then thought he’d listen and set free Antigone, only to see she’d killed herself and his son dead at his own hand. His wife then killed herself shortly after, and he knew it was all his fault. He said, “Whatever my hands have touched has come to nothing. Fate has brought all my pride to a thought of dust.” (Sophocles 724) In that statement, it proves he is aware that what he’s done has led him to now. What is also learned is that he had an older son that was killed before this story took place, in the same battle that caused the deaths of both of Antigone’s brothers. He begs for death, but the Choragos states that he has to live with all the guilt in what he’s done and that his time will come when it comes. Pride had clouded his judgement for some time, and it took the death of his family for him to realize that he was

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Sophocles’ play, Antigone, sets up Creon as the tragic hero from the beginning. Creon is the tragic hero because his stubbornness is his biggest flaw. He is the tragic hero because he is selfish and he does not listen to others, which causes his downfall. Creon’s stubbornness caused his downfall.

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In the short story titled “Antigone,” the author portrays Creon as a tragic hero by displaying flaws in Creon's character shown throughout the story. Creon’s character contains many flaws which lead to many problems. His decisions end up deciding the fates of his son, his wife, and Antigone. Creon finally realizes that what he has done is sinful to the gods. He has put his own pride over the appreciation of the gods.

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Antigone is one of the greatest tragedies ever written by Sophocles. There is a controversial question about this play: Who is the tragic hero? Could it be Antigone or Creon? Even though the play’s name is Antigone, but as I read the story. A sensible and responsible king, Creon, is a tragic hero because of his power madness, self-righteousness, and ruthlessness.

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In the story “Antigone” there has been multiple kings to rule over Thebes in a short period of time. The newest king is King Creon. Creon has made multiple mistakes leading to his downfall and i’ll explain why the king is a tragic hero. One characteristic of a tragic hero is if the “hero” has free choice that makes his downfall his fault. This applies to King Creon because in the story his niece (Antigone) disobeyed what he said even though she thought it was the right thing to do, this is where his downfall begins.

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The definition of a tragic hero is a character in a tragedy or story who is presented as great or virtuous who ultimately creates their own downfall or defeat through a series of actions. Creon, a character established as the king of Thebes in Sophocles’ tragedy Antigone, is the epitome of a tragic hero who develops throughout the story from a pompous man who rules by the laws of the gods and himself to a character who comes to understand justice and wisdom at a great cost. This change is especially articulated by the conversation Creon has with his son Haemon, who’s opinion strongly contrasts with his father and his actions, and the incidents that take place afterwards. The scene begins with the chorus leader who first introduced Haemon to the audience as Creon’s “only living son” who has come to discuss the punishment of his bride, Antigone (Sophocles, Antigone, pg

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574 Words | 3 Pages

Who is the tragic hero in Sophocles’ story Antigone? Antigone is a tragic poem written by one of the most popular poets in history, Sophocles. It is a story of a girl who goes against man’s law in order to protect her brother and the gods laws. Unfortunately for her, the King, Creon, was a strong believer in mans law and protecting it at all costs. The story capitalizes on that conflict and how it was dealt with, but in the end Creon was the Tragic hero because of his excessive pride, his crave for power, and his misjudgement that eventually leads to his fate and downfall.

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1031 Words | 5 Pages

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.

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In the play it is revealed, TEIRESIAS: “Think: all men make mistakes, But a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong, And repairs the evil. The only crime is pride” (Sophocles I. 5. 232). Tiresias tells Creon that all men make mistakes, but only those who are right will stop and correct their mistakes. However, Creon does not stop and is blamed for having a flaw of excessive pride, which is a characteristic of a tragic hero. It is shown in the play, CREON: “Haemon my son, so young, so young to die, I was the fool, not you; and you died for me” (Sophocles I. Ėxodos. 242).

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oh look at him, Bearing his own damnation in his arms” (Antigone Exodos. 84-85). He is saying ‘Look what has happened to Creon’. He has payed for his arrogance with the death of his niece, son, and wife; that being his tragic fall, caused by his

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1234 Words | 5 Pages

“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.

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809 Words | 4 Pages

Against the warning of others, Creon goes on with his plan to essentially sentence Antigone to her death. Creon continually ignores what others counsel him to do because he believes that just because he is king, everything he does is right. It is this thinking that ultimately leads to the death of not only Antigone, but also Creon’s son and wife as well. All tragic heroes suffer from a tragic flaw that leads to their downfall. Creon suffers from two tragic flaws, pride and stubbornness.

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1092 Words | 5 Pages

In Sophocles’ play Antigone, Creon, the king of Thebes, best represents a tragic hero. Creon demonstrates goodness in his intentions for Thebes as well as his fragile state due to the fact that he recently lost several family members. Creon, newly named king, finds himself as highest ranking official around, showing superiority. Creon often acts stubborn and prideful, his tragic flaw. And lastly, he must come to terms with the fact that he caused the death of his wife, son, and niece.

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850 Words | 4 Pages

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.

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688 Words | 3 Pages

In Sophocles’ Antigone, Antigone and Creon both have qualities of a tragic hero according to Aristotle’s definition. Aristotle believes a tragic hero is a decent human, but falls due to a weakness in one’s character. In the plot, Antigone decides to bury her brother, which defies the laws of Creon, the dictator of Thebes. Antigone believes she must hold her family values and the gods’ beliefs with utmost respect. Antigone refuses to deny her crime, so she is sentenced to be death by Creon.

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757 Words | 4 Pages

Creon realizes it’s too late his mistakes, and now that he lost his family, he realizes he should of listened. All his family dead, he is now alone because he was blinded by his pride that he didn't listen. He realized too late of all the consequences that his ignorance brought upon him. Throughout the play Antigone by Sophocles Creon is seen as a tragic hero, due to the fact that he is rude to others when they try to talk to him and acts childish when insulting others.

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