Antigone Tragic Hero Essay

Submitted By OLU1201-2
Words: 810
Pages: 4
Open Document
World Literature
23 September 2013
Antigone: Tragic Hero
A tragic hero can be defined in many different ways. He or she is usually the main character in a Greek or Roman tragedy. He’s typically an admirable character who appears as the focus in a tragic play, but who is undone by a hamartia. This hamartia, often pride (or hubris), leads to the downfall of the main character and sometimes everything he or she holds dear. He is doomed from the start, bears no responsibility for possessing his flaw, but eventually bears responsibility for his actions. The tragic hero is royal or noble with great power, usually a king. He is a good, respected man who acts out of good intentions. This ensures that his fate affects the welfare of a whole nation or number of people. He also has much to lose, but doesn’t necessarily have to die. The hero realizes that his own flaw or error has caused his reversal. This recognition always occurs too late for the hero to prevent or escape his fate. The only character from Antigone that mostly matches these descriptions based on his royalty, his questioning of the gods, and his hubris, is Creon.
Creon may have been a well-respected or feared king, but according to Greek religion, kings had no power to question the laws of a god. This is exactly what Creon did and how he tested the waters. In the second Creon delivered the command that "Polynices...is to have no burial: no man is to touch him or say the least prayer for him; he shall lie on the plain, unburied", he is in turn defying the ancient law of the gods; which states that upon death, a proper burial is necessary. By doing this, he pretty much declared himself as god. This action throws him into his fate of suffering. Although Antigone stood up to Creon and questioned his assumed authority, to him she was only one girl. This was therefore not enough to stop him from making his command final. Consequently, because he is feared by the rest of the population, the only person that can stop Creon now is himself. This puts Creon in a place where he can decide his wrong-doings and take credit for them, which would officially make him a tragic hero.
Creon's human flaws and emotions, including pride and arrogance ultimately lead to his downfall, which further ties to him being the tragic hero. His actions are derived from his fear of losing his place as king. Creon's ego prevents him from listening to any advice given to him (except for Tiresias’, but by then it’s too late). He says "My voice is the one voice giving orders in this city". He is not willing to listen to anybody because he believes that going back on a decision will somehow destroy his pride. He, however, hides this reason behind the fact that what he was doing was what was best for Thebes. In the words of Mary Wollstonecraft, “No man chooses evil because it is evil. He only
Show More

Related Documents: Antigone Tragic Hero Essay

Antigone Tragic Hero

over the gods despite what many may think. In Sophocles’ tragedy, Antigone, it is as clear as the ocean is blue that while Antigone herself may not be a textbook example of a tragic hero, she has more of the required characteristics than that of her uncle, Creon. She was born a princess of Thebes, a noble birth. She is devoted to her family above all else, and is truly outraged at the order forbidding her brother’s burial. Antigone says “[I]f I had allowed my own mother’s son to rot, an unburied corpse…

Words 956 - Pages 4

Antigone: The Tragic Hero

Antigone is considered the hero of the play, and she has many tragic flaws which lead to her downfall making her the Tragic Hero. One of Antigone's tragic flaws is her loyalty to the gods and,her disloyalty to King Creon. At the beginning of the story, Creon says that Polynieces, shouldn't be buried because he was a traitor to his country, and traitors shouldn't be respected and honored. This is unacceptable to Antigone, as she says, “But I will bury him; and if I must die, I say that this crime…

Words 306 - Pages 2

What Is Antigone A Tragic Hero

What constitutes a tragic hero and what is there purpose in a story? Well, that is a question which has been asked by many and is one that can be easily answered. Tragic hero's make many appearances throughout both writing and the entertainment industry, one example of this is in the play Antigone. This is a play, written by Sophocles, which portrays the decisions of a women, that women is Antigone. She was cursed at birth, because of her father; that has created a string of bad luck which has followed…

Words 495 - Pages 2

Creon Tragic Hero In Antigone

up falling from grace. The dramatic play Antigone by Sophocles written in 441 B.C.E is a story of many different opinions contrasting each other leading to death, sadness and regret. The character Antigone fights for what she believes in against the king and the gods beliefs to bury her dead brother, Polyneices who died in a battle against his own brother Eteocles to win over the throne. After analyzing all the possibilities, the king, Creon is a tragic hero in the story because he survives all events…

Words 643 - Pages 3

Antigone Creon Tragic Hero

The tragic hero in Antigone isn’t the person you’d expect it to be. This person is Creon, the “guy in charge” who orders the death of one of the main character also known as his niece, Antigone. Throughout the play, we see Creon as the antagonist who constantly makes harsh and irrational choices such as punishing Antigone for burying her brother. But from an alternative lens, we see him as a leader who is devoted to his government and will do anything to keep the law of the land strong and applicable…

Words 484 - Pages 2

Antigone Creon Tragic Hero

Creon the Tragic Hero In Sophocles’ Antigone, the king of Thebes, Creon has made a decree that will kill his own because he always has to be right. Although this is a bad thing this doesn’t make him bad which makes him a perfect tragic hero according to Aristotle. Aristotle states that a tragic hero is someone who is not completely good or bad, highly renowned and prosperous, and they have a tragic flaw. However, after the tragic hero realizes their tragic flaw it’s too late because everything has…

Words 507 - Pages 3

Antigone: Tragic Hero Essay

Antigone is a Greek Tragedy that stresses the use of sovereignty and virtue against the law ,written by Sophocles. Within the story, the inquery of who the tragic hero is, King Creon or Antigone herself, is a subject of highly debatable class. The king Creon possesses some of the characteristics that define a tragic character, as defined in Aristotle's Tragic Theory. According to Aristotle's Theory, there are a few major traits, which are required of the tragic character. The character must be viewed…

Words 1027 - Pages 5

Creon The Tragic Hero In Antigone

While Antigone may be perceived as the hero of the play, Creon better fits Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero. Three major indicators of this is that Creon’s fate was much worse than what he deserved, and he discovered that the reversal of his fortune was caused by his own actions and decisions, or anagnorisis, and his excessive pride, or hubris. Creon made an error in his judgment, and while he deserved to be punished, he did not deserve to loose his niece, son and wife over the course of…

Words 276 - Pages 2

Creon Tragic Hero In Antigone

In Sophocles play, Antigone, Creon is a tragic hero because he did not want Antigone brother Polyneices buried. Creon said your not allowed to bury polyneices “ And yet you dared to break those very laws”(507). Antigone wanted to honor her mother’s children by not letting them be unburied. Creon said “A good man does not wish what we give him to be the same an evil man receives”(592). This means the two brothers were supposed to share being king so they both should get the same respect. Creon believes…

Words 595 - Pages 3

Antigone Tragic Hero

“All heroes posses a tragic flaw that brings about or contribute to his or her downfall”. In the play “Antigone”,Sophocles writes about a young women who is to headstrong for her own good. This play begins with a tragedy. Antigone’s two brothers, Polyneices and Ectocles have both died in war over the kingdom. In the eyes of the newly crowned King Creon, only one brother, Ectocles, had an honorable death, therefore, he will be the only one to have a proper burial. Antigone decides that she must…

Words 256 - Pages 2