Preview

Creon's Tragic Hero In Sophocles Antigone

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
302 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Creon's Tragic Hero In Sophocles Antigone
The title of this play is Antigone. It was written by Sophocles. Creon is a tragic hero because he suffers a horrible fate,realizes flaw,and learns from his mistake. Creon suffers a horrible fate. His pride leads him onto suffering. He’s failed from his power and happiness. The messenger said,”Haemon is dead,and the hand that killed him was his own.”(Page 1103,Lines 19-20) Because of what Creon did that caused Polyneices to never be buried and Antigone be locked away in a cave, Creon would suffer from the wrath of the gods. He failed to acknowledge a higher good than that of his decision. The cause of his downfall is his flaw, he is responsible for his fate.
Creon realizes his flaw. He realized his mistake in passing an unjust proclamation

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In Antigone by Sophocles, Haemon's sound, and strongest argument for a change in Creon’s policy is that Creon is too self righteous and has not been listening to what his community thinks is best for Thebes. Haemon proves that Creon has not been listening to the community because of stubbornness when he said, “So the report spreads in darkness. When you do well, father, I have no more honored possession than that, for what prize is greater for children than that...Don’t be so stubborn that you say you and you alone are right”(712-16). Haemon’s argument proves that Creon should consider changing his policy because the people of Thebes are talking about who they believe is right in secrecy. The people do not think that Creon's policy is just.…

    • 215 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the play Antigone, Creon is portrayed as the king of discipline and pride. Creon’s pride is what makes him the tragic figure of Antigone. Though Antigone takes her life as the result of her sentence from Creon, it is not her pride that defines her fate but her unwillingness to accept her fate.…

    • 582 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As Creon made decisions and orders towards the body, Antigone also stood for herself and made here own decisions. First, at those times it was very rare that a woman would speak out, because they didn’t have the chance to say what was in their minds and express themselves. In other words, it was very rare that a woman was caught in some type of trouble. Also, woman had any importance or value in the ancient Greek society. At those times men were superior to the woman. Therefore, they were the only ones that had the last word and the ones that mattered. In those times it was thought that women were unable to make important decisions. Men had every importance in Greek society, they were the ones who made every single decision and were the ones who had the voice, the woman had to remain submissive and obey even though she would disagree.…

    • 1115 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Role Of Creon In Antigone

    • 345 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the story of Antigone, there are two main characters Creon, and Antigone. Many people think that Antigone is the tragic hero, but i think that Creon is the tragic hero. In the story of Antigone, king Creon was a tragic hero because, he was very stubborn, he is of noble greatness, and he made a bad mistake by not burying Polyneices.…

    • 345 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    King Creon possesses all the key aspects of a true tragic hero. He becomes aware of his flaw of hubris and takes action to eliminate it but by then fate has already taken over. A series of unfortunate events including the deaths of his son and his wife fulfill the prophecy bestowed upon Creon by Teiresias, a wise oracle. Creon is forced until the day he dies to live with the grief that he is the reason for the catastrophes in his kingdom of Thebes and that is the epitome of what a true tragic hero…

    • 645 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Sophocles play “Antigone”, Creon the king demanded that his people obey his rules and order even if it’s wrong. He believed this because it stops chaos and keeps order, but when he puts out the law that whoever were to bury Polyneices body will be put to death and this upsets all of the citizens, including his son. A true ruler must give his people what they want unlike Creon did, Creon’s people and his son told him he was making the wrong decision. When the towns people act like the counsel listen to them. The play disagrees with Creon because while he was a feared and mighty ruler in his own eyes, his own people were scared and untrusting of his rules and decisions.…

    • 965 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In some respects Creon is seen as a positive character, in others as an antagonist. However, if one sees it from a different perspective, it's obvious that Creon is the victim of fate and his own flaws, making him a tragic hero. His first misfortune was to fall from the grace of his people when saying that Antigone should die for her actions. "Your people are beginning to question your judgment and are beginning to side with Antigone." (256-257) This scene is very ironic! Creon is actually trying to maintain his authority by being a ruler of his word, but he is actually losing respect. Creon's present situation foreshadows unrest and growing calamity within his own family. The idea of him losing…

    • 549 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Creon and his hubris are the only things responsible for his downfall. Creon says, “As long as I am king, no traitor is going to be honored with the loyal man.”(Sophocles 976). Creon wanted to make his point clear, but upon doing he announced he is king in a democratic society abolishing their traditional ways. Another way that Creon exemplifies his hubris is when he was talking with the guard and threatens his life because he is angered when he tells him that Antigone performed a burial on her brother Polyneices. He said, “I’ll string you up Alive, and there will be certain ways to make you Discover your employer before you die; And the process may teach you a lesson you seem to have missed:..” (Sophocles 978). Again Creon lets his hubris interfere with Thebans political policies by not even offering the man a trial and wrongfully punishing the guard for simply delivering bad…

    • 737 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    He shows no mercy to anyone even if they are family and in that sense is the one who causes all the suffering. Creon sentence both his nieces, Antigone and Ismene to death, even though he wasn't going to really punish Ismene for breaking the law; he was the reason for his own anangke. Creon felt like he was so powerful since he was the king, but enforcing his rule about burying Polynices was a hamartia. In the end Creon learned how being loyal to his state only caused pain and suffering for not only himself but his family as well. He may have been happy with showing he was the king but didn't think twice if he was being loyal to his family. The choices Creon made were based more on his pride and loyalty to himself and of course the state caused his own son and wife to take their lives, leaving him with such heartache and pain. Creon said, “so senseless, so insane...my crimes/my stubborn, deadly”(1394-1395). Explaining how his loyalty to himself was just what it was he never thought he would be the one in so much pain because of his mistake he made by willing to punish Antigone for breaking a rule he decided to put in place. If he would have just put his ego and pride aside and let Antigone off with a less punishment he would have still stayed loyal to his state but would have also showed loyalty to his family as…

    • 992 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Creon and Antigone both have a pretty tragic part in the play, “Antigone”, but who’s the more tragic character? I have an answer for you. With a little bit of evaluation, you’ll find that Antigone is indeed the more tragically doomed of the two, and here’s why.…

    • 955 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the play Antigone, Creon was not a tragic hero. According to Aristotle there are five characteristics of a tragic hero; those are: falling from grace,hero must have a tragic flaw that results in their downfall, hero does not deserve their fate, audience feels pity for the character, the fall is pure is not pure loss, and the tragic hero accepts his fate. Creon did not fall from grace, he deserved his fate, we don’t feel pity for him,the fall was pure loss, and he did not accept his fate. Although he did have a tragic flaw, he was stubborn…

    • 212 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the play Antigone, by Sophocles, There a few characters that can be described as tragic heroes. The character that best represents a tragic hero is Creon. Creon is the uncle of Antigone, the main character of the story. Creon is very powerful and many people of the town answer to him. Many times in the play he refers to the Gods for counsel and guidance. His main purpose in life is to answer to them. All of this power leads to his downfall as a tragic hero. He sentences Antigone and her sister, Ismene, to death. Some would say this is misuse of his power. He realizes this, but it is too late. Antigone has already passed.…

    • 245 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Aristotle once said, “A man doesn’t become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall.” Sophocles’s Antigone was written in 440 B.C. which was the time when plays were written based on ancient Greece culture. The idea of a tragic hero was established in Ancient Greece, tragic heroes are in ancient Greek plays. A tragic hero is a character who is inherently good, has a fatal flaw and loses everything in the end. Creon is Antigone’s tragic hero because his loyalty and obsessive pride influence the conflicts that led to his family’s demise.…

    • 956 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Antigone, a Greek tragedy written by Sophocles, Creon is a tyrant and arrogant character who sees the world through the veil of his beliefs. When he decrees the punishment of death upon Antigone, he completely disregards every opinion that is against his own. By ignoring the views of others, he jeopardizes his strength as a ruler. Sophocles uses the extended metaphor of the ship of state to show how Creon’s self-righteous way of thinking leads to unwanted outcomes. From Creon’s mistakes we learn that if you let your pride stand in the way of seeing other people’s opinions you can impair yourself more than you had planned.…

    • 919 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Creon In Antigone

    • 496 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Creon blamed himself,, “Haimon my son, so young, so young to die, I was the fool, not you; and you died for me.” (5. 91-92) Haimon killed himself after Antigone death. Antigone is Haimon finance and Haimon cannot stand to see his own soon to be wife die. Creon is blaming himself for his son death. If he is not so fool to came up with that law than his son wouldn’t die. Creon lost his own son because of something he did. He tried to fixed the problem by freeing Antigone but then he was too late.…

    • 496 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays