The Faults of King Creon

The nature of the tragic hero of ancient Greek tragedy was first discussed by Aristotle in Poetics in the fourth century BC. Using Sophocles’ tragedy Oedipus the King as a model, Aristotle identified four characteristics necessary for a tragic hero: position (power, royalty, good intentions), tragic flaw (a character’s fault that leads to the hero’s downfall), reversal (the downfall itself), and recognition (the hero’s realization that he has caused his own downfall). In Antigone, another of Sophocles’ tragedies, King Creon becomes king of Thebes after the deaths of Oedipus’ sons Eteocles and Polyneices. As, the proud, stubborn Creon abandons the gods’ law and refuses to consider the advice of others, tragic consequences ensue. During his reign, Creon demonstrates all four characteristics of the tragic hero.

Creon clearly has position because he is the respected king of Thebes and has good intentions. The character of Creon demonstrates the quality of position when he is boasting over his wealth and power: Now here I am, holding authority/ and the throne, in virtue of kinship with the dead. (171-172) Creon’s position is also shown when the people of Thebes follow his orders not to bury the body of Polyneices. The respect of Creon’s power from the people is expressed when Ismene tells Antigone of how their terrible deaths might be if they get caught: for whoever breaks the edict death is prescribed, and death by stoning publicly.

There you have it; soon you will show yourself as noble both in your nature and your birth, or yourself as base, although of noble parents. (31-38)

This quotation demonstrates the way people view the power of Creon, but Antigone views she should do the right thing and follows the gods laws not ...

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...s recognized his flaw he accepts defeat:

Lead me away, a vain silly man who killed you, son, and you, too lady.

I did not mean to, but I did.

I do not know where to turn my eyes

To look to, for support.

Everything in my hands is crossed. A most unwelcome fate has leaped upon me (1339- 1345)

This final act of realization is too late for the once powerful king Creon to do anything to get his wife and son back form the grave.

Thus one can see that Creon is indeed the tragic hero of Antigone, according to Aristotle’s definition. Creon is a good king whose pride causes him to fall from happiness and to recognize his errors too late to prevent his suffering.

Works Cited

Sophocles. Antigone. Trans. David Grene. 1991. Sophocles I. 2nd Ed. The Complete Greek Tragedies. Ed. David Grene and Richmond Lattimore. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1991. 159- 212. Print