Has your pride ever stopped you from doing something? In Sophicles play Antigone. The king Creon indirectly kills his whole family by being stubborn and not listening to others opinions. Throughout his journey he displays the characteristics of Aristotle; tragic hero. These include being extraordinary, having good and bad sides, a tragic flaw, becoming aware of his mistakes and failing miserably in the end. Creon evolves a lot in this story and even though it ends tragically, he becomes a better person by the end.
Throughout the story, Creon is depicted as larger than life, an over ruling force. Being the king of Thebes, he holds absolute power and influence over everyone around him. Sometimes Creon uses his power for good, while other times he makes mistakes. He generally tries to do the right thing, but he rules with an iron fist. Creon shows his good side by always trying to do the right thing to put his kingdom ahead, which isn’t always the right thing for his family. He often struggles with choosing between man-made law and divine law. However; Creon has an ugly side as well. He is merciless against people who disobey his laws. In the beginning of Antigone he shows his evil side by demanding that the Sentry find the person who buried Polynices, who he had decreed no one was allowed to give burial rights to.
Upon my oath, I swear,/Zeus is my god above: either you find/the perpetrator of his burial /And bring him here into my sight, or death-/ No, not your mere death shall pay the reckoning, /But, for a living lesson against such infamy,/You shall be racked and tortured till you tell/The whole truth of this outra...
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...time to listen to others and have to much pride to admit that they might be in the wrong. They both feel the need to blame there actions on other people.
The book Antigone is a very clear outline of the classic tragic hero traits. Though the book is named Antigone, it depicts Creon as the hero. Throughout the book ,Creon exhibits all the traits of a tragic hero including being extraordinary, having good and bad sides, a tragic flaw, becoming aware of his mistakes and failing miserably in the end.
Works Cited
Sophocles. Antigone. Trans. E.F. Watling. Sophocles: The Theban Plays. London: Penguin Books. 126-162. 1974. Print.
Sophocles. King Oedipus. Trans. E.F. Watling. Sophocles: The Theban Plays. London: Penguin Books. 25-68. 1974. Print.
Sophocles. Oedipus at Colonus. Trans. E.F. Watling. Sophocles: The Theban Plays. London: Penguin Books. 71-124. 1974. Print.
Creon would qualify as the tragic hero if the only condition were not being excessively moral or immoral. Antigone's “immoral” side is shown by her (thought-to-be) incestuous behavior with her brother, Polyneicês. In contrast, Antigone’s positive side is shown by the way the she persistent on respecting her brother’s right to be buried in the religious tradition of the time in Greece, so that his soul can live on in the afterlife. “Listen, Ismenê: Creon buried our brother Eteoclês with military honors, gave him a soldier’s funeral, and it was right that he should; but Polyneicês, they fought as bravely and died as miserably, - they say that Creon has sworn no one shall bury him, no one mourn for him, but this body must lie in the fields, a sweet treasure for carrion birds to find as they search for food. That is what they say, and our good Creon is coming here to announce it publicly; and the penalty- stoning to death I the public squarel. There it is, and now you can prove what you are: a true sister, or a traitor to your family.” (Sophocles; Antigone, 3)
Sophocles. Oedipus the King. Trans. Robert Fagles. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Ed. Maynard Mack et al. 6th ed. Vol. 1. New York: Norton, 1992.
Creon is an antagonist in Antigone he is the bad guy and he opposes certain things like the right to burial. An example of his actions is can be seen here: “Polynices, who returned from exile with hopes of burning his native land and ancestral gods from top to bottom, wishing to feast on kindred blood and lead the rest into slavery, it has been decreed that in this city he shall be neither buried nor mourned by anyone, but everyone must leave him unburied, a feast for birds and dogs, an outrage to see” (Sophocles 200-209). Even though he is known for doing bad things he is still considered superior to everyone of Thebes. Antigone was known as the niece of Creon but she did not express herself as a famous and important person. Creon is proud of his position as king and he takes pride in his city and his decisions. “Do you realize you speak these lies to your king?” (Sophocles 1065). Creon shows his dominance in this quote. Antigone, however, is only recognized for being the niece of the former king and committing a crime against her own family member.
Roche, Paul. The Oedipus Plays of Sophocles. The New English Library Limited, London. New York and Scarborough, Ontario. 1958.
Do they fly around in capes? Are they capable of leaping tall buildings in a single bound? Maybe they have super powers obtained after a nuclear accident? Or just maybe they’re normal people who do extraordinary things? There are many types of heros in society, some with happy endings and some have tragic endings. A tragic hero is a literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction. In reading Antigone by Sophocles there is one hero that is truly tragic in nature, Creon.
Fitts, Dudley, and Robert Fitzerald. Sophocles: The Oedipus Cycle. New York, NY: Harcourt Brace & Com, 1977. Print.
Antigone is a great Greek tragedy by Sophocles. The story is about a young woman who has buried her brother by breaking king’s decree, and now she is punished for obeying God’s law. There are many arguments about who is the tragic hero in Sophocles’ Antigone. Some believe that it is Creon because he also has the characteristics of a tragic hero. Others believe that it is Antigone because the play bears her name. Antigone is the perfect hero, to exemplify the meaning of a tragic hero. In order to determine whether Antigone is the tragic hero, one will have to answer the question, what is a tragic hero? According to Aristotle, “The tragic hero is a character of noble stature and has greatness, he/she is not perfect, the hero's downfall and it is partially his/her own fault, and the hero's misfortunate is not wholly deserved.” (Aristotle) Antigone is a tragic hero because she has a high social standing in Thebes, she neither good nor bad, and her suffering appears to be unjust and unfair to the audience.
Boston: Pearson, 2013. 1396-1506. Print. The. Sophocles. “Oedipus the King” Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing.
Watling, E. F.. Introduction. In Sophocles: The Theban Plays, translated by E. F. Watling. New York: Penguin Books, 1974.
Creon's noble quality is his caring for Antigone and Ismene when their father was persecuted. Creon is a very authoritative person and demands control of others. When talking to the Chorus, Creon does not ask them to agree with the decree but demands that they follow it. Creon expects loyalty from others. It is apparent that Creon is very dominating and wants to be in control. "The man the city sets up in authority must be obeyed in small things and in just but also in their opposites"(717-719). Through this quote the reader realizes that Creon wants obedience in everything he decides even if he is at fault. "There is nothing worse than disobedience to authority" (723-724). Further supporting Creon's belief that everyone shall remain faithful to him even if he rules unfairly. This is proved true when Creon says, "Should the city tell me how I am to rule them?" (790).
In the awe-inspiring play of Antigone, Sophocles introduces two remarkable characters, Antigone and Creon. A conflict between these two obstinate characters leads to fatal consequences for themselves and their kindred. The firm stances of Creon and Antigone stem from two great imperatives: his loyalty to the state and her dedication to her family, her religion but most of all her conscience. The identity of the tragic hero of this play is still heavily debated. This tragedy could have been prevented if it had not been for Creon's pitiful mistakes.
Antigone could also be referred to as a tragedy sub-genre. Tragedy "recounts casually related series of events in the life of a person of significance, culminating in an unhappy catastrophe, the whole treated with dignity and seriousness" (554). Antigone is one of Sophocles' many famous tragedies. It is centered around the tragic outcome that may take place in the occurrence of being prideful. Sophocles portrays that pride can result in tragedy and in disaster. In the story, Creon is prideful as his position of King and he ultimately brings his city to ruins. "Tragedy" played a major role in the story.
Sophocles. "Oedipus the King." Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Ed. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 7th ed. New York: Longman, 1999. 1902.
Sophocles. Four Plays by Sophocles. Trans. Thomas H. Banks. New York: Oxford University Press, 1966.
Owen, E. T. "Drama in Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus." 20th Centruy Interpretations of Oedipus Rex. Ed. Micheal O'Brien. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, 1968. 33-35. Print.