Antigone: A Greek Tragedy

Antigone: A Greek Tragedy

The play Antigone is often thought to be a Greek tragedy because each of the tragic heroes is neither extremely good or bad, their fortunes change from good to bad, their misfortunes do not result from their own wrong doings, and they arouse pity within the audience. Antigone and Creon are the two tragic heroes of this play; however, I believe Creon to be main one.

In the play Antigone there can be seen a struggle between two forces: god’s law verses man’s law. A woman, Antigone, who strongly believed in the god’s law, opposed a king, Creon, who believed in the man’s law. Antigone disobeyed Creon’s law, about burying Polyneices, simply because she felt it to be her duty to the gods. Although both Creon and Antigone suffer greatly in the play, I believe that Creon is the tragic hero.

Creon was a king who made a fatal mistake, he didn’t listen to other people. In the beginning of the play Creon decided not to bury the body of his dead nephew Polyneices. He proclaimed throughout his city that whoever buries Polyneices will be stoned to death. Creon hoped that by making such a threat he would stop any disagreements and would establish peace in Thebes. But Creon was wrong. Antigone, a relative of Creon, decided to bury Polyneices, because she felt that Polyneices’ soul didn’t deserve an eternity of suffering and wondering (Greeks believed that if a person wouldn’t be properly buried his soul would wonder forever and will never be at ease). Unfortun...