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Creon as the Tragic Hero
In the Ancient Greek tragedy Antigone written by Sophocles , Creon is considered by many to be a “tragic hero” because of the culture and environment. He shows this throughout several points in the play. Creon apprehended the crown of Thebes after the civil war between his nephews Polyneices and Eteocles. In light of this he is also Antigone and Ismene’s uncle. Whilst his rule is grating and his punishment towards Polyneices is harsh he is not evil, and comes to learn his lesson. Environment had a positive impact on Creon nevertheless his fate still rested in a higher power.
Throughout the majority of the play, Creon proved to be a misogynistic, stubborn, and an arrogant character. “Let’s lose to a man at least! Is a women stronger than we?” (III,51-52). In this quote Creon shows his ignorance and misogynistic ways in a conversation with Haemon regarding Antigone and her impending death. Despite disagreements from several characters including Haemon on Antigone and her decision to bury Polyneices, Creon still sticks to his opinion.
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Environment had a positive impact on Creon.
“The time is not far off when you shall pay back corpse for corpse, flesh for your own flesh” (IV,67-68). In this scene, Teiresias is the part of the environment that impacts Creon. He does this by telling him his fate. This has a positive impact on Creon because it opens his mind partially to the idea his choice to punish Antigone was wrong. “Creon take my advice… go quickly free Antigone from her vault and build a tomb for the body of Polyneices.”(IV, 92-95). In this quote Choragos is the part of the environment that impacts Creon in a positive way. This is the scene where Creon changes his stubborn way to do the right thing. If this scenario did not take place, Creon would not be considered as somewhat of a hero at
all. In spite of the environment having a positive impact on Creon's fate still rested in the hands of a stronger force and due to that causes him to be a tragic hero. When Creon finally changed his prideful opinion he soon realized he was too late. While trying to do the right thing he soon learned Antigone perished from her own hand and his son Haemon ended his to join his beloved Antigone. “Is there no pity for me?...Angel of evil...Is my wife dead?” (Exodus 111-115). In this quote exert he realizes that his wife has died as well. By and large the environment had a positive impact on Creon. At the same time his fate still lasted in greater hands and nevertheless if he tried to do the right thing there was no way he could of possibly changed his underlying doom of losing his family by his own hand.
Throughout the story of Antigone, particularly the end, Creon proposes the bad-boy in control personality. He acts as the ruler he is and puts his power to work. He fears nothing unless his family is involved. He has no mercy when it comes to the law. Additionally, he is greatly affected by the environment he creates around himself.
Since the play’s inception, there has always existed a contention concerning the true hero of Sophocles’ Antigone. It is a widely held belief that Antigone must be the main character simply because she and the drama share name. This is, of course, a very logical assumption. Certainly Sophocles must have at least meant her to be viewed as the protagonist, else he would not have given her the play’s title. Analytically speaking, however, Creon does seem to more categorically fit the appellation of “Tragic Hero.” There is no doubt as to the nature of the work, that being tragedy. Along with this genre comes certain established prerequisites, and Creon is the only character that satisfactorily fits them all.
Creon believes that his laws are absolute and must be followed above all else, even Divine Law. Therefore when Antigone, in accordance with divine law, goes against Creons edict by burying her brother she is forcefully imprisoned and sentenced to death by Creon. In Creons opening speech he says, “Of course you cannot know a man completely, his character, his principles, sense of judgment … Experience, there’s the test” (Sophocles, p. 67). How Creon handles Antigones unlawful actions serves as his first test as the new king of Thebes and ends up showing the Thebans a glimpse of his true nature, that of a tyrannical ruler. This can be seen again when Haemon comes to Creon with the hope of dissuading him from his current course of action. He does this by trying to make Creon understand that the citizens of Thebes don’t agree with his use of power and planned execution of Antigone. Again Creons authoritarian nature comes to light in his response to Haemon, “And is Thebes about to tell me how to rule… Am I to rule this land for others – or myself?” (Sophocles, p. 97). To which Haemon counters by saying that “its no city at all, owned by one man alone” (Sophocles, p. 97). Creon, being the tyrant he is, fails to heed the wisdom of his sons’ words, which ultimately leads to his downfall. Creon, like Machiavelli, believed that it was
The hubris resonating throughout the play, ‘Antigone’ is seen in the characters of Creon and Antigone. Their pride causes them to act impulsively, resulting in their individual downfalls. In his opening speech, Creon makes his motives clear, that “no man who is his country’s enemy shall call himself my friend.” This part of his declaration was kept to the letter, as he refused burial for his nephew, Polynices. However, when the situation arises where it is crucial that Creon takes advice, he neglects the part of the speech where he says “a king... unwilling to seek advice is damned.” This results in Creon’s tragic undoing.
In Antigone, especially with the feminist movement now holding the title character, as prototypical downtrodden woman, the king Creon is often villified. While accepting the fact that Creon has misogynist tendencies, the gender issues can cause the pure argument of validity of actions, to fall by the wayside. So supposing for a moment, that Antigone's rebellion had been undertaken by a male, would Creon's choices have been different. Did he choose such harsh punishment and intractable course because Antigone was a woman ? As I read him, this is not the case. He has made a value judgement as to who is traitor and who is worthy. He has made a secondary judgement as to the rights of traitors, and the need of the people to know the consequences of traitorous acts. While one may disagree, with the value judgements he has made, as king he is well within his rights, indeed his obligation, to rule according to what he believes best at the time. Outcomes are not always the best vantage point from which to judge a man. Creon did not have the advantage the reader has of seeing final outcomes, indeed we must remember these outcomes were contrived by Sophocles, to illustrate his point of view. Is it not conceivable that in real life, these outcomes are far from assured, indeed a bit preposterous ? So then to summarize, Creon simply made his best decision, and that decision was with in his right to rule as the recognized sovereign.
Haemon makes a point of this by saying, “The people here in Thebes all say the same – they deny she is (Lines 834-835). " This confirms Creon’s status as a tragic hero when he disagrees with his people's opinion on what has happened to Antigone, which causes him to step even closer to his ultimate demise. This is key because Creon shows how his ego comes before his people as Haemon stresses, which explains how his hubris, the emotion called stubbornness will contribute to his downfall. Additional way Haemon shows Creon as a tragic hero is by highlighting how his tragic flaws are not just angering humans, but the god's that their society revolves around. Haemon shows this by saying, “You're not honoring that by trampling on the god’s prerogatives (Lines 850-851).
Creon's character possesses an infinite number of glitches in his personality, but his excessive pride was the root of his problems. His pride leads him to make accusations, before he considers the wise advice of others. Creon's pride also fills him not just as a king superior to the Gods, but also a man superior to women. The issue of Antigone being condemned to die becomes more than just a person who disobeys Creon; instead, the punishment is given even more eagerly, because it is a woman who disobeys a man. Creon's intelligent son warns Creon the people of Thebes sympathize with Antigone, but Creon accuses Haemon of being a "woman's slave" (line 756). Even though he is suppose to be loyal to the state and her citizens, he defensively questions if "the town [is] to tell [him] how [he] ought to rule?"(Line 734)The Theban king is too prideful to obey even the wisest of prophets, blind Teresias, insisting that "the whole crew of seers are money-mad" (line 1055). Creon finally puts his pride aside and listens to the Chorus' wise advice. It is difficult even then, and he obeys only because he fears the punishment that he might receive. "To yield [for Creon] is terrible" (line 1095) meaning to swallow his pride and admit that he is wrong is a very difficult thing for him to do. When Creon loses his wife and son, Creon's pride disappears, and he admits that he made a terrible mistake by not listening to anyone's advice.
In the play Antigone, I choose Creon to be the tragic hero because he is the King of Thebes and he looses everything he has. Creon being King makes the audience believe that something like that can happen to the King then what can happen to us. Antigone the niece of Creon, The sister of Polyneices was punished by Creon for burying Polyneces after his death, Creon has forbidden anybody to do so. Once Creon punished Antigone the blind prophet Teiresias told him that the Gods will take revenge for his actions, then Creon tried to change everything but he is too late. Creon's tragic flaws were his stubbornness, the abuse of power and the actions he took to cause the downfall of the Thebes.
Antigone, Haemon, and Tiresias all argued with Creon, each proving their point, but to Creon, all that mattered was his own opinion that leaders must stick with their original decisions. He does not care about the Gods, who are Antigone’s reason for burying Polynices. He does not care about family, which is Haemon’s reason not to kill Antigone. Finally, Creon does not care about the truth, which Tiresias tells him, all because Creon is too selfish and arrogant. Creon’s unwillingness to change his orders until the last minute, when it is already too late, ultimately dooms him and his family, and causes a great tragedy to
1. When Creon believes Antigone has violated the decree and hubris as she begins to justify her actions. Creon angrily snaps back, “Go to Hades, then… As long as I live, I will not be ruled by a woman” (523-525). These lines reveal that Creon has a very short fuse and views Antigone as a threat to his power. This fuels his actions as he struggles to prove he has control of the situation which is contradicted by his quick tempered responses. On the other hand, Creon believes he is the only rational person in the room. He stands ready to punish Antigone for challenging him as a man and as king, despite her argument in support of the gods and her familial values.
For example, Creon argues that there is no way the gods would care about the corpse of Polyneices’ by saying “No one can tolerate what you’ve just said when you claim gods might care about this corpse.” (Sophocles, 329) This quote represents Creon’s fatal flaw which is arrogance because he is being told by the Chorus which can be viewed as Creon’s conscience, that the gods might care about Polyneices’ corpse. However, Creon refuses to believe what he believes to be non-sense. This is again a key representation of how Creon’s traits will get to the best of him and lead to his downfall. Not only that, throughout the play Creon already has self-conflict and Antigone’s actions create even more conflict adding fuel to the fire. This is shown when Antigone speaks to Ismene about burying Polyneices’ corpse by asking Ismene for help by questioning “Will you help these hands take up Polyneices’ corpse and bury it” (Sophocles, 318). This leads to the main conflict because Creon responds to this action as he is being challenged which is unacceptable and especially since it is by a woman. This adds even more fuel to the fire making Creon act even more
The conflict between Creon and Haemon represents the communication problems between parents and their children. Creon and Haemon’s conflict also represents ageism. Although, Haemon is always very respectful towards his father, Haemon cannot understand why Creon wants to punish Antigone, Haemon’s fiancé, for her brother’s burial. As Haemon discusses Antigone with Creon, Haemon says, “No woman has ever had a fate that’s so unfair (they say), when what she did deserves honor and fame” (30). Haemon tells Creon that the people of Thebes secretly think Antigone’s crime is nonexistent; therefore, there is no reason for Creon to punish Antigone. Even though they are scared to go against Creon, the people of Thebes believe that Antigone’s heroic action deserves praise. When Haemon mentions why Creon should listen to him, Haemon says, “I know I am younger, but I may still have good ideas” (31). Haemon knows that his father may not listen to his plea just because of Haemon’s young age; however, Haemon hopes Creon will look past Haemon’s age and see the rationale behind his plea. As Haemon and Creon argue, Haemon foreshadows the future events in the play, he says, “Then she’ll die, and her death will destroy someone else” (33). Creon does not notice that his son gives him a warning. Haemon basically warns Creon that if he puts Antigone to death, then her death will cause a lasting destruction on someone else. Creon’s selfish attitude does not allow him to see where he is wrong in his decision to punish Antigone. Creon does not think of how Antigone’s death will affect Haemon and as a result affect Creon himself. The conflict ends with Creon not listening to Haemon. As a result of the outcome of this conflict between the father and son, tragedy follows with the death of Haemon and Creon’s wife. The significance of the outcome is that it is always important to
Sophocles, following the Greek standard of tragedy, casts Creon as the tragic hero plagued by his own pride, inflexibility and power. Creon believes his authority to be twofold, both as the king and as the head of his family. He claims that the throne is the source of all power, saying ?whoever is chosen to govern should be obeyed ? must be obeyed, in all things, great and small, just and unjust? (Sophocles 217), and he demands the utmost allegiance from his son, bidding him to ?subordinate everything else?to [his] father?s will? (Sophocles 216). Creon is filled with hubris, and he rejects any solution that might compromise his image. For instance, when the guards escort Antigone to the palace, he demands of the Choragos, ?Who is the man...
Just like Antigone, Creon in Sophocles’ Antigone also comes into acquaintance with pride and similarly experiences a downfall thus revealing a message about himself and his weaknesses. In Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, Creon’s character initially starts as a humble person who has little interest in status and power. Eventually, when Creon tastes the benefits of power and the controlling enjoyment it brings, pride begins to creep in and encircles him with selfish desires. After the death of Antigone’s brothers, Polyneices and Eteocles, Creon rises to power and begins his prideful actions by recreating the land of Thebes. By creating laws that allow him to counteract the gods’ laws, he becomes prideful and views himself as the one responsible to lead his kingdom to success.
In the story, Antigone, Creon plays as the leader of Thebes which was handed to him in the first of the trilogy Oedipus the King. Creon has many great ideas, that may seem work, but one can see his failure as a leader. One can see that Creon is a bad leader because of his lawmaking, him playing as a villain, and also his disobedience to the gods. Creon is a self-centered king, he wants only what he wants, and does not care for what the people have to say. Creon having so much pride begins to fall as the pride grows more and more, as the story continues He is supposed to be someone who everyone can look up to, but he is really the villain of this story. The one thing affecting his full potential of good leadership; was the fact that his hubris