Haimon As The Most Heroic Character In Sophocles Antigone

It may seem that Antigone from Sophocles’ tragedy Antigone is the most heroic character. However, she is not because even though she fought and died for her beliefs, she died for herself and not for justice or for a loved one. We can all agree that being selfish is not a great trait to have. We (humans) tend to be selfish at one point, whether we know it or not. Antigone in the tragedy is being selfish. She kills herself to save her own pride because she does not want to die on someone else’s terms. Nobility, which is the act of being noble (having high moral ideas), is sort of like the opposite of selfish. While we look down upon selfish people, we look up to and admire noble people. Haimon is a great example of a noble person. He not only

stood up for his beliefs, but he also stood up for Antigone’s beliefs. His death was more noble because his reason for dying wasn’t self centered. Haimon was not trying to save his own pride when he died. Haimon was trying to fight for his beliefs and fight for his love. Sure, Antigone is a very heroic character, one who people should look up to since she fights for her beliefs, but she is not the most heroic. Surprisingly, Haimon is the most heroic.
One reason why Haimon is the most heroic character is because he stands up/fights for his beliefs.

When Haimon and Creon are talking and Haimon tells Creon that “ ‘[He is] not in a position to know everything that [the] people say or do, or what they feel: [his] temper terrifies them...’ “ (pg. 218). When Haimon says this to Creon he is trying to say that the people will not necessarily say the truth to Creon because they fear him. The people will say and or do what they think will please Creon, for fear that if they say and or do the wrong thing he will get mad and punish them. We also see Haimon standing up for his beliefs when he tells Creon that he should “ ‘...not believe that [he] alone can be right. The man who...maintains that only he has power...turns out empty’ “ (pg. 219). What Haimon is trying to explain is that power can take over the best of people and if Creon lets the power take over him, his actual personality will be gone, hence the word empty, and a power driven personality will replace it. A last example to show how Haimon stands up for his beliefs is when he and Creon are bickering and Creon is angry at Haimon because Haimon had said that he was standing up for Creon. Creon, not understanding his answer shoots back that “ ‘... [his] concern in a public brawl with [his] father...every word [he] say[s] is for her!’ “ (pg. 221). It’s obvious that Creon is angry with Haimon; he feels betrayed by his own son. Creon saying this clearly states that Haimon’s

intentions for bickering with his father (not to mention in public) is for Antigone. Creon says in this line that Haimon is going against his father for his fiancee.
A second reason that Haimon is the most heroic character is because he is willing to die for his beliefs and is willing to die for justice.

An example of when Haimon is willing to die for justice is when he and his father (Creon) are talking and Creon says that Haimon “ ‘[will] never marry [Antigone] while she lives’ “ (pg. 222) Haimon responds to his father's harsh words by saying “‘Then she must die. But her death will cause another.’ “ (pg. 222). When Haimon says that Antigone’s death will cause another, he is implying that if she dies, he dies. Another example of when Haimon shows his willingness to die for justice and his beliefs is when “...Haimon...suddenly drew his sword...the boy desperate against himself drove it...into his own side...[and] gathered Antigone close in his arms.” (pg. 241). This whole quote tells the story of how Haimon killed himself while trying to fight for his beliefs (he was trying to kill his dad). A last reason that shows Haimon willing to die/dying for justice and his beliefs is when Creon is talking (after Haimon dies) and says “ ‘Haimon my son...I was the fool, not you; and you died for me’ “ (pg. 242). It is now, after it is too late that Creon admits that Haimon was in the right mindset (hence being noble) and that Haimon died for his beliefs (which is again, very

noble).
Antigone may be a heroic character in some peoples eyes, but in others Haimon is the most heroic in this tragedy since he does not only stand up for his beliefs, but he dies a noble death. Haimon is shown as a noble character (for reasons explain above). It’s clear that Sophocles thinks nobility is an important trait in humans. We should appreciate the fact that noble people exist, because people like Haimon are the reason we have things like freedom and different rights. People like Haimon fight wars so that we can have freedom, protest so we can have rights, and do many other things that help shape our lives. I agree that nobility is a great trait to have as a human being. I think that the way Sophocles portrayed the idea of nobility in the play was clever because at first we think that Antigone is the most noble/most heroic character, but after a second glance we start to see that Haimon is actually very, if not more noble. The one thing I’d say about how it is portrayed is that it is still not exactly clear which characters are noble/the most noble (hence me being able to argue that Haimon is more noble than Antigone). I tend to like things in different works to be a little more on the clear side when it comes to personality. Speaking for me (and everyone who is like me in terms of liking things to be more clear) the line between noble and not noble or most noble and just noble should have been more clear. It’s pretty clear that being noble is a big idea in older books/plays like Antigone. But what about in today’s books and plays? We never really talk about noble characters in more recent works. Sure, we have good guys who do good things for the world. But we usually never think of them as ‘noble’, in fact no one actually uses that word anymore. We replace it with ‘brave’ or maybe even ‘heroic’. But are being ‘noble’ or being ‘brave’ and ‘heroic’ the same thing?