The Tragic Hero in Sophocles' Antigone

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The Tragic Hero in Sophocles' Antigone

In various literary works, the conflict between the antagonist and

protagonist holds great significance towards the literary works' main

idea. In Sophocles' Greek tragedy, Antigone, both roles greatly impact

the base, moral, idea, and conflict of the play. It is crucial to

place a consideration of the time this Greek play was written because

of the style of the context. During this period of time called the

golden age, the style of writing for great playwrights such as

Sophocles was of or related to tragedy. In every tragedy, a tragic

hero is found. According to one of the most significant scholars of

the golden age, Aristotle, the definition of a tragic hero relies on

five events and traits which the character must experience. These five

traits, events, and experiences consist of: being well known in their

community, expressing either fame or infamy, can not be completely

good or bad, must have a flaw in character and recognize this flaw,

experience a reversal of fortune, and experience a downfall of some

sort. Surprisingly, the tragic hero of the play may not necessarily be

the protagonist, but possibly the antagonist. In the play Antigone,

the great playwright Sophocles exhibits the perfect example of a

tragic hero, the antagonist Creon in contrast to Antigone herself, the

protagonist.

Due to Creon's will to preserve law and order, he enforces the law and

consequence of death to those who desire to bury his brother Polynices

who fought to the death with his very own brother, Eteocles to reign

as king of Thebes. "Listen, Ismene: Creon buried our brother Eteocles

with military honors, gave...

... middle of paper ...

...n and my wife" (Exodus, Line 121). At

this point, the King of Thebes, Creon, finally realizes and accepts

the fact that his pride caused his unfortunate downfall, the death of

his family, and loved ones. Due to the recognition of his flaw, Creon

then fulfils the role of tragic hero in Aristotle's definition.

The tragic hero holds a great significance in works of literature. The

tragic hero suffers from problems, which brings pain, as well as an

unfortunate downfall. The tragic hero often depicted as the perfect

character, is truly more earthly, with flaws. Creon is portrayed as

the tragic hero in this work of literature. Behavior, pride,

decisions, ruling, traits, downfall, flaws, and acceptance of

mistakes, are all key factors which allow Creon in Sophocles'

Antigone, to fit perfectly in the category of tragic hero.

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