Tragic Hero In Antigone

The play “Antigone” written by Sophocles is about Antigone, the sister of the dead Eteocleas and Polynieces, who buries her left-to-rot brother Polynieces against the new king Creon’s authority and then Creon sends her to her death. It is a debatable topic whether Antigone or Creon is the true tragic hero in this work of art since both hold the same qualities and are pitied by the spectators. Although the play is named after Antigone, Creon is the real tragic hero. He fulfills the requirements of the tragic hero according to today’s definition and according to Aristotle’s standards. __________________________________________________________ ___________________________________.

Greek dramas are timeless pieces due to the fact that they appeal to human emotions and flaws, teaching life lessons along the way, no matter what year, decade, or century it is. They have a tragic hero, whose flaw affects and causes the downward spiral of deceases among the characters. In “Antigone”, Creon, the king of Thebes, is the tragic hero. Nowadays, a tragic hero would mean a sorrowful man or woman who is admired upon or looked up to because of his courageous, noble actions of protecting, serving and/or saving a certain area. In this case, I would say Creon fits the description quite well. Despite the fact that he is the antagonist of the play, he can be considered a hero. Creon believed that what he sentenced Polynieces was the right thing to do because at the time of the battle that Polynieces had started, Polynieces was known as a traitor who had killed the then king, Eteocleas. He also knew that making the choice of not letting Polynieces have a proper burial was a big thing. During that time period, the Greeks believed that souls who did not ge...

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To conclude, in the play “Antigone”, Creon is the real tragic hero. He fits what modern times would define as a tragic hero and also by Aristotle’s standards. His mistaken judgment and action led to the multiple suicides of his family, making him sorrowful and is also a punishment, which is a characteristic of the tragic hero to Aristotle. Although both Creon and Antigone hold the same qualities and character flaw, Antigone is more of an honorable, respectable hero who sacrificed herself for her brother while Creon was a misjudging, pitiful hero antagonist. The flaw is what made Antigone so great of a character, but made Creon despicable and in the wrong. Ultimately, Creon was the one who learned and taught the audience a lesson about pride and life, which is the purpose of the tragic hero and the goal of Greek writers’ plays.