Characteristics Of Creon

In Sophocle’s play Antigone, Creon fits all the traits of a tragic hero according to Aristotle’s definition. A tragic hero is a literary character who judges wrongly which creates his or her own downfall. Creon is the new king of Thebes and he will not allow any criminal activity, not even from his family. When Creon’s niece Antigone decides to go against Creon’s law he punishes her by burying her alive in a tomb; by doing so Creon is creating a recipe for disaster. Creon does not realize who else it will affect by putting Antigone to death, nor does he understand that he in turn paved the road to his own downfall. Aristotle has specific traits that define a tragic hero; the main traits that make Creon a tragic hero are peripety, hamartia,

Peripety is the unintended negative consequences caused by the character’s fatal flaw. Teiresias warned Creon that his decisions on what to do with Polyneices and Antigone are angering the spirits. The Chorus then told Creon that he must unbury Antigone and bury Polyneices, but Creon was too late. Haemon was holding his lover Antigone, who had stabbed herself, and then he proceeded to stab himself with his sword when Creon walked in. Later when Eurydice, Haemon’s mother and Creon’s wife, found out Haemon was dead she also stabbed herself. Since Creon was stubborn, and was unwilling to understand Antigone, he essentially took his own son and wife’s

Creon let the power get to his head, leaving him quick tempered and unable to reason with. If Creon tried to apprehend that Antigone honestly thought she was doing the right thing on behalf of her brother he could have steer cleared of the deaths of those closest to him. Though Creon did not intend for any harm to find its way to Haemon or Euridyce, he should have taken in consideration what the consequences might be. Creon knew Haemon and Antigone were in love, but he did not care because he thought she was unjust and had to pay the price. Creon fell from happiness, this trait of this tragic hero was only relevant to the end of the play. It is clear that Creon recognized what he had done when he says “Lead me away, a vain silly man/ who killed you, son, and you, too, lady./ I did not mean to, but I did” (1402-.4). Creon felt responsible for his wrongdoing. The last trait of why Creon fits as a tragic hero according to Aristotle is that Creon lived. To be considered a tragic hero the wrongdoer must live through the pain and suffering they have caused themselves. Creon feels responsible for the deaths of his son and wife, but he does not kill himself. Creon does think about death when he says “O, let it come, let it come,/ that best fates wait on my last day./ Surely best fate of all. Let it come, let it come!/ That I may never see one more day’s light” (1390-94). The Chorus tell Creon “For what is destined/ for