In Sophocles’ Antigone, the king of Thebes, Creon has made a decree that will kill his own because he always has to be right. Although this is a bad thing this doesn’t make him bad which makes him a perfect tragic hero according to Aristotle. Aristotle states that a tragic hero is someone who is not completely good or bad, highly renowned and prosperous, and they have a tragic flaw. However, after the tragic hero realizes their tragic flaw it’s too late because everything has already been put into motion. Creon could not fit that position any better. At the beginning of the play, Creon was the leader of Thebes. Which is a very important position, so it made him very renowned and prosperous. Because Creon is the king, everyone knows him …show more content…
When Creon arrives at Antigone’s tomb, he finds her hanging from the roof by a rope. Hamion kneeling by her tries to stab Creon but he misses, so he stabs himself and dies. As Creon arrives back at his home finds his wife dead of suicide. Now Creon has dropped from a never being wrong king to being a king who begs the gods to take his life and his power. Creon says “Is there no pity for me? And you, Angle of evil, I was dead, and your words are death again” (Exodus. 12-13). Creon’s punishment for his flaw was much more than what it should’ve been, but he realized it too late. Creon lost his wife, his son, and his soon to be daughter-in-law just because he had to be right. After reading Antigone and learning Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero, readers can plainly see that Creon can’t be a better example for Aristotle’s tragic hero. He is highly renowned and prosperous because he is a king. His flaw is always trying to be right even though he knows he is wrong. Which cost him a far more harsh punishment than his flaw called for because he loses his wife, his son, and his soon to be daughter-in-law to