Antigone: Sophocles and Tragic Hero Essay

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Antigone, A True Tragic Hero

In the drama Antigone, Antigone herself is proven to be the tragic hero of the story, by standing for what she believes even when her tragic death was imminent. Throughout the drama, Creon did make a valiant effort to change his ways however, he waited to long to do so and the drama came to an end with out a clear depiction of what he was to become. Creon could have very easily been on a path to turn his life and his kingdom around, or the story line could have continued and led Creon to his quick demise.
Aristotle claims that a tragic hero must be some one of noble stature and in a higher status then most, such as a king or some type of nobility. By Aristotles definition, Creon would have been the tragic hero. He fits the build for Aristotle’s definition. Creon is a powerful man. Though he is nobility is more of a status that was past down to him. He was not a noble man, in fact it took the suiced of his wife and son on top of the fear of God to really consider his ways, but, even then he was more concerned with his self pitty than the reality that he caused two people to comit suicide. Eventhough Aristotle claims that, “the tragic hero will not or may not be perfect,” Creon shows no heroic traits until the drama reaches its end, and he looses all that holds worth in his life. In the beginning of the drama from line 1 to line 84, antigone proclaims her nobel intentions to her sister Ismene. Antigone says to Ismene, “Ismene, I am going to

Creon And The Tragic Hero In Sophocles Antigone

own actions. The idea that one’s decisions help set the stage for their inevitable fate to occur or a tragic hero with a tragic flaw, is shown as a common theme throughout Sophocles’s plays. In the play Antigone, for example, the tragic hero is depicted the character Creon. The main conflict within Antigone is there is confrontation between the protagonist, Antigone, and the antagonistic tragic hero, Creon over the burial of Antigone’s deceased brother Polynices due to Creon accusing him of treason…

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Essay on Antigone: Sophocles and Tragic Hero

Creon: The Archetype of a Tragic Hero The Greek tragedy Antigone by Sophocles is a story of defiance on one part and ignorance on the other, ultimately resulting in downfall in both cases. The play begins in the aftermath of a civil war in Thebes; there are many casualties including two brothers, Polyneices and Eteocles. These brothers along with their sisters, Antigone and Ismene, are the children of Oedipus, the previous king who suffered a curse that led to his inevitable demise. The current…

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Creon's Tragic Hero In Sophocles Antigone

In the play Antigone by Sophocles Creon is a tragic hero. Creon, the king of Thebes, made a free choice when he decided to put a law against burying Polyneices and sentenced Antigone to death. Creon was thinking irrationally when he said, “You will give no support to whoever breaks this law”(Sophocles I.i.57). He told Choragos that if anyone broke his law they were not allowed mercy or a second chance. Creon believes that anyone who infringes his law is a traitor, so when Antigone, his niece, broke…

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The Greek Tragic Hero In Sophocles Antigone

In the Greek tragedy, Antigone, by Sophocles, we are introduced to two main characters. Antigone, the sister of Polyneices, and Creon, king of Thebes and Antigone’s uncle. Each one of these characters display traits of a tragic hero, but only Creon fulfills all the requirements. Aristotle believed that a tragic hero should have five characteristics; error of judgment, reversal of fortune, discovery that the reversal happened by of the hero’s own actions, excessive pride, and an unfair fate. Creon…

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Sophocles Antigone: Creon The Tragic Hero

Creon: the Tragic Hero In Sophocles’ play Antigone, Creon is the one and only tragic hero. This statement can easily be deemed as accurate and evident after analyzing his decisions, actions, and character. Creon contains a characteristic that causes his downfall and we can feel connected with. No other character in this play has such a quality. This important characteristic or “tragic flaw” that makes him unique is being too close-minded and stubborn. He makes many errors in judgment due to his…

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Creon's Tragic Hero In Sophocles Antigone

Aristotle a tragic hero is “that of a man who is not eminently good and just, yet whose misfortune is brought about not by vice or depravity, but by some error or frailty. He must be one who is highly renowned and prosperous” (Poetics Section XIII) in other words a tragic hero is a man who is composed and has his life under control, but really has this tragic flaw that is slowly killing him even though he doesn’t know it exists, until he realizes it and he is to late for that tragic flaw will have…

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How Can Antigone Be Considered A Tragic Hero

considered a tragic hero? Or would the punisher who faces the consequences of his wrong-doings be a tragic hero? In Sophocles’ Antigone, there lies much controversy over who should be labeled as the tragic hero, a great figure who meets an ultimate fall due to tragic flaw which is usually hubris, or having too much pride. Within the plot, Antigone, the daughter of Oedipus, disobeys Creon, her uncle, by burying the body of her deceased brother, Polynices. Creon then punishes Antigone and... -For…

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Antigone Tragic Hero

divine power over the gods despite what many may think. In Sophocles’ tragedy, Antigone, it is as clear as the ocean is blue that while Antigone herself may not be a textbook example of a tragic hero, she has more of the required characteristics than that of her uncle, Creon. She was born a princess of Thebes, a noble birth. She is devoted to her family above all else, and is truly outraged at the order forbidding her brother’s burial. Antigone says “[I]f I had allowed my own mother’s son to rot, an…

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Antigone Research Paper

Lauren Locke Collage Composition Kristen Barton 25 April 2024 Tragedy of Antigone Antigone is a Greek tragedy written by Sophocles around 441 BCE. The play is about a young woman who defies her uncle, Creon, to give her brother, Polyneices, a proper burial. Antigone's brothers, Polyneices and Eteocles, die in war, and Polyneices is considered a traitor to Thebes, so Creon, the king refuses to bury him properly. Antigone is determined to give him a proper burial because she believes that even though…

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Creon Tragic Hero

Sophocles’ Antigone features many elements of a Greek Tragedy. One of these many elements featured in the play is its usage of the ‘tragic hero’ trope. A tragic hero is one of the main characters of a Greek tragedy play. This character would start the play on a good, moral path, and had everything. During the course of the play, they would experience challenges, and but by the end of the play, they would experience downfall, and lose everything. The character of Creon is an example of a tragic hero…

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