Creon In Antigone

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In the time of Greek civilization, a key component of that culture was Greek theatre. The production of tragedies such as Antigone were meant to impress the gods, mainly Dionysis. However, these tragedies conveyed various messages and lessons to the audience through their characters. The most tragic character in Sophocles’ play, Creon, sets an example for the audience of what not to do in their lives. Creon becomes the tragic hero as a result of his influence over the audience, and the amount of loss he endures during the course of the play, and his character flaws. In the true nature of Greek tragedies, Antigone impacts the audience in such a way that they begin altering their own lives in order to avoid an ending similar to Creon’s. Creon’s …show more content…
Firstly, the audience must pity Creon and his unfortunate situation. A scene in which the audience would have felt pity for the tragic character was near the end of the novel where Creon must face his loved ones. Haeman felt distraught after learning of Antigone’s fate and failing to fight his father, and kills himself with his sword. His distressed mother, after learning of Haemon’s death, also takes her own life. A conversation between a guard and Creon confirms the death of the Queen, “Your queen has died, true mother of yonder corpse-ah, unhappy lady-by blows newly dealt”(146). The next lines, “Oh Hades, all receiving, whom no sacrifice can appease. Have you no mercy for me?”(146) indicate Creon’s feelings of hopelessness and despair. At this point in the play, the audience would feel pity for Creon who lost his loved ones while attempting to keep his new kingdom stable. By sympathizing with Creon, the audience might also better understand him and his decisions. Regardless, the pity that allows them to understand him would also be accompanied by fear of the gods. The …show more content…
However, Creon’s personality type also points to him being the most tragic character of the play. Rather than the positives, Creon’s flaws actually better define him as a tragic character. He can be described as having hubris, or an excessive amount of arrogance. We see many examples of this during Antigone. One example would be during his confrontation with Antigone, where he says “Now verily I am no man, she is the man” (128) after Antigone argues why both her brothers should receive equal burials. In this scene, Creon is angry because a girl stands up to him and gives the appearance that he is weak. Rather than listen to her argument, he gets upset over the fact that a girl is trying to tell him what to do. Had he not been so arrogant, he may have listened closer to Antigone and figured out a better way to keep peace and order in the kingdom. Instead, his arrogance leads to a long series of events that end negatively for all those involved. Thus, Creon can be considered the tragic hero of Sophocles’ greek play Antigone due to his pride and arrogance. The greek tragedy Antigone . Firstly, Creon inspires feelings of both pity and awe from the audience, key components of the catharsis found in all greek tragedies. The irony of Creon’s situation and how he ends up dividing the kingdom rather than uniting it make him a tragic character. Lastly, Creon exhibits Hubris, which is the most common
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