Creon's Tragic Hero In Sophocles Antigone

According to 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 destroyed him before he even realizes it. This can be seen in the Grecian play “Antigone” by Sophocles; the city of Thebes has just survived a civil war in which two brothers Eteocles, and Polynices, fought each other for the crown of …show more content…
Creon first shows hubris, when Antigone argues with Creon that she was morally right in burying her brother, in which Creon says: “if you must — love the dead! While I’m alive, / no woman is going to lord it over me”(592-593). Creon isn’t just showing his hubris, but also his misogyny and blatant sexism. Even though it was customary at the time for woman to have no role Creon still disrespects them as he goes on to say “never let some woman triumph over us.”(758) The way Creon forms his sentences and his tone is down right arrogant meaning Creon thinks his way of thinking is supreme. Although Creon starts out as this great, aloof, king, he soon turns into a tragic pitiful character as he looses his family. The prophet Teiresias predicts this, however Creon rejects these ideas as his hubris allows him to see past criticism. Nonetheless Teiresias was correct as Creon looses his wife and his son bring him to say “Take me away quickly, out of sight. / I don’t even exist — I’m no one. Nothing.”(1445-1446) Perhaps the most pitiful element of this excerpt is the fact that Creon went from having such pride in himself to insecurity and no faith in himself anymore. Creon’s hamartia, or moment or recognition of his tragic flaw was when he realizes he had been wrong about himself his entire life, that he had no reason to have

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