Sophocles and Creon Essays

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In all literature tragedies, there is a tragic hero. The character that has the major flaw and the one the reader usually pities is normally the tragic hero. In Sophocles’s famous play, Antigone, the death of his son Haemon, wife Eurydice, and daughter in law to be Antigone, were all results from the flaws of Creon. Creon has all of the characteristics that make him the tragic hero in Sophocles’s play. Creon’s strong-willed and arrogant personality caused the 3 tragedies in this play.
Being a strong-willed man, Creon was not easily shaken and stuck with his believes. This was the first flaw of Creon. Creon refused to have Polyneices buried simply because Creon did not think that Polyneices was worthy of burial. However, it was very important to the Greeks that the burial procedures were done because this was the law of the Greek gods. When Antigone came against Creon’s law he found this to act to be rebellious and disrespectful. As a result of the strong-willed personality of Creon he did not have mercy nor change his mind when it came to the punishment of Antigone. In addition to Creon’s strong-willed personality, he also felt that a woman should not sway him. He did not value the opinion of a woman and thought it was useless. This is one of the main reasons Creon felt that he must punish Antigone. To Creon, not punishing Antigone would be compromising his believes for a woman. Furthermore, this was also the reason he did not take Haemon’s advice. Creon felt that Antigone had swayed Haemon and he would not be swayed by Haemon. Also, Creon did not want to take advice from someone younger than him. These were two of the flaws that lead to Antigone and Haemon’s death. Creon felt that his laws were greater than the laws of the gods. This was another reason for the death of Antigone. However, Antigone valued the laws of the gods more than the laws of Creon. This can be inferred by the reader when Antigone twice tries to bury Polyneices against the will of Creon. The reader can also infer the ill-mannered attitude of Creon towards the gods when he states, “Even if Zeus’ eagles should choose to seize his festering body and take it up, right to the throne of Zeus, not even then would I, in trembling fear
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