Sophocles Antigone: Creon The Tragic Hero

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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 tragic flaw. We can see his stubbornness when he gives his speech to the citizens and says, “... Polyneices, I say, is to have no burial: no man is to touch him or say the least prayer for him... This is my command...”(499). This shows that Creon firmly believes that burying Polyneices is wrong and that anyone who buries him is also going against the country and being completely evil. He holds this judgment on Antigone by believing that she is doing stuff to bring her country down. However, Antigone had no intention of doing such a thing. She just wanted to show respect towards her brother because no matter what happened Polyneices was her brother and someone …show more content…
Creon is being very close-minded by believing that he is only right and Haimon will understand that his father’s decision can’t be wrong. We can see how Creon thinks that Haimon should completely forget about Antigone because she is wrong in the following quote: “Not to lose your head over this woman. Your pleasure with her would soon grow cold, Haimon” (512). However, Haimon is just trying to be respectful towards his father and not break his feelings. Eventually, Haimon loses his respect and temper because his father is not willing to change his opinion even slightly and says, “Then she must die-But her death will cause another. There is no threat in speaking to emptiness.”

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