The Greek Tragic Hero In Sophocles Antigone

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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 has an error of judgement when he decrees that Polyneices would not be buried. He has a reversal of fortune when his decision to banish Antigone drove both his son and wife to kill themselves. He discovered that his actions killed his son and his

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