Antigone- Tragic Hero or Heroine essays

Antigone- Tragic Hero or Heroine essays In the play Antigone, Sophocles portrays a tragic hero and a heroine through the two characters, Creon and Antigone. According to the nature and concept of the Greek Tragedy and what it means to be a tragic character, it becomes clear that Creon is indeed the tragic hero, a character of high rank who through his own fault causes his downfall, whereas Antigone is looked upon as a heroine, whom the audiences sympathize and admire. Creon became the king of Thebes, after his two nephews, Eteocles and Polynices, killed each other over the throne. Antigone is Creons niece, who happened to be his future daughter in law. Both presented moral values, differing on the situation they were applied. Antigones actions regarding the burial of her brother, Polyneices, reflected fidelity, respect upon the religious tradition and the gods laws. Creons actions toward the people reflected honesty and equal treatment upon the laws he made, but his stubborn and narrow-minded pride cause him to become a tragic figure of Antigone. Creon is a tragic hero because of he comes from the highest level of the social status; he is neither perfect nor ultimate evil, according to the definition of a tragic hero. By being the king of Thebes, he is a position of great power, nobility, responsibility, and influence. He occupies some sense of morality and an excellent ruler; he punishes the wrong and rewards the good: "But whoever proves his loyalty to the state, I'll prize that man in death as well as life" (Sophocles 171). But his choice of punishment, refusing and demanding that nobody is allowed to bury Polynieces's body does not achieve his moral values, and yet he dishonors the gods' laws. Creons main tragic flaw is his pride, and his arrogance in the face of the immortals; he committed the mistake since the beginning of the tragedy by denying the fundamental divine right of Polynices burial. The fact that Creon persists in hi...