Antigone: Creon The Tragic Hero

Antigone is a play in which the identity of the tragic hero is debated over. While it was written over 2000 years ago, scholars are still at odds as to whom the tragic hero could be. Many argue that Antigone is the tragic hero, while many insist that it is Creon. Creon is the tragic hero of Antigone because of his hamartia, his recognition of his mistakes, and his neutrality. According to Aristotle, all tragic heroes must have a hamartia, or a Tragic Flaw. Creon is no different than the rest. His tragic flaw just happens to be hubris. Hubris is the “exaggerated pride or self-confidence.” (Merriam-Webster) This is increasingly evident throughout the play as Creon converses with other characters and makes vital decisions. In Antigone, Creon …show more content…
Like most tragic heroes, Creon only does evil deeds because he believes he is doing them for the best interests of the people of Thebes. In scene one of Antigone, Creon says, “This is my command, and you can see the wisdom behind it. As long as I am king, no traitor is going to be honored with the loyal man. But whoever shows by word and deed that he is on the side of the state-he shall have my respect while he is living, and my reverence when he is dead.” (1.41-45) As seen in this quote, Creon truly believes that he is doing what is best. He is under the impression that that the people should not give Polynices proper burial rites because he is a traitor. As Aristotle said about tragic heroes in his book Poetics, “Such is a [great] man who is neither a paragon of virtue and justice nor undergoes the change to misfortune through any real badness or wickedness but because of some mistake.” (Aristotle and Else, 38). Just like the tragic hero of Aristotle’s mind, Creon in neither a man of virtues nor a man of wickedness. Creon is simply ‘bad’ because of a mistake on his …show more content…
Some may say that Antigone is the tragic hero because she is the protagonist of the play, it results in her downfall, and she is of royal blood. While this is a viable argument, it can also be said that Creon is also all of those. Creon is the king, so therefore he is of royal blood. It also results in him loosing everyone close to him, and he had to step down from the throne, which was his downfall. It can also be argued that Creon is a main protagonist along with Antigone, because he is trying to do what is right for the people of Thebes. Creon is the more convincible tragic hero of Antigone because of his hamartia, his recognition of his mistakes, and his