Antigone And Creon Tragic Hero

Antigone is a play about two brothers on opposing sides of a war. Both were killed in battle and the new king Creon has ordered one to be honored while the other to lie unburied. Antigone, one of the sisters, defies Creon’s order and buries her brother Polyneices. Once Creon learns what Antigone has done, he orders her to be imprisoned in a cave. Antigone argues with Creon about morality and what the gods would want. Teiresias, the blind prophet, warns Creon that the gods are on Antigone’s side and that he will lose one son for what he had done. Later Creon’s son and Antigone kill themselves. Creon comes to understand that this is a result of his actions and asked his servants to help him inside of himself. The play closes with the chorus saying “Big words are always punished, and proud men in old age learn to be wise” (Sophocles Pg. 1833). In Sophocles the Playwright, S.M. Adams argues that, to the ancient Greek audience, Antigone and Creon were both tragic heroes. I agree with this because they both have a tragic flaw and they both have disastrous results in the end.
Creon has a tragic flaw that caused all of his problems throughout the play. His tragic flaw is excessive pride. He is so headstrong that he believes that he can do no …show more content…
Her tragic flaw is her loyalty to her brother and the gods. She is willing to do whatever it takes to honor her brother and the gods with a proper burial even if it means that she will be executed. This can be seen when she says “…and if I must die, I say that this crime is holy I shall lie down with him in death, and I shall be as dear to him as he to me” (Sophocles Pg. 1804). Also, her tragic flaw could be her stubbornness. To Antigone burying her brother is the most important thing regardless of what it could mean for the others around her. She cannot see the other side of the story and that it might be for the best if she just follows Creon’s