Creon Tragic Hero Research Paper

Decent Essays
Collin Edwards
Mrs. Beverly
10th Grade Literature
23 April 2015
Creon the Tragic Hero
You may think a tragic hero is a person that saves lives and does great things for people, but a tragic hero is a character of noble birth that has a tragic flaw. A tragic flaw may lead to the characters downfall. Pride in Creon over power his mind and his actions. Creon imprisons Antigone for breaking his laws and imprisons her in a closed in cave, which leads to his downfall. Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus of Thebes and Jocasta. Antigone is supposed to live in a stone cave until dead but Creon decides to give her a more public death. Creon is a tragic hero because he is noble, has a tragic flaw, his flaw brings about his downfall, and he learns from his mistake.
…show more content…
The demanding control of others defines Creon very well. Creon showed stubbornness by not wanting the Thebes people to prove him wrong because of his pride in himself. Creon didn't want to listen to the people of Thebes. They tried to tell Creon that Antigone did the right thing. The people were afraid of Creon, and did not want to speak to him. Antigone buries her brother Polyneices knowing she will be punished for it. Creon stated, "She is already dead" (Sophocles 765). He automatically says Antigone is deceased and doesn't think of any other options and sentenced her to death in a

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Creon’s Prophecy Sophocles’ tragedy Antigone is a play that shows how a king’s power is blinded by his own fate. Creon is the King of Thebes, and he governs with political and social order. He is arrogant and shows no sympathy for others’ opinion because it is basically his way or the highway. Creon proclaimed an order throughout the city regarding one of the two-sister’s brother, Polyneices.…

    • 1212 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Despite all the danger that she might gets, she still bury her brother, but unfortunately, her uncle, Creon found out and lock her in the jail. However Antigone’s fiancé whom is also Creon’s son found out and argue with his father. In the end, Antigone suicide leads to the death of her fiancé and her mother in law (Creon’s wife).…

    • 434 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Often in literature, a character's tragic flaw leads to his or her downfall. Creon from Antigone has a tragic flaw of stubbornness that ultimately leads to his downfall. In Antigone, by Sophocles, Creon shows examples of his stubbornness throughout the story. One example, of Creon's stubbornness, is when he wouldn't allow anyone to bury Polyneices.…

    • 426 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    After all the tragedy they learned their lesson through pain and regret. In the three different books Antigone, Julius caesar, and Things fall apart the main characters all go through a tragedy. They are also tragic heros with some sort of tragic flaw. But out of all of them the turer tragic hero is Creon from the book Antigone.…

    • 712 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Creon Tragic Hero Essay

    • 449 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Was Creon a tragic hero, or just a tragic mess?there are many people who are divided by this question, trying to discern if he really is the tragic hero or not. In my opinion? Yes, he is. A “tragic hero” is defined as “a literary character who makes a judgement error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction.” There are 6 traits to a tragic hero, and Creon displays all 6, starting with him being a person of high estate.…

    • 449 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Creon Sacrifice

    • 664 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Although he may be the Tragic Hero, he can also be considered the antagonist. By the end of the play, almost all of Creon’s family dies and not just by coincidence. People close to Creon tend to meet their demise because of his stubbornness and desire for social and political order. In the play Antigone, Creon’s first flaw is his yearning for order of every kind.…

    • 664 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Aristotle published that a tragic hero should possess a tragic flaw. In this case, Creon's opposition against Teiresias defines his tragic flaw because his hubris is deafening him to even listen to a prophet's word. In scene 5, line 5, Creon expresses his trust in Teiresias by saying, "I am not aware that I have ever failed to listen." However, as the conversation proceeds, Teiresias explains how Creon should spare Antigone. Teiresias' proclamation causes Creon to quickly contradict his words.…

    • 171 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Who Is Creon Tragic Hero

    • 669 Words
    • 3 Pages

    “All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong, and repairs the evil. The only crime is pride.” Creon makes a grave mistake when he chooses his pride over the ones he cares about. As Creon rules over Thebes his judgment is clouded over by his own stubborn pride and shuts out anyone that gets in his way. P1…

    • 669 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Conductors may of course be instruments as well as victims of the divine lightning.” In Sophocles’ Antigone, the protagonist, Antigone, is both the instrument and the victim of the divine lightning. The suffering imposed upon Antigone by Creon allows her to discover the importance of democracy. She becomes both the spark that ignites the electricity of social change and the martyr who dies for the flame she kindled. Through dialogue that displays expressions of civil disobedience, idealism, and martyrhood caused by Creon’s tyranny, Antigone reveals her role as a catalyst of the tragic vision in Sophocles’ play.…

    • 736 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The punishment for disobeying the decree was death. However, Antigone saw Creon ’s decree as an abuse of his power and as an infringement on the laws of the gods. Antigone, who placed god’s laws above all else, disregarded King Creon’s law and buried her brother, Polyneices. Antigone’s bravery is summed up when she says, “But I will bury him; and if I must die, I say that this crime is holy” (Sophocles 694).…

    • 1573 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the story of Antigone, the character Creon is a tragic…

    • 1225 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Creon represents the tragic hero in Sophocles’ Antigone through his believes in choosing the state over his own family. Creon chooses the state over his family multiply times and doesn’t realize the consequences. One example that Creon chooses the state over his family is when he is talking to his son Hamion. Creon tells him the choice he should make over love. Creon says “You have heard my final judgment on that girl.”…

    • 1049 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Antigone is determined to bury Polynices even though an edict was passed stating that no one was to give the dead prince a proper burial. She whole heartedly believes that her decision to bury him is justified and she is above Creon’s law because she is doing it out of love. When Ismene begs her to give up and says that her plan is madness, Antigone states “No one will ever convict me for a traitor” (Sophocles 362). She chooses to defy the city in order to satisfy her personal goals. She proudly claims to know what justice is; what is right and what is wrong.…

    • 827 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “I have killed my son and my wife…” (Page: 85, 145) This demonstrates how Creon accepts his guilt and realizes what he has done wrong. The saddest thing being a tragic hero of a story is that many individuals do not see the tragic hero until the end of the play. How it’s in the story of ‘Antigone.’ At the beginning of the story, many could say that Antigone was the tragic heroine of the story because during the play, she was left alone without the moral support of her sister, Ismene and going through the critics and judgments of an insensible king.…

    • 885 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Great rulers only come once in Greek lifetime. Oedipus and Creon were both good rulers for Thebes, yet at the same time were men tragic of ill created fates and downfall. Oedipus was swift with action and had courage that could last a life time, while Creon was simplistic in nature and had a good head on his shoulders. Both kings, however had character flaws of stubbornness, as one tried to change and outrun his fate, while the other could not see past his nose, unable to make the right changes at the right time. As both were unable to change their ways in time, it led to the end of their legacies, one with death, and another with a life of loneliness.…

    • 1361 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays