What’s in a Tragic Hero?
In most dramas the very core of the story revolves around the tragic event or the tragedy itself and the tragic hero that is the cause of the tragedy. In Sopehecle’s “Antigone” Creon is identified as the tragic hero due to his tragic flaws, his power, and his actions that lead to his downfall and that of others.
Many works of drama have an essential plot and contain a protagonist and an antagonist and usually have unhappy endings; these would be refereed to as tragedies. A Tragedy is defined as, “ The downfall of a noble hero or heroine, usually through some combination of hubris, fate, and the will of the Gods.”(Aristotle 1) “Antigone” is a tragedy from the beginning as it begins with the deaths of Polynieces and …show more content…
Aristotle defined a tragic hero to be, “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.” (2) Creon most exquisitely fits the criteria and the role of a tragic hero because Sophocles portrays him to be a just ruler to the people of Thebes, yet along the way with help from his tragic flaw and the Gods; Creon upsets the balance of the play and thus sets in motion his own downfall as well as the downfall of those closest to him and by the time he realizes his grand error it is too …show more content…
By refusing to give Polynieces a proper burial he is abusing his power as king as well as insulting the Gods. Creon’s actions can be seen as merely human and can even be compared to other tragic heroes. For example, Macbeth; while neither tragedy is identical, there are similarities between both Tragic Heros. Both Macbeth and Creon are led astray by their own insecurities and pitiful human emotions. They believe that in order to be strong leaders they must prove themselves strong leaders, rather than realizing that courageous leaders are those that can admit their weaknesses and conquer them. Just as Macbeth is led astray by Lady Macbeth’s ambition and dangerous desire for power; so is Creon led by his own sense of entitlement and arrogance. At the end of each tragedy both tragic heroes realize how wrong they were relying on their own sense of judgment, but of course it is too late to deflect the path of fate and the tragedy that is to come. Macbeth’s famous lines are so in tune with Creon’s emotional state at the end that his actions and his very life after he has lost everything may seem like, “a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing. ( Shakespeare 5.5.18–27). Macbeth’s uttering of this line comes to symbolize just how justified both heroes believed they were in the beginning, but, as the end neared they came to realize that all they did was
In most dramas the very core of the story revolves around the tragic event or the tragedy itself and the tragic hero that is the cause of the tragedy. In Sopehecle’s “Antigone” Creon is identified as the tragic hero due to his tragic flaws, his power, and his actions that lead to his downfall and that of others.
Many works of drama have an essential plot and contain a protagonist and an antagonist and usually have unhappy endings; these would be refereed to as tragedies. A Tragedy is defined as, “ The downfall of a noble hero or heroine, usually through some combination of hubris, fate, and the will of the Gods.”(Aristotle 1) “Antigone” is a tragedy from the beginning as it begins with the deaths of Polynieces and …show more content…
Aristotle defined a tragic hero to be, “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.” (2) Creon most exquisitely fits the criteria and the role of a tragic hero because Sophocles portrays him to be a just ruler to the people of Thebes, yet along the way with help from his tragic flaw and the Gods; Creon upsets the balance of the play and thus sets in motion his own downfall as well as the downfall of those closest to him and by the time he realizes his grand error it is too …show more content…
By refusing to give Polynieces a proper burial he is abusing his power as king as well as insulting the Gods. Creon’s actions can be seen as merely human and can even be compared to other tragic heroes. For example, Macbeth; while neither tragedy is identical, there are similarities between both Tragic Heros. Both Macbeth and Creon are led astray by their own insecurities and pitiful human emotions. They believe that in order to be strong leaders they must prove themselves strong leaders, rather than realizing that courageous leaders are those that can admit their weaknesses and conquer them. Just as Macbeth is led astray by Lady Macbeth’s ambition and dangerous desire for power; so is Creon led by his own sense of entitlement and arrogance. At the end of each tragedy both tragic heroes realize how wrong they were relying on their own sense of judgment, but of course it is too late to deflect the path of fate and the tragedy that is to come. Macbeth’s famous lines are so in tune with Creon’s emotional state at the end that his actions and his very life after he has lost everything may seem like, “a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing. ( Shakespeare 5.5.18–27). Macbeth’s uttering of this line comes to symbolize just how justified both heroes believed they were in the beginning, but, as the end neared they came to realize that all they did was