An Exploration of Creon's Tragic Heroic Qualities in Antigone

This essay examines the character of Creon in Sophocles' Antigone and argues that he embodies the characteristics of a tragic hero. The essay begins by referencing Aristotle's definition of tragedy and the qualities of a tragic hero. It then analyzes Creon's actions and motivations, highlighting his pride, stubbornness, and unwillingness to listen to others, which ultimately lead to his downfall. The essay uses textual evidence from the play to support its claims, and incorporates academic sources to strengthen the argument. The conclusion reinforces the idea that Creon fits the tragic hero archetype, as he begins as a ruler but is brought down by his flaws.

Running head: CREONE AS AN TRAGIC HERO
Creone as a Tragic Hero
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1Running head: CREONE AS AN TRAGIC HERO
Antigone is a play that was written by Sophocles in or before the year 441 BC. The
play focuses on Antigone goes against her uncle’s wishes and buries on of her brothers who
proved to be a traitor and killed her other brother. The play is considered to be a tragedy by
Aristotle. This is because Aristotle says that tragedy is a poetic imitation just like comedy and
drama, but it is of more serious in nature. It is because of all these reasons that Aristotle
called Antigone a tragedy drama.
The purpose of this essay is to determine why the character of Creon is
considered to be a tragic hero in the play Antigone.
A Tragic Hero is defined to be a protagonist who starts his journey as an honest and
just person, but ultimately becomes excessively prideful and greedy which ultimately leads to
his downfall (Andujar, 60). All of these characteristics are present in Creon who starts his
rule as an honest person but ultimately falls due to his excessive greed. He is a character who
would not listen to others views which made people resent him.
As stated by Bobrick (26), Creon’s pride was the main reason for him to be
considered as a tragic hero. This us because he felt that he is superior to all others in his
kingdom which made him declare “The State is King”. All these qualities inside him
ultimately leads Creon to his downfall, as it was prophesied Teiresias.
By the time Creon begins to realize his fault, the readers get the idea that the it was
too late for Creon to redeem himself. The main reason for his failure was because he was
boastful as a ruler and would not listen to what other subjects in his kingdom had to say
(Miola, 225).
From the above discussions, it can be concluded that Aristotle was right in stating that
the play Antigone was a tragedy. The character of Creon falls into all the conventions of a
tragic hero according to Aristotle who also pointed out Creon to be the tragic hero in the play

2Running head: CREONE AS AN TRAGIC HERO
itself. Thus, it can be stated that Creon was indeed the tragic hero of the play Antigone
written by Sophocles.

3Running head: CREONE AS AN TRAGIC HERO
Reference List
Andújar, Rosa, and Konstantinos Nikoloutsos. "Sophocles’ Antigone." Portrayals of
Antigone in Portugal. Brill, 2017. 11-26.
Bobrick, Elizabeth. "Sophocles’ Antigone and the self-isolation of the tragic hero."
Psychoanalytic Inquiry 35.1 (2015): 40-46.
Honig, Bonnie. "Antigone’s Laments, Creon’s Grief." The Returns of Antigone (2014): 25-
51.
Miola, Robert S. "Early Modern Antigones: Receptions, Refractions, Replays." Classical
Receptions Journal 6.2 (2013): 221-244.