Antigone Creon Tragic Hero Quotes

Creon as the True Tragic Hero of Antigone “But now at last our new king is coming: Creon of Thebes” (Sophocles 1.1). This quote is found in Sophocles’ play Antigone. The main characters from Antigone, Creon and Antigone, are often confused as to who is the true tragic hero. Aristotle's theory as to what a true tragic hero is includes one who starts the play in a noble stature, one whose tragic flaw leads them to a downfall, one who receives a punishment that exceeds the crime, and one who learns a lesson. Antigone is a princess in Thebes and has very strong opinions. She tries to bury her brother, Polyneices, even though Creon forbids it due to the fact that Polyneieces commit treason against Thebes. Antigone believes that she should follow
Creon is also very stubborn and believes that he is always on the right. Although some tend to believe that Antigone being dealt a punishment that exceeded the crime by being punished with death makes her the tragic hero, Creon is the true tragic hero because of his noble stature as king, his tragic flaw of pride, and a punishment of the death of his entire family. Creon of Thebes is the last heir due to the fact that Polyneices and Eteocles killed each other in battle. Creon is a very proud, firm, and ruthless king. “As long as I am king, no traitor is going to be honored with the loyal man” (Sophocles 1.44). Creon possesses a noble stature as king of Thebes. As seen in this quote spoken by Antigone, “Have they told you the new decree of our king Creon?” This is a new edict (Sophocles 1.6). Noble stature is the first point in Aristotle's theory of a tragic hero, and Creon fits it
Antigone was unable to experience this stage due to her death. Creon was alive and had to live with what he had done. Also, with the death of his closest family members, it caused him to realize his wrong doings. Once Creon realized his crimes, he thought he deserved death, as seen in this quote: “Let it come; let death come quickly and be kind to me” (Sophocles Exodus 127). To summarize, even though some tend to believe that Antigone being dealt a punishment that exceeded her crime by being punished with death makes her the tragic hero, Creon is the true tragic hero because of his noble stature as king, his tragic flaw of pride, and a punishment for the death of his closest family. Although Antigone filled three out of four of the points in Aristotle’s theory of a tragic hero, Creon filled four out of four. He is a strong, proud, and firm king, he is very proud, he was faced with the death of his wife and son, and he changed his ways because of it. Antigone’s death prevents her from learning any sort of lesson, which proves that Creon is the true tragic hero in Sophocles’ Antigone. Creon learns that his own pride and stubbornness took an extreme toll on his life and