Antigone Essay
Lilly Povey
Ms. Cesana
Honors English 10
8 November, 2012
Antigone Essay Tragic heroes have certain requirements they need to fulfill in order to be considered a tragic hero. For example, they need to have stature or greatness, but also have a tragic flaw that leads to a tragic mistake. In the tragedy Antigone, by Sophocles, Creon does not want people to bury a traitor named Polyneices, and when he is buried by Antigone, Creon sentences her to death. In the story Antigone, there is some debate about whether Creon or Antigone is the real tragic hero of the play. Creon is the true tragic hero of Antigone because he shows the tragic hero traits better than Antigone does. One reason Creon is the tragic hero is because he has stature and greatness. “But now at last our new King is coming: Creon of Thebes, Menoikeus' son” (Episode 1, line 1-3). This quote is describing Creon coming out of the palace to say what he has decided as King to do about Polyneices, the anarchist that rebelled against Creon. The quote shows that Creon is important because the person saying the quote, the Choragos, addresses him as King of Thebes. Creon being the king also shows he has more stature than Antigone because he is a king, whereas Antigone is only a princess. Creon's high stature as King also contributes to his personality of being very prideful. Creon is also a better tragic hero than Antigone because of his tragic flaw, which is that he's very hubristic, or has an excessive amount of pride. “My voice is the one giving orders in this city!” (Episode 3, line 104-105). Creon is arguing with Haimon about Antigone's sentence, and Creon believes that he shouldn't have to take orders from his own son, and that he is the one making the rules in Thebes, not Haimon. The quote is important because Creon believes that he is right, even when Haimon is telling him that the gods believe otherwise. Creon is putting himself above the gods' law because the information is coming from a boy who
Ms. Cesana
Honors English 10
8 November, 2012
Antigone Essay Tragic heroes have certain requirements they need to fulfill in order to be considered a tragic hero. For example, they need to have stature or greatness, but also have a tragic flaw that leads to a tragic mistake. In the tragedy Antigone, by Sophocles, Creon does not want people to bury a traitor named Polyneices, and when he is buried by Antigone, Creon sentences her to death. In the story Antigone, there is some debate about whether Creon or Antigone is the real tragic hero of the play. Creon is the true tragic hero of Antigone because he shows the tragic hero traits better than Antigone does. One reason Creon is the tragic hero is because he has stature and greatness. “But now at last our new King is coming: Creon of Thebes, Menoikeus' son” (Episode 1, line 1-3). This quote is describing Creon coming out of the palace to say what he has decided as King to do about Polyneices, the anarchist that rebelled against Creon. The quote shows that Creon is important because the person saying the quote, the Choragos, addresses him as King of Thebes. Creon being the king also shows he has more stature than Antigone because he is a king, whereas Antigone is only a princess. Creon's high stature as King also contributes to his personality of being very prideful. Creon is also a better tragic hero than Antigone because of his tragic flaw, which is that he's very hubristic, or has an excessive amount of pride. “My voice is the one giving orders in this city!” (Episode 3, line 104-105). Creon is arguing with Haimon about Antigone's sentence, and Creon believes that he shouldn't have to take orders from his own son, and that he is the one making the rules in Thebes, not Haimon. The quote is important because Creon believes that he is right, even when Haimon is telling him that the gods believe otherwise. Creon is putting himself above the gods' law because the information is coming from a boy who