Creon Tragic Hero Essay
In Sophocles ' Antigone, the question of who the tragic hero has been the subject of debate for years. It is uncommon for there to be two tragic heroes in a Greek tragedy, therefore there can be only be one in Antigone. Although Creon possesses some of the characteristics that constitute a tragic hero, he does not have all of the necessary qualities. Antigone, however, possesses all of the traits that are required for her to be the tragic hero. According to Aristotle, there are four major characteristics, which the tragic hero is required to have. The character must be a good, upstanding person, they must focus on becoming a better person, they must be believable, and they must be consistent in his or her behavior. Due to the fact that
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You will not live through many more courses of the sun 's swift chariot, before you will give in return one sprung from your own loins, a corpse in requital for corpses... For these crimes the avenging destroyers, the Furies of Hades and of the gods, lie in ambush for you, waiting to seize you in these same sufferings. And look closely if I tell you this with a silvered palm. A time not long to be delayed will reveal in your house wailing over men and over women... There, now, are arrows for your heart, since you provoke me, launched at you, archer-like, in my anger... Boy, lead me home, so that he may launch his rage against younger men, and learn to keep a quieter tongue and a better mind within his breast than he now bears (Sophocles 1064-1090).
Tiresias is explaining to Creon that if he continues down his current path, no good can come of it for himself. Creon’s reaction in attempting to let Antigone go does not constitute him trying to become a better person, because a better person would free her just because of the implications it would have for him, but rather because it is the right thing to do. The last two expectations of a tragic hero are intertwined. According to Aristotle, the character must be true to life and be consistent in behavior and
You will not live through many more courses of the sun 's swift chariot, before you will give in return one sprung from your own loins, a corpse in requital for corpses... For these crimes the avenging destroyers, the Furies of Hades and of the gods, lie in ambush for you, waiting to seize you in these same sufferings. And look closely if I tell you this with a silvered palm. A time not long to be delayed will reveal in your house wailing over men and over women... There, now, are arrows for your heart, since you provoke me, launched at you, archer-like, in my anger... Boy, lead me home, so that he may launch his rage against younger men, and learn to keep a quieter tongue and a better mind within his breast than he now bears (Sophocles 1064-1090).
Tiresias is explaining to Creon that if he continues down his current path, no good can come of it for himself. Creon’s reaction in attempting to let Antigone go does not constitute him trying to become a better person, because a better person would free her just because of the implications it would have for him, but rather because it is the right thing to do. The last two expectations of a tragic hero are intertwined. According to Aristotle, the character must be true to life and be consistent in behavior and