Antigone: Creon asTragic Hero | Antigone: Creon asTragic Hero

"Our happiness depends/ on wisdom all the way. / The gods must have their due. / Great words by men of pride/ bring greater blows upon them. / So wisdom comes to the old. (1. lines 1344-1353)." Creon's character can be described by many characteristics but the one adjective that sums it all up would be a tragic hero. In the play Antigone by Sophocles Creon is a tragic hero. He belongs in the tragic hero category because his fate is against him, he suffers from hubris, but above all, he desires the best for his kingdom.

First, Creon's fate is doomed from the beginning for the mere fact that he is related to Oedipus and second he is a tragic hero. "My life is warped past cure. My fate has struck me down. (1.1342)" All the decisions Creon makes contributed to his son's death. When Creon's son took his own life, Creon felt he could not go on. His life ended with his son's.

Consequently, Creon also struggles with extreme hubris, though he may not know it. Creon's pride not only makes him feel superior to the gods, but also superior to women. Creon is insulted at the very thought that a women dared to disobey him, stating to Haemon "Better, if it must happen, that a man/ should overset me. / I wouldn't be called weaker than womankind. (1.178-180) Creon is so prideful as a man that he has no respect for women.

Even through all the appalling characteristics Creon has, he desires the best for his kingdom.

"For I believe that who controls the state and does not hold to the best of all, but locks his tongue up through some kind of fear, / that he is worst of all who are or were. / And he who counts anther greater friend than his own fatherland, I put him nowhere. (1.177-182). Creon initially made the law not to bury Polyneices for his kingdom, he wanted his kingdom to be united and strive to be great.

In conclusion, Creon is a tragic hero. He is star crossed, suffers from extreme pride, but above all he desires the best for his kingdom. A tragic hero is neither totally bad nor totally good. He is somewhere in the middle just like most humans. Creon is not the kind of character you can place into a box, he has depth and meaning that you need to look into to understand his character.

Works Cited:

Sophocles. "Antigone." Elements of Literature. Ed. Anderson, Robert,

et. al. Austin: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Inc., 1993.