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The Tragic Hero Of Antigone

            
             Sophocles" Antigone is the story of the battle between Antigone and Creon and their different views on laws placed by man and those placed by gods. Antigone is the classic tragic hero in the Greek tragedy. She has good intentions throughout the entire play; her one downfall is her tragic flaw of pride and being driven by emotions. Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus, the king, and she truly belongs in the high position of princess in the royal family of Thebes. .
             Antigone has good morals and intentions throughout the play. She wants to see justice served even if she has to disregard the laws of man. "I never thought your mortal edicts had such force that they nullified the laws of heaven" (Antigone 210). She knows that without a proper burial, which is demanded by the gods, the gods in heaven will not accept Polyneices. Although Antigone is disobeying her king, she is very loyal to her family and the ones she loves. When Creon orders for Antigone and Ismene to be executed Antigone takes all the blame to save her sister. "She and her sister will not now escape the utmost penalty" (Antigone 211). "I did it too" says Ismene, but Antigone retorts with "That is not true you do not share with me, nor did I grant you partnership" (Antigone 214).
             Antigone is very prideful and she is also driven by her deep emotions, this is her tragic flaw. We see her pride when she does not let Ismene claim any responsibility of the burial and when she tells Ismene that she does not want her help. "I would not want you as a partner even if you asked" (Antigone 194). Antigone also has problems thinking straight because she reacts based solely on what her emotions tell her to do, instead of taking a well thought out course of action. When she hears of Creon's creed to deny Polyneices burial she immediately goes against Creon. A better plan of action would have been for Antigone to address Creon about her feelings instead of immediately disobeying his law, the law of man.


Essays Related to The Tragic Hero Of Antigone

1. Creon is the Tragic Hero

... makes him fall; he must try to resolve a conflict but ends up failing. The play Antigone by Sophocles makes it hard for the readers to decide who is the tragic hero. Creon best fits in with the definition of a tragic hero. The things he say's does and the comments made by those around him show he is the tragic hero. Creon's main tragic flaw was his pride and his big ego. His biggest mistake was denying ... a proper burial for Antigone's brother Polynices. Antigone wanted to burying her brother because she was loyal to ... her self his ego is hurt. "Go down below and love, if love you m...

  • Word Count: 276
  • Approx Pages: 1
  • Grade Level: High School

2. Tragic Hero - King Creon

... him to be punished. After all of the dilemma and advice from those who were around him, Creon, ultimately, begins to rethink the matters involving his niece, Antigone. In the play Antigone, a reader can assume that woman Antigone was the tragic hero, but she is not. As it turned out, Creon is the tragic hero. With the dealings between Creon, Antigone, and the prophet, Creons pride is what made him a tragic hero and causes his downfalls. One way ... Creons pride makes him a tragic hero is shown during the conflict between Creon and Antigone. To begin, Creon would not ... ...

  • Word Count: 644
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

3. Antigone's Battle

... , actors, fire fighters, or police men. But in Sopholes" play Antigone, there were two tragic heroes, Antigone was the tragic heroine. A tragic hero is someone who is not completely good or completely bad, someone who falls from tremendous good and recognizes their tragic flaw. In these three ways Antigone was the tragic heroine. There are many ways Antigone proves she is a good person, such as when she wants to bury ... the end of the play, Antigone recognized that her pride got her where she was. She realized it when she was going to her death, and when the chorus said she had a choice....

  • Word Count: 364
  • Approx Pages: 1
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Antigone

... die from this crime she confesses to it, even when she had the chance to deny her crime and walk. Antigone knew she was going to die and never cried over this fate because of her pride. Her pride made her do many heroic things that tragic heroes are proud to do. Antigone is from a noble family in which her dad Oedipus once king and ... brother once king and her Uncle Creon now the king of Thebes. Although she had this noble background she lost it all ... a cave so every one would not turn on him. This punishment still exceeds her crime but makes her a tragic hero. In Antigone, Antigone...

  • Word Count: 392
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

5. Creon - The Tragic Hero

... religion and burry her brother. Antigone, the king's son and the king's wife all commit suicide because of the kings decisions. The kings arrogance did not allow him to see that he was losing his family. In Antigone, the king, Creon can be considered a tragic hero because he meets all the characteristics of a tragic hero that Aristotle defined. In Aristotle's book, "The Poetics," a tragic figure possess five characteristics. The first of the five is the tragic flaw. The hero's tragic flaw is "a moral ... weakness in character" eventually leading to the "disaster" (Brown). The tragic fla...

  • Word Count: 668
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

6. Antigone

... because the play is named Antigone, she should be considered the protagonist, however, Antigone's character lacks some of the crucial attributes necessary to comprise the protagonist of a Greek Tragedy. The fact that the play is a tragedy indicates that the protagonist should also be the tragic hero. Since Creon is the tragic hero of the play, he clearly plays a more vital role in the drama than Antigone. We can recognize Creon as the tragic hero rather than Antigone upon examining the definition of a tragic hero. A tragic hero must have a tragic flaw, a realization of his ... flaw, and...

  • Word Count: 759
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

7. Tragic Hero of Antigone

... a Greek author named Sophocles involving many deaths because of one man, Creon. Creon was lead to his downfall because of his own actions and arrogance making him the tragic hero in story of Antigone. A tragic hero by definition is a noble character with a tragic flaw. He is the tragic hero of Antigone because he is noble, he has a tragic flaw, and he is brought down the most. First of all, Creon is the tragic hero of Antigone because he is a noble character. He is ... noble because he didn't make the law of forbidding the proper burial of Polynecies just for the sake of being mean, he ...

  • Word Count: 527
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

8. Antigone

... ," as well as "tragic hero." But he is not the tragic hero. The definition of "tragic hero" has to do with more than being on stage or having a large number of lines. Antigone is indeed the tragic hero of this play, not Creon, because Creon did not die a martyr, he simply suffered. To suggest that Creon is a tragic hero is to totally misread Antigone, and to totally miss the point of the play. Sophocles named the play after Antigone, which is no small ... thing. Sophocles wants us to see Antigone as the tragic ... ...

  • Word Count: 885
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

9. Antigone-Protagonist/Tragic Hero

... because the play is named Antigone, she should be considered the protagonist, however, Antigone's character lacks some of the crucial attributes necessary to comprise the protagonist of a Greek Tragedy. The fact that the play is a tragedy indicates that the protagonist should also be the tragic hero. Since Creon is the tragic hero of the play, he clearly plays a more vital role in the drama than Antigone. We can recognize Creon as the tragic hero rather than Antigone upon examining the definition of a tragic hero. A tragic hero must have a tragic flaw, a realization of his ... flaw, and...

  • Word Count: 764
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

10. Antigone and Creon - Two Tragic Heroes

... a different leader who is succumb by pride in contrast to the ruler he was when he was first handed the position of king where he makes choices in the government for the good of the people not because of his desire for glory and pride. It can be argued that the protagonist Antigone is the tragic hero because Aristotle states in Poetics that a tragic hero is "a good person who does great things" yet Creon is ... not a good person because he puts the law before his ethics. To refute ... ...

  • Word Count: 1315
  • Approx Pages: 5

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