Gurbuz CIMEN13. 04. 2012 0902020045 As a Tragic Hero, Creon Antigone was written by Sophocles. While some people say Antigone is the tragic heroine in the play, I believe Creon is our protagonist and he is the most tragic character in Sophocles’ play.
Because Antigone was killed by her uncle Creon tyrannically, it is difficult to remember that Creon is the one who lost everything he held the spirit of his age. Audience can ffffeel compassion for Creon if you think of his poor situation. That is to say, although Creon was a king, he actually had a throne without having a right to be king. At this point, as an anagnorisis in Poetics of Aristotle, Creon recognizes his failings, and he falls down immediately because of his inevitable pride. Therefore, he is our protagonist and he is a tragic hero although it seems as if the whole story is spoken by Antigone.
It is easy to see that Sophocles created real tragic character Creon although there has been argued Creon is a villain or not. Whereas, Aristotle says that tragic hero is not a villain character. At this point, I can say that Creon was never a villain character. Instead of this, he was actually struggling with his many reasons related to his country. Because he suffers from betrayal, etc..
. , he can be shown he is a tragic hero in this sense. Although there has been debated Creon is a villain character and he lives in a high rank and he is a king, he suffers a lot of sadness. At this point, I can say that there are two distinctive reasons that he is affected. The first one is his worries about his stability in his king status and the second one is that Creon relies on Teiresias who prophecies.
That is to say, Teiresias always makes a prediction and he helps Creon to solve some problems which are related to his country. Beside of these informations, Creon never draws back when Creon notices that although his niece Antigone rebelled against his own orders and rules. Instead of this, Antigone always acts decisively. That is to say, we can see Creon’s tragic position because Antigone never listens to his speeches. Creon always thinks that kingship is superior to anything else. That is to say, if you are a king, or if you live in a country which is governed by kingship, you should behave according to what the kingship means. AlAlAlathough there is a blood tie between Creon and Antigone, he does not want to be humiliated by his public.
Creon always tries to do away with Antigone’s rebellion and he resists Antigone’s will. Indeed, Creon never pays attention to his son, Haemon because Creon thinks that his son makes a mistake about Antigone. According to Creon, Haimon has a weakness for Antigone’s love.
However, everything starts to change after Teiresias talks to him. That is to say, he supplies with changing Creon’s ideas. After that, Creon decides to set Antigone and Haimon free. That is to say, he gives up the idea of killing them. However, when he goes to Antigone to set free, he witnesses both his son’s death and Antigone’s death. After this event, his wife decides to commit suicide. Then, his pain becomes layered.
He loses all he held the value because of his mistake. Finally, Creon feels regret. To sum up, Creon might not be the hero of Antigone, but his story is tragic.
Indeed, he ends up the story praying for death.
