The Tragic Heroes in Sophocles’ Tragedy, Antigone Essay

Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero is someone of great importance or royalty. The hero must go through something terrible such as a relative’s death. We must feel what this character is feeling throughout the story. Aristotle also said that a tragic hero scan be defeated by a tragic flaw, such as hubris or human pride. In Sophocles’ tragedy Antigone, both Creon and Antigone are tragic heroes. In the play, Creon and Antigone can be seen as good or bad characters. Both of them show traits of justice. Antigone wanted to save her brother, Polyneices, by giving him a soldier’s funeral with military honors. Creon realized his mistake of putting Antigone in a cave to die for burying Polyneices, and he tried to fix it. Unfortunately, he†¦show more content†¦Creon shows his self pride obviously when he said, â€Å"But whoever shows by word and deed that he is on the side of the State, he shall have my respect while he is living, and my reverence when he is dead† (Sc. 1, lns. 52-55). Antigones’s tragic flaw can be seen as an act of justice to some and just breaking the law to others. Both characters at some point in the play experienced great suffering. Antigone suffered when she had to watch her brother rot without having a soldier’s funeral. Creon suffered a great deal when he had to watch all his loved ones die one after the other. Unfortunately, Creon had to live with the fact that he was the reason why everyone one was dying and now he had to live with all that pain. Each character arouses fear and pity from the reader or audience. Antigone makes the reader fear for her when she goes out in the middle of the field to bury Polyneices, her brother, because she could get caught by Creon’s guards and sentenced to death. Antigone also makes the reader pity her when she said, â€Å"Then let me go, since all your words are bitter, and the very light of the sun is cold to me. Lead me to my vigil, were I must have neither love nor lamentation; no song, but silence† (Sc. 4, lns. 49-52). Creon makes the reader fear for him when he doesn’t give Polyneices a soldier’s funeral, because the gods could punish him. He makes the reader pity him when all hisShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Antigone By Sophocles1074 Words   |  5 Pages1 Gabriel Smith Professor Christopher Foster English 1302 01 March 2016 Essay 2: Antigone A hero is a person who shows courage or noble qualities in the face of danger. There are many different types of heroes in literature and media such as superheroes saving the world, or an everyday fireman saving a kitten from a tree. Deriving from Greek literature, tragic heroes are common among early literature. Tragic heroes are defined by Aristotle by the following requirements, they must come from royaltyRead MoreAntigone by Sophocles1059 Words   |  5 Pages In the book Antigone, Creon and Antigone can be considered as the tragic heroes of the play. 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