Creon Tragic Hero

In some respects Creon is seen as a positive character, in others as an antagonist. However, if one sees it from a different perspective, it's obvious that Creon is the victim of fate and his own flaws, making him a tragic hero. His first misfortune was to fall from the grace of his people when saying that Antigone should die for her actions. "Your people are beginning to question your judgment and are beginning to side with Antigone." (256-257) This scene is very ironic! Creon is actually trying to maintain his authority by being a ruler of his word, but he is actually losing respect. Creon's present situation foreshadows unrest and growing calamity within his own family. The idea of him losing

control of him own dynastic rule, sets the stage for the large fall that this tragic hero is supposed to encounter.

A tragic hero is defined as having a character flaw or an error of judgment. In the "Antigone," Creon has both flaws. He has the character flaw of willful arrogance and his unyielding behavior and he is flawed in his judgment (when he issues the proclamation). He realizes his character flaw when he states, "Oh it is hard to give in! But it is worse to risk everything for stubborn pride." (93-94) This is the point in the play where Creon realizes his mistake and begins to change as Teiresias has told him to. This is important because he mentions the difficulty he has going against his stubborn pride. The error of judgment is when he passes the proclamation without proper justification. His personal vengeance gets involved with his business affairs which cause him to make this fatal error. After Haemon states, "The wisest man will let himself be swayed by others' wisdom and relaxes in time," (234-235) Creon begins to feel guilt because he passed the proclamation blindly, without paying attention to the views of others. He passed the proclamation solely on his beliefs.