The Better Tragic Hero
In a typical literary piece, each character possesses a unique position and role in the story. There are certain times when two or more characters are appropriate to fill a certain role. According to Aristotle, a tragic hero should be consistent, identifiable with the audience, have a prosperous instigation and possess a hamartia. In the tragedy Antigone by Sophocles, Creon supports his role of the tragic hero by fulfilling all four requirements needed for such a character.According to Aristotle, in order to be a suitable tragic hero, the character must be true to life and identifiable with the audience. Creon, though a king, retains the sense of realism and the audience can still relate to his situation throughout the story. Creon maintains consistency to life
Creon satisfies all four of the characteristics a tragic hero, thus making him the rightful tragic hero of Antigone. 122) reveals the fact that Creon admits to and realizes his mistakes. This further supports Creon as the better tragic hero since the tragic hero must realize his mistakes whereas Antigone showed no signs of regret or admittance of her errors before she killed herself. According to Aristotle, a tragic hero must be highly renowned in the beginning and possess a certain character weakness that will lead to his/her downfall. By comparison, Creon's initial status and wealth in the play make him much more prosperous than Antigone, who has actually already suffered a cursed family lineage as well as the recent death of her two brothers. Even amidst Teiresias's initial warnings and observations, Creon is too blind and stubborn to come to reason and when he finally realizes what he has done, it was too late for amends. Though Antigone does not have much to lose, Creon however, has now become king of Athens and puts much more at stake when making vital decisions. The other candidate for the tragic hero role is Antigone herself, but despite arguable evidence, Creon is ultimately the more qualified tragic hero. In this sense, Creon is best associated to any person who has felt the need to hold onto his reputation and other's expectations in spite of what others may say. Some would argue that Antigone fits the role of a tragic hero better than Creon does because her situation and her defiance of the law may associate herself with the audience, but simply because she holds popularity among the audience does not necessarily mean that Antigone is the better tragic hero of the two.
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