The Tragic Hero of Antigone

Paper Summary:

The writer examines the characters of both Antigone and Creon in order to find out who the true tragic hero in the story. The author defends and spells out detailed reasons supported by facts and quotes as to why Antigone finally embodies the characteristics of the Greek "Tragic Hero".

From the Paper:

"Characters who hold the ancient Greek tragedies together with the emotion and the passion of their virtuous yet disastrous downfalls; these are the tragic heroes. We as an audience feel their pain when they are defeated, and watch the unfolding irony as they lead to their own destruction. These characters always possess this tragic flaw, but are defined by other characteristics as well. One such character seems to meet each qualification of the standard tragic hero perfectly, and she is the title character of Sophocles' Antigone. There has been debate throughout this tragedy's history of whether Antigone's uncle and king, Creon, or Antigone herself is the actual tragic hero. But research of the facts presented in the story has indicated that Creon does not fully meet all the standards for a tragic hero presented by Aristotle, while Antigone clearly does. Each character meets the hero standards to a point, but Antigone exemplifies two of these qualities to a much higher degree. In the Greek tragedy of Antigone, Antigone is the tragic hero due to the greater extent of her doom, or great fall, and the larger responsibility she possesses for her fall."

More papers on The Tragic Hero of Antigone:

• Essay # 6401 : "The Tragic Hero of Antigone"
• Analytical Essay # 64604 : "Creon as the Tragic Hero"
• Book Review # 101138 : "Creon: The Tragic Hero"

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