Antigone. Many assume that simply because the play is named for Antigone, that she is

the tragic hero. However, evidence supports that Creon, and not Antigone, is the tragic

hero of the play. Examining the factors that create a Greek Tragedy, and a tragic

character, it is clear that the tragic hero is in fact Creon.

First, take into account the timeframe in which Antigone was written. During the

time of Sophocles, women were considered second class citizens. They would not even

be permitted to act in the drama Antigone. It seems unlikely that Sophocles would choose

a woman as the tragic hero of the play.

There are certain qualities that a character must posses in order to qualify as a

tragic hero. Ideally, the tragic hero is a person of some status, us

nothing. At the end of Antigone, Creon had lost his kingdom, his son, his wife, and his

of the play it is customary for the tragic hero to have lost everything, to be reduced to

would continue to argue even after he or she realized they were wrong. For Antigone, no

attribute that causes the inevitable downfall of the character. It is argued that Antigone's

moment of realization, called anagnorisus, never occurred for Antigone, who died

fact that Antigone was part of the royal lineage, being a descendent of Oedipus, Creon's

Creon's son Haimon are minor characters and are clearly not the tragic heroes of the play.

will to live, but is doomed to live on in his pain. Antigone loses her life, but it was not a

The most important characteristic of the tragic hero is the tragic flaw, the one

whether Antigone was seeking martyrdom, but she certainly d

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Approximate Word count = 586
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)