Antigone Essay, Research Paper

Antigone Character Analysis Essay Dealing with enemies has been a problem ever since the beginning of time.In Antigone, by Sophocles, the value of dealing with your family and dealing with your Enemies become a huge problem for a King such as Creon. All throughout this play, Creon holds a title of authority that he must observe. After Oedipus left Thebes and Creon took over as King, there was a fight for the throne. Eteocles fought on Creon s side and Polyneices fought against his brother (Eteocles) and his King. Creon announced an edict which said that polyneices was to be left out to spend the rest of his spiritual life, unburied. This punishment was the worst in Greece. Creon used it to show that when you are very close to him and you betray him, you suffer all types of punishments; it was used to leave Polyneices all alone without any dignity. Throughout the entire play, Creon shows the reader his positive and negative moves towards his position on some things. Creon shows his negative side by refusing to bury Polyneices and when he speaks to the sentry. While in my opinion, that s a negative, readers could make an argument of Creon just simply doing his job as the King. His positive side is shown by his affection for Antigone and Ismene, whom he has attempted to raise since their fathers death. Creon does this, in spite of his love of Polyneices and also to show his respect for his family. In this play, the debate over who is the tragic hero in Antigone continues on to this day. The belief that Antigone is the hero is a strong one. There are many critics who believe, however, that Creon, the ruler of Thebes, is the true protagonist. But, if you define the word protagonist you would find that a protagonist is one who is a leader or supporter of a cause. While Antigone does possess some of the qualities that constitute a tragic hero, unfortunately she does not completely fit into the role. Creon, however, possesses all of the aspects of a tragic hero. Those aspects are the fact that he s a leader, a hard worker, and he does an excellent job as King.

Since in my opinion that the tragic hero is Creon, his choice to not to bury Polyneices is what the play revolves around. Antigone s impetuous personality and incestuous love drives her to disregard the will of the struggling King Creon and bury her brother. The consequences of her actions cause the demise of not only herself, but also Creon s son and groom to be Haemon, who kills himself once he hears of her death. In closing, upon an extensive character analysis, I learned Creon was in a position of leadership, and therefore limited to him to the laws of the land. Even though his family was at stake, he remained a loyal figure for the people, neglecting his family and took full authority. In my opinion, I still believe that the tragic hero is Creon; many would argue that at best, Antigone and Creon would share the title as the tragic hero of the story.