The Tragic Hero of Sophocles Antigone :: Antigone essays

The Tragic Hero of AntigoneIn Sophocles Antigone, the question of who the sad hero actually ishas been the subject of a conceive for years. It is unlikely for there to betwo tragic character references in a Greek tragedy, and there can be only one in the happen Antigone. The king Creon possesses some of the qualities that constitutea tragic character, but does non have all of the necessary traits.Antigone, however, contains all of the aspects that are required for her to be the main character. According to Aristotles Poetics, there are four majortraits, which are required of the tragic character. The character must bea good and upstanding person. The character must focus on becoming a eruptperson, must be believable, and must be consistent in his or her behavior. Due to the point that Antigone represents these four character guidelines,as well as several other protagonist traits, she can definitely be defined asthe tragic hero. In order for Antigone to be the tragic character, she first must be a goodand upstanding person. Antigone is indeed a good-hearted person and hascommitted no crime up to her decision to give her brother, Polynieces, aproper burial. There is no doubt that Antigone is upstanding and a personof importance in Thebes. She was plan to marry Haemon, the son ofCreon, and was considered a princess. Aristotle stated that the aspect ofa good person was first and most important when creating a tragic character.The fact that Antigone is a woman makes no difference, because Aristotleexpressly said, Even a woman may be good.though the woman may be said tobe an inferior being.Aristotles hour rule for determining a tragic character is that theperson must aim at propriety. The character must work towards becoming abetter person. Antigone illustrates this second guideline by her effortto clear her conscious and bring honor to her family by giving Polynieces adecent burial. By taking this responsibility, and by denying Ismenesinvolvement in her cri me, Antigone shows that she has acquired a greatercourage within herself than she had possessed before. In no way doesCreon comply with Aristotles second guideline. Throughout the play, he doesnot allow himself to see the point of view from other people, such as whenHaemon tries to reason with him, and he neglects the blind prophet,Tiresias, when he warns Creon of his actions.The last two expectations of a tragic character are intertwined.According to Aristotle, the character must be true to life and be consistent in