The one with the Dreadful Tragedy

The One with the Dreadful Tragedy

The story "Antigone" was written by Sophocles before or in 442 B.C. The story of "Antigone" was written after the story "The Myth of Oedipus" was also written by Sophocles. Antigone's father and mother were king and queen of Thebes. Their names were Oedipus and Iocasta. Antigone has two brothers Polyneices and Eteocles, and one sister Ismeme. The story of "Antigone" shows the family's tragic situation that changed their lives forever. The question of the prompt is "who is the most tragic character, Antigone or Creon?" King Creon is the most tragic character and suffers the greater downfall in the story because of the tragic flaws. His tragic flaws are that he is power hungry, prideful, ands stubbornness.

First, King Creon's first tragic flaw is that he is power hungry. ".... Polynices, who sought to make desolate with fire his native city and its gods, and who sought to glut himself with kindred blood and lead our citizens to slavery--to him shall no man give a tomb. Let the body lie mutilated, as a feast to dogs and birds...." (Scene , lines ) The people of Thebes see him as a leader and a person they can look up to, but some of his decisions as a leader are driven by his hunger for the people. In the story "Antigone", King Creon's niece Antigone wanted to bury her brother Polynices to show the honor she shows for the dead. King Creon had strong beliefs about her burying a traitor, to show he is not a coward in front of the people of Thebes, King Creon punished Antigone by putting her in a cage. He put her in a cage to show what power he has or the power he always wanted to remain their king.

His second tragic flaw is his pridefulness. Throughout the story "Antigone", King Creon's pridefulness leads to destruction. The destruction of his pride shows the punishment of his niece Antigone and also it leads to the death of his son Haimen. King Creon can't control his power over people and allows his power and pride go to his head. Also King Creon's pridefulness shows that he can be the superior of women and the Gods. King Creon is not only punishing his niece Antigone for burying her brother Polynices, he is punishing her because Antigone disobeyed the king's order.

Lastly, King Creon's third tragic flaw is stubbornness ."While stubborn trees are torn up, roots and all.....Forget you are angry! Let yourself be moved!" (Scene , lines ). In the story, "Antigone" King Creon shows his stubbornness by not wanting to be proven wrong at times. When the Choragos tried to tell King Creon, he made a mistake by telling his people not to bury his niece's brother Polynices. King Creon refused to listen to the voices of his people. The people of Thebes were trying to tell him, Antigone