A tragic hero – a character who commits actions or mistakes which eventually leads to his or her defeat, is usually one of the cornerstones incorporated by the playwright of a tragedy as the main character. Throughout the ages, the idea of the tragic hero which is created in ancient Greek tragedy, have been depicted in literature – famous plays such as Antigone. With the application of his stagecraft, playwright Sophocles has skilfully placed Antigone and Creon to prevail them as the tragic heroes, complementing the dramatic plot of this play. Key to his success is the way he subtly positions his characters in distinct settings, exploited the use of dialogue and plans their actions -to shape and mould both Antigone and Creon, his leading characters as tragic heroes.
Sophocles’ stagecraft vividly solidifies both Antigone and Creon as tragic heroes by placing them in various settings in this play. In the prologue, he purposely situates Antigone in “an open place at dawn” where she meets Ismene to discourse about burying Polyneices – their brother, meanwhile creating a mood and impression to the audience that this meeting is perhaps utterly private. To look at this aspect with profundity, Sophocles closely connects this scene to any other stereotypical heroes, even up to date, where they are initiated to be secretive of their actions and plans. The fact that Sophocles also places Ismene and Antigone “outside of the palace gates” further accentuates the confidentiality of the situation – something a hero would normally do, to be secretive.
Consequently, it gives the impression that perhaps Antigone is planning something prominent which will stir up the people of Thebes, including her family. Furthermore, in the end, Antigone’s downfall, as she is punished by Creon and dies for what she has plotted at the very beginning, the audience is convinced that she is seen to be a true tragic hero in this play. At the same time, Creon is also portrayed as the tragic hero by Sophocles the moment he “enters the house with Haemon’s corpse” in the exodus.
The fact that Sophocles has set and placed him in his own home – a place where often a family dwells in, after Haemon’s death, creates an ironic impression to the audience and at the same time, tragic semblance as all of his family members are either dead or no longer associate with him. This explicitly indicates to the audience that Creon is indeed a tragic hero as he suffers more than he actually deserves.
Sophocles has also taken advantage of formulating powerful dialogue for both Antigone and Creon to further emphasize their roles as tragic heroes. In the prologue, he has incorporated heroic lines meanwhile referring to her fearless opinions and brave nature as she expresses the view that those of noble birth (a tragic hero is often of noble birth) should show superior moral qualities and that it is “noble for her to die doing this” (burying Polyneices) as she is not only paying the honour due to her brother, but also respecting the laws honoured by the gods. As the Athenians of the 5th century BC society highly valued their beliefs of Greek gods and their laws, such revelation is probably a controversy at the time as the Athenians are obligated to also esteem their kings at the same time.
One of the many traits of a tragic hero is to experience a reversal of fortune brought about due to his or her hamartia. For instance, Creon is also depicted as a tragic hero by Sophocles through the means of his heroic speeches about loving his country more than a loved one and of never staying silent if there are threats to his city’s safety, which arouse fear and empathy of the people in Thebes in the first episode in Antigone. This perhaps implies to the audience that he is a powerful, an intelligent and a devoted ruler – another quality of a hero. However, despite all that heroic utterance that suggests his greatness and authority, in the end, he suffers when his son, Haemon and his wife, Eurydice kills themselves – which further underlines Creon as a tragic hero in the play.
How Sophocles creates and plans the actions of both Antigone and Creon throughout the play also contributes to their roles as tragic heroes. In the second episode, Antigone’s operation of reburying Polyneices heightens her as a tragic heroine when she is caught by the sentries for disobeying the Creon’s commands – she does this twice, indicates her to be fearless and that she also appears to be a young girl who rises up alone against state power.
Moreover, as we learn in her confrontation with Creon, she admits what she has done without any denial at all and the insistence on her beliefs strongly disagrees with Creon which displeases him, locates her in a line of tragic heroes, specifically Oedipus. When she claims that “she has won greater glory” and believes that she is dying a noble death for an honourable and religious cause implies valour and courage. On the other hand, Creon is shaped to be imperfect – resembling an average human, though he is pre-eminently great in a superficial glance.
Sophocles moulds this character in such ways with the intention to make the audience relate themselves to this character albeit he is elevated to a higher position in society. Creon’s hubris (arrogant pride/over-confidence) brings him to his downfall when he submits to his pride and ego which leads to his refusal to listen to his councillors, Haemon and the messenger to consider Antigone’s case wisely and to release her – suggests his character to be stubborn and also flawed. He is a man whose prominence brings him glory and splendour, but whose weakness leads to tragedy. Therefore, vividly highlights his role as a tragic hero.
Furthermore, Sophocles also made this character realise his mistakes and that the fall is not pure loss – as to some extent, this increases his awareness and has gained in self-knowledge. In the fifth episode, where Creon submits to the messenger and tells him that he will obey, appears to be slightly redundant as he could not save Antigone from death -instead, both of his son and wife died as well, leaving him with no close family members. By establishing this, Sophocles has depicted Creon as a true tragic hero of the play who suffers a punishment that exceeds his crime -an amenable misjudgement – this misfortune is not wholly deserved.
Sophocles explicitly portrays both Antigone and Creon as tragic heroes in their own very different ways. However, when these two characters are compared meticulously, Antigone – in some respects -does not fulfil the Athenian’s idea of a tragic hero of experiencing the realisation of the error (anagnorisis), which results in catharsis or epiphany – unlike Creon who changes his heart even when his paranoic suspicion of corruption leads him to unreasonable accusations and anger.
Moreover, she does not seem to be an intelligent or a bright person as she is portrayed to be wild and reckless – in the eyes of the audience -for acting foolishly and carelessly in handling situations and compromising her point of views – not a common trait of a tragic hero at all. Sophocles goal of creating a tragic hero in his play is to show his audience a character which they could relate to as an imperfect persona meanwhile arousing solemn emotions for that character. On top of that, it also allows him to incorporate moral lessons and also realistic life issues in his play : each individual will face consequences when bad decisions are made, when advices from the wise ones are not disregarded and committing an act before apprehensive considerations.
