Creon Character Trait Essay

The Greek tragedy Antigone, by Sophocles, introduces characters that can be described as tragic heroes. This tragedy has the character face with a dramatic reconciliation. Creon, one of the main characters in the play, is a major tragic hero because of his personal characteristics and the actions he made. There were three specific characteristics that can be explained to describe Creon’s personality. He was ignorant, rude and insecure. Creon had a natural habit of being ignorant of others. He refuses to notice other people’s opinion, advice and point of view. Creon believes that since he was the king, he had the right to make decisions without bothering to discuss it with others. Creon refuses to listen to the wise words of Teiresas about letting Antigone bury Polynecies. He does not follow the advice soon enough and suffers with a catastrophe of the death of his beloved son and wife. This fully shows Creon being ignorant considering the fact that Teiresas’ guidance is always the finest and is taken by many other kings. Another example of Creon being ignorant in this tragedy is when Haemon gently persuades his father that arresting Antigone would not be the best decision, especially since he is engaged to her. But Creon refuses to listen and does not realize there is a significant relationship between his son and Antigone. He just follows through with what he thinks is right. He also does not take notice to the point of view of the citizens of Thebes and how they disagreed to that fact of Polynecies not being buried. Considering he is the king, everyone’s expectation is that he would listen to the citizens of the country, but Creon’s ignorant behaviour doesn’t let him do the right thing. The realization to overcome his ignorance does not come in soon enough to save his family. Another character trait the King of Thebes has is his show of rudeness. Creon had an egoistic way of seeing things. One example of him being rude was when he accused Teiresas of accepting bribery because Creon just can’t accept it when Teiresas tells him that nature itself is rebelling against Creon’s double sacrilege. Accusing the seer of bribery is disrespectful because, he only said that for his own benefit of believing he was right and Teiresas was wrong. Teiresas was a seer and therefore deserved more respect than what he was given. Creon was being self-absorbed and not seeing that Teiresas was trying to help him. Creon’s verbal language likewise is very hurtful to others. When Haemon talks to Creon about Antigone, Creon says â€Å"If she’s a bitch, you’ll feel a coldness as she lies beside you. Can there be anything worse than giving your love to a bitch that doesn’t deserve it?† (pg17). Considering the fact that Haemon was engaged to Antigone, and Antigone is Creon’s niece, this was a rude remark for Creon to make. He had no respect for the relationship between them. While speaking with Antigone, Creon also added, â€Å"Oh, go to hell, -you and your marriage with you†. Many of the times, Creon would make rude remarks about others without realizing the affect of his words. One of the main reasons Creon had so much arrogance was because of the insecurity hiding underneath his personality. Even though he seemed powerful on the outside with all his fame as being a king, he was in reality, insecure. This tragic flaw leads to the death of many people and also to his own downfall. Creon feels everyone is not in favour of him and therefore takes actions so people can take him more seriously. He takes actions so people would get the point that he is not somebody to be taken advantage of. An example in the play can be seen when Creon disregards other’s advice. When he refuses to listen to Teiresas’ advice, he is too insecure to even realize that the guidance given was principled. When Creon finally came to the realization of what he had done, it was too late; his insecurity had already destroyed him. All of these characteristics of Creon had a massive impact on the outcome of the plot of the play. Creon’s ignorance, his rudeness and insecurity led him to take actions that were not always right. It leads to his own suffering and the suffering of others. When realization finally hits him, it is too late to save his family members from losing their lives. In the final scene he blames himself for all the tragedies.