Definition of Hero

The Definition of a Tragic Hero
During the times when the Ancient Greeks were flourishing, as a method of an entertainment, tragic plays had a significant position within the citizens of Greece. Many of the successful plays that endured the passage of time to this day all have contained "elements of tragedy" as written by Aristotle in his Poetics. In Antigone, a play written by Sophocles, one of the most renowned Greek playwright, Creon, the king of Thebes, clearly shows the characteristics as described by Aristotle.
The social position of Creon compared to many of the characters and the audience amplifies the element of tragedy in the play. After the death of Eteocles and Polyneices, the sons of the previous king, Creon declares: “…and I, as the/next in blood, have succeeded to the full power of the/throne.” (I. 18-20) Originally, Creon was the brother of the former queen of Thebes, and the deaths of his nephews allowed him to seize the throne. As a king, Creon fits one of the main elements of tragedy of being a character with a high social position. However, it is this very position in the social pyramid that gets Creon very bombastic and power hungry, which causes him to make a huge error in his judgment. In his desire to secure complete control over his kingdom, also in demonstration of his power, he insipidly says, “Breaking the given laws and boasting of it/Who is the man here,/She or I, if this crime goes unpunished?/Sister’s child, or more than sister’s child,/Or closer yet in blood-she and her sister/Win bitter death for this!” (II. 81-86) As a newly elected king, Creon boasts a totalitarian rule, never overlooking anything, even if the accused criminal was his own niece, who was also a princess of the kingdom. By this unrealistic showing of power, Creon himself paves the way to his own demise.
Throughout the play, the events and the wrongdoings of the character gather up, until the entire life of the character turns for the worse. Because of Creon’s...