Creon as Hero of Antigone The dilemma of identifying the true hero, or heroine, of Sophocles' Antigone has tortured students for years. It's really a difficult decision to make. The basis for this decision is what the reader perceives as Sophocles' dramatic problem in this play. The dramatic issue of the play is twofold: Antigone is a fanatic driven by religious fever to bury the body of her criminal brother, Polynices, against Creon's edict. In the second part, Sophocles shows how the new king Creon's refusal to change his mind in the face of adversity is admirable, but at the same time his political morality ends up destroying his family. His fall from grace is tragic, while Antigone's fall is welcome. In this way Sophocles sympathizes with Creon and thus becomes the hero of Antigone. Contrary to what Jebb, a critic of Antigone, believes, Antigone cannot be the heroine of Antigone. There are several reasons for this: he is a one-dimensional character who undergoes no development over the course of the show, his behavior is illogical and does not evoke a sense of pity in either the audience or the chorus, and his personal revenge surpasses his goal religious. These same reasons are also the basis for rejecting the claims of Hogan, another critic of Antigone who sees Antigone and Creon as dual heroes. The character of Antigone does not evolve in the opera. Jebb sees her as enthusiastic, "at once firm and passionate, for the right as she sees it, for the performance of her duty", and possessed of "intense tenderness, purity, and depth of domestic affection" (Jebb 1902 p.12 ). ; Calder and I disagree with this statement. Calder is a critic of the pla...... middle of paper ...... is more likely the tragic hero of Antigone, rather than Antigone herself. At first glance, Sophocles' Antigone appears to have two protagonists, Antigone and Creon. The hero cannot be Antigone because of her one-dimensional character, her illogical behavior, and her lack of mercy. And upon closer examination, it turns out that Creon is indeed the tragic hero, thanks to the fact that his original edict regarding the burial of Polyneices contained the means for Creon's downfall. Works Cited Calder, William M. III (1968). Sophocles' political tragedy, Antigone. GRBS 9, 389-407. Hogan, James C. (1972). The protagonists of Antigone. Arethusa 5, 93-100.Sophocles (1902). Antigone (Richard Jebb, trans.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Sophocles (1991). Antigone (David Green, trans.). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.