The Greek tragedy Antigone, written by Sophocles in 441 B.C., blurs the distinction of which character is the tragic hero in the play, Antigone or Creon. To investigate who the true tragic hero is in this drama, one must keep in mind the four qualities of a Greek hero: até (temporary insanity), arete (great strength of some sort), a nemesis (an opposing force), and hubris (arrogance towards the gods). After looking at these four elements closely, it is obvious that Creon is the true tragic hero due to Antigone's lacking of a key quality.
Temporary insanity, a quality that seems to be necessary to be found in a Greek tragic hero for the sake of the plot, is found in both of our leading characters in this tale. …
