Tragic hero

Tragic hero

According to Karl Beckson and Arthur Ganz “Literary Terms a Dictionary”, tragic hero is a person of stature who is neither villainous nor exceptionally virtuous, moves from happiness to misery through some frailty or error. Besides, tragic hero is considered as hamartia. In addition, the role of tragic hero is portrayed through Lear in the story King Lear and Creon in Antigone. Both characters are tragic heroes because they have changed due to their own decision made upon children.

In King Lear, Lear regrets upon his decision of divided his kingdom to the daughters who don’t love him and not to Cordelia. He thought the daughters who manage express the love to him in words would also fulfill the duty as daughters to take good care of him. Due to his wrong judgement, he lost his kingship and become mad, as he cannot face the reality of the treatment he received. Lear has changed from a king into a mad man as a result of his decision of distributing his kingdom.

In Antigone, Creon stubbornness has made him a tragic hero. He who was once confident of all his decision made cause him to lost all his beloved persons, Antigone, Haemon and Eurydice. Since he is firm with sentencing death upon Antigone caused Haemon to kill himself. In addition, Eurydice kills herself out of grief of losing Haemon. Creon has turned his family into a broken one. Furthermore, Creon is not given the chance to mend his mistakes, as they are all dead.

In conclusion, both stories portrayed tragic heroes. In King Lear, Lear who has his kingdom finally lost it to his daughters due to his silly action. While in Antigone, Creon loses his family members due to his stubbornness. Both characters develop towards despair and regret.