There are many different types of heroes in literature. In some cases, the hero is a villain or anti-hero. In other cases, there are no heroes at all. One type of hero that is often seen in literature is the tragic hero. The tragic hero is a character who experiences a fall from grace as a result of his or her own actions or choices.
In Sophocles’ play Antigone, Creon is the tragic hero. He is noble in his birth and status, but he also has many flaws including being prideful and stubborn. Although Creon starts off as a good ruler, he soon becomes corrupt because of his pride and stubbornness. This leads him to make many bad decisions that lead to his tragic downfall.
The main difference between a tragic hero and a non-tragic one is that the former plays an active role in bringing about his or her own demise, while the latter does not.
A perfect example of this can be found in Sophocles’ Antigone. Oedipus is clearly a non-tragic character, since he did not bring about his own destruction or death through any actions or choices on his part. He was simply fated to die according to the prophecy given by Apollo at birth (Oedipus Rex). On the other hand, Antigone is clearly a tragic figure because she both caused her own death and did so with intentionality (Antigone).
