In this drama Antigone, I believe Antigone and Creon are both tragic heroes. As the drama starts out, Antigone enters, being brought before the king to be questioned. At the time, the king of Thebes, where this drama takes place, was Creon. In scene one, a sentry approaches the king to tell him of the news that someone had buried Polyneices. Earlier on, Creon had declared that no one was to give Polyneices a burial. They were not to touch him or pray for him, but leave him there lying on the plain. When the sentry had reported that Polyneices' sister, Antigone, was the culprit, she was captured.
In scene two, Antigone admitted to Creon that she buried Polyneices, even after she heard of the king's decree. Antigone's loyalty, audacity, and faithfulness are the reasons to why she is a tragic hero. Unafraid of the consequences, she stood up for her belief in God and bravely stated to Creon, as in lines 58-63 of scene 2: “It was not God's proclamation. That final Justice that rules the world below makes no such laws. Your edict, King, was strong, but all your strength is weakness itself against the immortal unrecorded laws of God. They are not merely now: they were, and shall be, operative forever, beyond man utterly.” For such demonstration of her love towards her husband and God, Antigone was tragically sentenced to death.
On the other hand, Creon, in his own narrow-mindedness, has balked himself from the ability to become the great king that he truly is. He believes that in ruling a group of people, only the voice of the king is important and whatever the people's voice is, they are not to be taken into consideration. In lines 105-109, Creon and Haemon are having a conversation. Creon: “My voice is the one voice giving orders in this city!” Haemon: “It is no city if it takes orders from one voice.” Creon: “The state is the king!” Creon: “Yes, if the state is a desert.” Creon: “This boy, it seems, has sold out to a woman.” Just because Haemon, Creon's son, was not as narrow-minded as Creon was, and had a different view of ruling from him, Creon believed his son was betraying him for a woman. Creon was a great king, he was just, he remained true to his words, he did not exercise his powers unreasonably, and he was decisive. All these things made him a respectable king, but because of his own persistence in his ways of thinking, he was not able to convince everyone to see his skills and talents. Thus, Creon was also a tragic hero.
