Creon is a king in Greek mythology and a character in Sophocles’s Antigone. After Antigone hangs herself, Creon’s son, Haemon, tries to kill Creon—but Haemon fails and then kills himself. Aristotle mentions Sophocles’s play when he explains plots with characters who are on the verge of knowingly committing a “pitiable act” but stop, as Haemon does. Aristotle argues that such plots are the worst, since there is no suffering.
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Creon Character Timeline in Poetics
The timeline below shows where the character Creon appears in Poetics. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 7. The Best Kinds of Tragic Plot
...is not tragic, and there is no suffering; thus, it is rarely used, except for Creon in Antigone. How the pitiable action is performed is less important, but it is better...
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