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The Greek’s view of tragedy
The Greek’s view of tragedy
Nature Of Greek Tragedy
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Hilda Garcia-Gutierrez
July 27, 2017
English 1302
Professor Jacqueline Bradley
Antigone the True Tragic Hero
Sophocles’ Antigone tells of a tragic end of a family that was consumed by love of power which led to the death of the people who were supposed to be the leaders of the people. Antigone, without a doubt is the tragic hero in the play. Compared to her mother’s brother, Creon the King of Thebes, Antigone was the one who showed true heroism. The Hamartia in the life of Antigone was so devastating that it led her end her own life.
Antigone, first and foremost, is a true example of a person who values family above all else. Her death was inevitable as she went against the order of Creon. Her decision to bury her brother, Polyneices, and
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She believed that justice and the unwritten laws of the gods must prevail over the rule that man made. This is made evident in the line she uttered, “Zeus did not announce those laws to me and justice living with the gods below sent no such laws for men”(Sophocles, 450-452). She does not believe that anyone has the authority to create laws other than those that are from the gods, even the king could not stop her from believing and from doing whatever she decided to do. Going against Creon may not be the wisest thing to do. Being the king, his every word was followed by everyone. However, Antigone, exhibiting the true characteristic of a tragic hero disobeyed his rule. She had so much love for her brother that she could not bear to see him being dishonored even in his …show more content…
Had she not stood against him bravely and sacrificed, the people would have remained blinded by his rule. Creon was never a hero. According to Grogan, “he is more accustomed to controlling another’s experience rather than living his own”(3). He may just be keeping the kingdom together and fighting for it, but his ways were very authoritative to the point of being unreasonable. He did hear anyone and in the end suffered from his actions.
In conclusion, Antigone, compared to Creon is the tragic hero. Her strength of character and bravery led her to her tragic end but it was also through her heroic actions that the curse in her family came to an end. No such tragedy could have happened if the people were as brave as she was. It was her actions that led to the freedom of the
In conclusion, the tragic hero has been proven to be Antigone, her choice to bury Polyneicês is what the play revolves around. Her impulsive personality and love drives her to disregard the will of the struggling King Creon and bury her Polyneicês. The consequences of her actions cause the downfall of not only herself, but also Haimon, who commits suicide after hearing of her death. Accordingly, analyses of the play Antigone shows that the tragic hero would have to be the heroine and main character herself, Antigone. Since she possesses all traits that a tragic hero should have. These include, not being overly “good or bad”, bringing pity to the audience, and having a single flaw that brings upon their own downfalls.
Creon's pride is that of a tyrant. He is inflexible and unyielding, unwilling throughout the play to listen to advice or Antigone. Creon’s love for the city-state cause him to abandon all other beliefs. He tries to enforce this upon the people of Thebes. He wants them to think that his laws should be followed before any other personal, moral, or religious belief. This is where the conflict of character occurs between Antigone and Creon. Antigone knows that the sacred laws held by heaven are far more important...
Antigone is a young woman whose moral background leads her to go against the wishes of the king to bury her brother, Polyneices. Sophocles uses Antigone as a character who undergoes an irreversible change in judgment and as a result, ends up dying. Antigone is hero, and she stands for honor, and divinity. Because Antigone's parents were Oedipus and Iacaste, she was born into a family of power; something that she could not change. At times, Sophocles leads the reader into thinking Antigone wishes she was not who she was. Ismene, Antigone's sister, refuses to help Antigone because (as she states) "I have no strength to break laws that wer...
In the play Antigone, I choose Creon to be the tragic hero because he is the King of Thebes and he looses everything he has. Creon being King makes the audience believe that something like that can happen to the King then what can happen to us. Antigone the niece of Creon, The sister of Polyneices was punished by Creon for burying Polyneces after his death, Creon has forbidden anybody to do so. Once Creon punished Antigone the blind prophet Teiresias told him that the Gods will take revenge for his actions, then Creon tried to change everything but he is too late. Creon's tragic flaws were his stubbornness, the abuse of power and the actions he took to cause the downfall of the Thebes.
In the book Antigone, Creon and Antigone can be considered as the tragic heroes of the play. Antigone is considered the tragic hero because of the characteristics she shows such as her ambition to defeat Creon, Creon shows more of the characteristics clearly. Creon is the king of Thebes. He is also Antigone's uncle. Creon became king after a fight between Eteocles and Polyneices. One may see Creon as a harsh and controlling ruler, but he is not good nor bad because he shows signs of both like when he wanted to give Eteocles a proper burial . Creon is the tragic hero of the Antigone, because of his dominance in society, high rank, tragic flaw; and self-pride.
It is Antigone's morals, which drive her to betray the laws of man, in order to honor the laws of God. Knowing and comprehending the consequences of defying Creon's ruling do not restrain the intensity of Antigone's self will, yet it feeds her hunger to achieve her principles. Losing sight of her future, Antigone allows her stubbornness to consume her life, taking with it, the prospect of marriage, motherhood and friendship. As the story continues, we find that Antigone focuses more on the need to establish her human ethics in spite of Creon, rather than proving the incorrectness of man defying god's laws.
Throughout the ages, people have come and gone. Some are lucky enough to be thought of as heroes. As a hero, one should have certain qualities. Though different characteristics are used to describe heroes, they all require an admiration from someone. Compassion, courage, and loyalty are three traits that are among the most important a hero should have. King David, Antigone, and Robin Hood all possessed these qualities. King David is a historical figure that comes from the Bible. He lived around one thousand B.C. and was born as a shepherd (Doss 10-143). While David was still young, God sent a man named Samuel to anoint him as the next king. Traveling as a young boy, David killed a giant with only a sling and a stone, and then cut the giant’s head off with his sword. King Saul, the first king of Israel, heard of this and summoned David to be a warrior for his army and play the harp for him. Saul became jealous of David and his favor with the people. After numerous attempts to kill him, David fled. David remained a warrior even after he had. After Saul’s death, David was appointed to be the second king of Israel. To keep his people happy he conquered Jerusalem and made it the capitol. David wrote many chapters in the book of Psalms (Bible 301-371). Antigone comes from the play Antigone by Sophocles. The play was written and performed around four hundred B.C. She was born as a princess and had two brothers and a sister. The two brothers had been at war and after their deaths Antigone tried to give her one brother the burial he was entitled to. The king ordered that no one would bury him and Antigone was arrested for doing so. During her punishment, Antigone’s fiancé went to the ki...
From her tenacity and personal strength in defying the law to her tragic death, Antigone captures the audience’s pity and sympathy. She is the tragic hero.
In the greek tragedy Antigone , the author Sophocles conveys Antigone as the tragic hero because she arouses the most fear, she shows both good and bad which is a tragic hero characteristic and Antigone has the tragic flaw of loyalty to her family and to the gods.
Elizabeth Bobrick’s Sophocles’ Antigone and the Self-Isolation of the Tragic Hero declares “the heroic code may be summarized as follows: I protect my philoi—a term that includes family, kin, loved ones, and loyal community members—and they honor me. To hate my friend is to hate me. To help my enemy is to harm me. Being dishonored by my philoi is the equivalent of death. I will either kill them, or myself, or both.” This can explain Antigone’s excessive desire to bury her brother and even further be supported in lines 25-28 when Antigone challenges her sister’s loyalty. Aristotle himself said that a tragic hero should be neither better nor worse normally than a normal person. With that being said Antigone’s sister, Ismene, was in the same position as her. Originally invoking a sense of naturalism this changes with Ismene’s refusal to help bury their brother. The lack of support for Antigone’s plan leaves her no choice, but distances herself from her sister who obviously doesn’t share the same family loyalty beliefs as her (Lines 77-81). Ismene later in the play tries to claim some guilt in order to help Antigone’s cause. Yet again, Antigone refused to allow her sister to assume any punishment for her crime. Sophocles, Peter Meineck, Paul Woodruff’s Theban plays acknowledges Antigone would rather be dead with her brother than alive with a husband (Line 55-58). This is
A Greek drama is a serious of actions within a literary presentation in which the chief character has a disastrous fate. Many Greek dramas fall under theatrical category of a tragedy due to the tragic events and unhappy ending that cause the downfall of the main character. During the famous play “Antigone” the Greek author Sophocles incorporated several features of a tragedy. These features include a morally significant dilemma and the presence of a tragic hero. Grand debate over which character can hold the title of the tragic hero has discussed in the literally world for ages. A tragic hero can be defined as someone with a substantial personality flaw that causes them to endure great suffering with a reversal of character near the end. Antigone possesses certain traits that could potentially render her the tragic hero but Creon truly embodies all characteristics. Creon is the tragic hero in “Antigone” due to several qualities he displays throughout the play; he can’t accept a diminished view of himself, he endures great suffering and he is enlightened in the end.
Since the play’s inception, there has always existed a contention concerning the true hero of Sophocles’ Antigone. It is a widely held belief that Antigone must be the main character simply because she and the drama share name. This is, of course, a very logical assumption. Certainly Sophocles must have at least meant her to be viewed as the protagonist, else he would not have given her the play’s title. Analytically speaking, however, Creon does seem to more categorically fit the appellation of “Tragic Hero.” There is no doubt as to the nature of the work, that being tragedy. Along with this genre comes certain established prerequisites, and Creon is the only character that satisfactorily fits them all.
In the play Antigone, the debate over who is the real tragic hero is and the controversy of Greek ideals in the Antigone continues on to this day. Who is the tragic hero in Antigone? Is it Antigone herself or is it Creon the ruler of Thebes? The belief that Antigone is, is a strong one. Still there are people who think Creon is the tragic hero. Antigone is widely thought as the tragic her. The play is named after her. In addition, she is the antagonist in it. Many people usually associate the antagonist, the good guy as a tragic hero. Look at much television shows, especially cartoons, the good person usually wins. Then there are those who might think Creon was the tragic hero because the gods were against him, and that he truly loved his country. There are five criteria or standards you must meet first in order to be a tragic hero. First, you must be a person of high character or status. The character must not be too overwhelmingly evil or good. Then they must be brought from happiness to misery. Then brought from happiness to misery. Second, the hero enacts a harmartia, "wrong act." This either may be a flaw in judgment or an error. Third, the hero experiences a perpateia, reversal of fortune. This is the tragic downfall or plot twist in the story. Fourth, the hero recognizes his or her responsibility. Fifth, the story ends with a catastrophe. The catastrophe either may be an emotional event, this even may be a death.
Although Antigone has a bad reputation with Creon, and possibly Ismene, for being insubordinate, she stays true to her values throughout the entire play by following the law of gods, not so that she could appease them, but because she admired its value of honor and respect to loved ones that have passed away. This devotion and determination to give her brother a proper burial shows the true essence of her being: that loyalty to family is in fact hold above all else.
Creon also defied the laws of the gods. This is what is expressed in the line, "No wisdom but submission to the gods." In Antigone, the edicts and decisions that Creon made demonstrated that his law was more important than the gods laws. His defiance of the laws eventually made him believe, by talking to Teirisias, that something bad would happen to him, so he gave in to his decision. When he gave into the gods, he gained wisdom and learned that his actions would be punished.