What characteristics makes a person Sophocles’s true meaning of a tragic hero? In order to be a tragic hero you must have Hamartia, Hubris, Peripeteia, Anagnorisis, Nemisis, and Catharsis. Two exceptional examples of a tragic hero are the characters Creon from Sophocles’s Antigone and Okonkwo from Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. These two characters compared against any other tragic hero is no match, but compared against each other is another story.
The first element of tragedy is the tragic hero's flaw, or hamartia. In John Proctor's case, his flaw is his pride. He is a man of integrity who refuses to compromise his principles, but he is also aware of his own reputation in the community. When his
Creon is sometimes seen as the antagonist of Antigone. Because of this image, many people will disagree with Creon’s argument for the public’s welfare. Albeit, Creon might seem crazy for asserting his position in a harsh way, how else is the public supposed to listen to his plan regarding Eteocles and Polyneices: “Eteocles, who died as a man should die, / fighting for his country, is to be buried with full military / honors, with all the ceremony that is usual when the greatest heroes die” (1.1.36-39) “…his brother Polyneices, who broke his exile to come back with fire and sword against his native city… Polyneices… is to have no burial: no man is to / touch him or say… prayer for him; he shall lie / on the plain, unburied; and the birds and
According to Aristotle, a tragic hero’s pride or arrogance is called hubris. A tragic hero’s hubris causes his or her downfall. John experiences two critical events where his pride causes his downfall. First, John’s pride keeps him from revealing the truth of his affair with Abigail Williams. This starts the beginning of his downfall.
“All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong and repairs the evil. The only crime is pride.” A man named Sophocles once said this in the play, Antigone. Pride is where a person has a very high and mighty opinion of their own selves. This may lead to turmoil in lives of their self or others.
Hamartia is the tragic flaw that every anti-hero will obtain which will eventually lead to his/her downfall. Kesey portrays
In the short story titled “Antigone,” the author portrays Creon as a tragic hero by displaying flaws in Creon's character shown throughout the story. Creon’s character contains many flaws which lead to many problems. His decisions end up deciding the fates of his son, his wife, and Antigone. Creon finally realizes that what he has done is sinful to the gods. He has put his own pride over the appreciation of the gods.
I used this quote from Antigone because it properly states Antigone’s viewpoint on Creon’s decree. As told in the story, Creon's decree was that no one could grieve for or bury Polyneices. Creon made this proclamation because when Eteocles and Polyneices fought over Thebes, Eteocles was pronounced king and exiled Polyneices from Thebes. Polyneices, in turn, formed an army to take on the city, ending up with Eteocles and Polyneices killing each other, thus putting Creon in the position of power. Creon then proceeds to label Polyneices a traitor and finally, makes his decree.
The tragedy, Antigone by Sophocles is a well developed take on the fight between who is applicable to be the protagonist of a story. In most stories, plays, poems, written works in general from the first literary works discovered surrounded the Hero’s Journey. The tragedy of Antigone is the one play that seems to accept Joseph Campbell’s theory but master the ideals of a protagonist but still battle for the position at the same time. It’s more or less a toss up to put it simply, but there are strong events and decisions within the tragedy that unfolds somewhat who the antagonist and protagonist is. Similar to the characters in Finding Nemo, Nemo and his father, Marlin, are a debatable pair in deciding who is the lead in the film.
In the scene in which Creon will not allow her brother to be buried. This goes against her personal beliefs she confronts Creon when she says “if I had allowed my own mothers son to rot, an unburied corpse that would have been an agony.” Creon wouldn’t allow Antigone brother to be buried even tho Antigone felt it was the right thing to do. Antigone is talking to Ismene about burying her brother but Ismene tells her to keep the idea a secret but Antigone disagrees and says “But I know I’ll please the ones I’m duty bound to please.
In the play Antigone, written by Sophocles, burial customs of the ancient Greeks play an extensive role. The women of the family perform the burial rites, and believed that if their distinct methods were not followed, the soul is destined to suffer between worlds until the correct rites were performed. Antigone, the sister of Polynices and Eteocles, is aware of this and is not going to stand by and let her brother, Polynices, linger between worlds in pain, after being killed by Eteocles. With her ambition and determination she does the deed, and of doing so she follows the god's laws, but breaks Creon’s laws in the midst of it. Creon is also aware of the burial rites but still decides, through his stubbornness, that Polynices shall not be performed these rites, because of his actions against Thebes.
The new law by Creon, which was to not bury Polyneices body was on lines 170-171 stating “Polyneices I say, is to have no burial: no may is to touch him or say the least prayer for him”. The reason was for that he has betrayed the city. Now think this to yourself, if there’s something you need but you can’t get it ,wouldn’t you do your best to get it, even if you’re ignoring the law? In Antigone, Ismene ignored the law for a very serious option.
Creon has officially made the decision that he is not going to bury Polyneices which angers Antigone. Antigone needs help to reach her goal and she says to Ismene, “You may do as you like, since apparently the laws of the Gods mean nothing to you (Sophocles, et al. 192).” Ismene is hesitant to agree with Antigone and join her in this task because she does not want to break the law and go against Creon’s words. Antigone is making Ismene feel
Antigone is the daughter of the late king Oedipus, and Creon is the king of Corinth. The conflict that these two face is the burial of Polyneices, who was Antigone’s deceased brother. Creon was not allowing Polynices to be buried, because he had fought against Athens. To Creon, this was correct: “And yet you dared to overstep these laws?” (Sophocles Line 458)
In Greek drama, heroes are punished for undue pride in themselves” (Guerin et. al 419). Like the Greek tragic hero Oedipus, John’s hubris is his excessive pride. Take this quote for example, “John is away all day, and even some nights when his