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Antigone character essay
Greek mythology society and literature of the time
Antigone character essay
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Antigone character essay
Greek mythology society and literature of the time
Antigone character essay
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Antigone Antigone was wronged and Antigone is tragic hero because she wanted to get a proper grave site, Creon was her uncle, Antigone was the good one. Antigone wants her brother to be buried but her uncle wouldn’t let her. Her uncle Creon was a very mean man.
In Sophocles’ play, Antigone, tragic hero King Creon killed his main FOIL. Antigone was killed by King Creon without viewing not only her side of the story, but also the the people of the kingdom. To add on, he also loses his son and wife because Antigone committed suicide due to him. But how could he be a tragic hero? To start, in the story, Antigone, two brothers(Antigone’s and Ismene’s) by the names of Eteocles and Polyneices, fought to the death.
Antigone is one of the greatest tragedies ever written by Sophocles. There is a controversial question about this play: Who is the tragic hero? Could it be Antigone or Creon? Even though the play’s name is Antigone, but as I read the story. A sensible and responsible king, Creon, is a tragic hero because of his power madness, self-righteousness, and ruthlessness.
She needed to prove a point by herself and didn’t want anyone else involved. Antigone is a selfish character who only wants what is best for herself and doesn’t think about the repercussions of her actions and the effects that they will have on those around her. When Antigone decides to go ahead with her decision to burry her brother, she alone is engaging in an act of civil disobedience toward the king directly, but quite frankly she doesn’t care. Her character has little regard for powerful people especially when they have different views than her own. Antigone, as well as everyone in her kingdom, knows what the wishes of Creon are in regards to her brother, but going along with her characteristic of disrespect toward authority, she breaks the rules anyways knowing that there will be consequences for her actions.
What is a tragic hero? A tragic hero is a character, usually of a high status or nobility, who thinks that they are doing the right thing or even sometimes does the right thing, but makes an error or mistake that leads to a unfathomable punishment that they didn’t quite deserve. Creon fits every one of those attributes and characteristics. For example, he was promoted to the king of thebes, after a civil war that killed the former king, and after he was given the throne he made a law saying that no one shall bury the body of Polyneices, who Creon saw as a traitor. The Gods knew that he was not doing the right thing.
In Antigone, it is evident that both Creon and Antigone made mistakes in spite of the fact that they had right intentions. Creon attempts to uphold the law in order to maintain structure and be what he considers to be a just leader, however, Creon’s mindset remains too rigid and his actions don’t adapt in light of the circumstances. Antigone wants to stay loyal to her family and save her brother’s soul, yet she isolates herself and shows disrespect for the law. Creon does not allow Antigone any grace for her actions because he explicitly adheres to the laws of the city.
A tragic hero is a character that was born in a noble family and has heroic qualities. In the story of Antigone, the person is destined to bring destruction and great suffering. The hero struggle against fate. Most tragic hero’s arouse from fear and empathy. The weakness of a tragic hero is they suffer from pride.
The King of Pride Throughout history, kings have been seen as noble, wealthy, or even stuck up. Usually people don’t think someone with so much, could end up with so little. Antigone by Sophocles, and Poetics by Aristotle can help with understanding what a tragic hero is. Antigone is about a girl with the title name, who defies the law and buries her brother after the King, Creon declares it illegal.
In the classic play by Sophocles, Antigone is a tragic story of the bold Antigone who defied her uncle, King Creonʻs, edict by burying her brother, Polyneices, who died attacking the city of Thebes, trying to take the power away from their brother, Eteocles, who refused to share the throne with Polyneices. Even though Antigone knew that going against Creon and burying her brother would not end well for her, she still choose to risk her life to do what is right. After being caught breaking the law, Antigone is appointed to be locked away, isolated in a cave until she dies, but she hangs herself at the end. At the same time, things for Creon are not looking good, as everyone around him seems to be against him in his decision for punishing Antigone. Everyone Creon cares about kills themselves from a curse that is put on Creon for not following the Godsʻ laws.
In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, and Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, both protagonists possess tragic flaws which lead to their demise. Distanced by years in literature, Okonkwo and Oedipus are remarkably similar, however display aspects of their personalities that make their epic journeys of fate quite different. Both characters are arrogant and refuse to be told they are incorrect about anything. They are considered admirable at first, especially in the eyes of the other characters, however by the end of both stories, they are considered outcasts. Both men possess an egotistic attitude and have an overwhelming sense of pride in their achievements.
The tragic hero is a character in a book that comes from a noble background that has a tragic flaw which brings the character the greatest suffering which results in their downfall. In “Antigone”, there are two characters who can be considered the tragic hero of the story: Creon and Antigone. Antigone is a brave and fearless women who dies for a noble cause, while Creon is a controlling and powerful king of Thebes. Both Creon and Antigone have qualities to make them the tragic hero, but Creon is the true “tragic hero” because his hamartia causes his downfall. Creon is the tragic hero of “Antigone” because his hubris muddles his judgment and makes him cause his own undoing.
Antigone strongly believes in the god's beliefs and not in Creon laws, “What laws? I never heard it was Zeus Who made that announcement … I never thought your announcements Could give you a mere human being Power to trample the gods' unfailing, Unwritten laws… No man could frighten me into taking on The gods' penalty for breaking such a law.” (Antigone, 450-460). Antigone states again that the laws of the gods are above a man's law and nothing would make her back down from what she believes in even when confronted by the king and death. Antigone goes on to say that death is nothing to her but if she had disobeyed the gods by not burying her brother then that would have been more painful than anything else, "So if that's the way My life will end, the pain is nothing.
Antigone felt that Creon’s laws were prejudiced against her belief in God's proclamation and her personal morals or core values. She put her family first the whole time,
When asked, “Who is the tragic hero in Antigone?,” you might automatically think of the character Antigone. The character’s name is the title of the play like in “Hamlet”. The only difference is that Hamlet was the tragic hero in “Hamlet” moreover Creon is the tragic hero in “Antigone”. It all comes down to the definition of Aristotle’s tragic hero. Aristotle states that a tragic hero is, “a person who must evoke a sense of pity and fear in the audience.
She does not understand why she is being treated so unjustly for trying to do the right thing. The chorus in the play tries convincing Antigone that justice is behaving in accordance to Creon’s laws but Antigone is stubborn and sustains to her convictions. Even though Antigone ends up dying she dies achieving her goal of wanting to bury her brother properly. Mostly everyone in this play goes against what the main character feels is justly because they want to follow the kings laws and they believe she is acting immorally. Antigone is not acting immorally, she is doing the right thing to follow the law of the gods.