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    Antigone as Tragic Hero in Sophocles’ Antigone Ant Essay

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    Antigone as Tragic Hero

    Heroes come in many forms. Some such as immense in size and strength as

    Hercules, some in the form of people that are shunned upon, such as Harriet

    Tubman, and some that are only valorous heroes to some, such as Kurt Cobain.

    These heroes have many characteristics that make people flock to their side and

    follow them without a thought of hesitation. In Sophocles’ Antigone the hero

    is a women that believes in her heart far stronger than that of her leader’s

    rule. This brings up many characteristics that are shown within her that are

    also seen in other heroes.

    One being that she is up against an impossible enemy,

    one who does not fit well into society’s mold, and is destroyed by her own pride.

    For these characteristics Antigone is given the title of an epic Heroin.

    Antigone is one of the lucky townsfolk to be born of a royal house, yet is

    unlucky to be born in the House that she is born into. As Antigone defies

    Creon’s law, she is cast into a pool of danger between what she believes is

    right and what the state’s law decrees is right. As Antigone is charged with

    the burying of her brother, an action which the King has declared unlawful, she

    holds like stone to her undying gratitude for her deceased brother. She holds

    to this thought because of the fact that she believes that her, who died

    fighting against the state, must be interred with the same honor as her brother

    who died defending the state.

    She believes that this will help lift the curse

    plagued on the household. The curse in which there father tried to hold at bay

    and failed. Her sister Ismene warned Antigone by exclaiming “Sister please,

    please! remember how our father die: hated, in disgrace, wrapped in horror of

    himself, his own hand stabbing out his sight. And how his mother-wife in one,

    twisted off her earthly days with a cord. And thirdly how our two brothers in

    a single day each achieved for each a suicidal Nemesis” (166). This has

    already gave Antigone the mind set that even the Gods are against her will.

    She

    is also up against a great foe in fighting that of Creon’s edict. Ismene has

    said this: “The rest, if we defy our sovereign’s edict and his power. Remind

    ourselves that we are women, and such not made to fight with men. For might

    unfortunately is right and makes us bow to things like this and worse” (167).

    So as one would believe Antigone sees herself as not only on who can defy the

    power of the Gods but the power of the state. Thus she would be up against an

    force greater than her own.

    Second, another characteristics of a tragic hero is

    that the person does not always fit into society’s mold. The tragic hero is

    usually one who wants change, yet also needs the peace that goes along with

    stability. The fact that the tragic hero also usually thinks that they are in

    there right mind when yet the rest of the society thinks that they are mad.

    Antigone has said “Say that I am mad, and madly let me risk the worst that I can

    suffer and the best” (168). this shows that although Antigone thinks she is

    doing is right, she also does not care how the other members of society deem

    her for her action. Antigone also must believe that she must be different from

    not only society but members of her family.

    Creon notes on this when he is

    asking her about his proclamation “O, she’s the man, not I, if she can walk away

    unscathed! I swear I hardly care if she be my sister’s child, or linked to me

    by blood more closely than any member of my hearth and home (181). This should

    also show one that Creon does not care about her nobility and that he will treat

    her just like one any other member of society. Lastly, Antigone is inherently

    destroyed by the one thing that is her tragic flaw: excessive pride. This was

    also a downfall of her father Oedipus. This pride could also be confused with

    honor. Antigone not only defies Creon’s edict but also makes a mockery of it

    when he asks her about it.

    When asked if she knows the edict her exclamation is

    “Of course I knew. Was it not .

    This essay was written by a fellow student. You may use it as a guide or sample for writing your own paper, but remember to cite it correctly. Don’t submit it as your own as it will be considered plagiarism.

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