Antigone Tragic Hero Characteristics
Maya Haywood
Ms. Dawn B. Caplinger
English 1301.01
6 October 2011 Antigone: A Tragic Hero What characteristics generate a tragic hero? Must a tragic hero possess superhuman abilities? Should he be immense in size and strength such as Hercules? According to the Greek philosopher, Aristotle, a tragic hero is a good, moral, upstanding person that does not fit into society’s mold, invokes catharsis to the audience, and exhibits flaws that leads to their tragic downfall. These are the traits that a character must uphold in order to be considered as a tragic hero. In Sophocles’ Antigone, Antigone contains all of these traits required for her to be a tragic hero. According to Aristotle, the character of a tragic play must be a good, …show more content…
In Sophocles’ Antigone, Antigone rebels from the typical “role of a woman” by going against the beliefs of society. Ismene points out to Antigone that, “We must remember by birth that we’re women and, as such, we shouldn’t fight with men” (78-79). Antigone’s unorthodox decision to bury her brother, against the law decreed by Creon is an example of another trait a tragic hero must possess. A tragic hero does not always fit into society’s mold. This is greatly significant to the play because it presents the conflict between Antigone’s morals and society’s views. Antigone is defiant towards Creon’s law, therefore, she digs herself into a deeper hole of danger between what she believes is right and what the Thebes’ believes is right. Antigone recognizes that what she did is “wrong” in society’s eyes. However, Antigone also believes that she did not surpass the law of god. Antigone violates a law created by an unjust king, but feels that she is erroneous in God’s eyes. Antigone believes that she is in the right mind, while Creon believes that, “These views of yours—so different from the rest—” (580). It is apparent that Antigone did not care how the other members of the Theban society judged her for her
Ms. Dawn B. Caplinger
English 1301.01
6 October 2011 Antigone: A Tragic Hero What characteristics generate a tragic hero? Must a tragic hero possess superhuman abilities? Should he be immense in size and strength such as Hercules? According to the Greek philosopher, Aristotle, a tragic hero is a good, moral, upstanding person that does not fit into society’s mold, invokes catharsis to the audience, and exhibits flaws that leads to their tragic downfall. These are the traits that a character must uphold in order to be considered as a tragic hero. In Sophocles’ Antigone, Antigone contains all of these traits required for her to be a tragic hero. According to Aristotle, the character of a tragic play must be a good, …show more content…
In Sophocles’ Antigone, Antigone rebels from the typical “role of a woman” by going against the beliefs of society. Ismene points out to Antigone that, “We must remember by birth that we’re women and, as such, we shouldn’t fight with men” (78-79). Antigone’s unorthodox decision to bury her brother, against the law decreed by Creon is an example of another trait a tragic hero must possess. A tragic hero does not always fit into society’s mold. This is greatly significant to the play because it presents the conflict between Antigone’s morals and society’s views. Antigone is defiant towards Creon’s law, therefore, she digs herself into a deeper hole of danger between what she believes is right and what the Thebes’ believes is right. Antigone recognizes that what she did is “wrong” in society’s eyes. However, Antigone also believes that she did not surpass the law of god. Antigone violates a law created by an unjust king, but feels that she is erroneous in God’s eyes. Antigone believes that she is in the right mind, while Creon believes that, “These views of yours—so different from the rest—” (580). It is apparent that Antigone did not care how the other members of the Theban society judged her for her