Pity In Antigone
Samantha Albert
Mr. Jordan
Antigone Fear/ Pity Fear and Pity Shown in Antigone The Greek Philosopher Aristotle defined tragedy as a form of drama that evokes fear and pity in the audience. The tragic play Antigone conflicts that definition because although pity is evoked throughout the play, modern audiences have difficulty experiencing fear because they fail to acknowledge the role fate plays in their everyday lives. At the end of the play pity can be felt towards Creon because his wife and son died and it was his fault. When Creon finds out they died he exclaims, “Oh pity! All true, and more than I can bear. Oh my wife, my son” (109-111). Both Greek and modern audiences can …show more content…
When the sentry takes Antigone back to Creon he says, “Just so, when this girl found the bare corpse, and all her love’s work wasted. She wept, and cried on heaven to damn the hands that had done this thing. And then she brought more dust and sprinkled wine three times for her brother’s ghost” (38-42). This can absolutely cause any audience to feel pity for Antigone because she put her family over the state, knowing she could get in trouble, and because she does get in trouble, pity is elicited in either audience. Pity could also be felt for her because she buried her brother and it was ruined. Despite the fact that pity can certainly be felt for Antigone by both modern and Greek audiences alike, fear for her cannot necessarily be felt by modern audiences. Near the end of the play Antigone says, “You would think that we had already suffered enough for the curse on Oedipus: I cannot imagine any grief that you and I have not gone through”(2-5) This would evoke fear in a Greek audience because they believed more in curses and fate than a modern audience would. Greek audiences would feel fear for Antigone because they believe that the curse of Oedipus would lead to her demise. Modern audiences believe less in curses and fate than a Greek audience would so they would not feel the same fear a Greek audience would feel while reading
Mr. Jordan
Antigone Fear/ Pity Fear and Pity Shown in Antigone The Greek Philosopher Aristotle defined tragedy as a form of drama that evokes fear and pity in the audience. The tragic play Antigone conflicts that definition because although pity is evoked throughout the play, modern audiences have difficulty experiencing fear because they fail to acknowledge the role fate plays in their everyday lives. At the end of the play pity can be felt towards Creon because his wife and son died and it was his fault. When Creon finds out they died he exclaims, “Oh pity! All true, and more than I can bear. Oh my wife, my son” (109-111). Both Greek and modern audiences can …show more content…
When the sentry takes Antigone back to Creon he says, “Just so, when this girl found the bare corpse, and all her love’s work wasted. She wept, and cried on heaven to damn the hands that had done this thing. And then she brought more dust and sprinkled wine three times for her brother’s ghost” (38-42). This can absolutely cause any audience to feel pity for Antigone because she put her family over the state, knowing she could get in trouble, and because she does get in trouble, pity is elicited in either audience. Pity could also be felt for her because she buried her brother and it was ruined. Despite the fact that pity can certainly be felt for Antigone by both modern and Greek audiences alike, fear for her cannot necessarily be felt by modern audiences. Near the end of the play Antigone says, “You would think that we had already suffered enough for the curse on Oedipus: I cannot imagine any grief that you and I have not gone through”(2-5) This would evoke fear in a Greek audience because they believed more in curses and fate than a modern audience would. Greek audiences would feel fear for Antigone because they believe that the curse of Oedipus would lead to her demise. Modern audiences believe less in curses and fate than a Greek audience would so they would not feel the same fear a Greek audience would feel while reading