Greek tragedy would not be complete with out a tragic hero. Sophocles wrote Antigone with a specific character in mind for this part. Based on Aristotle’s definition‚ Creon is the tragic hero of Antigone. Creon fits Aristotle’s tragic hero traits as a significant person who is faced with difficult decisions. Creon is significant because he is king. This makes him both renowned and prosperous. Creon is not completely good nor completely bad; he is somewhere in-between‚ as humans are. The audience
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English 10: Period 5 20 March 2012 Tragic Hero Within the tragic play Antigone‚ by Sophocles‚ there is a dichotomy between the two main characters: Antigone and Creon. Throughout the play Antigone and Creon both portray a tragic hero; however‚ Antigone illustrates more qualities of a tragic hero. A tragic hero is one who fails to attain happiness and whose failures excites pity‚ has a great integrity of character‚ and is nether extremely benevolent nor malevolent. These are all qualities Antigone
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did in envy of great Caesar. / He only in a general honest thought / And common good to all‚ made one of them. / His life was gentle‚ and the elements / So mixed in him that Nature might stand up / And say to all the world‚ ‘This was a man’” (V.v.68-75). He put his country before his friends and family‚ and he joined the conspirators to assassinate Caesar for the good of Rome. Even though Caesar was his friend‚ Brutus’s loyalty as a Roman citizen came first. Brutus is a tragic hero because he was
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There are many great examples of tragic heroes throughout the wide world of literature but one of the greatest examples would be Okonkwo‚ the protagonist of Chinua Achebe’s classic novel‚ Things Fall Apart. A tragic hero would best be defined as a literary character that makes a mistake in judgment or has a fatal flaw that‚ combined with fate and external forces‚ brings suffering and defeat upon himself. There are multiple character traits that a tragic hero possesses. Some of those traits are that
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Beowulf‚ the Tragic Hero In the epic poem “Beowulf” the protagonist‚ Beowulf‚ portrays a tragic hero in a variety of ways. Although Beowulf was not a perfect being‚ he embraces many characteristics of a tragic hero. Beowulf’s ego put him into many difficult situations. For example the battles he fought against Grendel‚ Grendels Mother‚ and the dragon. Other then his enormous ego along with his cockiness that put him into bad situations‚ he also embraced the characteristics of a great leader that
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Brutus as a tragic hero In the play Julius Caesar‚ William Shakespeare portrays Marcus Brutus as a dramatic character and develops him into a tragic hero. “Shakespeare’s tragedies often feature the death of the titular character at the play’s end” (Julius Caesar 1). "Maurice Charney sees Brutus as an essentially sympathetic figure whose tragedy stems from sacrificing his private self to public concerns” (Julius Caesar 1). Marcus Brutus plays the protagonist and tragic hero in this play. A friend
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Brutus & Julius Caesar The tragic hero archetype has been played with for as long as literature has been created‚ but no one had quite a spin on it like William Shakespeare. Shakespeare’s tragic heroes were specifically designed to elicit pity and fear from the audience and to really feel their downfall. In Julius Caesar‚ the protagonist Brutus is a well-made example. But the character of which the play is named after is often not considered as one. Although the character of Julius Caesar does not
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Okonkwo as a Tragic Hero In Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart‚ Okonkwo is a tragic hero. Okonkwo meets all of the required criteria of a tragic hero according to Aristotle’s definition. A tragic hero must have a flaw or error of judgment‚ reversal of fortune‚ recognition that the reversal was the result of his own actions‚ excessive pride‚ and fate greater than deserved. Okonkwo is a hard working leader and committed member of the Ibo community whose tragic flaw is his great fear of weakness
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play closely it is clear to see that‚ rather than being an innately evil character‚ Macbeth is in fact a tragic hero‚ doomed by fate from the start to descend into the madness which he did. Had it not been for his hamartia and his interaction with the witches and his wife then the play would have had a very different ending. Like every tragic hero in literature Macbeth suffered from a tragic flaw‚ or a hamartia. In his case‚ his flaw was his vaulting ambition‚ combined with a lust for power. Macbeth
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Over time there have been many men and women who have received the title “hero.” They likely have been named by their bravery‚ strength‚ and willingness to give up their own comfort‚ if not their own life‚ to benefit the wellbeing of others. Every hero differs in many ways. Each one of them has his own story of heroism. The tragic hero survives in our literature. The first characteristic of a tragic hero is that they must suffer more than deserved. This stands true for Achilles‚ Hector‚ Beowulf
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