Antigone Tragic Hero Essay

When two people have to fight through their own downfalls in order to show who has a stronger character, which one will step up to show who the real hero is? Who will reveal a willingness to fit the role of a tragic hero? In the play “Antigone” by Sophocles, the ruler of Thebes, Creon, declares that Polyneices may not be buried because he betrayed Thebes and fought against them in battle. When Antigone, the sister of Polyneices, realizes this, she is infuriated and wants to bury him in a respectful way. She chooses to go against Creon and follow the laws of the gods, which say that everyone deserves a proper burial. When she tries to bury her brother and gets caught, Creon is outraged that someone would blatantly disobey a law he clearly had …show more content…
When Antigone was being led to her tomb she realized her life would soon be over and started to deeply think about life. Antigone said “Unwept, unwed, unloved I go, on this last journey of all, eye of the blessed sun. I shall miss you soon.” (Sophocles 230) Antigone is realizing that she hasn’t accomplished anything in her life. She hasn’t truly loved anyone or been married. And she feels like people don't care enough about her to help support her. She is wishing that she would have done more with her life before it got thrown away in an instant. Also, Antigone said “I am last to come, and lost most of all, my life still in my hands.” When she says this she is saying that she is too young and she could have done so much more with her life if she had lived longer. She thinks that she is the last person who will stand up for what they think is right. And that nobody else will do what she did for her brother. Antigone shows catharsis by letting out all her emotions that she had kept in for most of her life. She’s about to die and is starting to get the feeling that she is not ready for it