Catatonic Stubbornness
Hamartia. From Greek meaning a fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero or heroine. In Sophocles’s Oedipus Rex and Antigone, Oedipus, Antigone, and especially Creon all display their flaw of being stubborn which ultimately leads to the tragedy in each play. When Teiresias challenges Oedipus by saying that he is the one plaguing the city, instead of listening to the other side of the argument, Oedipus tells him to be “Out of this place! Out of my sight!” (Sophocles 23). Oedipus’s stubbornness leads him to become blind to the truth and to reason. Antigone, on the other hand, acts rashly to get what she wants as quick as possible. Antigone believes that if she’s stubborn and can hold her ground, Creon, who has …show more content…
They can help me recognize the signs before it happens and how to react to a particularly challenging situation in the future. Antigone’s lack of support is exemplified when Ismene tells her to “think what Creon will do” (191) and “think of how [everyone will] hate you when it all comes out / If they learn that you knew about [the burial] all along” (193). Antigone’s lack of a support system added contributed to her tragic death because she felt she was hopeless and that she had to do what was right by herself. Creon’s a little different because he has his son and Teiresias, who both try to guide him in the right direction. Instead of accepting the help and a second perspective, Creon rejects Teiresias’s opinion as one that is bribed and paid for (232-233) and Haimon’s opinions as “subordinate” (216) and childish. On the other side of the spectrum, Oedipus did have the support of Iocaste and his kingdom, but all that brought was the tragedy. My support system has able to help me overcome part of the problem because I now experience these ‘catatonic moments’ less frequently and am often able to snap myself out of it quicker when by myself. Today, when someone annoys me and I do get annoyed a lot, I am able to react more normally and not hurt anyone else. However, that reaction is very different within my own family and is something I have to continue to work on so that this flaw hopefully doesn’t land me in a tragic
Hamartia. From Greek meaning a fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero or heroine. In Sophocles’s Oedipus Rex and Antigone, Oedipus, Antigone, and especially Creon all display their flaw of being stubborn which ultimately leads to the tragedy in each play. When Teiresias challenges Oedipus by saying that he is the one plaguing the city, instead of listening to the other side of the argument, Oedipus tells him to be “Out of this place! Out of my sight!” (Sophocles 23). Oedipus’s stubbornness leads him to become blind to the truth and to reason. Antigone, on the other hand, acts rashly to get what she wants as quick as possible. Antigone believes that if she’s stubborn and can hold her ground, Creon, who has …show more content…
They can help me recognize the signs before it happens and how to react to a particularly challenging situation in the future. Antigone’s lack of support is exemplified when Ismene tells her to “think what Creon will do” (191) and “think of how [everyone will] hate you when it all comes out / If they learn that you knew about [the burial] all along” (193). Antigone’s lack of a support system added contributed to her tragic death because she felt she was hopeless and that she had to do what was right by herself. Creon’s a little different because he has his son and Teiresias, who both try to guide him in the right direction. Instead of accepting the help and a second perspective, Creon rejects Teiresias’s opinion as one that is bribed and paid for (232-233) and Haimon’s opinions as “subordinate” (216) and childish. On the other side of the spectrum, Oedipus did have the support of Iocaste and his kingdom, but all that brought was the tragedy. My support system has able to help me overcome part of the problem because I now experience these ‘catatonic moments’ less frequently and am often able to snap myself out of it quicker when by myself. Today, when someone annoys me and I do get annoyed a lot, I am able to react more normally and not hurt anyone else. However, that reaction is very different within my own family and is something I have to continue to work on so that this flaw hopefully doesn’t land me in a tragic