Odysseus And Antigone Comparison Essay

During the relative time of Odysseus and Antigone, a hero could be a man or a woman, someone who belonged to a divine ancestry, who was favored by the Gods, and showed great courage and strength in one’s actions. When reflecting upon heroes from the works we have read, the first two that came to my mind were Sophocles 's Antigone, and Homer’s Odysseus. These two characters exhibit heroic actions throughout both works, and stick to their ways by portraying perseverance and confidence. Sophocles’ Antigone is about a passionate woman who arrives in Thebes to see that both of her brothers are dead. Her brother, Polyneices, is not being granted a proper burial because the infamous leader, Kreon, has prohibited a burial for him to occur. Antigone …show more content…
As we see both works come to an end, one hopes that because Antigone sacrificed so much, that her struggle would end positively. Unfortunately we see the opposite occur, as Antigone results in a suicide after her courageous efforts to fight for her brother’s burial. In The Odyssey, Odysseus gets help from many Goddesses which leads him home to Ithaca successfully to be reunited with his wife, Penelope and son, Telemachus. This is frustrating to the readers because we see Antigone, who puts her efforts into fighting for her brother, and sacrificing her life for her beliefs, result in a poor ending. While Odysseus’s journey and fight is not as sacrificial or courageous as Antigone’s, yet his outcome is much more positive. Antigone can be viewed as a tragic hero because she is heroic in her deeds, yet she faces a tragedy which is her death. Odysseus would not be considered a tragic hero as he faces some hardships along his journey, but his outcome has no downfall or tragedy. As one can, Antigone is the true hero, as she clearly displays self-sacrifice and courage through her leadership qualities and heroic