Sophocles 'Antigone': The True Path Of Tragedy

“Great words of the over-proud balanced by great falls taught us knowledge in our great age.” (Antigone 1351) This quote from the end of the Greek play Antigone shows us the value of seeing tragedy. For the modern reader, to understand tragedy he must understand that tragedy is greatness leading to a fall. Once that is comprehended he can better understand the true path of tragedy. The modern reader can learn that greatness leads to power and a desire to use it, situations force quick thinking which leads to bad decision making, and after the bad decision a fall is created which affects people around the person that falls. Through tragedy the reader can know that resisting this path can prevent their fall as well as others around them. First, this trend is shown in Antigone. The play opens with a brand new king, Creon, who became king because the two heir brothers killed each other. He decided that one was right and deserved a great funeral, but the other was evil and was to receive no burial because of this. Creon then gives a royal decree that he shall be left to the dogs and any that try to bury him including his family will be killed. The brother’s …show more content…
Odysseus is stranded on an island when the goddess Athena takes pity on him. After a voyage of a lifetime Odysseus returns to his home Island in Ithika in disguise. He then snoops around for weeks and finally comes to his own house to reclaim it from his wife’s evil sutors. He goes to the door and shoots an arrow through the most corrupt suitors neck. After that he says that none will be allowed to live even the man that has protected his son throughout the story. While the story ends with a happy family it must be considered that Odysseus will have to live with the guilt of killing men who were defenceless in his house and were asking for mercy. While this does not lead to a downfall that we see Odysseus regretting the decisions that he made in the