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Most heroic characters in the Greek tragedies have very special qualities that distinguish them from the rest of the characters. However, the tragedy by Sophocles called Antigone seems to defy this norm and it has two heroes. There are two are tragic heroes and this is one of the rarest occurrences in tragedies. The two are Creon and Antigone herself. Antigone is the princess of Thebe’s while Creon, is the king of that Greek empire (Fagles 56). Both fit in as heroes because they are from the nobility and most Greek heroes and heroines were from a noble background. The tragic end of this play is created by errors of judgment made by the two heroes, as in most Greek tragedies.
Trouble starts when Antigone and Creon clash over who is supposed to bury Antigone’s brother, Polyneices. Antigone believes that her brother deserves a proper bsend off for him to be able rest in peace. To her, the laws of god regarding burial have to be observed. In the Greek tradition, the women were the ones that were concerned with the issues of burial and she wants Ismene to help her to ensure that their brother is properly buried despite the objection from the king. Ismene refuses to stand against creon whom she really fears and this leaves Antigone without support (Letters 148). Creon is trying to deny Polyneices the right to burial. A male chauvinist who has no time for the views of the women, Creon believes that no woman should go against what the king has decreed. The women are not supposed to interfere with important issues in the country. The burial of Polyneices is an important issue in the country because he was an enemy to Thebes, having attacked it sometimes before his death. According to Creon, who is supposed to protect the country from the enemies, enemies of Thebes do not have any burial rights meaning that Polyneices doesn’t deserve to be buried inside Thebes. The two antagonists grow increasingly stubborn in their perspectives. Creon is the one who appears to be the villain because being an uncle to the dead man; some empathy is expected from him. However, he remains very adamant and is bent on meting punishment on anyone that goes against his authority. The intervention of Creon’s son, Haemon proves to be an exercise in futility regardless of the fact that he is betrothed to Antigone. Antigone does not relent. She is ready to die for the sake of her brother’s right o burial. When the king locks her up, she decides to take her own life. At the same time, a prophet is busy trying to convince Creon to have Polyneices buried. After doubting his decision, he insists that Polyneices should be interred while Antigone is still locked up without knowing that she has already taken her life. The death of Antigone triggers two more deaths. Upon learning the death of Antigone, Haemon, the son to Creon and Antigone’s boyfriend, commits suicide (Graves, 380). After learning about the death of her son, the king’s wife, Eurydice also kills herself. It is after these deaths that the king realizes the folly of his actions. This brings us to the point of discussing who the real tragic hero in the book was. To start with, a tragic hero is taught by his own undoing. Using the above quality, it appears that the real tragic Hero in this play was Creon. This is because Antigone stood for what she believed was right and did no mistake that she later learnt a lesson from. On the other hand Creon realizes his mistakes too late and he had to live with the guilt emanating from the consequences of his folly and stubbornness. In most cases, assumptions are made that the protagonist always becomes the true tragic heroes but in this Greek tragedy by Sophocles, it is almost impossible to identify who the protagonist was though the true tragic hero is easily identifiable.
From a superficial perspective, Antigone appears to be the protagonist in this play especially when her main objective of burying Polyneices is factored in. From this point of view, anyone that is opposing her would be the antagonist and this would easily befit who has risen against the burial of her brother. What leads the audience to assume that the protagonist is Antigone is the title of the play (Else 46). The play is titled Antigone instead of Creon but that does not mean that Antigone is the protagonist. The actual protagonist is Creon because it is Antigone who ideally goes against his decree. He is also the one who suffers at the end of the play due to his rash decisions that culminate in the death of three people, two of them being his immediate family members. It is expected that the person who endures suffering should receive empathy from the readers but in this case, the king does not receive it. It is Antigone, whom the readers empathize with because her stubbornness is very genuine while that of Creon is quit despotic. She does not have any support as she stands against the king and she does so at a very tender age and that is why the audience would easily be drawn to her. The tragic end to Antigone as a character is inevitable as she did not have any other choice while the king was too myopic to think about the aftermath of his rash decisions. A real tragic hero or heroine usually does not have any power over their destiny and their course of action is controlled by fate. Whereas the choices that the king makes are dictated by arrogance, the ones that the princess makes conform to the spiritual laws and using this perspective, then the princes might be said to be the real tragic hero.
In Henrique Ibsen’s, Doll house, the tragedy that would have happened is nipped in the bud as there is no death that takes place though there was an imminent suicide. However, the play does not end happily as the marriage between Norah and Torvald, which has been largely a formality breaks when Norah slams the door on her husband telling her that it would take the greatest miracle ever for their marriage to be restored. She refuses the forced duties of a wife and a mother and reckons that she ought to go and discover herself because she had lived a false life under her father and then under her husband.
Works cited
Graves, Robert. The Greek Myths: London: Penguin, 1990.
Else, Gerald. The Madness of Antigone. Heidelberg: Carl Winter 1996.
Fagles, Robert. The Three Theban Plays. New York: Penguin. 1996.
Letters, Fredrick. The Life and Work of Sophocles. London: Sheed and Ward.
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