Sophocles once stated, “The greatest
griefs are those we cause ourselves”. What does this mean? What Sophocles, the
ancient Greek philosopher, meant by this was that the things that cause us the
most pain are often our own fault and could have been avoided if not for our
own weaknesses. Often in ancient Greek literature the story revolves around
what we refer to as a “tragic hero”. The tragic hero is someone who means well
and has many good characteristics, however, a few bad attributes somehow lead
to the demise of the character. In the play “Antigone” the main character,
Antigone, is a prime example of classical Greek tragic hero who as stated by
Sophocles, brings herself great grief. But how is she flawed you may ask? How could
someone who goes above and beyond, even risking their life to honor the gods
and her deceased brother be flawed? Well, this devote loyalty to the gods and
to honor her deceased brother is in fact her tragic flaw! Antigone’s
stubbornness and refusal to obey Creon puts other people around her in danger. Antigone
even says, ““And if I have to die for this pure crime…I am content, for I shall
rest beside him…His love will answer mine (lines 72-74)”. She doesn't think
about how it might affect her sister, Ismene, who tries to convince her to back
down and follow Creon's orders. She doesn't think about how it will affect
Haemon, her fiancé and Creon's son. As seen in the quote Antigone is only
thinking about what can happen to her and no one else. Antigone in reality is
flawed because she is too stubborn to see that it’s actually best for everyone
else’s sake to just obey Creon and allow her brothers body to waste away.
In many ways Antigone is very similar
to Blanche in the play, “A Streetrcar Named Desire” because their extreme
desire to have certain things make them delusional to the real world going on
around them. However as Antigone is a “tragic hero”, Blanche is an “antihero”.
The difference between the two is that Antigone, although being stubborn, is
heroic, brave and courageous standing up to Creon for what she believes in. Antigone is so heroic she is even a martyr as
she states, ““O look upon me… The last that remain of a line of kings! How
savagely impious men use me…For keeping a law that is holy” even as she is led
to a cave to be executed she still holds faith that in what she is doing is
righteous.
Blanche on the other hand really doesn’t have
any of these heroic qualities and is therefore and “antihero”. We can see that
Blanche is no hero because she is dishonest, deceiving and promiscuous. Blanche
even says, “…You know I haven’t put on one ounce in ten years, Stella? I weigh
what I weighed the summer you left Belle Reve. The summer Dad died and you left
us…(1.123)”, this quote from Blanche shows how she lies and puts others down to
make herself less insecure about her many weaknesses. Clearly she lacks the necessary
characteristics of bravery, nobility and courage that comes with being a hero
like Antigone!
Tragic heroes are not just limited to
ancient Greek literature, however. In fact, in today’s literature (which
includes TV and film as well) there are many tragic heroes present. In addition
to this though there are also real people who are tragic heroes! The list is
endless. Tiger Woods,
Bill Clinton, Lance Armstrong and even Kurt Cobain are prime
examples of real people who are tragic heroes. Tiger Woods is an amazing golfer
who has broken countless records and is the face of the sport he dominates,
however, he “tragically” was flawed because he had multiple affairs with women
behind his wife’s back! Bill Clinton was a beloved politician but he also could
not control his desires and had an affair. Lance Armstrong is without a doubt
the most decorated and famed cyclist to ever live and inspired millions by
beating cancer and continuing to cycle. However, it was revealed that despite
all this, Armstrong, was cheating his whole career by using illegal Performance
Enhancing Drugs, even to this day Armstrong claims that what he did was not
wrong because others were doing it too, in a way he is stubborn like
Antigone. Kurt Cobain is an era defining
musician whose music was cherished by many, it was discovered though that
although being a brilliant artist, had a serious drug addiction and mental
health problem that eventually lead to (like all tragic heroes) his demise and
later death. The list is endless and does not only include celebrities,
athletes, politicians and other prominent public figures. An average, everyday
person could indeed be a tragic hero. Think about the people amongst you, do
you know someone who is a tragic hero? Do you know someone who has many great
characteristics but is overcame by their few weaknesses? If so then you know a tragic hero.
Despite
their being so many modern day tragic heroes the one I will focus on is Alex
Rodriguez, also known as A-Rod. You many think that a baseball player from our
time is nothing like Antigone or Blanche, but in reality they are very similar.
A-Rod was a phenome from the day he entered the MLB, a highly touted prospect
he immediately had success winning the Rookie of the Year in his first season
and multiple MVP’s later on. This shows that like all tragic heroes A-Rod had
many desirable properties. He could hit, field, steal bases and was adored by
his fans. However, A-Rod was also arrogant and so prideful that it led to his
demise, like Antigone. When A-Rod was indicted for using Performance Enhancing
Drugs (PEDs) this conceit and denial to accept that he had done wrong
ultimately led to his downfall. While other players admitted their wrongdoing,
accepted the ensuing suspensions and eventually returned to the league, A-Rod
refused to do so, continually denying he used PEDs despite an overwhelming
amount of evidence. This made A-Rod the bad guy and the face of the PED problem
that was damaging the integrity of the game. The players who confessed were for
the most part forgiven and continued on with their careers without a cloud of
revulsion following them around. A-Rod on the other hand was publicly
ostracized and could not escape the disapproval of the people. Yes, it was probably because out of the
accused he was the best and most notable, but that is exactly what makes him
the tragic hero! His many amazing abilities were overshadowed by his arrogance
of repudiation of what he had done, these were his tragic flaws.
It is
evident that although many tragic heroes’ tales take place a long time ago,
there are still many tragic heroes around in today’s modern world. It’s
important to look at these figures and learn from them. You may think that you do not relate to them because
you are not famous or some Greek icon but in reality we all have amazing
aspects that make us “heroes” and flawed
aspects about us that make us “tragic”.
Looking at these stories can help us to better ourselves by becoming
aware of the tragic flaws we have and preventing these flaws from bringing us
to our demise like Antigone, Blanche and A-Rod.
