"The greatest griefs are those we cause ourselves"-Sophocles

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.