... Greek Tragedy and Their Reactions to Adversity Throughout many Greek tragedies, plays, and poems there are many characters that are faced with adversity when tragedy occurs. With these many instances a multitude of emotional reactions arise. The variances of emotion, although shown from a character, are all based on human ... responses. These responses are countless in number for the reason that there are many facets to human nature. In looking at only two characters in Greek writings; Oedipus from Oedipus the King written by Sophocles and Medea from Medea written by Euripides, we can s...

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... without Iago. Imagine Frodo without Sam. I shudder to think of a world where Luke doesn't have Han Solo by his side! All kidding aside, supporting characters are what make stories great and memorable, and these three plays prove that amazingly. Oedipus Rex, what a sad poor man. But he himself wasn't really all ... could say. In Antigone, we again follow the bloodline of Oedipus, through his daughters and sons. Again though, you see major development in the secondary characters. Again we see our old friend Tiresias, although I feel the role he has in this play isn't quite as influential ...

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... of power. The structure includes a prologue, parodos, dialogue, choral odes, and exodos. Oedipus, the main character, remains on stage for nearly the entire play, sets up all the tragedy. The razor sharp irony in Oedipus Rex is one of the elements that has given the play its power to spellbind audiences for thousands of years and has also made updated versions ... world's great tragedies. The play contributed to the development of modern drama because every line of story contains a possible double meaning or an ambiguity, which made story more interesting. The razor-sharp irony in Oedip...

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Literature is writings having excellence of structure or expression read and enjoyed by an audience. Each literature contains two main characters; the protagonist is the hero or main character in a literary work, and the antagonist is the character in opposition to the protagonist of a literary work. "A Hero is someone who is ... willing to sacrifice his own needs on behalf of others- (Vogler 39) Sophocles" Antigone, Shakespeare's Romeo, and Fugord's Sam all show this heroic trait. "Antigone" is a drama written by Sophocles. Antigone fits the character of a hero, because she wanted to bury he...

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... Caesar. It too, is a tragedy filled with greed for power, rashness, and fatal consequences. Many characters in both plays make errors in judgement that effect many lives other than their own. These characters, although from plays written at different times about different subject matter, all hold the same principles and ... (Choragos, Scene 5, Lines 139-142) Just as Creon made bad judgements, Julius Caesar did as well. Julius Caesar was one of the central characters in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Caesar's faux pas in his judgement could have easily been avoided had he just listened to r...

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... have the interpretation of having the ability to know or to understand and it could also be based on the ability to be physically sighted. In Oedipus The King, many characters are distracted by the physical world, which causes them to be blinded by the most obvious of truths. In Oedipus The King, Sophocles uses blindness as a motif. Oedipus, the main ... he could cheat destiny with simply mortal actions. The blindness in Oedipus The King is an effective contrasting technique used by Sophocles to influence the actions of many of the characters in the play, but it is around Oedipus in whi...

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... , he gained respect to his fellow people. By gaining respect, he became an honorable leader. Through leadership, he redeemed his village; admitted and accepted his mistakes and failures. Through these characters, he reflects a good man. In Sophocles' play, "Oedipus the King, Oedipus' village admired him, for he liberated his people from previous misfortunes. "You came and by your coming ... saved our city, freed us from the tribute which we paid of old to the Sphinx, cruel singer," (Sophocles, 39-41) says the priest. While others may claim the incest and wickedness Oedipus encounters may...

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... considered the tragic hero. Lord Capulet is the tragic hero and goes through discovery and reversal because at first he discovers what he had done by pushing Juliet over the edge to marry Paris. Then he reverses what he can after Juliet killed herself along with Romeo and ends the family feud by putting up a statue of Romeo and Juliet, making ... found out Haemon killed himself. Then, he went through reversal by letting Ismene out of the dungeon after he came to realization of what he had done. Therefore since both characters each play went through the "discovery and reversal "stage, th...

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... anguish to the gods. It would be safer if Creon did not create such a law. Creon also disregard's Teiresias's forewarning, which tells Creon that "you stand once more on the edge of fate" (782). Teiresias proceeds to tell Creon that his future will be distasteful if he punishes Antigone. This advice comes from a blind man who has a special power and has ... happened Creon's wife simply by saying: "The Queen is dead." (790). Eurydice was distraught over the death of her son Haemon and therefore killed herself. The suicide of these two characters is by far the clearest representation of t...

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... gone on, and perhaps offering some insight or other. In this role, I think the Chorus is very helpful to the audience, as it succeeds in keeping the audience 'on the edge of their seats'. I think that in the play Oedipus, Sophocles intended the Chorus to be a constant significant part of the play, observing and reacting to situations, whilst never being the ... was the Greek amphitheatre. This held approximately 17000 people. One can imagine that it may have been quite difficult for people further away from the stage to here the main characters as there was no amplification other than t...

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... get the answer because for him visible proof is the only type of proof there is. He is highly appreciated and praised by the people of Thebes. In lines 37-39, 42 the priest says "As to the man surest in mortal ways and wisest in the ways of God .. A god's touch, it seems , enabled you to help us. "(1219) Oedipus ... ...

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... know that, bending at your altar. But we do rate you first of men, both in the common crises of our lives and face-to-face encounters with the gods" (39-43). He went on to say, "Your country calls you savior now for your zeal, your action years ago" (59-60). An example of Oedipus" arrogance was when the Chorus ... ...

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... has come to be true is still questioned. The chorus describes the battle at hand. "Terrible things indeed has the prophet spoken. We cannot believe, we cannot deny; alls dark." (39) The chorus is describing to the audience the difficulty of believing whether or not Oedipus's fate is true, or if it is still in the hands of the mortals. At ... ...

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... by piercing his eyes with Jocasta's golden brooches. Ironically, his blindness finds him in a place with better sight. His ignorance of his destiny has disappeared. He has discovered himself (Cameron 39). Oedipus understands and acknowledges the events of his life. He sees because his character has changed. He is no longer bold, self-assured and arrogant. He has changed from king ... ...

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... plot of Sophocles" Oedipus Rex. we have to go deeper into the fate of Oedipus. The quote that decribes this is: "Ah, what net has God been weaving for me? " (39). My secltion on at quote is to describe what Oedipus has been doing and trying to understand what his fate is. Also I think that quote is saying is that, what ... ...

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... is a wise king, admired by all the people of his city. The sentences "As to the man surest in mortal ways and wisest in the ways of god" (915; 38-39) and "A king of wisdom tested in the past" (915; 46) show that the people of Thebes consider Oedipus a wise and spiritual king. When they come to ask for his help ... ...

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... act that we see but the description of it is given by the reliable chorus. Because the chorus is reliable throughout, constantly giving advice to the characters, the audience place their trust in them; this makes it furthermore effective when they give a vivid description. "He tore the brooches " the ... anticlimactic. However not having the blood, gore and violence on stage forces Sophocles to drive a more tragic plot with a lot of thought going into characters emotions and how they will affect the audience. Furthermore, in studying Aeschylus's Agamemnon we can see something very diffe...

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... Tragedy is there is no violence on stage. This quality is only present in the play Antigone. The violence in the play Antigone is talked about by the characters, but never shown. An example of is when Antigone and Ismene are talking about what has happened to their family. Ismene says, " Third, out two brothers ... he is going to rape her. The fourth quality of a Greek Tragedy is a constant reference to God and fate. In both Antigone and Hamlet, the characters always make reference to God, whether they are asking for advice or even just to apologize for their sins. In Hamlet, the reader s...

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... the doubling of roles and explain what the topic of the play really is about. One possible theory for the doubling of roles was to show that both characters would have the same fate in the end. This theory adds an interesting element to the story. It is not until one reaches the end of the story ... that the true ending of the story becomes clear. The reader learns that both characters died at the end of the story due to their tragic flaws, which shows the reader that they indeed had the same fate. Another theory is that the ... that Sophocles wanted to be remembered as a unique writer. ...

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... this threw the character Teiresais. This leads the audience to Sophocles" second attempt of curing the religious hypocrisy in his society threw his characters. Sophocles sees that in his society the people of religion are turning on each other because of blame. Oedipus after his conflict ... character that breaks up this argument between Oedipus and Creon is Sophocles" final attempt to cure religious hypocrisy in his society threw his characters. The character who does this is Jocasta. Jocasta expresses her mortal knowledge in the lines, "Do not concern yourself about this matter ... ex...

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... effects that this pride has on the character's life. How could his/her life have been different if he/she had behaved in a less prideful manner? Fate Many of the characters in Sophocles' plays seem to have a desire to break free from the control of the fate the gods have determined for them. Based on what you have read in Antigone ... right thing to do. Often, choosing to follow the conscience is the more difficult road to walk. In Antigone, identify the difficult choices the characters make and analyze the effects that these choices have on the characters' lives. Acting on Emotions Sop...

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... that I speak as I do." Tiresias only desires to use his power to save Creon from the tragedy that will befall him. Tiresias tells Creon "You stand once more on the edge of fate." Creon, like all the powerful men before him, refuses to listen once Tiresias utters the words he least wants to hear. Creon then discredits and ridicules Tiresias. Creon ... ...

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... plays. A primary reason is that it draws and sustains the attention of the audience. Dramatic Irony does by giving the audience more information than the characters in the play themselves. It is a clever tactic used by playwrights because the audience's attention is held when dramatic irony is used. There is ... strong in pantomimes and films today. The usage of dramatic irony is exploited today in pantomimes where the audience are encouraged to intervene with the characters. It is interesting to speculate whether the audience would have called and hooted as we do today with the dame or v...

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... drama. The six elements that a drama consists of are listed below with a short definition, in reference to a drama, following: Plot-the ongoing business of the characters, what they strive for, what they expect to see happen. The sequence of actions or events. Character- is either developed or flat, either individuated or typed, either ... If it weren't for Antigone, Haemon, and Creon there wouldn't have been any real drama. Now if you were to watch the drama and all the characters that made up the plot were to talk in a monotone voice with no inflection what so ever, you would not exper...

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... buries him with honor and is captured by Creon and put to death. Haimon, who is Creon's son and Antigones lover has to leave Thebes. Antigone focuses on contrast between characters. Antigone and her sister, Ismene are together in two scenes, the prologue and the second scene. They always argue because of their different opinions. Ismene feels that although she loved ... a timeless conflict. It is Sophocles' story of family honor and family bonds versus loyalty to the state and the law. This play clearly illustrates conflicting interests and loyalties among the characters. Antigone belie...

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