The inborn capacities characters in Greek tragedy often have are known as arete. Everyone knows that no one is perfect and it is their natural born or developed traits that cause imperfection. In the play, Antigone, Antigone exhibits these traits right at the beginning of the play.
One quality that seems to be ingrained in Antigone is her sense of honor. At the beginning of the play we find that both of her brothers, Polynices and Eteocles, killed each other in battle. Polynices invaded the city of Thebes, thus was marked a traitor by Creon. Creon placed a warning against all those who mourn or bury Polynices; getting stoned to death. Antigone, because she found it dishonorable to let her brother rot and not be mourned, went to his corpse and mourned his death. This was an honorable act because she did it knowing that her life could be forfeit without any fear. She stood up for what she believed in and there is nothing nobler than that.
Although Antigone is a respectable character, another quality that she has is defiance. Thus far in the play, there have been a couple acts of defiance on her part. The first act was when she went against her sister's good advice not to honor their brother, for sake of her life. Antigone went right ahead and did it anyway. Then, even after hearing that death would be the punishment for mourning Polynices, by order of the king Creon, she rebelled and went to her brother.
Antigone appears to play a role in a society in which she is shunned, or more or less, she is a character out of her time. These qualities that Antigone possesses may not exactly exemplify wrongness. She has qualities that portray a great woman in modern time, but because of the time she lived and the society she lived in, these qualities were considered evil and she was never given the respect and attention she deserved. .
In ancient Greece, many of the most important works in history were created. ... Concepts such as arete, ananke, hamartia, kalokagathia, and physis were terms that could define these new contributions to Greece. ... Odysseus' will to overcome all his obstacles shows arete. Arete is a concept that the Greek peopley embraced. ... Ancient Greek sculptures represent the concept of physis. ...
He gives the example of Arete in Scheria, which is very important because the king, Alcinous is there, yet the queen, Arete has larger control than him. ... Some of the most apparent characters include Penelope, Athena, Arete, The Sirens, Calypso, and Circe. ... We know all the pains that the Greeks and Trojans once endured On the spreading plain of Troy when the gods willed it so- All that comes to pass on the fertile earth, we know it all," (Homer 12.200-207). ... Arete's direct power is most clearly seen when Odysseus gets down on his knees and pleads; "Queen Arete, daught...
., the Persian army under the command of King Xerxes went into Greece planning to make Europe part of the Persian Empire. The King's two million troops ran into three hundred men of the Spartan army, squires and helots along with a few thousand allies at the Thermopylae, a narrow mountain pass in northern Greece named for the natural hot springs. The sole mission of this army was to hold off the Persians until the Greek army could get organized and reinforce this small band of Spartans and allies. ... After his brother learns of his love for Arete, his brother confronts him and simply ...
Agamemnon was forced to return Chrysies because of a plague that Apollo sent against the Greeks for refusing to allow Chrysies to be ransomed to her father, so he decided to take Briseis away from Achilles. ... This also shows Agamemnon's arête as a leader and a warrior. ... In today's time period arête holds a different, but in some ways similar meaning. ... Another difference from today's definition of arête and the Iliad's definition of arête is that during the Iliad's time period getting help from an outside force or a God was seen as a honor and not as cheatin...
Homer's The Iliad, Aristophanes Lysistrata, and Aeschylus The Seven Against Thebes, all dealt with issues concerning manhood in the Greek and Roman days, war also came but it was only because of the attitudes of these men. ... These authors felt the same way about manhood; the men followed the principle of arete. ... (Pg 265) This statement is an example of arete that all of the men had. ... Agamemnon's pride makes him so arrogant that he demands that Achilles prize Briseis be given to him, and because of this attitude of him the Greeks army suffered devastating loses. ... This ...
By drawing conclusions from the text about the views of women held by the author, a bigger picture of the role of women in ancient Greek culture can be drawn. ... Arete is a very powerful woman. ... When there is no man available or they are extraordinary figures (goddesses) in their own right - Arete, Penelope, Helen, Circe, and Calypso - do they act as a host. ... It is here that we find out how inferior mortal women are in Greek society. ... By looking at The Odyssey and its portrayal of women, one can begin to get an idea as to how the ancient Greeks regarded their women. ...
Perfection as the standard, Ancient Greek society demanded the concept of "arete" or excellence from every free male in Ancient Greece. ... The meaning of arete signified the union of nobility of action and nobility of mind sanctioned in the presence of honor (Homer's Greece). Utilized as an educational fable since its conception, "The Odyssey" promulgates arete by Odysseus" example of mortal excellence. ... Martin, author of "An Overview of Classical Greek History from Homer to Alexander", the best of the Greeks was a doer of deeds and a speaker of words without an equal. ... Unlike Odys...
