Comparing Aristotle s Tragedy And Antigone

Aristotle wrote his Poetics, or â€Å"makings†, in 350 B.C. It was a reaction to Plato’s Republic, which was his version of Utopia. Aristotle’s Poetics described what he thought were major characteristics of a tragedy and tragic hero. In Sophocles’ tragedy Antigone, Antigone’s two brothers Eteocles and and Polynices have been killed in battle. Creon has ruled that Polynices not be given a proper burial because he thinks he is a traitor. Antigone disobeys his wishes and buries him, so Creon orders that she be put to death, even though she is engaged to his son, Haemon. In this play, both Antigone and Creon could be a considered a tragic hero, but Creon possesses more of the characteristics that Aristotle writes about. Aristotle thought that a tragedy should have catharsis should have catharsis, which was a medical term that he used as a metaphor. In medicine, it meant to bleed out a person. As a literary term, it means to release strong emot ions from our soul. The audience feels pity for Creon because of the events at the end of the play. Although the audience also feels pity for Antigone, she knew that she would have died because of her actions. When she is telling her sister, Ismene, that she is going to bury her brother and go against Creon’s ruling, Ismene tells her that she will be executed. Antigone says â€Å"And even if I die in the act, that death will be a glory† (line 86). So both she and the audience knew she would die, taking away any suspense about herShow MoreRelatedtheme of alienation n no where man by kamala markandeya23279 Words   |  94 Pagesï » ¿ANTIGONE KEY LITERARY ELEMENTS SETTING This tragedy is set against the background of the Oedipus legend. It illustrates how the curse on the House of Labdacus (who is the grandson of Cadmus, founder of Thebes, and the father of Laius, whose son is Oedipus) brought about the deaths of Oedipus and his wife-mother, Jocasta, as well as the double fratricide of Eteocles and Polynices. Furthermore, Antigone dies after defying King Creon. The play is set in Thebes, a powerful city-state north of