The Epic Hero In Antigone: The Tragic Hero

Who doesn’t love a happy ending? Where the guy gets the girl, the nice guy defeats the villain, and everything in the world is how it should be. Having a happily ever after makes the audience have instant satisfaction, in the end all the chaos and drama within the story gets resolved. There is no disappointment from the audience because the story is settled; everything works out in the end. The readers tend to find hope and peace within the successful conclusion. This encouragement grants them an escape into a world of fiction and allows them to believe that happiness awaits at the end of insurmountable trials. The epic hero is a common tool that is used in this “feel-good” literature. This character depicts a noble and honest protagonist,

At the end of every tragedy, the protagonist is supposed to realize his/her wrongdoings, understand them and ultimately learn from them. Tragedies are known for teaching the audience morals and providing them with a warning against doing things that might result in horrible consequences. Throughout literature we see time and time again the controversy of divine law going head-to-head with human law. Antigone is a tragedy about the divine law always being the deciding factor. The tragic hero of the play, Creon, learns the consequences of trying to be above the law of the Gods. He states, “Never at my hands will the traitor be honored above the patriot. But whoever proves his loyalty to the state-I 'll prize that man in death as well as life,”(Sophocles 227) this further emphasizes that he thinks his rules are much more important than the Gods. Knowing that Creon’s fall from grace is solely based on this mistake, the audience will think twice before claiming to be above higher powers. Tragic heroes show the result of exploiting good traits such as being ambitious. Being ambitious is often considered a good thing, unless your name is Macbeth and you are overly ambitious. Macbeth was a noble and honest man until his lust for power drove him to murder, “I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o 'erleaps itself and falls on the other” (Shakespeare 1. 7. 25-28) describes Macbeth’s thoughts on a senseless crime. His ambition drives him into and early grave and destroys his reputation. The readers of the play will understand the desire of succeeding and proceed to it with caution in the