Wednesday, February 2, 2011
PERIOD 8 ONLY: Exodos and "Aristotle's View of Tragedy and the Tragic Hero"
Carefully read and annotate the Exodos along with "Aristotle's View of Tragedy and the Tragic Hero" ( pg. 796). Currently, local, national and global events reveal a crisis of leadership similar to issues that we've read about this school year. In the context of Antigone and your assigned article, answer the following question in paragraph form: "What hope, then, can there be for us?" Please be sure to always "circle back" with convincing details from Antigone and "Aristotle's View of Tragedy and the Tragic Hero."
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In ancient Greek times, the majority of plays were based upon tragedy and turmoil. The often-dramatized versions of everyday situations were the very base of a Greek play. Aristotle says that tragedy gives the audience an “emotional release”, cleansing them of unsettling emotions. I today’s society the issues that we have within our government in terms of leadership are painfully obvious. Before any problems can be solved people are already divided. If you look in to the government you will see different parties, the republicans and the democrats. Within our communities we lack leaders who ca bring us all together as one. Aristotle says that a in a tragedy the hero always appears to be greater then ourselves but still they fail. We are faced with the realization that if these heroes can’t succeed then we ourselves are doomed as well. What hope, then can there be for us? The hope lies in something very simple. The seer fact that this is not a play, and if we make a mistake the director can’t yell cut, and we can’t try the scene again. The things that we do are permanent. Our hope lies in seeing people who come from nothing do great things in the world. Aristotle says that towards the end of a tragedy the hero accepts his fait, and has a moment of enlightenment. This is the greatest source of our hope. When we are faced with a consequence or an obstacle the curtains will not draw. Life will go on even after something terrible happens, and this gives us an opportunity to do things differently.
ReplyDeleteI believe that there still is hope for us, as long as we learn from the actions of Antigone’s characters. If we exemplify the extensive amount of courage and intelligence as Oedipus has in his own adventure, then we will also be able to fulfill our own potential. Aristotle says that we feel fear because Oedipus is “better” than we are and still Oedipus “failed,” but I believe that Oedipus only “failed” because he was doomed from the beginning of his life. The prophet, Teiresias, foresaw the unfortunate prophecy of the hapless Oedipus, who was ill fated to some sort of punishment for what the prophecy withheld, which eventually came true and as a result Oedipus was exiled. However, I believe that Oedipus succeeded; as long as one lives up to the full potential, succession has been attained, not failure. So, there is actually a significant amount of hope for us that we can succeed.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both Hina and Sean. Hina said that life goes on after terrible events. This statement is very true, because although there are many crises in our world, we continue to persevere. Our hope lies in the fact that after tragedy, we learn from our mistakes. Like the tragic hero, we are enlightened. As long as we make things better after an unfortunate event occurs, we will continue to move forward. Terrible events are impossible to avoid, but if we can identify the mistakes made and learn from them, then we will have become better. What is most important is not avoiding tragedy, but becoming enlightened from it. Also, Sean said that we must learn from the actions of Antigone’s characters. A main example is the tragic hero, Creon. His pride caused him to lose everything he had. Aristotle said that we feel fear because the tragic hero is better than us, yet they fail. I do not think this means that it is impossible to succeed. Tragedies can show us the effects of tragic flaws. Instead of being fearful because Creon lost everything, we must learn from the characters. Learning from tragedies again shows that learning is where our hope lies.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with Hina. Leadership is not an easy task. All individuals have different opinions, perspectives, and foundations in which beliefs are based upon. There will always be two sides to a story, and it is up to the people in authority to make the best decision possible. I also agree with Sean’s post. I believe that people are inspired and motivated by Antigone and the legend of Oedipus because of the good characters and the hard struggles in which these individuals endured through. The significance of these myths may not necessarily be the tragic ending where death and sorrow is involved. More importantly, it’s the intention of doing what is right and striving for justice that ignites the attraction of the many viewers to Greek mythology. I concur with Kanoe’s thoughts in regards to learning from the characters rather than fearing them. If we, as humans, are able to improve our lives and make wiser decisions from these stories, then there is indeed hope for us. We must not focus on the negative flaws of Creon, but learn from his mistakes and become better people in our own societies.
ReplyDelete“What hope, then, can there be for us?” is a very powerful statement. It questions a deep wonder that is truly hard to answer. It’s amazing to understand the way of the human mind and the fact that with all the hardships and challenges in life, we, as people, still enjoy watching more sorrow and more sadness in tragedies such as Antigone. As Aristotle pointed out: “tragedy is to arouse pity and fear in the audience so that we may be purged, or cleansed, of these unsettling emotions” (page 796). I believe humans are able to watch such tragedies and even have an urgency to watch these calamities because we are able to relate to them. It gives us a catharsis knowing that there are people around the world that are also going through rough times. It may also be a wake-up call and provide a realization that our everyday and somewhat insignificant setbacks are nothing when compared to the large-scale traumas that are found in Antigone.
I totally agree with Hina, Sean, Kanoe, and Kalehua. I like Hina's perspective that life goes on. What Kanoe add to that statement makes it even more profound; that the important thing is not the tragedy itself, but that we learn from that experience and our mistakes. I also really liked Sean's idea that Oedipus actually succeeded in his life instead of failed. It's like seeing the cup half full. It is totally true since he did defeat the Sphinx and became a mighty ruler. I also agree with Kalehua's statement that tragedies like Antigone serve as a "wake-up call" to us and make us realize that our petty trials are nothing compared to other "large-scale traumas" like in Antigone.
ReplyDeleteI believe that hope relies on faith, therefore the answer to the question, “What hope, then, can there be for us?” is that we must learn to overcome our flaws and have faith that we will not encounter a tragic fate that will ruin us before we learn to do so. This lesson can be learned from Antigone because although Creon did eventually recognize his “tragic flaw”, which was pride, he did not learn it soon enough because he met his own tragic fate, which consequences included losing his son and wife. Creon did not “recognize his own error” until it was too late and his life was ruined (“Aristotle’s View of Tragedy and the Tragic Hero” 796). Just as it says in “Aristotle’s View of Tragedy and the Tragic Hero” (796), Creon was “responsible for his own downfall” because of his “tragic flaw”, which was pride. His pride was what led him to imprison Antigone and sentence her to death. Creon’s pride couldn’t accept that she had disrespected him by disregarding his law to not bury Polyneices. He was so prideful that even though the words she spoke defending herself were true and in accordance to divine law, he wouldn’t listen. He also didn’t listen when his own son pleaded with him to bury Polyneices and set Antigone free. Even when the prophet Teiresias told Creon that he was wrong to deny Polyneices a burial and needed to correct that or face the wrath of the gods, Creon’s pride blinded him from the wisdom of Teiresias’ words and made him accuse Teiresias of being a false prophet. It was not until Teiresias condemned Creon to an eternity of hell that Creon began to see his wrongful ways. Unfortunately he was too late in recognizing that he was wrong; his stubborn pride had already caused Antigone to hang herself, which led to Haimon killing himself, which led to his own wife to commit suicide out of grief. This shows that Creon was most definitely “responsible for his own downfall.” Although Creon’s story may make us feel like there is no hope, in actuality it provides us with a lot of hope. It provides us with hope by helping us learn from his mistakes. We must learn to master our own fatal flaws before we make the same mistakes that Creon made. We cannot be like Creon and let our fatal flaws blind us from the wisdom of others. All tragedies may leave us with feelings of despair and fear, but we can learn from heroes’ tragic stories and not repeat their mistakes so that we will not meet the same tragic endings that they did.
I totally agree with Hina on her perspective on life and how it goes on. It is extremely necessary for us to make mistakes in life, or life would be boring. As a human being I have made many mistakes and i don't regret one, because without them i wouldn't have been the person i am today. In Antigone Creon has made a small mistake which lead to a full-scale calamity amongst his family and his kingdom. See with his choice to imprison Antigone it caused a domino affect on Haimon which eventually lead up to the death of his wife. If i were to write a sequel to this story it would be a story to where Creon moves on form this setback. Even though everyone is gone he should learn form his actions and make a better life for those still living around him (his people). This takes me back to my point that in life you gotta keep going. No matter how bad a situation may be you got to move on. You can't be dwelling on a problem for too long or you will miss out the opportunities to create a better ending. This takes me to the question "What hope, then, can there be for us?". I believe that hope lies in us. We all have a different interpretation of what hope may be in our lives, so i say it lies in us somewhere. Feelings like perseverance and determination are within us. The quote could be looked at in a metaphorical way, hope being change or a better outcome. This is logical because its asking us is there hope for us, and i believe there is hope for us, but it is up TO us to retrieve that hope. The determination and headstrong approach we take towards our problems. Whether to fix and solve the problems we may face. Like my coach says "It isn't up to me whether you guys win or not, all i do is give you the tools to be successful football players. The rest is up to you." Relating to life being that we are given chances to fix and make a better thing out of something terrible, but it is up to us to change it to what we want it to be. "What hope, then, can there be for us?" that is just the question to ask. Are we able to create hope for a better tomorrow?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sean that there is still hope for us; we can all succeed in life with our own actions, even if our own fate is good or bad. For Oedipus, it wasn’t his fault that his fate was tragic, he was born with it. However, his fate didn’t stop him from defeating the monster Sphinx, saving the city of Thebes, and then becoming king for his heroic deed. All these things may have led up to his cursed destiny, but it also recognized him for his noble characteristics. So I truly believe we each have our own fate that we cannot escape, and whether it is admirable or miserable we just have to make the most of our everyday lives and live it up. We can’t change what is already done, the only thing we can do is either “go with the flow” and just let destiny take its course or we can be like Oedipus and accomplish things in life that people will honor.
ReplyDeleteI agree very much with Hina’s interpretation of the profound question that is asked and what she believes the answer to be. It is brought to attention that the main character of a Greek play or tragedy is in fact a prominent or well-accomplished hero, who attempts to defy the Fates and the prophecies that foretell an unfortunate destiny. Like with what Hina wrote in her response, people are often troubled with this question when they see the failure of one who is thought to be as flawless as a mortal can be. If someone so distinguished and admired cannot fulfill such a feat to maintain his prosperity, then, how can I, someone who is much less adequate than he have the slightest hope to do better? After an audience watches such a play, how could they not feel the emotional impact concerning their own lives? What Hina says is true regarding the permanence of our choices in our lives in comparison to a play, and we are all different and make our own choices for our own reasons. Because of this, it is up to the individual to let the outcome of another determine their fate. Situations and times in life, whether good or bad, are what you make of them.
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ReplyDeleteI thought everyone had very well-thought out analysis in reflecting on the hope left for the world in regards to the views of Aristotle and the story of Antigone. Hina led the discussion with a great start in pointing out that this life is not a rehearsed play and people are given the opportunity to do differently after a tragedy and find hope through those less fortunate who go against great odds. I agree with Hina in this path towards hope because seeing the underdog win is always enlightening.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed Sean’s post because unlike Hina, he regarded the hero as Oedipus (oppose to Creon who I at first felt to be the intended “hero” by Aristotle) because of his ability to attain and live up to his full potential, being that he was doomed for death as a child and lived to create somewhat of a life for himself. Sean’s reasoning that hope lies in achieving the best of one’s ability affirms that success may not necessarily mean coming out alive for the win, but impacting others and contributing everything you have to offer in the process.
Kanoe discusses the importance of learning from tragedies and becoming enlightened through such learning experiences. I agree with Kanoe because learning is indeed the source for progression through acts of crisis in the world, as we can learn from the negative just as the characters in the story. Kanoe reminds us that the failure of those in authority today should not discourage us, but direct us towards a path in a sturdier direction that avoid the mistakes of their mistakes.
Kalehua really had me thinking in her questioning of why people or the human mind finds interest in tragedy despite the amount of hardships already faced regularly. Her conclusion that people find interest in watching tragedies regardless because of the connections people can make relating to their lives made me think about the hope there is then. Just as Kanoe and Hina pointed out in the importance of learning from past experience, understanding that being able to look at situations from the perspectives of others such as watching plays such as Antigone to gain this learning experience shows that hope again is conquered in this learning, more specifically learning through analysis and understanding.
Lindsey was impactful in pointing out the importance of realizing one’s own personal flaws. She too feels that hope lies in learning from experience. She reminds us that we should learn from our mistakes so we do not repeat the same ones over again. Additionally, Lindsey advises us to avoid letting personal flaws be the cause of our downfalls, and use to use the flaws of others as guides to better ourselves.
Mariano was wise in his post in his metaphor of we the people being that change or hope. Mariano enlightens his fellow bloggers in pointing out that hope lies inside us as part of who we are, but the triggering of this secret weapon must be ignited by us, the holders. The hope that we can have from the crisis in the world has always been there, but we must mold this hope into prosperous determination.
After hearing the perspectives of my classmates, I truly agreed with each individual’s unique location of hope. If the world were in desperate need of a hero and a sort of hope was desired, I think that an impactful act for hope is the power and strength and unity. Currently in the world, Egypt is experiencing an uprising as the people have unified as a whole to overthrow their president of thirty years in dictatorship. The strength in unity has communicated inspiration of hope around the world and proved that the people who are not in power or who do not have as much authority as another really can make a difference with many hands working together. In Antigone, Haimon expressed rumors of the people being too afraid of execution to speak their minds on the cruelty of Haimon. Ismene, Antigones’s own sister, chose the law over family. When more people became involved in Antigone’s defense, more impact was made in that Creon finally realized his wrongdoing. Just as there is strength in numbers in Egypt, there was strength for Antigone in the support of others brave enough. This bravery is a significant symbol of hope for people experiencing crisis today because in the crisis of tragedy or lack of leadership, there is always security in knowing that there is a support team behind you and you can always unify with others or make a stand in the name of righteousness and bravery. Hope does not lie in the person who stands behind and watches the unrighteous domino unto their loved ones, but lies in those who realize that there is hope in numbers. Comparing this to Antigone who at first decided to go out individually instead of encouraging her fellow citizens to help her, it is apparent that the underdogs or little people truly have the power to make a difference.
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