I found that Antigone by Sophocles was a great representation of tragedy. Not only are there tragic events occurring throughout the story, but these tragic events are occurring all within one family. The fact that Antigone must choose between honoring her dead brother's corpse and the God's and honoring her uncle and king, Creon, is a very tragic position for her to be in.
Other than the tragic family predicament Antigone finds herself in, the ending of the story truly highlights the tragedy in the story. While Antigone waits for her punishment in the cave, she commits suicide. What is truly sad about her death is that she was going to be set free, and the readers cannot help but think "if she had only stayed stronger for just a little bit longer maybe she would have been able to be saved".
The other aspect of tragedy was present upon Haemon's discovery of Antigone's body. Lashing out in anger and sadness he attempts to kill his father for Antigone's fate, misses, and then ends up killing himself. It reminds me a lot of the story of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. Both endings could have ended positively if Antigone had waited to be freed and Romeo had known that Juliet was not actually dead. Both plays exhibit suicide more than once, and, to me, that is very tragic. Instead of the hopeful ending, we are provided with the most tragic outcomes in which the deaths of Romeo and Antigone result in the deaths of Juliet and Haemon (and even Eurydice) as well.
Aside from the tragedy shown in the story, there is also positives we can clearly see and pull from the story. Antigone shows an incredible amount of courage and loyalty. Not necessarily loyalty to her king, but great loyalty to her brother, Polynices. She is willing to die in order to honor her brother with a proper burial instead of letting him rot in a field, and she is not deterred like her sister, Ismene. The loyalty, pride, and bravery shown in the story should evoke good emotions aside from the tragic emotions that we as readers are already feeling.
Other than the tragic family predicament Antigone finds herself in, the ending of the story truly highlights the tragedy in the story. While Antigone waits for her punishment in the cave, she commits suicide. What is truly sad about her death is that she was going to be set free, and the readers cannot help but think "if she had only stayed stronger for just a little bit longer maybe she would have been able to be saved".
The other aspect of tragedy was present upon Haemon's discovery of Antigone's body. Lashing out in anger and sadness he attempts to kill his father for Antigone's fate, misses, and then ends up killing himself. It reminds me a lot of the story of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. Both endings could have ended positively if Antigone had waited to be freed and Romeo had known that Juliet was not actually dead. Both plays exhibit suicide more than once, and, to me, that is very tragic. Instead of the hopeful ending, we are provided with the most tragic outcomes in which the deaths of Romeo and Antigone result in the deaths of Juliet and Haemon (and even Eurydice) as well.
Aside from the tragedy shown in the story, there is also positives we can clearly see and pull from the story. Antigone shows an incredible amount of courage and loyalty. Not necessarily loyalty to her king, but great loyalty to her brother, Polynices. She is willing to die in order to honor her brother with a proper burial instead of letting him rot in a field, and she is not deterred like her sister, Ismene. The loyalty, pride, and bravery shown in the story should evoke good emotions aside from the tragic emotions that we as readers are already feeling.