Antigone Essay- Definition of a Tragedy

Aristotle defined tragedy as “an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and possess magnitude… and effecting through pity and fear catharsis of such emotions.” What this means is that a tragedy must have the following key elements. The protagonist must have a recognition of truth, followed by an outpouring of emotions, and then end with a reversal of their fortune. These three elements then contribute to the fourth element which is catharsis from the audience. In Antigone, Creon is the tragic hero and we can see each of these four elements that make Antigone a tragedy.

The first element of a tragedy is a recognition of truth. Another word for this is anagnorisis. This is an ancient Greek word that roughly translates to recognition. Creon recognizes a characteristic of his and that is his hubris. He is too proud. Everything that happens in the play is because Creon is too proud to listen to Antigone. He has all this pride for his city and its laws, that’s he’s blinded by them and decides to listen to himself than to pay any attention to the will of the gods. He refuses to listen to Tiresias And his prophecy. At one point he even tells Tiresias, “Whatever you say will not change my will,” (Antigone 840). He is too proud to listen to a prophet at this point. Moments later however, Creon has this recognition. He realizes that the prophecy may be true. He also recognizes that he should have not put his city above his fate. “The Laws of the gods are mighty and a man must serve them to the days of his life,” (antigone 878-880). Creon recognizes that he made a mistake in putting his own beliefs in power over the traditions of the Gods.
Following the recognition of truth is an outpouring of emotions by Creon. He actually feels pity and great sadness over the deaths of his daily. This is evident in his conversations with the messenger and Choragos following learning about the fate of his family. He says “It is right that it should be. I alone am guilty. I know it, and I say it. Lead me in, Quickly, friends. I have neither life nor substance. Lead me in” (Antigone 1021-1024). This is an example of catharsis or a release of emotions. Creon is feeling pity and sadness. The part he says where he has no life even suggests that he wants to die.
The reversal of fortune also known as the peripeteia is when the prophecy comes true. Creon thinks that he still has time to listen to the prophecy but it is too late. Instead he finds out that Antigone has killed herself, his son has killed himself, and his wife has killed herself. He is left all alone. He thought that by making this law prohibiting anyone from burying the body he was going to make things better for himself. But what ended up happening is that by putting the law above his family, he effectively caused his own downfall. Even Creon recognizes that he caused his own pain, “It is right that it should be. I alone am guilty. I know it, and I say it,” (Antigone 1019-1020). The reversal of fortune had caused Creon to go from a proud king to someone who the audience pities.
Although some may disagree, it is easy to pity Creon at the end of the play. This pity leads to the catharsis from the audience. Creon was only doing what he thought was right. He was putting the law of his city before his fate, which is really something that should not be punished. But instead the audience has to watch as Creon goes from being certain he is making the right decision, to wanting to be dead himself. “I look for comfort; my comfort lies here dead. Whatever my hands have touched has come to nothing, Fate has brought all my pride to a thought of dust,” (Antigone 1036-1038) The fact that Creon is left alive at the end of the play adds to the pity felt. by the audience. He is left with nothing and he realizes that his pride does not mean a thing anymore At least Antigone is dead now, Creon for all we know has to live with his actions and his defiance of the gods and this causes the audience to experience catharsis.
It is clear that Antigone fits Aristotle’s definition of a tragedy. Creon’s recognition that he is wrong, the prophecy coming true, and his feelings after he finds out the fate of his family, along with the pity felt by the audience are all elements of a tragedy.

Version of Antigone Used for citations:
https://mthoyibi.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/antigone_2.pdf