Who Is More Tragic, Creon or Antigone Research Paper Example

Who Is More Tragic, Creon or Antigone? Paper The Imperfect Hero For many people who knew Pat Tillman, he was an American Hero, who forestalled his professional football career and joined the army after seeing his country attacked on 911. He valiantly fought for his country and for his beliefs, and even when Pat died in Afghanistan in 2004, his memory lives on in the minds of many people. According to Aristotle, the hero is not a true hero like Pat Tillman, but rather a person who has serious flaws that lead to the downfall of the character. In Antigone, both Creon and Antigone share some tragic elements: tragic hero, hamartia, hubris, and nemesis. However, Creon is a more tragic hero than Antigone because his character has tragic elements that are absent from the character of Antigone: anagnorisis, peripeteia, and catharsis. There are many tragic elements that both Creon and Antigone share. According to Aristotle, the hero must be a character of high birth or national prominence. Since Antigone is royalty and Creon is the present king, both characters qualify for this requirement. Both characters also commit hubris and the hamartia of stubbornness. And because of their stubbornness, both Creon and Antigone could not escape their nemesis – fate (Sophocles 59). Despite sharing some of the tragic elements with Creon, Antigone does not have the tragic element of anagnorisis. Antigone consistently believes that she has made the right choice. In the beginning she believes that burying Polynices is the right decision and in the end she still says what she has done is â€Å"all for reverence, my reverence for the gods! (Sophocles 107). In contrast, Creon’s character clearly has anagnorisis. From the start, Creon believes forbidding Polynices’ burial is a correct decision even though it goes against the tradition of burial of the dead and goes against the laws of the gods; however, he later realizes that he is wrong and says â€Å"†¦ it’s best to keep the established laws to the very day we die. † (Sophocles 117). He tries to bu ry Polynices and set Antigone free, but his recognition is too late, and Creon has to suffer the next tragic element. We will write a custom essay sample on Who Is More Tragic, Creon or Antigone? specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Who Is More Tragic, Creon or Antigone? specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Who Is More Tragic, Creon or Antigone? specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Unlike Antigone, Creon has to suffer the reversal of his fortune: both his son and wife commit suicide. His reversal of fortune is caused unwittingly by the error of judgment of going against the rules of the gods. In contrast, Antigone does not seem to have the tragic element of peripeteia. As soon as Antigone is caught by the guard, her fate is sealed for the rest of the play. It could be argued that her peripeteia is the moment she gets caught. However, it seems that her fate has already been determined long before that, when she decides to bury Polynices saying, â€Å"I will bury him myself. (Sophocles 63). The last and most important criterion that makes Creon a more tragic hero than Antigone is that Creon’s actions arouse pity and fear from the audience while Antigone’s actions do not. From the beginning the audience recognizes that Creon has committed the most egregious mistake possible by forbidding the citizens of Thebes from burying the dead body of Polynices , an act that defies the laws of the gods and of humanity (Sophocles 60). However, because of his hubris Creon could not see his error. For this reason, the audience has pity for Creon, for no one can defy the gods and be able to avoid the consequence. The audience also has a fear for Creon because of his unpredictability. If he is not afraid of the gods, then what else he is capable of or willing to do to â€Å"protect his royal rights. † (Sophocles 98). So when Creon finally realizes his error and accepts his fate, the audience gets relieved and elated. In contrast, Antigone’s actions do not arouse pity and fear from the audience. Because the purpose of her actions is to obey the gods, she acts like a saint. For this reason, the audience has sympathy for her suffering and not pity. And there is no reason to have fear for a saintly person. Despite the play being named after Antigone, Creon is the tragic hero of the story because he has a more complete set of tragic elements in his character. Generally, it is more tempting for reader to choose Antigone as the tragic hero because she is the protagonist and a good person who is obedient to the gods, unlike Creon who is defiant to the laws of the gods making him a bad person in the story. However, an antagonist can be the tragic hero just as a bad person can be the main character in a movie, so as long as the bad person has the main role and is involved in more parts of the story. In this context, Creon does fit the role of a tragic hero, since he seems to be at the center of all conflicts: Creon vs. the gods, Creon vs. Antigone, Creon vs. Haemon, Creon vs. Tiresias, Creon vs. Eurydice, and Creon vs. the sentry. Finally, with many readers repudiating his actions, Creon seems to have a conflict with the audience as well.

Gun Control and the Brady Law essays

Gun Control and the Brady Law essays Have you ever wondered what effect the United State's laws, written many years ago, have on its citizens today? Television, magazines, Internet sites and articles all tamper with opinions concerning these debatable laws. When addressing the controversial issue of gun control and whether stronger gun control laws would in actuality reduce the likelihood of violent crimes, you will come across numerous variant views. The Constitution states, in the Second Amendment, that people have the "right to bear arms," but does it likewise give people the right to misuse these "arms"? Should the pros outweigh the cons or the cons outweigh the pros of new or stricter gun control laws? With the United States being the "land of the free," why is it that we as United States citizens have to live in fear of gun violence? According to the article "Would New Laws Reduce Gun Violence And Crime?" written by Sean McCollum, "You need only to compare the U.S. with developed countries that have strong gun control laws to see the difference. Their murder rates are only a tiny fraction of ours. As Jeff Muchnick of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence says, "If handguns made people safe, we'd be the safest country in the world." But we are not." Pro-gun control activists believe that handguns are extremely too accessible to the public. They can too easily be placed in a shopping bag held by the hands of the wrong people. "A loophole in current gun control laws allows purchases at gun shows" to occur without the proper background checks of the purchasers, without keeping records or without "finding out if the buyer is qualified or knowledgeable about firearms in any way". A ll you sometimes need is a simple drivers license showing proof that you are 18 years of age, and most of the time you don't even need that! These simple tasks, no more complicated than getting a drivers license could have already saved 26 students at Columbine from being shot, and 15...

A Study Of Shaka Zulu And His Influence On Modern Zimbabwe

A Study Of Shaka Zulu And His Influence On Modern Zimbabwe SHAKA ZULU AND ZIMBABWE TODAY I am just back from a trip of about 1 200 kilometres around Zimbabwe. Everywhere I went I saw the empty skulls of a people driven off their land. Farm homes without windows, windows without curtains, gardens overgrown and dying, staff quarters empty and lifeless. Croplands idle and overgrown with weeds. Farm equipment rusting in the broken down sheds, hungry cattle without water, vultures having a feast day. It reminded me of the mfecane of the Transvaal Highveld in the early part of the 19th century in South Africa. The greatest Zulu leader in history, Shaka, often termed the Napoleon of African history, was responsible. Out of a tiny minority of only 2 000 people, he crafted the Zulu nation crushing and absorbing into the ranks of his impis the youth of the tribes to the north and south of his home and completely destroying the tribal peoples of the interior. Only three groups the Tswana of what is now Botswana, the Sotho of what is now Lesotho and the Dhlamini clan in what is now known as Swaziland, halted him in his ambitions. His genius lay in a few simple military rules when a boy reached the age of 15 he joined a regiment or impi. Experienced and successful warriors, who passed on to their young wards the knowledge they had accumulated in numerous raids on other tribes, led the impi. Their reward was that they kept most of what they took by force, and although all cattle belonged to Shaka, they were allowed to use the cattle for their own ends. When Shaka felt they had proved their manhood, they were given the right to choose girls, to marry and establish their own homes. They were given land and the use of cattle to enable them to become established. Their bondage to Shaka was life long. They were utterly ruthless and it must have been quite a sight to see an impi on a mission running in unison, their feet thundering out in rhythm on the dry African veld. When I was a boy growing up in the eastern parts of the Matopo Hills, some of the older men in the villages still wore the ring in their hair to signify their status as ndunas or officers in the Zulu war machine. In the case of the people I lived amongst it was an offshoot of the Zulu empire the Ndebele of southern Zimbabwe who had come to Zimbabwe in about 1820 after completing the mfecane on the highveld of South Africa. What Shaka had ordered was that the people of the highveld be destroyed so that they could never again threaten the hegemony of the Zulu nation in the Natal coastlands. At his order, the impis of the Zulu clans moved up into what are today the Transvaal and the Free State and they murdered every man, woman and child they could find. Driving their cattle and other assets back to the Zulu heartland as gifts for Shaka and his senior chiefs. Only selected women were kept alive to be taken as wives on return at the pleasure of Shaka. It was ruthless and self-perpetuating so long as the Zulus could hold together and enforce discipline. Its success made the Zulus the dominant social, economic and political force in southern Africa. Its tentacles spread as far north as Tanzania and Malawi, as far south as the growing influence of the white man would permit. At the start of the 19th century, the Afrikaner Boers started the Great Trek northwards eventually stopping in Chimanimani in eastern Zimbabwe. When their wagons crested the escarpments that sheltered the hinterland across the Vaal and Orange rivers, they found nothing but empty kraals and dry skulls. At a recent meeting in Pretoria with their South African counterparts, the Zimbabwe Minister of Foreign Affairs told his South African hosts that the land reform process is over in Zimbabwe and they would not be taking any more land from white farmers. He then appealed to the South Africans to help them get compensation for the displaced farmers. In fact there is little left now on the highveld of Zimbabwe where the bulk of the countries 4 000 commercial farmers had once been. Perhaps some 15 per cent remain shell shocked and cowed, ready to run at the slightest hint that they are coming back. Like the tribes of the hinterland in South Africa there was no help in the face of overwhelming force, no rule of law to shield them from the loss of everything they owned and held dear. One interpretation of the word mfecane is forced migration or a pogrom. Can anyone deny that Mugabe has done to the white farmers and the people who worked for them, just what Shaka did to the tribal peoples of the South African highveld? The fact that he has done this at the start of the 21st century, 200 years after Shaka, 50 years after the formation of the UN and the Declaration of Human Rights. 22 years after the signing of an agreement and the introduction of a negotiated constitution designed to prevent these sorts of excesses. Now just to round off the exercise we hear the government is uplifting thousands of farm workers and their families and dumping them without food or shelter near the Mozambique border in the north and east. Its forced migration or another mfecane. What Shaka did not know at the time was that he was opening up the way for a new empire to become established on the highveld. An Afrikaner empire with superior weapons and great personal courage and determination. What he also did not know was that under the feet of his impis lay the richest mineral beds in the world and that one-day in the paths cleared by the Zulu warriors, new warriors would ride. Just as ruthless and cunning, using money as their weapon and trading their rights for privilege across the globe. Smuts, Rhodes, Beit, Oppenheimer, men who would influence world affairs for another 150 years. Perhaps in the same way, a new nation is growing up in Zimbabwe. Its path cleared by the ruthless and cruel actions of another African tyrant, Mugabe. The principles he is using are the same, the effects similar, the object identical. Perhaps the outcome too, will be similar, a new nation will rise up in place of that being destroyed and it will be better, richer and more permanent than the fragile hegemony that Shaka thought would last forever. Tyranny never survives its perpetrators one day, one day soon, Mugabe will be swept aside by the very forces that he seeks to control. Then we will get the chance to build a better life for everyone that remains on the highveld in Zimbabwe. The highveld in our case is not geographical its based on principle. The principle of a nation foundered on the rule of law, of a constitution to which our people hold universal allegiance as the highest law in the land. The basic right of every man, women and child to life, liberty and respect, a deep commitment to democratic principles and to the creation of an open and transparent society. A pipe dream? No it need not be would the people of the South African highveld ever dreamed that one day a third of the economic power of Africa would come out of the area known as the whitewater ridge in the Transvaal? No of course not, but within 100 years of the terrifying nights of the mfecane, this was already a reality and Shaka only a memory.

Conflict Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Conflict Management - Essay Example First, explain the problem to the other party, however the language and mode of communication need to be convincing. The second step involves application of social skills to calm down the situation. This requires creativity in attracting the audience of the other partner. In such situation, if a sad mood exists, then allow time for calmness before proceeding (Konijn, 2008). The final step involves building a positive relationship. After explaining the challenge at hand, one needs to create a cordial and joyous relationship. This step is a bit difficult; however, creative skills in problem solving and conflict management need to apply to maximum to ensure that, the meeting ends in fine moods. In conclusion, the plan for interpersonal challenge management involves diverse skills of problem solving and apt communications skills. In addition, the fundamental aspect in this situation is the creation of a fine

Should democracies be forbidden to possess chemical weapons Essay

Should democracies be forbidden to possess chemical weapons - Essay Example This paper tends to assert that democracies should be forbidden to possess chemical weapons. Possessing chemical weapons threatens the integrity of a country. Let’s take the example of Iran to figure out how much tension possessing chemical weapons can create for the country itself and for the rest of the world. Iran has already been seeing tense relationship with U.S. and its allies, since the Iranian Revolution that came about in the late 1970s. The threat to Iran’s solidarity increased when President Bush declared it as part of â€Å"Axis of Evil† (WBGH educational foundation 2013, par.2). This threat did not decrease with the election bringing Barrack Obama in presidency. The notion that has further triggered the decision of U.S. war with Iran is Iran’s quest in nuclear technology. Iran’s acquiring chemical weapons, according to U.S., will be a threat to world’s peace. Even the allies of U.S. - England, Germany, and France- are worried ab out this nuclear state of Iran. ... Iran is not becoming a nuclear power (Henderson 2013); and therefore, it will not bear any threats from the external world, still threats prevail because Iran has been making military purchases from Washington and Gulf Arab, and has been making military maneuvers. This shows how being involved in and possessing chemical weapons threatens the stability and integrity of a country. Moreover, possessing chemical weapons creates a sense of hostility among countries of the world. USA has already entered into wars with a number of countries due to this reason, and this has destabilized those countries and has also put damaging effects upon the American economy. Entering into conflict disrupts the peace, not only of Iran but also of U.S., who has already lost the lives of many of its soldiers in military actions against Iraq and Afghanistan. Americans will never tolerate if the correct number of casualties of American soldiers in the war on terror is revealed to them (Nouraee 2010). The envi ronment of hostility brought about by chemical weapons only increases hatred, and encourages the residents of the attacked country to develop rebellious feelings. This does not help decrease terrorism, but increases violence and radical hostility. It only turns into a global hate combat. Also, U.S. has already been suffering from financial burden because of heavy budgets being assigned to war on terror. The sense of confrontation has been prevailing throughout the world because of the possession of chemical weapons by some countries, and this unhealthy environment poses risk to economies and social statuses of countries. Possession of chemical weapons should also be forbidden because it increases the chances of warfare. Let’s understand what the ultimate objective behind the possession of

With the Stroke of a Pen Government Reaction Paper Essay Example for Free

With the Stroke of a Pen Government Reaction Paper Essay Kenneth Mayer took an upright approach investigating the president’s executive power they used to issue amounts of executive order. He calls it â€Å"presidential edicts† which are official orders that the presidents create to assist executive branch in managing operations within the federal government. Mayer believes that this use of executive order; creating laws and procedures, is turned into an arbitrary order. This legislative act of making laws is stated in the constitution, given to congress; and with â€Å"the stroke of a pen† the â€Å"Laws of the Land† were made with no regard or interaction with the legislative. And as we learn in â€Å"With the Stroke of a Pen†, executive order can be criticized with substantial argument and can have â€Å"great impact†. Mayer put together charts of 1,028 presidential orders into categories, between March 1936 and December 1999, constructing two tables. Mayer leaned to the more necessary side of executive power, realizing the â€Å"formal and informal† restraints put on the president within the â€Å"separated system† and the use of checks and balances that protects, and also the vast difference in ones party in the congress can take the executive powers implied in the 2nd Article of the constitution away (not literally speaking). Mayer explained an issue dealing with Democratic issue with Eisenhower’s apathetic look on discrimination in housing and federal employment; with Kennedy’s promise to the people and equality of opportunity (constitutional) with the stroke of a pen came the fair housing order. As so with Clinton’s scare of impeachment, his idea of executive orders and unilateral decisions (such as, prohibiting the use of genetic information if hiring) showed the capability of a president. These presidential legislations therefore make general policy and link to public law. The argument many make about the executive order is that it’s a way for the president to avoid public opinion and constitutional limits. Though it’s said that this is an example of secrecy and totalitarianism, Mayer actually feels as if the president is limited enough and with all this his orders are constantly judged through a system (checks and balances) in our government anyway and through political parties in the congress. The constitution he says specifies that, President â€Å"shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed† meaning, that if laws aren’t being broken or disregarded then we have no argument against the president’s order. Supreme Court ruled in the steel seizure case (Youngstown), such decisions that aren’t constitutional or statutory. In the cases Mayer mentions about which are Korematsu v. U.S (decision of freedom fro internment camps of Japanese Americans), Schechter Corp v. U.S (about unhealthy chicken being sold, exceeding commerce clause), and Cole v. Young; these are all decisions that derived from executive orders. In the random sample of 1,028 executive orders between March 1936 and December 1999, took a look at the subject of the orders. Civil service which involved retirement exemptions, salary, holiday, and personnel; Public lands deal with land for public use, revoking previous land orders; War and emergency powers deal with orders creating or abolishing wartime agencies, and emergency preparedness procedures; Foreign affairs are orders dealing with importation, trade, aid, and affairs with other territories particularly signed by treaties; Defense and military policy deal with military personnel, intelligence community, and military lands; Executive branch administration order are orders creating boards, councils, agency transferring powers, and tax policies; Labor policy focuses on emergency boards and inquiry, and managing federal government labor policy; Domestic policy orders include energy, environment, civil rights, economy, and education. More than 60% of orders dealing with Executive branch, Civil service, and Public lands; the rest were dealing with Foreign affairs and War powers, and domestic and labor policy were small percentages. Since presidents have been given so much responsibility, orders are then handed down to clerks and subordinates. Mayer noticed through the second table/chart that focused on which the orders were made each year, that War and emergency powers have dropped since 1940’s, which is the result of no more World wars and such; also Foreign affairs, Executive branch, and Domestic policy orders have grown since 1930’s supporting the fact that executive orders do matter. When can a president rely on executive order? Mayer asks. Well in my opinion whenever he is stuck with the task of trying to protect the good, order, and equality among our union. The president is elected for the people by the people and in order for policies that can’t get through the congress as simple, and then this â€Å"Necessary evil† people call giving the president too much power is good. It’s fair to say that some power can be misused but, if the government and congress are doing there job right then the protections we have against a treasonous president or unconstitutional laws being made, almost nothing can go horribly wrong. With the bills and laws being opposed just because of parties in congress then executive order can be made first if the reason and issue is great.

Rene Descartes & Faith and Reason Essay -- Essays Papers

Rene Descartes & Faith and Reason The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries witnessed a colossal transition in the scientific view of the universe. During this period a profound rethinking of scientific theory as well as moral and religious matters took place. Traditional ideas were reconsidered by religious thinkers. Philosophers began applying rational scientific thought to problems that they considered. The main concept of the Scientific Revolution was to "question everything". The Scientific Revolution was an elaborate movement. Many brilliant people with a wealth of new ideas contributed to this movement. The French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist Rene Descartes was one of these people. Rene Descartes was born March 31, 1596 in Touraine, France. He was born to a mother who, at the time, had tuberculosis and died of it a year later. As a result of his mother's condition, Rene was very frail and suffered from dry coughs all of his life. Rene’s father, Joachim Descartes, was an established lawyer as well as a councilor of the parliament in Rennes 1. Descartes was educated at the Jesuit school of La Flà ¨che in Anjou. He enrolled in the college at the tender age of eight years. During his eight years there, his passion for learning burned brightly. He over-achieved in all of his studies, especially in mathematics and physics. Descartes also received a proficient education in classical languages, literature, and traditional Aristotelian philosophy. Because of his fragile condition he was granted permission to remain in bed until 12 o'clock noon, rather than being awakened at dawn as the other students were. To be sure he didn't rouse too late, Descartes woke himself early and then spent the morning reading, taki... ...eived analytic geometry and established the Cartesian curves and Cartesian coordinates. To algebra he contributed the convention of exponent notation and the treatment of negative roots. Perhaps no other intellectual movement was more significant for the future of European and western civilization. Footnotes 1. Cottingham, John. Descartes. New York: Basil Blackwell, 1986. 2. Same as 1 3. Same as 1 4. Same as 1 5. Morgan, Vance G. Foundations of Cartesian Ethics. New Jersey: Humanities, 1994 6. Sorell, Tom. Descartes. Oxford: Oxford, 1987 7. Same as 6 Works Cited - Cottingham, John. Reason, Will, and Sensation: Studies in Descartes’s Metaphysics. Oxford: Clarendon, 1994. - Jolley, Nicholas. The Light of the Soul. Oxford: Clarndon, 1990 - Tierno, Joel Thomas. Descartes on God and Human Error. New Jersey: Humanities, 1997 Rene Descartes & Faith and Reason Essay -- Essays Papers Rene Descartes & Faith and Reason The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries witnessed a colossal transition in the scientific view of the universe. During this period a profound rethinking of scientific theory as well as moral and religious matters took place. Traditional ideas were reconsidered by religious thinkers. Philosophers began applying rational scientific thought to problems that they considered. The main concept of the Scientific Revolution was to "question everything". The Scientific Revolution was an elaborate movement. Many brilliant people with a wealth of new ideas contributed to this movement. The French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist Rene Descartes was one of these people. Rene Descartes was born March 31, 1596 in Touraine, France. He was born to a mother who, at the time, had tuberculosis and died of it a year later. As a result of his mother's condition, Rene was very frail and suffered from dry coughs all of his life. Rene’s father, Joachim Descartes, was an established lawyer as well as a councilor of the parliament in Rennes 1. Descartes was educated at the Jesuit school of La Flà ¨che in Anjou. He enrolled in the college at the tender age of eight years. During his eight years there, his passion for learning burned brightly. He over-achieved in all of his studies, especially in mathematics and physics. Descartes also received a proficient education in classical languages, literature, and traditional Aristotelian philosophy. Because of his fragile condition he was granted permission to remain in bed until 12 o'clock noon, rather than being awakened at dawn as the other students were. To be sure he didn't rouse too late, Descartes woke himself early and then spent the morning reading, taki... ...eived analytic geometry and established the Cartesian curves and Cartesian coordinates. To algebra he contributed the convention of exponent notation and the treatment of negative roots. Perhaps no other intellectual movement was more significant for the future of European and western civilization. Footnotes 1. Cottingham, John. Descartes. New York: Basil Blackwell, 1986. 2. Same as 1 3. Same as 1 4. Same as 1 5. Morgan, Vance G. Foundations of Cartesian Ethics. New Jersey: Humanities, 1994 6. Sorell, Tom. Descartes. Oxford: Oxford, 1987 7. Same as 6 Works Cited - Cottingham, John. Reason, Will, and Sensation: Studies in Descartes’s Metaphysics. Oxford: Clarendon, 1994. - Jolley, Nicholas. The Light of the Soul. Oxford: Clarndon, 1990 - Tierno, Joel Thomas. Descartes on God and Human Error. New Jersey: Humanities, 1997