Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Conductor of Lightning


Antigone

According to the critic Northrop Fryre, “Tragic heroes are so much the highest points in their human landscapes that they seem the inevitable conductors of the power about them, great trees more likely to be struck by lightning than a clump of grass.  Conductors may of course be instruments as well as victims of the divine lightning.” How does this quote relate to Antigone, the character?  Please use evidence from the text to support your claims.  Do not forget to respond to two of your peers. 

17 comments:

  1. Esperanza ElizarrarazOctober 22, 2012 at 7:54 PM

    This quote relates to Antigone in the sense that in the story, Antigone's actions eventually led to her death. Northrop Fryre states that these tragic heroes are "great trees more likely to be struck by lightning than a clump of grass." Relating back to Antigone, this is true. Since she was part of the royal family, and her action of burying her brother Polyneices went against Creon's decree, this made her stand out and made her much more likely to "be struck by lightning". I think that if this would have been any other regular person in Antigone's place, the whole occurence would have probably gone on much more unnoticed, but since Antigone was Creon's niece, this emphasized the spotlight much more heavily on her. And I think that since Antigone was in the spotlight, this probably played a part in her stubborness. Even if she wanted to, there was no way she could have backed out because everyone's attention was already on her, so in this case she became a victim of this divine lightning.

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  2. Northrop Fryre claims, “Tragic heroes are so much the highest points in their human landscapes that they seem the inevitable conductors of the power about them...," thus being said it supports the belief that characters have no control of their life. Tragic hero's are not created, they are determined upon fate on its own. Although Fryre mentions the fate of a tragic hero, Sophocles incorporates, "That is why I wanted you...we must do something," as Antigone speaks to Ismene she correlates her decisions. No longer would Antigone hold the fate of being a tragic hero; moreover, she chose her own path.

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    1. So you said that "tragic heroes are not created, they are determined upon fate on it's own" but then at the end you said that Antigone chose her own path. Could you please further explain to me because it kind of sounds like your contradicting yourself.

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    2. You say that "tragic heroes" are not created, but who is it that decides who is going to become the person that affects everyone else and then eventually dies with either their own hand or by someone else's? Since fate is just a belief, why did it have to be that person, could it not have been anyone else or a number amount of people that had the same "fate"?
      -Jesus Alcantar

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    3. You claim that Antigone chose her own path, but who is to say that is was not fate that guided her to take that path? The philosophy of 'fate' depends on whether one finds such an ideology to be real or fake. Through your analysis are you exclaiming that tragic heroes, as mentioned within the quote, do no exist at all?

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  3. "Lightning. It flashes bright, then... fades away. It can't protect. It only destroys". As quoted by Claire Farron I believe that the above quote relates to Antigone's death. When her death came it caused many deaths. Haimon quotes "Her death will cause another", stating that if Antigone dies he shall die as well. Since Antigone's death Hamion did indeed take his own life. Once Eurydice hears of her sons death she also takes her own life as well. Leaving Creon devastated from the destruction Antigone has done. Further more by doing this Antigone has become a "giant tree" from all the corruption she has made. When her death came, it came swiftly and sudden. Leaving Creon to pick up all the chaos she has started.

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    1. It is interesting how you said that Antigone's death is the lightning, I had not thought of it in that sense. It is very sensible that you would say that the lightning in this case is death, because Antigone does indeed serve as both victim and conductor of the lightning. If death is the lightning, what would be considered the "highest point of life" for Antigone?

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    2. Perhaps the highest point for Antigone was that she was one of the last siblings to die, or that she let her brother rest in peace no matter what the punishment for her crime.
      -Jesus Alcantar

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    3. I like your comment that "when her death came, it came swiftly and sudden," because I just realized that they do not give Antigone's death much attention at all. They merely mention it in passing to describe Haimons death in full and the following effects. I considered that possibly Sophocles was trying to illustrate that she was just an instrument to the destruction to follow.

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    4. Jesus, I had not thought of her being one of the few remaining family members as her "highest point", although it definitely makes sense. Antigone may have gained a sense of power, and bravery from the fact that she was one of the remaining few from her family line.

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  4. The quote by Northrop Fyre relates to both the play Antigone, and the character Antigone, in such a way that Antigone becomes the “great tree” that is spoken of in the quote. Antigone is a “great tree”, meaning her stature is above that of others, perhaps the other females during the time period, who are the mere “clump[s] of grass”. She stands taller than the others, in the sense that she has a greater amount of confidence and bravery than that of her counterparts. She has a greater chance of being struck by lightning because she takes more risks, and because of her risks, she is put in the forefront of the lightning. Antigone is a conductor of the lightning just as much as she is victim of it. Although Antigone the great tree is struck by lightning, which is the tragic flaw that leads to her downfall, in her becoming a victim, she also duals as a conductor, radiating her heroism to all of the other “clumps of grass” in the world.

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  5. This quote relates to Antigone in the sense that she fell from her pedestal of noble blood by committing a crime("highest points in their human landscape"). Additionally, Antigone appears to be in control of her actions and the fate she is bound to ("Conductors of the power about them") by rising above Creon and taking the final plunge by ending her own life rather than allowing Creon the satisfaction of executing her himself. ("Conductors may of course be instruments as well as victims of the divine lightning").Antigone rises as the conductor by striking down Creon, yet she victimizes herself all the same by committing suicide.

    Antigone is the epitome of a tragic hero, which is precisely why such a quote can apply to her.

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  6. Considering that Antigone did in fact head into her death with the knowledge of her folly, I think she did become both the conductor and the victim of her death. Although Fyre also states that, “Tragic heroes are so much the highest points in their human landscapes that they seem the inevitable conductors of the power about them," I have to disagree considering I thought Antigone was at her lowest. She had already lost her Mother/Gma and Father/Brother, then she lost her twin brothers at their own hands, and now she was at her low. The only up side she had was her sister, who then did not even want to be apart of the "holy crime" Antigone was planning to do. As a tragic hero, I think Antigone had to reach rock bottom first, before she allowed fate to take reign, and her fatal flaw to ultimately lead to her downfall, and then to the downfall of others.

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    1. I would have to disagree with Antigone being a "victim of her death". See knew she was going to die due to her actions that she knew were against Creon. Plus I believe she was at her highest when she respectfully buried her brother. She knew what she was doing was going to affect others as well. Creon was just foolish.

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  7. Mr. Fryre states that "tragic heroes" are going to have an inevitable downfall which leads to their death. In the quote stated above it says, "...divine lightning" which could be fate is the divine lightning. When lightning strikes it must hit a certain point, Anitgone, then later trickles down towards every body else. Fate struck Antigone first which caused deaths one after the other. This reminds me of the Final Destination movies, where the main characters were supposed to die, but when they survive death(fate) goes and starts killing them in the order they were supposed to die. Fate moves goes person by person until their final destiny is reached then leaves them alone.
    -Jesus Alcantar

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    1. I agree completely with you in your exclamation of Antigone triggering a chain of events which lead to not only her downfall, but the downfall of others. However, would you agree that it was fate's hands that guided the deaths of those after Antigone--much like the final destination movies--or do you simply believe fate is nothing but a folly?

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  8. Im confused on what this question is asking. Just the way it is asked throws me off.My we discuss this in class since it was our time writting topic as well?

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