Antigone Aristotle

Samaritan Albert Mr.. Jordan Antigen Fear/ Pity Fear and Pity Shown In Antigen The Greek Philosopher Aristotle defined tragedy as a form of drama that evokes fear and pity in the audience. The tragic play Antigen conflicts that definition because although pity Is evoked throughout the play, modern audiences have difficulty experiencing fear because they fail to acknowledge the role fate plays In their everyday lives. At the end of the play pity can be felt towards Croon because his wife and son died and It was his fault.
When Croon finds out they died he exclaims, “Oh pity! All true, and more than I can bear. Oh my wife, my son” (109-111). Both Creek and modern audiences can relate to the pain, sense of loss, even guilt felt when a loved one dies. Pity could be evoked in either audience through this relation. Although pity can be felt for Croon by either audience, modern audiences have a hard time experiencing fear while reading Antigen. When Croon realizes his downfall had come, he says, “Whatever my hands have touched has come to nothing.
Fate has brought all my pride to a thought of dust” (137-138) The mention of fate causing the ruin of a rueful man would have caused fear in Greek audiences because they realized the role fate played in their lives and that everyone is destined to a certain fate that is uncontrollable. Modern audiences often feel as though they can control their own fate, which is why they often have trouble realizing the fear any tragedy is supposed to evoke in them. Pity can be felt for Antigen when Screen’s men found Policies body and took Antigen to Croon.

When the sentry takes Antigen back to Croon he says, “Just so, when this girl found the bare corpse, and all her love’s work wasted. She wept, and cried on heaven to damn the hands that had done this thing. And then she brought more dust and sprinkled wine three times for her brother’s ghost” (38-42). This can absolutely cause any audience to feel pity for Antigen because she put her family over the state, knowing she could get in trouble, and because she does get In trouble, pity Is elicited in either audience.
Pity could also be felt for her because she burled her brother and it was ruined. Despite the fact that pity can certainly be felt for Antigen by both modern and Greek audiences alike, fear for her cannot necessarily be felt by modern audiences. Near the end of the play Antigen says, “You would think that we had already suffered enough for the curse on Oedipus: I cannot Imagine any grief that you and I have not gone through”(2-5) This would evoke fear In a Greek audience because they believed more In curses and fate than a modern audience would.
Greek audiences would feel fear for Antigen because they believe that the curse of Oedipus would lead to her demise. Modern audiences believe less n curses and fate than a Greek audience would so they would not feel the same fear a Greek audience would feel while reading Antigen. Hansom’s situation could evoke pity throughout modern and Greek audiences because he fought to save his arms about her waist, lamenting her, his love lost underground, crying out that his father had stolen her away from him” (6(:)-63) Either audience could relate to the feelings Hammond is experiencing.
Even if they can’t relate exactly, they still feel sorrow for him because he is obviously very upset. While Hammond evokes plenty of pity throughout the play, he does not evoke fear into the audience. Fear might be evoked into a Greek audience when Croon says to Hammond, “Let her find her husband in hell. Of all the people in this city, only she has contempt for my law and broken into it. Do you want me to show myself weak before the people?
Or break my sworn word? No, and I will not. The women dies” (23-28) This may have evoked fear in Greek audiences because Croon is getting angry and refuses to let Antigen live. This would concern a Greek audience more than modern audiences because the curse of Oedipus would cause Antigen to die anyway, and Greek audiences would acknowledge that her death would be the fate predestined because of the curse.
Modern audiences would not acknowledge that her fate would be the cause of her death due to the curse and that Screen’s decision sealed her fate, so they wouldn’t feel fear. In summary, Aristotle definition would be correct for the Greek audiences of his time, but not for modern audiences. While Antigen evokes pity in either audience, it does not elicit fear into modern audiences because of their lack of acknowledging the role fate plays in their lives.