"Tragedy and the Common Man"

One cannot write a tragedy without believing in the common man. A story will not be good if the hero starts out superior, doesn't learn anything, and defys all odds easily. The "hero" in fact, should be based around the common man. He must have flaws, he must overcome hard obstacles, and he must LEARN! If one does not believe in the common man, there will be no story. Take any tragedy and analyze that hero. Does he seem realistic? Does he have issues to resolve? Does he learn? Does he have flaws like everyone else? The answer to all of these should be yes. No matter what you're writing about, you must have a realistic character. Sure they can become superior at the end, but overall, they're just a common man.

"On Wall Street, Pride Signals A Fall"

This article makes a very good point about how tragedy works. The best sentence to summarize would be "Greek tragedies, as Aristotle explained, rely on the punishment of successful but flawed heroes who reach for godly heights." (line 12). Writers and readers depend on a great hero to find peace, enlightenment, or success after a huge tragedy has happened. It pretty much defines what tragedy means.Take Oedipus for example. Throughout the play, Oediups lives a cursed life by marrying his mother, having children with, and killing his father. He does not know any of this however. The play revolves him finding out about who he really is and what he has done. Even though the play doesn't have a happy ending, it shows Oediups fufilling his original statement of having the murderer be banished. He also finds out the truth about himself and his family. In a way, that's the big "life lesson" of the story, but it took a tragedy for him to figure it out.

"The Burial At Thebes"

The point that stood out to me the most in this article is the argument that people use their own beliefs to defend themselves, whether or not it defys the law, or even makes sense. In my opinion. there's what you really believe, and what your religion teaches you to believe. If you were once Muslim and had certain beliefs, then were forced to turn Christian, your beliefs would change. In your heart, you would still believe what you did as a Muslim, although when studying Christianity, you might be being taught things completely different. In today's society, people argue with each other based on what they believe in, and/or what their religion teaches them.

Wiki Posts

The similarities between the Antigone, Sophocles, Oedipus, and Tragedy articles are very noticeable. To start out, Sophocleas was the one who wrote the tragic plays about Oedipus and Antigone. Antigone is Oedipus' daughter in these plays, which draws another connection. Both plays have to do with tragedy in the fact that Oedipus lives a cursed life (marrying his mother, killing his father, and blinding/banishing himself), while Antigone defys the law and buries her brother, which ends up with her being killed herself. Sophocles was one of the three ancient Greek tragedians, and his plays show that well. He puts together each play very well, showing character development, life lessons, and tragedy.

"Before the Law"

To me, the article is about breaking the law. Throughout the article, the doorkeeper only tells the man he is not allowed in, but doesn't take any action. The man follows the doorkeeper's orders and waits until (he believes) he is allowed in. What I find ironic is the fact that the door to "the law" is left open the entire time. To me, this is suppose to be a sign for the man to go in. He believes the law should be accessible to anyone, and yet the doorkeeper keeps him from entering.
This article relates to Antigone because it has to do with breaking the law. Antigone goes against the law in order to bury her brother, which is the right thing to do. She doesn't care about what people say and the consequences that could come out of it. The man should have done the same by going past the guard through the door, but instead he wasted his entire life waiting.

"The Tragic Fallacy"

The biggest point I picked up in this article (and contemplated) was the statement that all tragedy's are happy. This, to me, is not always true. While some tragedy's ARE happy (ex: the hero kills the monster that terroized the town), a lot of the time it's more of an eye opener to the character. Usually, the main character learns an important lesson about him/herself, which can be SEEN as a happy ending. Oedipus for example, found out the truth about who killed his father and blinded himself. There really is no "happy ending" but instead, Oedipus goes through with his original statement of the killer being banished.

Are We In Control of Our Own Decisions?

I believe everyone decides things for themselves. I know a lot of people believe in fate, and that our choices are determined that way to begin with, but I believe everything that happens is based off the decisions we ourselves make. When someone is contemplating something, going back and forth, trying to make a huge decision, no one else is in control. Does "fate" really control your mind weighing the options?
While certain factors can INFLUENCE our decisions, you are ultimately the one in control. It's up to you whether or not to take these factors into consideration when making your decision.
Being in charge of our own decisions can lead to tragedy because what you end up deciding might not be for the better. Although this isn't because fate wanted it this way, it is because of what you decided to do. No one knows what the outcome will be, and no one will unless the event happens.