Tragic Heroes in Sophocles

Heroic characters have been portrayed in many ways in literature. The hero character has been shown to be both infallible and imperfect, both strong and weak, and both superhuman and ordinary. Consequently, this central figure has evolved over time to become a very complex character. In his Theban plays, Sophocles presents to the reader typical Greek hero figures: strong and resilient, morally virtuous, but with some flaw that ultimately causes their respective demises. In both “…showed first 75 words of 1086 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1086 total…to be such. In both, however, exists some trait that contradicts those hero characteristics, and ultimately causes the demise of each of them. For Antigone, her piety and loyalty were both her strengths and her achilles’ heel, so to speak; for Oedipus, his logic and reason worked for him, but his pride and stubbornness did not. It is because they each contain within themselves the reason for their own demise that they are tragic heroes.