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Emily Cummings

Mrs. Laureen Batchelor

World Literature- III

December 16, 2010

Protection: Death, Suffering, and Pride

The presence of suffering contorts happily ever after into horrendous death. In the lines

of Homer’s The Iliad and the scenes of Sophocles’ Antigone and Oedipus Rex, the protection of

loved ones sets the stage. A man’s sword and shield may defend and protect, but as he tries so

willingly to keep his city save “[he] . . . goes down in war . . . under a slashing bronze blade”

(Homer 543: 84-86). Men may believe the blade makes them heroes, but in the eyes of others

they resemble men carrying only knives. When these men are not prepared the unpredictable

outcomes of protecting their loved ones often orchestrates death, suffering, and pride.

Protecting comes as a natural instinct to most people. Even knowing they could die, some

people take the risk anyway. What theses people do not realize is the burden they are leaving

behind for their families. Their death can launch hidden emotions, and these emotions are front

and center in the Greek tragedies The Iliad, Antigone, and Oedipus Rex. To start, in The Iliad, the

Greek hero, Hector battles Achilles for his beloved city, but “death [cuts] him short” (Homer

553: 424). Hector’s death and the treatment of his corpse ignite the emotions of King Priam and

Queen Hecuba, causing them to cry out in pain and suffering. Death also causes Oedipus to cry

out in Oedipus Rex as Oedipus fulfills his unavoidable fate. Oedipus is determined to escape his

fate to protect the ones he loves, but while he worries so much about escaping Jokaste, Oedipus’

wife, hangs herself in her bed chamber. Jokaste’s actions support the foundation of Oedipus’

uncontrollable emotions. The emotions form a situation which results in Oedipus “[ripping] from
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her gown the golden brooches . . . and [plunging] them down straight into his own eyeballs”

(Sophocles 1350: 1218-1220). Oedipus cannot stand to ponder what he has done, not only to

himself, but to his family as well. The physical pain Oedipus endures illustrates the idea of pain

due to a death. Death can also cause a person to step out of their way to do the right thing. In the

Greek tragedy Antigone, Antigone battles for the burial of her brother, Polyneices, who dies in

battle to protect his kingdom. Creon forbids his proper burial, but Antigone knows Polyneices’

actions “[do not] affect the laws of burial” (Sophocles 11). Antigone’s sympathy for her dead

brother causes her to endure Creon’s punishment. When a person does all they can to protect the

people they love, sometimes they cause more pain then they originally thought. The Iliad,

Oedipus Rex, and Antigone each have their own way of portraying the influence a protector’s

death can have on the citizens of a city.

As a hero takes the role of keeping his kingdom safe, he puts his life at risk. That hero

could be the child of two very loving parents, and when he dies in battle the pain suffering brings

takes over. Losing their child motivates King Priam and Queen Hecuba, in The Iliad, to fight

Achilles for he Hector’s corpse. Achilles, however, takes pride in what he has done even though

there is “no doubt some mortal [suffers]” due to his ruthless actions (Homer 590: 54). So as the

king and queen watch Hector’s burial, the loss they now suffer from remains with them. Dieing

from honor, like Hector, does not have the same effects as someone who chooses to take their

own life. In Oedipus Rex, Jokaste ends up taking her own life. This dreadful situation causes

Oedipus in inflict physical pain on himself. The pain he deals with clearly shows that “the misery

of mankind . . . has a name,” and will never hide (Sophocles 1351: 1234). Therefore Oedipus’s

physical injuries leave scares that stay with him for the rest of his life as a reminder of the

physical and emotional suffering he deals with. The everlasting reminders, like Oedipus’, can
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transform a good life into one not worth living for. The life of Creon in Antigone, transforms

from one full of power to one where he realizes “all the years that [he] [labors]” will waste away

due to his infamous actions towards Polyneices (Sophocles 25). Creon not only suffers from loss

of power and time, but also suffers when his wife stabs herself and takes her own life away.

Now, Creon must make the best of the life the angry gods have in store for him. Creon, Oedipus,

King Priam, and Queen Hecuba all have one thing in common, they each experience suffering

from losing someone very dear to them, whether the person exists as a wife or a son.

Pride can turn into an unpleasant characteristic that controls the way a person thinks. In

The Iliad, Hector’s pride in believing he can kills Achilles, only results in his death. Hector’s

death will not take place if he listens to king Priam and Queen Hecuba “both pleading time and

again” (Homer 544: 109). Hector recognizes if he survives Achilles’ battle, he will have honor

forever. The honor Hector dreams of produces his pride. Once he knows what he wants no one

can change his mind. Oedipus, from Oedipus Rex, also identifies what he wants. He knows he

will attempt to escape his fate no matter what happens to fall on him. In doing so, however, his

pride in the thought of running away from his destiny destroys his life. Trying to fight causes this

man, “born to this fate,” to lose the love of his life, and the ability to live a life free of pain

(Sophocles 1337: 786). A painful life transforms Creon, from Antigone, into a man with no

pride left. The pride Creon once had produces a monster inside him. The monster influences

Creon to do anything to keep power. The need to keep his power only results in the loss of his

wife. Creon soon learns that “the greater your arrogance, the heavier God’s revenge” (Sophocles

26). God’s revenge only makes man tremble in fear. Once the gods are angered, the man must fix

the problem he caused, even if that means to take the punishment.

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As a man tumbles down under a striking blade, death, suffering, and pride create a

situation full of pain. Pain presents itself as a hero dies protecting the city he loves, as well as

when a man losses the love of his life. However, losing a loved one is not the only constructor of

pain. Pride also takes control in the process of creating pain. When a man believes he can protect

the city he loves, his pride will over whelm the situation and most likely cause his death. Now,

the loss of this man builds the emotions of the citizens of the city, and once again gives birth to

pain and suffering.

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Works Cited

Homer. The Iliad. Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin Books, 1990. Print.

Sophocles. Antigone. [Handout provided by instructor]. 2010.

Sophocles. Oedipus Rex. Trans. Dudley Fitts and Robert Fitzgerald. Perrine’s Literature:

Structure, Sound and Sense. Ed. Thomas R. Arp and Greg Johnson. New York:

Wadsworth, 2002. 1310-1359. Print.

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