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Antigone Hero's Journey Essay

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In the novel “Antigone”, one of the main characters, Antigone, is hero within the texts for her heroic actions. She follows many of the guidelines that are written in Campbell’s “A Hero’s Journey”. In Antigone, she fought against the injustice of Creon and his tyranny laws. In the novel, Creon refused to allow Polyneices, the brother of Antigone, a proper burial. In ancient Rome, a proper burial meant that the person would be allowed passage into the afterlife. The moral responsibility of which Creon held in his decision to give Polyneices a proper burial, reflects one of who does not give much sympathy and compassion for others. In this act of injustice, Creon shows not only Antigone, but the entire country of which he rules his moral and …show more content…

She follows a majority of the steps laid out in Campbell’s, “Hero’s Journey”. This means the text of Antigone could be considered a heroic tale depending on how one looks at what Antigone did and how they abstract the ideas and meanings of the text. What she did went against the best overall affect she could receive; however, it allowed a proper burial which meant her brother was able to get into the afterlife. Polyneices did not receive proper justice, although he acted wrongly against Eteocles he should not be eternally damned by not receiving an afterlife. Martin Luther King Jr acted in such a way that allowed the people he fought for get equal rights and opportunities as those oppressing them. He is looked upon as a hero by many people who followed the steps he took to become said hero. In Campbell, one of the seven archetypes which is hero he writes, “‘The hero is a protagonist or central character, whose primary purpose is to separate from the ordinary world and sacrifice himself for the service of the Journey at hand…’” (Campbell Page 1). This quote can apply to MLK and Antigone, Antigone sacrificed herself for her brothers after life. Martin Luther King Jr does not follow the steps laid out in Campbell’s article, because his life was not scripted but

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