Analyzing Wisdom Through Tragedy

In the Greek tragedy "Antigone," Sophocles continues writing the history of Thebes and the stories weaved into this history, by telling the tale of Antigone, a good woman whose loyalty to the Gods unfortunately resulted in her death. It was not until Antigone passed that her fellow condemners realized her motives of righteousness, however. This is one of many situations in which wisdom surfaced due to something tragic or devastating occurring. Often this initial wisdom carries on throughout one's life, yet for many, it only lingers until the tragedy or event is forgotten, and people begin to go back to being ignorant and oblivious. From global events and individual deaths, to interpersonal relationships, human beings unfortunately do not realize what they take for granted until it is too late.

Many historians feel this pattern of ignorance is why history so often repeats itself and why today we still have wars, violence, and over conflict. For example, many consider the present-day conflict in Iraq to be World War III; a war that we could have easily avoided. But moreover, many have compared the conflict to that of Vietnam, one of the most destructive and devastating wars in America's history. Why then, is our own government sending out troops overseas to come back in body bags? Did not American learn from the Vietnam conflict that by intervening in international affairs where our country is unwanted, we will only be asking for the destruction of our own country? Many believed Vietnam was the worst possible tragedy that America could face, however they were wrong.