Oedipus Rex, a tragic hero crushed because of his hamartia, was not a perfect man by any means. He had all he wanted, but by the end of the story everything he thought was true turned out to be untrue. Although Oedipus considered fate to be real, he had more confidence in his own knowledge and achievements to control his future. Also, Oedipus’ dependence on himself made his purpose and insight the best way to establish all of his decisions. Oedipus was very short tempered and tended to get anger if he did not agree with someone.…
28: Aeneas And Turnus Summary: Turnus makes the decision that he wants to fight Aeneas alone against the king and queens wishes who want him to surrender and save his life. Turnus, however is more concerned about saving his honor so they plan the fight for the next day and the armies surround them acting as spectators. Juno is worried about how Turnus is going to do in battle so she enlists the help of Turnus’s sister who comes disguised as an officer and tells the Latins to attack while their enemy is off guard. This results in a spear being thrown killing a young man.…
However, Prometheus foretold that Thetis’ child would be more powerful than their father and unable to accept this, Zeus arranged it so that Thetis would marry Peleus instead of having a relationship with her himself. It was from this union that Achilles was born and Thetis, also having been told that her child would die young, took it upon herself…
Damaris, the goddess of the Upperworld, was very nice and beautiful. Damaris was married to Deorsa, the god of plants and crops. She had two sons named Aegeus and Aeneas. Aeneas was brought to life from a statue and was mortal, unlike his parents. Aegeus was a immortal, strong and powerful like the rest of his family.…
Athena had to appear as Mentes because the suitors would be suspicious if a God walked into…
In Virgil’s "The Aeneid" there were two main tragic figures, Dido and Turnus. Even though these characters may seem vastly different they are also similar in many ways. For example, both characters are driven by emotional gains and self empowerment. Dido’s actions much like Turnus’s actions are derived from emotions towards/about Aeneas which ultimately lead to their demise (Fagles). Unlike Aeneas Dido and Turnus are crowded with the need to fulfill their own needs rather than duty, which clouds their vision between what is right and wrong.…
Appointed to the task of bringing back Medusa's’ head to King Polydectes as the ‘punishment’ for not bringing a wedding gift to a fake wedding, Perseus hesitated leaving his mother behind but…
In A MidSummer Night’s Dream, William Shakespeare proves that there is no limit to how far people will go to get what they want. Egeus, father of Hermia, will have her sent to her death or a nunnery if she does not marry the man he wants her to. Lysander and Hermia, the young lovers, are willing to run away and leave everything behind to be with each other and get married, because they are forbidden to in Athens. The king fairy, Oberon, has his wife, Titania, put under a spell to fall in love with another being so he can have her Indian boy that she cares for. Although getting what these characters want have consequences, they will go through thick and think to ensure it happens.…
Ares is the Greek god of war. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. In Greek literature, he often represents the physical or violent and untamed aspect of war, in contrast to his sister the armored Athena, whose functions as a goddess of intelligence include military strategy and generalship. The Greeks were ambivalent toward Ares: although he embodied the physical valor necessary for success in war, he was a dangerous force, "overwhelming, insatiable in battle, destructive, and man-slaughtering.…
Fate in the Aeneid, as it is in the Odyssey and the Iliad, is a driving force. Without fate the story would be at a standstill. Throughout the story fate and destiny causes the main protagonist to continue on his journey to Italy. Aeneas goes to the son of Priam, Helenus, who has a gift for prophecy. Helenus, in his oracle to Aeneas, says, “The Lord God deals out destiny so and turns the wheel of change; so turns the world,” (…
Perseus's origins aren't the most spectacular of all the heroes', but even before his birth he was destined for greatness. As the son of Zeus he was bound for a spectacular life. After his mother's banishment at the hand of Acrisius she made it across a sea with Perseus protected by a chest. They arrived at the island of Seriphos where they were greeted by Dictys son of Polydectes. After a few years Perseus had grown to be a strong young man.…
Black Ships Before Troy, which is the adapted version of the Iliad, takes place in 750 BC, in the ancient city of Troy. Detail and evidence from this book shows us that the Trojans and Greeks believed in many gods, worshiping all of them and hoping to be helped when it is needed. When the Trojan war started the gods played a large role in deciding the victor. The gods would choose sides and help in ways like sending bad omens, putting hope into tired warriors, and sometimes helping a mortal escape death. Fate and destiny were strongly believed by the Trojans and Greeks.…
Throughout the poem, Aeneas receives lots of decisions from both of his parents. Then I ask, should the hero not make his own way? In classical literature, there are two kinds of heroes: the hero-hero, and the tragic hero. In the Aeneid, Turnus is the hero-hero, and Aeneas is the tragic hero. The tone of the Aeneid is heroic, not tragic.…
Antinous demands that Penelope is sent back to her father’s home because he wants her father to choose who she would marry, instead of her staying at her house and manipulating the suitors by bring their hopes up, but never marrying them. Telemachus says that he cannot afford it because he would be punished if he forced the person that has raised him since birth to leave her own home. Other marriage customs that were mentioned included that the queen had to marry another man after her husband died so that the people would always have a king. 3. The eagles that were sent by Zeus repeated Telemachus’ threat that they suitors would be destroyed “in his house” without being punished.…
The story Iphigenia at Aulis by Euripides starts with the main character Agamemnon having second thoughts about going through with the sacrifice of his daughter Iphigenia to get the winds to move to go to Troy. He decides to write a second letter to send to her telling her to go back home and that her supposed marriage to Achilles would be another time. Before the letter can get to Iphigenia, Agamemnon’s brother Menelaus intercepts the letter and is outraged that his brother would damage Greece and put not only his wife in danger but his soldiers as well. For a while, Agamemnon and his brother go back and forth on this issue until Menelaus agrees with Agamemnon and Agamemnon decides to take on Menelaus view and go through with the sacrifice.…