Euripides

Euripides’s Bacchae is a tragedy about a mother killing her son. While the plot of it is very simple, the thematic implication is what makes this play so fascinating. One of the themes in this tragedy is one about free will. Free will, or the absence of it, is a catalyst for the end result of the tragedy. Two very important mortal characters in this play, King Pentheus of Thebes and his mother Agave, are both stripped of their free will and are manipulated by Dionysus, the god of wine and…

works, the poet provides the character of Euripides with most likely exaggerated religious views. In The Frogs, Euripides’ character is said to pray to different gods than everyone else, and in Thesmophoriazusae, a woman accuses Euripides of “persuading people that the gods do not exist.” (Lefkowitz 93) While Aristophanes and the comic poets did not say anything on the mentors’ influence on Euripides, it is seen though Hellenistic literature that Euripides and Anaxagoras were similar in one…

thousand years. Although there have been minor adaptations to what constitutes a tragedy, the general outline from Aristotle has provided a way for people to distinguish tragedies from comedies. One of the most notable playwrights of classical Athens, Euripides, is one of the few whose works have survived the test of time – both literally and figuratively. One of his most critically acclaimed works, Hippolytus, is consistent with other playwrights’ works in that it largely focuses on characters…

Grace Wang December 18, 2015 Tragedy Essay Which is the better tragedy, according to Aristotle’s definition of tragedy: Medea or Oedipus Rex? According to Aristotle’s definition, a tragic hero is a distinguished person occupying a high position, living in a prosperous life and falling into misfortune due to his own tragic flaw which consequently leads to his reversal and late recognition. Medea and Oedipus Rex are both one of the best classical and well known examples of tragedy. Oedipus Rex…

“Then they came to the tree from when Okonkwo’s body was dangling and they stopped dead,” (Achebe 207). This shows us that Okonkwo made himself look “soft” and not like the tough person he said he was because of the fact that he technically gave up on himself. This not only had a negative impact on him, but the clan as well. There were many things that Okonkwo did to show that he was not a leader, but showed that he was a weak person. Some of these things were he blocked out his emotions almost…

The Legend of Medea and Hypsipyle In the legend of Hypsipyle and Medea, Chaucer relates to these two women equally, seeing that they were treated shamefully by the same man, Jason. The narrator again refers his audience to his source: "Lat hym go rede Argonautycon, / For he wole telle a tale long ynogh" (1457-1458). Chaucer reports that Jason married Hypsipyle and had two children with her, what in fact turns out to be a mere fiction. In fact, he leaves her, and Hypsipyle writes him a letter…

“Myths Presented by the tales of the Gods” . The tragedy of “Prometheus Bound” by Aeschylus discusses the story of Prometheus’s punishment for providing the human race with fire. According to Cupitt, “ a myth is “typically a tradition sacred story of anonymous authorship and archetypal or universal significance which is recounted in a certain community … it tells of the deeds of superhuman beings such as gods” (Maurizio 14). In the tragedy, we observe the Greek deity Prometheus being punished…

Torso of Dionysos or Apollo is a freestanding marble sculpture depicting a nude male god and is currently on display at the Ackland Art Museum. An unidentified artist sculpted the work during the Roman Imperial period in the 2nd century CE, evoking a 4th century BCE Greek style. True to its name, Torso of Dionysos or Apollo is only a fragment of the original sculpture that depicted either Dionysos or Apollo. However, the work lacks enough distinguishing characteristics to accurately determine…

Thomas Hardy’s “The Convergence of the Twain” is a cautionary tale against Man’s attempt to transgress his myopia. Mirroring the Greek traditions of architecture and tragedy, Hardy impassively elevates the catastrophic accident to an cosmic ‘intelligent design’ - an orchestrated ‘convergence of the twain.’ Hardy presents this tragedy of human “vanity” through a detached, almost reportorial tone, developed from an omniscient point of view. Particularly, he uses sophisticated diction and wordplay…

The chapter by Scodel on Sophoclean Tragedy introduces the reader to the dynamic and catastrophic world (of what is left) of Sophocleans’ dramas. He introduces the writer, his tragedies, and all the elements that constitute the dramas. Scodel delves into the components Sophocles utilized to create the unique dramas and engaging characters. Scodel uses specific examples from various tragedies to convey the style, the tradition, and the portrayal of characters. Finally Scodel introduces Sophocles…