In Sophocles’ Antigone, Polynices never appears directly, but is one of the significant presences in the tragedy. Polynices is the reason for the downfall of the tragic hero, Creon, who is also the King of Thebes. Not only has one character been affected, but Polyneices’ death is the root of the preeminent conflict. Stated in the prologue, Polyneices has already been killed by his brother, Eteocles. This piece of background information is crucial because his death has generated a tremendous force on the plot and themes of the play.
During the Trojan war he lead the troops of Dardanian, but still under Hectors demands. (Ross, 2007: 36) The Greek hero: Odysseus. Odysseys is known for being a hero from legendary Greek mythology. He lived in Ithaca and was also the king there, being the son of Laertes and Anticlea. He first featured in Homer’s epic the Iliad but his main feature was in the Odyssey (Griffen, 1987:45) The primary sources in which heroes feature.
Thus, inspiring Aeschylus to write tragic poets such as Prometheus’ Bound in order to express his own ideology and pointing the moral of tragedy. It is no surprise that Hesiod viewed Zeus as a glorified olympian hero and Prometheus as a traitor who stole fire and gave it to mankind. Aeschylus’s idea of Prometheus was conflicting to Hesiod, whereby he viewed Prometheus as a god supporting the civilization of mankind. Through thorough analysis of Zeus’ interaction with Prometheus in both Hesiod’s Theogony and Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound, this essay will be able to clarify which one of the authors had the most accurate
First, the author states, “From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,/Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.” (Prologue.3-4). Shakespeare attributes the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet as stemming from “ancient grudge”, which is the long-lasting feud between the two families. He then suggests that it is the “civil hands” or family members, who brought them to their deaths. In addition, Shakespeare gives the spoiler that, “A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life.” (Prologue.6). This is something a typical modern-day playwright wouldn’t do.
Oedipus, the brainchild of Sophocles in his play Oedipus the King, matches well to what Aristotle defined as a tragic hero (Tragic hero as defined by Aristotle). He possesses hamartia (tragic flaw), peripeteia (reversal), and anagnorisis (full knowledge). This archetype of a tragic hero, though, was not rigidly followed by the modern model of a tragic hero. Perhaps the most prominent example of the twentieth-century tragic hero is John Proctor, the protagonist in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. Though John Proctor shares the many characteristics of an ancient tragic hero i.e: hamartia, peripeteia and anagnorisis, he is different by definition of a tragic hero as interpreted by Arthur Miller.
The main character, Beowulf, is the stereotypical hero that comes from a far away land to defeat the monstrous antagonist Grendel, and defend the impotent villagers. More modern novels such as Grendel, depict the hero model in much different way. Grendel, the antagonist and protagonist, suffers through an extended existential crisis and is forced to deal with his monstrous instinct. The “hero” of this novel, Beowulf, is portrayed as
In the plays written by Aeschylus and Sophocles, it tells of two different tragedies in very distinct ways. In the play written by Aeschylus, it focuses on how vengeance has brought almost everyone in one family to death, and left the last to fend for his actions. It seemed as if in the first story, the love for family was at times a motive but at other times obsolete. While in the play written by Sophocles, it seemed as if acting on behalf of love, led many of characters to their doom. A way to evaluate the differences between each play and acknowledge their significance, would be to analyze one of the main characters in each book by assessing their personalities, motives, and actions.
Thomas Harris, an American writer of suspense, said: “Nothing makes us more vulnerable than loneliness, except greed.” He is best known for a series of novels about his character, Hannibal Lecter. Even though the two authors Harris and Homer both come from different time periods, Harris being modern and Homer not, the shared human experience connects them. Odysseus and Achilles are so distracted by greed and fame that they are willing to risk everything for it such as Odysseus’s life and the life of his crew, and Achilles dying in Troy. In the movie “Troy”, the main character Achilles travels to Troy with the rest of the Greek army to fight to gain control of Troy and meets many challenges throughout the battle. In “The Odyssey” written by
The tragic hero is a character whose tribulation comes unwanted, but also by some error in judgment. This judgment error leads to characters own downfall. Aristotle has said that “A man doesn’t become a hero until he can see the root of his own destruction” (Carli 2015). Most of histories early plays were written as either a tragedy or comedy. In tragic plays, the unlikely hero will do something that will kill the character.
While Odysseus battles mythical creatures and faces the wrath of the gods… He loses many men in the process of trying to come home, his wife, Penelope, and his son, Telemachus, stave off suitors vying for Penelope’s hand in marriage and Ithaca’s throne long enough for Odysseus to return. The Odyssey ends as Odysseus wins a contest to prove his identity, slaughters the suitors, and retakes the throne of Ithaca. Just like in The Odyssey, many of the characters from the movie Troy went on quests with many challenges. Based on Homer’s Iliad, this epic portrays the battle between the ancient kingdoms of Troy and Sparta. While visiting Spartan king, Menelaus, with his brother, Hector, Paris falls for Menelaus’ wife, Helen, and takes her back to Troy.