Aeneas can be considered an excellent hero. Discuss.
Aeneas can be considered an excellent hero. Discuss. (40 marks) The Aeneid, an epic poem written by Virgil is often cited as Augustan propaganda which is true to an extent and can be seen through Augustus' associations with Aeneas and other founders of Rome such as Romulus. Augustus thus sees himself as a modern founder of Rome, entering her into a new age which makes the portrayal of Aeneas as a good leader extremely important, namely piety, so that he could be paralleled with Augustus whom claimed to be a descendent of Aeneas himself. Aeneas qualities as a leader are evident in times of despair and when in the face of great adversity, it is in these instances that Aeneas often lends his men encouragement and instils courage and motivation in them. This is most evident in Book I in which Aeneas, caught in the middle of a storm, is in a vulnerable position and deeply unhappy. This is portrayed as Virgil states that 'a sudden chill went through Aeneas and his limbs grew weak' which emphasises Aeneas personal sorrows. It is for this reason that Aeneas' actions for his men upon their arrival at Carthage become significant and show him to be a tremendous leader. Self-sacrifice is a quality that Virgil builds into Aeneas' character which qualifies him as a good leader as despite Aeneas' own personal suffering "he shows them the face of home and kept his misery deep in his heart"
Antigone is a saint, whereas Medea is a devil incarnate" do you agree?
Many have described Sophcles' Antigone as a saint, and Euripides Medea as being a devil incarnate. I do agree in part that Antigone is saintly in her actions, yet I think her personality is hardly saintly. I also partly agree that Medea is like a devil in the way she behaves, but she not without motive for all her crimes. Antigone is a very strong woman she is willing to go against the law of the king, by burying her brother, she favors the law of the Gods (Q), this not unlike many well known christian saints such St (Q). One cannot deny that her actions were good, in Greek society leaving a body unburied was an extreme dishonor, as well as this her subsequent martyrdom is both heroic and saintly (Q). She is able to stand up against a tyrant in favor what was right. However her personality and her total disregard of all those who are near and dear to her, makes it hard to respect or even like Antigone. In Antigone, Creon, King of Thebes, the one that opposes Antigone, he values the law of the state over the law of the Gods (Q). It was Creon who made the law forbidding anyone from burying the body of Polynices, Antigone's brother, and when he finds out that she has gone against his word he puts her to death, yet while it is clear that Creon is in the wrong, he is not particularly the evil tyrant that Antigone makes him out to be. When he is interrogating Antigone he does give
To what extent are the characters in Ovid metamorphes real and not stereotypical
From the selected chapters, Ovid depicts the event of Scylla falling madly in love with King Minos of Crete and the attempted escape by Daedalus together with son Icarus resulting in the death of the young boy. When Cephalus and the troops from Aegina returned to Athens, Minos had been waging war against King Nisus for six months. During that time, King Nisus' daughter, Scylla, became obsessed with Minos, his enemy. After trying to squelch her love, she gave in to it and killed her father. She took his purple lock of hair to Minos and presented herself as his bride and her country that he'd been fighting to conquer as her gift. Minos was horrified by her treachery, and he took his fleet and left. Scylla realized that she would be shunned from her own country and all others for her betrayal, and so she swam after Minos' ships. She was clinging to the bow of one ship when her father, who had been transformed to an osprey, attacked her and made her fall from the ship. She, too, was transformed into a bird. Daedalus was an inventor, and he despised being in exile, so he decided to create wings for himself and his son, Icarus to escape. As they made their flight across the sky, he warned the boy however the naïve boy carried away with the freedom of his wings flew too close to the sun, and his wings melted. He was engulfed by the sea and drowned. In his memory, the sea where
Who was the real tragic hero of the Agamemnon?
Who was the real tragic hero of the Agamemnon? This essay shall explore the reasons why Agamemnon was the tragic hero in the Agamemnon. A tragic hero, as stated by Aristotle, must fall into the following criteria: "good or fine" meaning high stature, their "fitness of character", they must be "true to life", they must be consistent, "necessary or probable" to the plot, they must be "true to life but yet more beautiful", they must have hamartia or an error of judgement, there must be a "periperteia" where there is a change of fortune, they must have an "anagnorisis" where they realise their faults and we must have "pity and awe" over the character . In this essay, these criteria will be used to determine whether the following characters are the tragic hero of the play: Agamemnon, Clytemnestra or Cassandra. The context of this play is quite simple, it has a simple plot. Agamemnon sacrifices his daughter, Iphigenia, before the play and this is for the war at Troy and this is his tragic flaw. After the war has ended he returns and this leads to his and Cassandra's death. I shall firstly look at the reasons why Agamemnon is the tragic hero. Agamemnon is "good or fine"; he is the king of Mycene and united Greece so he is a very important figure throughout this. Agamemnon in some ways has a good fitness of character; he is noble through his status but constantly proud and
Scylla and Minos Critique
Scylla and Minos Critique The story of Scylla and Minos is as follows. The city of Alcathoe is being attacked by King Minos, he is doing this to test out the strength of his own armies before he attacks Athens. He wants to attack Athens since they are responsible for the murder of his son. Scylla the daughter of Nisus, the King of Alcathoe, watches the war from inside the city obsessively. Since she has watched the war day in, day out, she has knows all about the horses and clothes of the enemy, and in particular she has become obsessed with Minos. She watches admiringly everything that he does and she starts to fall in love him. She starts to say that she would do anything for him, and she imagines becoming his hostage, although she says that she would never betray her father's kingdom. However she begins to convince herself that that the war is in fact justly waged and that being defeated would not be such a bad thing. She then decides that in fact defeat is inevitable. She now resolves to steal her father's magic lock of hair that ensures the safety of his kingdom, and hand it over to Minos, as she believes that no other woman would let something stand in the way of her love. She manages to steal it and she offers it to Minos, confident that he will thank her and now take her as a bride. He however does no such thing and rejects her and calls her a monster for being such
"Hippolytus is an insufferable prig: Theseus an impetuous fool, but both are victims of the gods". To what extent do you agree with this statement?
"Hippolytus is an insufferable prig: Theseus an impetuous fool, but both are victims of the gods" To what extent do you agree with this statement. First the definition of insufferable, is extremely annoying, he would be annoying to the audience because his virginal behaviour would seem rather odd for a young man his age and the levels to which he takes it very extreme. He is very ignorant also, he maintain great amonts of praise towards Artemis, but doesn't do the same for Aphrodite, because he somehow feels his way, or her way of life is better, he doesn't have any real reason for following this and so he does appear self-righteous and ignorant. This is further emphasised by the fact that he doesn't even respect Aphrodite, and shuns her way of life. On the other hand I could take the line that he isn't annoying but rather loyal and determined to follow this way of life. He lives for himself and for no-one else, making him a free and independent spirit with a mind of his own. He doesn't hurt anyone in his puruits, he goes out hunting and, keeps himself busy, and so cant be accused of any evil or wrong doing, or even being idle. So this leaves me to think those who prefer Aphrodite would see him as the prig maybe, but those who prefer Artemis would see him otherwise, so looking at it balanced, on first impressions he just seems commited even if slightly innocent, but not
Pick out two ways in which Plato's ideas might be described as totalitarian. Explain in which way they might be totalitarian. Do you think that they are in fact totalitarian? Argue for your view carefully with reference to both Crito and The Republic
Pick out two ways in which Plato's ideas might be described as totalitarian. Explain in which way they might be totalitarian. Do you think that they are in fact totalitarian? Argue for your view carefully with reference to both Crito and The Republic. Özkan Bugra TELEMEZ 20300347 PHIL241 Sec.09 Sandrine BERGES Telemez 1 Özkan Bugra TELEMEZ 20300347 IR PHIL241. SEC.09 ESSAY QUESTION: Pick out two ways in which Plato's ideas might be described as totalitarian. Explain in which way they might be totalitarian. Do you think that they are in fact totalitarian? Argue for your view carefully with reference to both Crito and The Republic. Plato's "Crito" describes Socrates, an Athenian philosopher who chooses to die for an ideal. In the text, Socrates is condemnded to death and sitting in jail. At this time, Crito, a friend of Socrates comes to rescue him. Socrates has many followers who hope he will agree to escape. When Crito comes to take on this position, Socrates refuses to his arguement and also the plan of escape. In "The Republic", Socrates, visiting Polemarchus' house, enters into a conversation on the nature of justice. Several various definitions are presented by the different guests. After finding each of these incapable, Socrates attempts to define justice himself. This requires that he first describe justice on the scale of the "ideal state". According to
Fate vs Free Will in Oedipus Rex.
Fate vs Free Will in Oedipus Rex Fate is a crucial facet that plays a dominate role in a man's life. Defined as a "fixed force in which the order of predestined events are defined" (Merriam-Webster, 2003), this paves reason for man to believe that their lives are controlled by a higher power or being. As much as each life is victimized by their predetermined fate, man is still free to choose their course of actions, and is ultimately responsible for his doings. In Sophocles' Oedipus the King, the hero's fate of murder and incest was predetermined by the Gods that controlled him, yet Oedipus' downfall is attributed to the decisions and actions in which he performed. The play Oedipus the King primarily illustrates an underlying relationship of man's free will existing within the cosmic order of fate which guides the tragic hero towards his ruin. In the beginning of this tragedy, Oedipus learns of the prophecies that will take place in his life, and flees from Corinth in attempt to escape his fate. Instead, he falls into the trap of meeting his father, in his journey towards Thebes. It was his actions and free will that allowed for the prophecy to come true, as he recalls the murder of the mysterious travelers on his journey to Thebes, "... I killed him. I killed them all" (Sophocles, 819). He prizes his pride, honour, and excellence of his life above all else, yet as a
How do the characters of Antigone in Anouilh's play Antigone and Medea from Euripides's play Medea cope with the competition from other more beautiful and socially successful women?
¨ How do the characters of Antigone in Anouilh's play Antigone and Medea from Euripides's play Medea cope with the competition from other more beautiful and socially successful women? Both of the plays Medea and Antigone have tragic themes and their main characters are women who find themselves unhappy and so decide to act on behalf of these feelings. In both cases the result is a climax at the end of the play in the form of several deaths. One of the main reasons they decide to act is because they find it difficult to cope with competition of other women. Both Jean Anouilh in his play Antigone and Euripides in his play Medea have based their tragic plots on the roles of jealousy and spite and the extremes they can make a person go to. In my analysis I will first look at the effects competition has on both Medea and Antigone, in particular jealousy. After this, I will discus the aspirations both women have as a result of feeling jealous and how other characters in the play see them. Finally I will look at how the two characters act on impulse of their jealousy and compare what it leads to in each play. When talking about the character's jealousy it is important to first determine who is the cause of these feelings. In both cases, we could say it is other, in the characters opinion 'rival', women. In Antigone's case, the jealousy is aimed mainly at her "radiant" and
What qualities of character does Odysseus show in facing the dangers of Books Nine to Twelve of the Odyssey?
What qualities of character does Odysseus show in facing the dangers of Books Nine to Twelve of the Odyssey? Odysseus narrates books Nine to Twelve to the Phaeacians. Odysseus' character is greatly revealed here and the evidence taken from his actions supports attributes that the audience has been previously told exist. From the very start of the poem we are old that Odysseus is 'resourceful' and in these four books, we are clearly shown how. Odysseus demonstrates his resourcefulness when he uses what is lying around in Polyphemus' cave - an olive tree branch- to save his comrades and himself. This story also shows Odysseus' resourceful attribute when he uses the rams for concealment. In the story of the Sirens he uses the wax from the ship to block the ears of his comrades, which shows resourcefulness. Additionally, the story of the Sirens shows that Odysseus is unable to endure the temptations of the sirens, as he struggles and calls to be released. From surviving this ultimate test of forbearance, Odysseus learns endurance and later, when he returns to Ithaca he will need this skill. His temper during these four books can be ungovernable, as he says: 'Now when Eurylochus said that, I considered drawing the long sword from my sturdy side and lopping his head off to roll in the dust, but my men held me back and calmed me down'1. Nevertheless he has shown his patience