“Who cares that he fell back to the sea?” writes Anne Sexton, regarding Icarus, in her poem “To a Friend Whose Work Has Come to Triumph”. The poem that she writes refers to Icarus, a Greek mythological character found in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, in a section called “Daedalus and Icarus”. In his poem, Ovid describes Icarus as “foolish,” “proud,” and “bold in vanity,” and tells how this pride leads to Icarus’ tragic demise. However, Anne Sexton shifts the perspective of Icarus’ death from one of vanity to one of glory. The first difference that the reader may notice, the title of each story, accentuates the contrast between Ovid’s and Sexton’s outlook on Icarus’ death. Ovid’s title, “Daedalus and Icarus,” merely states the names of the two main …show more content…
Anne Sexton uses positive words such as “wondrously” and “flawless” that make the reader feel peaceful and at ease. She describes Icarus as “larger than a sail,” to convey the grandeur and accomplishment of his flight, and instructs the reader to “admire his wings” as he flies along, showing the glory of his flight. Contrastingly, Ovid describes Icarus as “foolish” when he did not listen to his father and “bold in vanity” as he flew higher and higher against his father’s command. In addition, Sexton uses a euphemistic expression, “See him acclaiming the sun and come plunging down,” to describe Icarus’ descent and death, while Ovid bluntly states that Icarus “was smothered in the dark blue sea.” Also, Ovid uses third person omniscient point of view, which shows the thoughts and feelings of the characters and makes the poem more informative, while Sexton facilitates a second person point of view which makes the poem more personal and inclined to the reader, by giving commands such as “Admire his wings!” and “Think of the difference it made,” persuading the reader that his death did not matter, but the glory of his descent and experience in flight
Prometheus Bound is quite different from other tragedies in that it is peopled entirely by gods. The play focuses on the story of Prometheus, and we have versions of this myth in Hesiod's famous works. There is reason to think that the author of Prometheus Bound was not only acquainted with Hesiod's version but actually drew on Hesiod directly in this play. This essay therefore aims to establish in what ways the author of Prometheus Bound seems to have drawn from Hesiod's version of myth, in what ways he has diverged from it, and what reasons he might have had for making these changes and innovations. This might therefore highlight any particular emphasis or purpose of Prometheus Bound and what its author might have been trying to get across. Though there is not space in this essay to discuss the problems of attributing this play, it must be recognised that this ambiguity of authorship and dating makes it even more difficult than usual to look at views and purposes behind the play.
In this paper, I will take a closer look at the two, comparing and contrasting the plays with the various elements mentioned previously. Sophocles style of plot structure usually begins in media res. This is particularly true of Oedipus Tyrannus. When the reader or audience is first introduced to the main character, Oedipus is already a grown man and king of his country. In the first few lines, talk of a "fiery plague ravaging the city" is mentioned (Sopochles 3).
As one of the most well known ancient Roman love poets, Ovid has demonstrated bountiful talents within his writing. When reading myths from his book titled Metamorphoses, you gain an enlightening insight of how he viewed mythology. To Ovid, love was the origin of everything. Therefore, it should not come as a surprise that most of his poems relate to the theme of love. However, not all poets are the same and every re-telling of a myth has its own unique perspective. In this paper I will compare and contrast the myth of Medea in Euripides Medea and Ovid’s Metamorphoses Book 7. I will then explain how Ovid’s approach to love and loss correlate to his general approach to myth as a whole. I will support my belief with evidence from Ovid’s Metamorphoses Book 14.
Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex introduced the one of the most important tragic heroes of Greek literature. First performed in the fifth century B.C.E., the play is centered around Oedipus, the king of the Greek city-state Thebes, and his struggle to conquer his emotions as he seeks out the true story of his life. This work, inspired by a well-known Greek myth, scrutinizes both the tragic flaws of Oedipus and his heroism. Examples of Oedipus’ tragic flaws abound in the play. In his condemnation of Tiresias and Creon, Oedipus is controlled by his emotions. However, the heroism of Oedipus is also an essential theme of the drama, though it is often downplayed. Despite this, careful analysis can uncover many instances in which Oedipus exhibits his heroism by attempting to control his emotions and discover the truth of his origins. In his finest moments, Oedipus is in complete command of his emotions as he searches for the truth, while at his nadir, Oedipus is completely controlled by his emotions and is absolutely unpredictable. This contrast is, in large part, what makes Oedipus a tragic hero. Oedipus, King of Thebes, is among the greatest Hellenistic tragic heroes because of his fight to overcome his greatest flaw, his uncontrollable anger, as he heroically searches for the truth.
Just imagine undertaking an important mission without ever giving up. Aengus from the Song of Wandering Aengus undertook the mission to search and find his true love. In the Trials of Apollo, Apollo attempted to save the Oracles and stop the beast. Michael, Bryson, and Sarah's mission in the Eye of Minds, was to stop the evil Kaine from destroying and hacking the world. However, all three had lots of perseverance, after many failed attempts and challenges, they never gave up.
The studied passage is from Ovid’s eighth book: Daedalus and Icarus. This book treats about heroes. This study aims to analyse several literary devices, which announce the death of Icarus, their function within the story, and the purpose they serve.
Ovid’s Metamorphoses is an anti-epic that was written in an attempt to poke fun at the seriousness of Virgil’s Aeneid. Although the Aeneid and Metamorphoses differ vastly from one another, both of these two revolutionary Roman works provide contemporary readers with insight into Rome’s treatment of women during the age of Augustus. However, Ovid’s Metamorphoses portrays women in a much more positive light than Virgil does in the Aeneid, and this informs readers that Ovid, not Virgil, was at least somewhat concerned with the oppression of women in ancient Roman society.
Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles, is a tragic drama that portrays a great deal of irony. Oedipus, the protagonist, suffers serious misfortune that is significant in that the “misfortune is logically connected with the hero’s actions” (AbleMedia LLC). When the reader learns about the background of Greek culture and the life of Sophocles, this tragic drama is able to become more alive and valuable. It is important to familiarize oneself with the author because it allows for a greater connection to the dialogue presented. Through the character development of Oedipus, one can see how ironic circumstances can turn a prideful king into a tragic figure.
The depiction of the Greek and roman myths are given unique insights from different authors. The Hymn to Demeter and Ovid's Metamorphosis provide and insight to Demeter's love for her daughter, Persephone, and explores its affect on the surrounding environments. The theme of separation and isolation is present in both of these myths, however, in Ovid's Metamorphosis, he symbolizes the environment in important events, has characters playing different roles, and empowers female deities.
Both ignorance and pride are closely related to the tragic hero and heroine of Oedipus the King and A Doll’s House. It is substantially the leading factor in the downfall of the characters, starting almost from the beginning of the tragedy, gradually building until the bliss, the fool’s folly, is wiped clean by a realization, a gatherance of knowledge that leads them to their suffering. Oedipus knows not of his herit...
The tone in the story is very different in the 2 parts. In part 1, it could be said that the tone is one of excitement and danger, because it is following Odysseus on his endeavors against the ocean and the gods. In part 2, the tone could be one of sadness because Odysseus must disguise himself as a beggar, and he cannot reveal his identity to his family and they cannot be reunited. They tone was also kind of mysterious, because the readers wonder what will happen when he converses with his family in disguise, because the reader knows about the disguise but his family has no idea who it is.
(2) Young people want to experience new things, get a grasp for the world. Older people would rather stick with the same routine that they’ve gotten used to. (3) Phaethon disregards his father’s warning because of his urgent desire to prove to the disbelievers that his father is the Sun God. (4) In this story, Ovid acknowledges that the Sun revolves around the earth and is “pulled” by a force, in this instance, a chariot rather than gravity. We see the Sun laggardly inching its way across the Earth. Furthermore, evaporation of water, deforestation, and atmosphere depletion are all recognized in this story. (5) Flying horses are typically known as pegasuses. The sun’s stallions could be considered similar to Santa’s reindeer, since they’re both creatures that do not actually fly in reality, they have been given names, and can only be controlled by one figure. (6) If not for the Greek era, then we might’ve imagined cross species animals in the Renaissance, as it brings about a second Greek era, and atone for the ideas not yet created. (7) Ovid is saying that oftentimes, humans tend to bite off more than they can chew. As for leadership, Ovid acknowledges that some youths may be overzealous in their ambitions to rise through the ranks and take off impossible responsibility. (8) Ovid is not using horses in the same metaphorical fashion as Socrates. The horses in
Gardner, Helen. “Othello: A Tragedy of Beauty and Fortune.” Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from “The Noble Moor.” British Academy Lectures, no. 9, 1955.
Sophocles’ tragic play, “Oedipus the King”, or “Oedipus Rex” as it’s known by its Latin name, is the Athenian drama that revolves around the events which lead to the demise of Oedipus Rex. The King Oedipus is forced down a preordained path that throws his entire world into a spiral of tragic providence, in this trilogy of a Theban play. Sophocles assigns the tragic hero to a downfall with the impossibility of changing the written fate; perhaps the views of today’s society would feel sympathy for the predicament that Oedipus is forced into, however, the publics of ancient Greece would accept that the path laid before them was a creation of the Gods. “Oedipus the King” reflects the ancient Greek credence in the belief that a person can do nothing to avoid their destiny, an idea that contrasts with what society believes today.
Oedipus is depicted as a “marionette in the hands of a daemonic power”(pg150), but like all tragic hero’s he fights and struggles against fate even when the odds are against him. His most tragic flaw is his morality, as he struggles between the good and the evil of his life. The good is that he was pitied by the Shepard who saved him from death as a baby. The evil is his fate, where he is to kill his father and marry his mother. His hubris or excessive pride and self-righteousness are the lead causes to his downfall. Oedipus is a tragic hero who suffers the consequences of his immoral actions, and must learn from these mistakes. This Aristotelian theory of tragedy exists today, as an example of what happens when men and women that fall from high positions politically and socially.