Even the Great Fall: The Story of Phyllis on Aristotle

1110 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Achilles as an Anti-Hero reflection paper

No one ever wants to admit that they have flaws or a weakness. To admit a thing like that would be equivalent to admitting defeat. Possessing strength and self-control creates the atmosphere of being superior. Being put on that high pedestal will only lead to a harder fall. It is impossible to be so grand that neither temptation nor physical faults are to be avoided. It is human nature, a way to learn. However important one may be, or how holy another is, or even someone with great wealth, weakness is within. Refusing and denying those weaknesses simply due to social class or enforced theory will lead to unfortunate endings.

Diving right into the Maeren of Aristotle and Phyllis, the reader is given a basic back story and introduced to the main characters. Aristotle is Alexander’s teacher who was hired by his father to instill great influence and knowledge within the young boy. As it so happens Alexander falls in love with a young maiden and loses focus on his school work. The well praised Aristotle outraged with the occurrence heads to the king to discuss the matters and has that relationship forbidden. Aristotle, the grand philosopher was highly disappointed with the lack of self-control that young Alexander has shown. Considering he is known for his enlightenment and intellect what Alexander had taken part in is much below the standards set by his instructor.

Due to Aristotle believing that he is this non flaw having individual, a person who is so highly above everyone else; only because he is so well educated, does he attempt to intercept the coming destiny. He lacks the part of humanity that everyone else seems to have, the ability to accept passion. Seen within Alexander it proves to be a flaw that Aristotle tries with...

... middle of paper ...

... horse. There is no one anywhere who can resist such a grand temptation nor deny the fact that they acquire shortcomings. Even the great fall and fail at times. The only way to survive is to acknowledge and accept the weakness. It does not make anyone any less of a human being. Rather that will make someone stronger and will also make them a noble person. If the choice is to try and put up the facade that there is nothing flawed in anything apart of you then accept that unfortunate incidents like those sentenced to Aristotle will come stumbling down. Those who believe they are superior are likely to be blind and fall for simple traps. Passion for example and every other weakness that some being might have needs to be addressed and assessed. As people we are given these attributes for a reason. What makes a person human are the flaws that form the person they are.

Show More
Related

  • Socrates, Aristotle, and Glaucon

    547 Words  | 2 Pages

    Plato’s character in “The Ring of Gyges” is trying to convey certain points about human nature and wisdom. In Glaucon’s fictional story, Gyges is a shepherd who stumbles upon a mysterious ring which allows him the power to become invisible. Gyges eventually gives up his lowly life as a shepherd and becomes an authoritative and crooked dictator due to the power of the ring. Glaucon’s main point in this story is that people are inherently immoral and will look out for themselves over the good of others. Due to his assumption about the nature of the human race Glaucon proclaims that in order to keep human’s from causing damage to others our social order should emphasize a government that will contain their constituents. Glaucon’s proposed social order became the building blocks of the social contract theory of government; “People in a society mutually agreeing not to harm one another and setting up sanctions when they do,” (Caste, 2014).

    Read More

  • Platonic Epoch Essay

    683 Words  | 2 Pages

    The human life on earth on present time is yet to be “vast and harmonious.” Curiosity and sociability are not ceased to exist; but they are with sense of contradictions and social conflicts. It would not be fair to diminish the idea Aristotelian epoch when some parts of it are viable. The ability of understanding on how things work is one of the things that humans are trying to achieve, and is getting better at it every day, but without conflicts, there would not be anything to solve. Before every single problem in this earth is solved, the harmony that Aristotle desire for human kind would not be as near as it could be.

    Read More

  • The Winter's Tale, The Remains of the Day, & The Great Gatsby

    2374 Words  | 5 Pages

    ...e Winter’s Tale, The Great Gatsby and The Remains of the Day one of the most significant lessons to be learnt is that anyone from the jealous king, to the hedonistic socialite, to the strictly dutiful servant can suffer at their own hand and fall victim to the flaws of their own character. It is a universal phenomenon, which was originally defined by Aristotle, which is consistent from the plays of Shakespeare to the works of contemporary authors.

    Read More

  • Doing Unintelligent Things in Oedipus

    912 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are several cases in which we, being the humans that we are, do unintelligent things. This central theme has been used throughout the ages in literature, poetry and theatre. In Socrates' Oedipus, he shows that even people in high positions, like King's, are unable to realize the information in front of them. In most Greek tragedies, characters have what is called a hubris which is pride or humans believing that they are more powerful than the Gods or people ordained by gods to be messengers. In the case of Oedipus, his hubris was also his hamartia or tragic mistake which makes him the tragic hero of the play. His hubris caused several reactions that effected the people around him including: effecting his country through the plague, effecting parents through fulfilling the profecy, and effecting his own life and his eventual downfall by making himself blind.

    Read More

  • Analyzing Shakespeare´s Account of Human Nature in King Lear in Comparison With Other Authors

    1435 Words  | 3 Pages

    In conclusion, it remains that, even after being around for over 2000 years, Aristotle’s philosophy on human nature remains one of the most accurate questions to the eternal question of “what is human nature?” It may not, in the end, prove to be the correct answer to the question, in fact, it may very well be possible that there is no definite answer possible. But until scholars and students in programs such as ours can find a suitable replacement, his analysis will remain superior to all others.

    Read More

  • Jay Gatsby: The Tragic Hero in The Great Gatsby

    1330 Words  | 3 Pages

    The. The "Aristotle". Home Page English 112 VCCS Litonline. Web. The Web.

    Read More

  • aristophanes essay

    1148 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Birds and The Frogs, written by Aristophanes, show a strong dichotomy between the pragmatic and romantic. This dichotomy is prominent in both stories because it voices a perspective on the evolution of Greek culture. Although written for entertainment, many of the punchlines refer to the real life triumphs and crises of Greece. For example; both plays were written during the 4th Century BCE, during which, Athens was on the brink of war with Sparta. The crisis in Athens is used as a plot point in both plays, with many characters desperately trying to find a way to resolve this conflict or run away from it. This relates back to the dichotomy. In The Birds, the characters of Pisthetairos and Euelpides start off with the intention of running away from the possible destruction of Athens. They represent the pragmatist who decide face this possible reality. In The Frogs, the satirized version of real life Greek poet, Aeschylus, is obsessed with idealizing Greece, and believes that Athens can save itself from despair. He is represents the romantic who refuses to face this possible reality.Although both perceptions are subjective, both plays depict those who have this idealistic and impractical attitude, are the ones who actually succeed in their objectives. These characters triumph because of their obsession with preserving these romantic concepts instead of accepting a more realistic perception. This leads the character to be resolute.

    Read More

  • Oedipus the King: Pride and Determination

    532 Words  | 2 Pages

    A man has many defining characteristics - some positive and some negative. At times, a potentially positive characteristic may cause his eventual downfall. This concept can be directly related to the story Oedipus Rex. Aristotle stated, “the tragic hero falls into bad fortune because of some flaw in his character of the kind found in men of high reputation and good fortune such as Oedipus.” Essentially, he is telling us that Oedipus has a flaw that, under normal circumstances, would be a beneficial characteristic, but in his case, causes his demise. The defining characteristics of pride and determination can be attributed to the downfall of Oedipus.

    Read More

  • Does Aristotle’s Function Argument Offer a Convincing Account of the Human Good?

    1843 Words  | 4 Pages

    Aristotle tries to draw a general understanding of the human good, exploring the causes of human actions, trying to identify the most common ultimate purpose of human actions. Indeed, Aristotelian’s ethics, also investigates through the psychological and the spiritual realms of human beings.

    Read More

  • Aristotle’s Poetics

    1022 Words  | 3 Pages

    Courageous and admirable with noble qualities defines a heroine. In Aristotle’s Poetics he describes a tragic hero as a character who is larger than life and through fate and a flaw they destroy themselves. Additionally, Aristotle states excessive pride is the hubris of a tragic hero. The hero is very self-involved; they are blind to their surroundings and commit a tragic action. A tragedy describes a story that evokes sadness and awe, something larger than life. Furthermore, a tragedy of a play results in the destruction of a hero, evoking catharsis and feelings of pity and fear among the audience. Aristotle states, "It should, moreover, imitate actions which excite pity and fear, this being the distinctive mark of tragic imitation." (18) For a tragedy to arouse fear, the audience believes similar fate might happen to them and the sight of the suffering of others arouses pity. A tragedy's plot includes peripeteia, anagnorisis, hamartia and catharsis. Using Aristotle’s criteria, both characters in Oedipus The King and The Medea share similar qualities that define a tragic hero such as being of noble birth, having excessive pride, and making poor choices. They both gain recognition through their downfall and the audience feels pity and fear.

    Read More

  • Analysis of Greek Tragedy Using the Aristotilean Model

    1109 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...Michael. "Aristotle: Some Key concepts." John Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory & Criticism (1994): 2 pars. 30 May 2006. http://www.sou.edu/English/Hedges/Sodashop/RCenter/Theory/People/aristotl.htm

    Read More

  • The Morality Of A Good Life

    1149 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... feel beneath you to uplift ones self. If one was born into the noble they were sanctioned a virtuous good life, the ignoble were condemned from the beginning based purely by the division of labels and the power of words.

    Read More

  • Aristotelian Tragedy

    587 Words  | 2 Pages

    One may argue that the Greek playwright, Sophocles modeled his play Oedipus Rex on Aristotle's definition and analysis of tragedy. Since according to Aristotle's definition, a tragedy is an imitation of action that is serious, complete and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished artistic ornaments, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not narrative with incidents that evokes pity and fear of a persons emotions. Also Aristotle identified the basic six parts a tragedy as being plot, character, thought, melody, diction and spectacle which he considered the least important. Therefore the controversy of Sophocles modeling his play Oedipus Rex on Aritotle's analysis of tragedy can be argued out since the play Oedipus Rex is a classic Aristotelian tragedy. However this conception is totally fallacious since it is a well known fact that Aristotle lived a century after Sophocles.

    Read More

  • Virtue and Happiness

    1466 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...rts of the soul in order to find the function of human beings which is activity in accordance with reason. It is first in this function that men ought to be virtuous. It is thanks to the same distinction that Aristotle gives the different types of virtues. However while Aristotle dedicates most of his piece to the practical, active aspects of virtue it is necessary to keep in mind the virtues of the life of study which is reintroduced in the chapters 7 and 8 of book X. Thus what appears as a contradiction in these chapters is in fact a reminder and a justification of the honourable and divine aspect of the life of study which is necessary to reach complete happiness.

    Read More

  • Aristotle’s Politics - The Good Man Should Not Rule the City

    2514 Words  | 6 Pages

    ...scussed). The justification of the good man in becoming the supreme educator can be made in the following way. Since all absolutely excellent men (good men) arrive at their excellence through the process of education, that is, they are not innately excellent, their efforts should be directed toward the emulation of their excellence in the children of the city, for they are the ones who know best the process of becoming excellent. In this manner of education, the children (being future citizens) will grow up to become good men and good citizens, and thus the future city will comprise of many potential rulers. The good man through education, will contribute towards the ruling of the city indirectly in such an instance, and not directly as Aristotle claims he should do.

    Read More

More about Even the Great Fall: The Story of Phyllis on Aristotle

Open Document