All right. I'm bitter. I seem to always be in this state lately, but never more so than after the weekend I've just had. I spent about half a year thinking that I was in love with one of my closest friends, and in the space of about ten minutes he completely obliterated any respect I had for him, while destroying my own self-image in the process.
So I've been friends with this guy for about four years now, and we've been pretty decent friends for most of that time. But in the past year or so, we have gotten much closer. About six months ago, I suddenly had the revelation that I was in love with him. And it was perfect, I thought, because we were so close, and I respected him so much, and we got along so well together, blah blah blah. It didn't matter that he is kinda fat, or not very good looking, or that he has no sense of humor, or that most of my friends don't like him. All that mattered was I knew that deep down he is a good person with a good heart, not to mention smart, honest, and responsible, all qualities I admire in a man. Not to mention the fact that I totally believe that friendships make a good foundation for a relationship, and that my ex-boyfriend was and is still one of my closest friends.
So my feelings for this guy grew stronger while getting to know him better over the past year. Although none of my friends thought he was good enough for me (even the ones who are also friends with him), I would defend him, even when he was rude or acted like a jerk, because I knew he really was a good person at heart.
Finally, after many months of not getting any response from him and wondering if I should tell him how I felt, I decided it was time to get over him. I was sick of waiting for him to wake up and see me, and I was too scared to say anything about how I felt. I went out with another guy, but it didn't work out and then I realized that I was never going to let go of him until I had some sort of closure, however lame that sounds.
Late one night after a disastrous date, I saw him online and IM'ed him.
In the play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, Oedipus is a classic tragic hero. According to Aristotle's definition, Oedipus is a tragic hero because he is a king whose life falls apart when he finds out his life story. There are a number of characteristics described by Aristotle that identify a tragic hero. For example, a tragic hero must cause his own downfall; his fate is not deserved, and his punishment exceeds the crime; he also must be of noble stature and have greatness. Oedipus is in love with his idealized self. All of the above characteristics make Oedipus a tragic hero according to Aristotle's ideas about tragedy.
The Iliad, written by Homer, is about a few weeks of a ten-year war between the Trojans and the Acheans. Achilles is one of the main characters of The Iliad and he is a great man. All he wants is blood. His friend Patroclus was killed and he fights to avenge his friend and earn glory in the process. He would not have achieved glory if his friend hadn’t died though because Achilles knew that when he fought he would die. His friend’s death is what led Achilles to the fame and glory he received even though he couldn’t really enjoy it since Achilles died in the war.
Helen feels apprehensive about leaving Menelaus for Paris, she says “it would be too shameful.” (Iliad, 3.410) and in doing so, she would lose her well maintained reputation in the eyes of all Trojan women. Since Aphrodite is the goddess of love and since Paris fulfills her desire, she must return the favour and unite Helen and Paris. So she further arouses Helen by threatening to“forsake [her] and grow to hate [her] as much as now [she] terribly [loves her]”(Iliad, 3.414-415). This not only frightens Helen, but also instigates her to follow Aphrodite to the bed of Paris and in the process of doing she successfully leaves unseen by the Trojan women. Infuriated that his wife has deserted him for another man, Menelaus and his brother Agamemnon alongside many other greek warriors, decide to take action against all of Troy. The Trojan war between the Greeks and the citizens of Troy escalate quite rapidly, leading to the death of superior figures of Troy and great Greek
Aphrodite expressed her power by manipulating a man to get what she wanted, which in turn caused the Trojan War. Aphrodite; although a woman, is seen as one of the “most powerful and fearful” of the gods which is displayed in her “sexual passion” (Tait 58). It is seen in her manipulation of Paris before the start of The Iliad. At Peleus and Thetis’ wedding, Eris threw a golden apple and told the gods to give it to the fairest of them all. No one wanted to choose between Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite; therefore, they called on Paris to choose. Aphrodite promised Helen, who was married to Menelaus, to Paris in marriage if he picked Aphrodite, and he did (Cook 279). Paris then kidnapped Helen while Menelaus was away. Aphrodite’s selfishness triggers a ten year siege of Troy by the Greeks in order to get Helen back. Aphrodite’s manipulation of Paris not only starts the war, but also determines Hera’s and
What is required of Achilles is that he carry out his role of hero and finish the war for his countrymen. His character is, therefore, mostly tentative throughout the Iliad. The quality of his character, which is ambiguous throughout the Iliad, is ambiguous because Achilles was unwilling to fight in the war. In the end, of course, after the fall of his best friend, Patroclus, Achilles fulfilled his prophetic role and won the war”().
Even though the friendship is new and barely beginning, you can already see how much it means to both of them.
Finally, we now know that the trojan war started when Prince Paris stole Helen, the wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta. Paris was assisted by Aphrodite, who promised him Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world, as a reward for siding with her during a competition against the goddesses Hera and Athena. It ended with the greeks leaving behind a wooden horse filled with greeks. Then, at night the Greeks returned; their companions crept out of the horse and opened the city gates, and Troy was destroyed.
I met him at the Hawthorne high-school’s orientation. October 3, 2012, was the official date and months of being with him, for the first time ever he made me feel something I’ve never felt before. He was the first guy I ever came to love. I can go on about this, but I’m not going into detail about what happened those years. Let’s just wrap up that story to the simple truth, he left me. I had invested all my time and attention towards him, that I began to care less about school. I was never expecting it, or maybe I was. It hurt. Looking at him hurt. I remember coming home and crying my heart out. I was devastated. It was something I’ve never wanted to experience. I sobbed and sobbed that night, and gripped onto my pillow and shouted into them, hiding the cries. I felt empty when I awoke the next day. My eyes were swollen, and I felt an empty void. I felt dead. We didn’t speak to each other after that. Months passed, and I was keeping myself occupied with work and friends, I finally was learning how to move on, on my own. I finally came to find my happiness through realization. They say somethings happen for a reason. It’s either a
At the beginning, Hector explicitly displayed his disappointment in Paris for abducting Helen, raging about why he put his country in danger for simple love; in order to discredit his brother’s claims of his cowardice, Paris decided to duel Menelaus (Helen’s husband) in order to resolve the conflict once and for all (“The Story”). Following a brief battle , Paris failed to defeat Menelaus due to the intervention of Aphrodite, and fighting ensued, led by Hector who spurred the Trojan army into attack, showing Hector’s immense influence amongst the soldiers (“Overview”). In the following months,the God Apollo greatly supported Troy, causing them to pay great tribute to him, and he was an apparent influence on the Trojan’s way of life. Feeling confident, the Trojans attacked the Greek ships, but ultimately failed when the Greeks retaliated (Homer 202). Hector, who had refrained from battle thus far, continued to rally the Trojan army to charge into battle “like some fierce tempest that swoops down upon the sea,” bringing forth a wave of uproar and confusion (Homer 207). Promptly, this wave was disrupted by Patroclus, disguised as his close friend and Greeks’ greatest warrior, Achilles; Patroclus led Achilles’s warriors and the rest of the Greeks into opposition with the Trojans (“The
The Iliad in it’s entirety is driven by the gods and goddesses meddling in human life. Achilles’ actions throughout the epic, from his grit-teeth-servitude to Agamemnon to his decision to listen to his goddess mother over the king, show the reader the type of balance a Greek would
In what is called the embassy to Achilles, Agamemnon tries to shower Achilles with gifts to persuade him into returning to fight for the Achaeans, but Achilles rejects the gifts offered to him by Odysseus, Great Ajax, and Phoenix on behalf of Agamemnon. Achilles seems quite sad, almost dejected at this point in the epic. He is going through a period where he questions what role he is really meant to play in the Trojan war, and to an even greater extent he questions what path he is meant to take in his life. At this point, he blatantly ignores the deaths of the Greeks who are dying in battle, which he knows is partially on his account. The transformation of Achilles can be noted as Homer shows Achilles to be very lost in his life upon losing Briseis to Agamemnon and withdrawing himself from the
In the beginning, once I found that one friend I thought would always be there and never turn his back on me, had been my best friend since head start, but then took me for granted and did not even acknowledge my existence anymore. That one friend I trusted with everything in me, the one I told my problems to and got advice to fix them, had jolted my right in the back. He just disappeared and left me with nothing but memories of us being together. Those things that happened made me turn my back even though I viewed him as a true friend, even more, a brother. I could not even believe in the least bit that he would do this to me, but as time went on, I changed and kept asking myself if it is for the best to forget about it. Although I did not know why he did such a thing that would lead up to us not communicati...
Some friends can have negative influences on you, be friends with you for the wrong reasons or they might not be trustworthy with your secrets. Friends are extremely important to have but you want a friend that you can trust and share common interests with. Kalven and I became great friends we both trusted each other and we shared a lot of common interests, soon our friendship turned into a relationship. Becoming a couple was very odd for me so I ended it. This put our friendship on the edge for a while, it was really awkward around him. We both got over that fact and moved on with life and became just as good as friends as we once
...e,” because he didn’t want my senior year to revolve around someone I can barely see. His detachment reached the point of no response, and he ceased communication all together, saying “It was needed for us to move on until college.” To this day I still love him, and I know he still loves me. He wants the best for me, and although it is painful because I cannot hear his voice, it’s truly what I need. “I will be there at the airport the day you arrive at your future college, I love you forever and always.” These were the last words that I heard from him, harsh, yet caring. To this day I still love him, and try to move on, but no one seems to even come close to this amazing person. “Love at first sight” I once believed as a fools quote, but today I see it as the most amazing thing in the world, something that is achieved by pure chance and luck, only experienced by few.
Our friendship has taught me that maintaining a relationship is difficult, but it can be accomplished. That I am a very trustworthy and dependable person. But I need to work on my communication skills because sometimes I don’t communicate effectively or I approach the situation by handling conflicts improperly. That I don’t give up easily on the people that I care about the most. This relationship has taught me that I am a problem solver for I want the relationship to be equitable for the both of us. I have learned so much about myself through our relationship both, pros and