The Sacrifice of Life
analytical Essay
931 words
A simple definition of sacrifice is to give up something for the sake of something else, whether it is for another human life, for an idea, or even for a belief. “She was 17 years old. He stood glaring at her, his weapon before her face. ‘Do you believe in God?’ She paused. It was a life-or-death question. ‘Yes, I believe in God.’ ‘Why?’ asked her executioner. But he never gave her the chance to respond. The teenage girl lay dead at his feet.” (DC Talk 17) This example of a sacrifice really happened at Columbine High School in Littleton, CO, on April 20, 1999. In the story Iphigenia and in today’s society, justification can be found in favor of the sacrifice of life for the lives of others, for the sake of one’s country, and for one’s religious beliefs.
First, one can see the importance of the sacrifice of one life in order to save many more. In the Grecian tale, Iphigenia is forced by her father and the multitudes of Grecian soldiers to sacrifice her life in order to appease the god that controls the winds. Her inner struggle consists of the desire to live verses the knowledge of the fact that if she doesn’t die, her family will be executed along with her. Iphigenia must decide which is more important in the grand scheme of things. Her decision to die is only made because she realizes that she is the sacrifice for the ones she holds dearest to her heart, her own family members. This devotion to her kindred is her reason for willingly giving her life. As Achilles speaks with Iphigenia about her decision, he notices the nobility and courage that she is putting forth in order to make such a huge sacrifice. This courage is much like the courage that is shown in the sacrifice of lives today for others.
When searching today’s society for those that show courage and nobility like that of Iphigenia, one acknowledges the work of the firefighters and police departments. Every time a person of this profession leaves their station in lieu of a call, they are potentially sacrificing their lives for the lives of others. The many possible things that could happen to one of these workers while on the field could put them in a situation where their safety is questionable. It is understood that this worker must sacrifice his or her life for whatever person that is in need of help.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that sacrifice is to give up something for the sake of something else, whether it is for another human life, for an idea, or even for a belief.
- Analyzes how iphigenia is forced by her father and the multitudes of grecian soldiers to sacrifice her life in order to appease the god that controls the winds.
- Analyzes how firefighters and police departments are sacrificing their lives for the sake of the people, despite iphigenia's nobility.
- Analyzes how the sacrifice of iphigenia breaks family ties and all of the men that will die in the battles to come in that war.
- Opines that when the draft is put out for all available men to fight for a country today, those same family ties will be shattered with the death of many of those who go to battle.
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In this essay, the author
- Opines that hector and achilles both show extravagant heroic qualities in the iliad and the movie troy.
- Analyzes how achilles conveys kindness and respect, especially towards the end of the book and the movie.
- Analyzes how the stupendous achilles knows how to express himself in the book and the movie. he fights in wars knowing that his people need him and wants a war that all humanity, in millions of years, will remember.
- Concludes that achilles is a difficult character to work with but shows kindness and respect, expresses himself, and shows loyalty to the ones he cares deeply about.
711 wordsRead More - The Treatment Of Achilles In Homer's The Iliad Of Homeranalytical essayAt its core, the epic poem, The Iliad of Homer, is a story about a hero’s rage and how it affects the war that is taking place around him. This hero is Achilles and he shapes the epic through both his actions and inactions during the Trojan War. Achilles is the most powerful warrior among the Achaians and this is shown during his battles. In fact, his power becomes so great at times that he abuses it and wreaks havoc unjustly. This is the case with Achilles’s murder and subsequent treatment of the likewise powerful warrior Hector.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how achilles ruins hector's body because of his insatiable rage, which goes against greek traditions of war and treatment of corpses.
- Analyzes how the heart wrenching witness of hector's corpse being defiled is his wife, andromache, who still thinks he will come home from the war.
- Opines that achilles's treatment of hector’s corpse is truly a travesty, but it is not enough to acknowledge that. his motivations stem back to his killing of patroklos.
- Analyzes how the hero achilles shapes the epic poem, the iliad of homer, through his actions and inactions during the trojan war.
- Analyzes how homer makes it a point to make patroklos' and hector's deaths similar. the parallel between the two signifies the cycle of death present in the story.
1672 wordsRead More - Justice and Love in the Iliadanalytical essay... to fight this war and cause suffering. But this is Homer’s final trick. Homer takes the reader, and Achilles and makes them equal. Achilles gets to realize the love and justice that the reader gets to understand, but also the helplessness of the reader. Achilles is as helpless to alleviate the suffering as the reader is. He realizes that he has no choice and accepts his fate. This is the other way justice and love are revealed in the Iliad, the reader is shown to be the same as the hero, not in his strength but in his helplessness. Both the reader and Achilles are forced to see the love and justice Weil writes about and are rendered helpless, Achilles’ fate sealed by the Gods and ours by Homer. Through the bitterness of the tone, the impartiality of his descriptions of war, and Achilles’ journey Homer “bathes [the Iliad] in the light of love and justice”(pg 25).
In this essay, the author
- Argues that homer's depiction of war and the use of force in the iliad, in all of its brutality, violence, and bitterness, bathes the work in light of love and justice.
- Analyzes how homer's impartiality in writing the iliad allows the suffering of both the greeks and the trojans to be viewed in the same way.
- Analyzes how homer breaks down the distinction between the greeks and the trojans by describing the death of elephenor.
- Analyzes how homer removes the distinction between hero and man and shows the reader how bankrupt the characters view on life is.
- Analyzes how homer's love for patroclus, whether romantic or brotherly, causes achilles to reenter the fight, fulfill his fate, and acknowledge the idea of "sameness".
- Analyzes how achilles' understanding extends all the way to the battlefield when he is confronted by lycaon.
- Analyzes how homer takes the reader and achilles and makes them equal. the reader is shown to be the same as the hero, not in strength but in helplessness.
974 wordsRead More - Elie Wiesel Sacrificeanalytical essayIn many instances, people make sacrifices for the people around them to survive. In The True Story of Hansel and Gretel, written by Louise Murphy, Magda and the Stepmother both sacrifice their lives. In Night, by Elie Wiesel, in many cases, Elie protects his father by making sacrifices. Both novels share the same controlling idea of survival. Each of the characters make focus on morality by making sacrifices for their loved ones and putting others before them in order to survive the harsh times during the war.
In this essay, the author
- Compares the true story of hansel and gretel, written by louise murphy, and night, by elie wiesel. both novels share the same controlling idea of survival.
- Illustrates the theme of sacrifices by the stepmother in the true story of hansel and gretel.
- Analyzes how magda sacrificed herself for the children's safety by taking in hansel and gretel. she knew if anyone found out that father piotr had killed the brown sister and the guard, they would all be killed.
- Analyzes how elie sacrificed his golden tooth in order to save his father from the beatings from franek.
- Explains that in the true story of hansel and gretel and in night, magda, the stepmother and elie make moral decisions by making sacrifices for their loved ones in order to survive.
1026 wordsRead More - American Sacrificeopinion essayThis Essay will be about what I think the sacrifices service men and women have.
In this essay, the author
- Opines that the sacrifices men and women have while in the service are dying, getting injured or having horrible nightmares or flashbacks. they go off to war with only the clothes on their backs and the hope in their hearts that they will survive the war.
- Opines that these men and women need to be recognized more than they are. without them, our country would be in trouble and danger.
- Opines that service men and women sacrifice everything when they are fighting for us or even in the service.
- Opines that service men and women do a lot for their country. they have to always be alert and watching their backs while fighting.
- Opines that people in the service deserved to be honored. they sacrifice everything while fighting for our country.
- Opines that memorial day is to honor servicemen and women who serve in protecting us and our country.
- Narrates how deborah samson, of plymouth, massachusetts, disguised herself as a young man and presented herself to the american army. she served for three years undetected until she was sent on an special mission.
- Opines that men and women should have a place in each and everyone's hearts. what the soldiers do for america is great, but their own sacrifices are greater.
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In this essay, the author
- Analyzes the subject of homer's epic poem, the iliad, as "the rage of peleus' son achilles." there is no definitive answer to this question.
- Analyzes how achilles' true nature is that of a warrior. he denounces agamemnon and the achaeans and wants to go back to war.
- Opines that achilles must deal with the fact that his life will be short if he chooses to have honor and glory.
- Analyzes how agamemnon's offers of wealth and material possessions are not the incentives to inspire achilles to fight.
- Opines that the spoils of war offered to achilles by agamemnon belong to him. it is his toil and exhaustion, his relentless dedication as a warrior, that has gone into fighting for this cause.
- Analyzes how the spoils of war remind achilles of his humiliation, of the honor agamemnon publicly stripped from him, when he took away briseis.
- Opines that achilles' anger grows at the thought of accepting agamemnon’s offerings, for if he were to accept these gifts, it would be submitting to him.
- Analyzes how achilles' anger culminates in feelings of unreconciliation, as he struggles over his mortality, for although material gifts are honorable and highly glorifying in the homeric world, they are not important to him anymore.
- Analyzes how achilles remains angry and unreconciled at the end of book ix because he is not offered the right incentives and inspiration to rejoin the war.
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In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the main characters in aeschylus' agamemnon form two different narratives about the death of their daughter, iphigenia.
- Analyzes how clytemnestra's refined image of homecoming contrasts immensely with agamemnon’s supposition.
- Analyzes how agamemnon and clytemnestra's retelling of iphigenia affect their view of home.
- Analyzes how agamemnon develops a story about the sacrifice of his daughter and his view of home which is different from clytemnestra’s.
- Analyzes how agamemnon's version of the story is different from clytemnestra’s because they share the same home but view it differently now.
1302 wordsRead More - Gilgamesh And Odyssey Comparison Essayanalytical essayIn the selection, The Ramayana, it is a sacrifice in the ultimate sense. A woman, Kaikeyi, is forced to choose between the man that she married and rules and empire with and they one of the sons they produced. To save her son, she must make the sacrifice of her husband to save the life of their son. This was taken directly from Hinduism and this story is still told to children who practice Hinduism. With the lessons taught individually from each of these stories, children and adults will be able to learn lessons for years to come, as long as these stories are told to the upcoming generation of children.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the literary works of gilgamesh, ramayana, and the odyssey have been studied, written about and heralded in literary world many times.
- Explains that the story of gilgamesh is based on a historical king with the same name who lived in the ancient sumerian city of uruk in what is present-day southern iraq around 2700 bce.
- Analyzes how gilgamesh had an "i'm due" attitude towards women, men, and the people he ruled over. enkidu, a religious influence, knew very little of sin or "worldly" ways.
- Explains that the story of ramayana belongs to a class of literature known in sanskrit as kavya.
- Opines that bharata should be crowned with the same paraphernalia that have been prepared for him, and go away to dandaka forest for 14 years.
- Analyzes how a mother's undying love for her son and her husband can be interpreted as deep love. according to hinduism, the unity of two people exists through love, and the ramayana is popular in india.
- Explains that the ramayana was a favourite subject of rajasthani and pahari painters of the 17th and 18th centuries.
- Analyzes how the greek hero odysseus is god-like in the odyssey, which was a common theme in homer's previous work the iliad.
- Analyzes how odysseus cries out for one god in ancient greece for the circumstance that they were faced with.
- Analyzes how gilgamesh's king assumed god-like immortality until he met death of his friend, enkidu, and was forced to reflect on what the gods blessed him with.
- Narrates how they roamed the wilderness because of the fear of gilgamesh. enkidu, the companion, whom they loved, is dirt, nothing bur clay.
- Analyzes how odysseus is faced with insurmountable situations, but with the help of his gods, and his piety, he defeats his enemy. in the ramayana, it is a sacrifice in the ultimate sense.
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