Would it ever seem reasonable for a winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature to be associated with a king who murders his father and procreates with his mother? It is possible because of one quotation by the 1921 Nobel Prize Literature winner Anatole France, that he is connected to the notorious king Oedipus from Sophocles’ famous play, ‘Oedipus Rex’. “It is only human nature to think wisely and act foolishly” (Anatole France) best exemplifies the theme in Sophocles’ ‘Oedipus Rex’: fate cannot be cheated nor altered. It is human to try and change fate, which is a foolish act because it is impossible to do. This can be seen in many aspects of the play including the context and characters of the story and the hubris of the royal family; Jocasta, Lauis and Oedipus. Within each of these components many different literary devices can be used to further explain how the theme of the story relates to the quote by Anatole France.
A prime example can be seen in the 2nd Episode where Oedipus confesses everything to Jocasta from the prophecy to the incident when he killed a man similar to Lauis’ description. The parts of his monologue that best illustrate changing fate and being foolish are when Oedipus says, “ And so unknown to mother and father I set out for Delphi…he [the oracle] flashed before my eyes a future great with pain, terror…I can hear him cry, ‘You are fated to couple with your mother…you will kill your father, the man who gave you life!’ I heard all that and ran…Now, Jocasta, I will tell you all. Making my way toward this triple crossroad I began to see a herald, then a brace of colts drawing a wagon, and mounted on the bench…a man, just as you’ve described him…I strike him in anger! … I killed them all- every mother’s son!” This exemplifies the statement that trying to change fate is foolish because in attempting to avoid his awful destiny, he kills his own father. One might argue that this is not a well thought out example because Oedipus had no idea that one of the men he killed on the crossroads was his father. On the other hand, Oedipus did not have to kill anyone; he let his anger control him. This in turn always leads a person to tragedy. Descriptive diction is used to enhance the episode because in ancient Greek theatre, imagination was the only outlet for visual depictions of the most gruesome of scenes.
(People & Events: Universal Negro Improvement Association) Garvey began to wonder who was the voice for the African’s and why the black men and women didn 't have the oppeortuntinties that other people, not African, did. Where was the country that belong to the black men and women? If there was a form a government, how did it come to be? Who had control over the decision of all the black mend women? Who was the president or king for the black people? (People & Events: Universal Negro Improvement Association) These are all examples of questions he asked and wondered. Garvey decided to acknowledge these questions and give them an answer by founding the Universal Negro Improvement Association to give the black man a voice, a government, a country, and a
Garvey would later come up with his idea of starting an African Nation that would be the center for all black activity throughout the world. This plan would eventually be called the Back to Africa movement. He did not believe in a mass migration to Africa, but rather, he desired that a group of hardworking and influential blacks move to Africa to establish this new nation. In Philosophy and Opinions, Garvey said, "A race without authority and power is a race without respect." He believed that this new nation, an achievement by and for blacks, would lead to respect for them everywhere. "The prejudice of the world is not so much against skin – it is not so much against color – it is against what you have not done" (Garvey, 39). This nation would be an accomplishment and would provide protection for all blacks, according to Garv...
Marcus Garvey is known most as the founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), which was to get African American’s ready to leave. He wanted them all to return to their “mother land”. Garvey believed that everyone should be in their correct homeland. Garvey also believed in unity of all Negros as a whole, working together. He wanted to better all living and economical condition for the African American race. His views differed from many other African American leaders. Which caused his to be an outcast amongst them. His beliefs and acts is what made him so controversial.
Oedipus’s tale of patricide and incest is fixed in the public consciousness, having been immortalized in the present era by Freud’s concept of the Oedipus Complex. Before Freud, however, much of the fame of Oedipus was due to a series of plays by the great Greek tragedian Sophocles. Instead of capturing the public’s attention with a salacious psychoanalytical concept, Sophocles enthralled theater audiences with the story of a man and his fight and ultimate failure to avoid fate. In Oedipus the King, according to Rudnytsky, the question of free will versus determinism plays a central role but is ultimately left up to the audience as the play shows both sides (108). Sophocles
The Influenza virus is a unique respiratory viral disease that can have serious economic and social disruption to society. The virus is airborne transmitted through droplets release by coughing or sneezing from an infected person or by touching infected surfaces. Symptoms range from mild to severe and may even result in death. People with the virus usually experience fever, headache, shivering, muscle pain and cough, which can lead to more severe respiratory illness such as pneumonia. People most susceptible to the flu virus are elderly individuals and young children as well as anyone whose health or immune system has been compromise. The most effective way to counteract the influenza virus is to get the flu vaccine which is available by shots or nasal spray before the flu season as well as practicing safe hygiene. (CDC, 2013)
...f King Laius and a reversal of fortune. Ironically, he had cursed the murderer to a “life consumed in evil and wretchedness.” Thanks to Oedipus’ own pride and conceited ego, malediction had turned upon him. Likewise, Oedipus’ own stubbornness and willpower towards solving the mystery behind Laius’ death, ironically lead to the revelation of who his actual parents were. A feeling of catharsis was expressed as it was made clear that the ultimate tragedy was the result of the tragic hero’s hubris and ironic actions.
Illnesses have long haunted the human race. As long as these illnesses have existed, humans have developed ways to cure themselves, beginning with simple herbs and proceeding as far as vaccines and complex medicines. One cure that long eluded scientists was that of the influenza virus. Now, the influenza vaccine, or flu shot, saves thousands of lives a year and helps prevent serious complications resulting from influenza infection.
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.
In “Oedipus the King” by Sophocles, Oedipus, the king of Thebes finds out that he kills his father and that his wife is his mother. Oedipus is very concerned for his kingdom and his people. He wants to “drive the corruption from the land” (Sophocles 109) by finding Laius’s murderer and killing him. Through his curiosity, Oedipus finds out that the man he kills long ago is Laius, who is his father, and that his wife is his mother—all in accordance with Oedipus’ prophecy. After coming on this realization as well, Jocasta, Oedipus’ wife, commits suicide, and Oedipus gouges out his eyes as a result of this. In his search for the murderer, Oedipus strives to be a fair king. Ironically, he often is not fair to the people he sees or things that are essential to him. This play demonstrates the theme of justice through Oedipus’ denial of justice in three situations—Oedipus’ meeting with Tiresias, Oedipus’ gouging out of his eyes, and Creon’s asking of Oedipus to adjudicate fairly
Georgiana is a fine wife, and a seemingly beautiful one, too. Aylmer expresses deep affection towards his wife, but it is hinted from the beginning that his two passions in life will eventually have to come in conflict. The meaning of the birthmark shifts suddenly in the end, but in the beginning, it is viewed as Georgiana’s ability to be imperfect and to sin. It is in the shape of a human hand because an angel supposedly has a grip on her, linking her to the other world. That is most men’s reactions, but some women viewed it as disastrous to her beauty. Although Aylmer is not initially concerned with it, it eventually gets to him, obsessively occupying himself with it. He would stare at it whenever he had a chance, and tried to be candid about it. When it became apparent that Aylmer was quite concerned with this, Georgiana asked him to elaborate. He was more disgusted by the mark than Georgiana assessed. Her most significant reply to him was “You cannot love what shocks you!”
Tash. "Trans and Gender Non-conforming People, Bathrooms, and Attacks on Our Community." Basic Rights Oregon RSS. N.p., 28 Mar. 2013. Web. 21 May 2014.
Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex has fascinated readers for over two millennia with its tale of a man who falls from greatness to shame. The enigmatic play leaves many questions for the reader to answer. Is this a cruel trick of the gods? Was Oedipus fated to kill his father and marry his mother? Did he act of his own free will? Like the Greeks of centuries past, we continue to ponder these perennial questions. Part of the genius of Sophocles is that he requires a great deal of mental and spiritual involvement from his audience.
Oedipus Rex, also known as Oedipus the King, is one of the most ironic plays ever written. Sophocles, the author, is a famous philosopher of the ancient times. The Play is about Oedipus, the king of Thebes, who unwittingly killed his father and married his mother. An oracle warned Laius, the king of Thebes prior to Oedipus, that his son would slay him. Accordingly, when his wife, Jocasta, bore a son, he exposed the baby on Mt. Cithaeron, first pinning his ankles together (hence the name Oedipus, meaning Swell-Foot). A shepherd took pity on the infant, who was adopted by King Polybus of Corinth and his wife and was brought up as their son. In early manhood Oedipus visited Delphi and upon learning that he was fated to kill his father and marry his mother, he resolved never to return to Corinth. Travelling toward Thebes, he encountered Laius, who provoked a quarrel in which Oedipus killed him.
The inevitability of fate is a key theme in Sophocles' 'Oedipus Rex' and in Chekhov's 'The Seagull'. I was fascinated by the ways this inevitability was conveyed by Chekhov and Sophocles respectively and the ways in which the actions of the characters contributed to and heightened their fate. I shall attempt to compare and contrast the way in which Oedipus and, to a lesser extent, Nina make their fates more unbearable by their own actions and choices. In each case the author uses characterisation to enhance and increase the sense of inevitability and hence the sense of tragedy in the respective plays.
Sophocles' Oedipus Rex (the King) is a tragic play that discusses the discovery of Oedipus that he has killed his father and married his mother. Oedipus is the embodiment of the perfect Athenian. He is self-confident, intelligent, and strong willed. Ironically these are the very traits which bring about his tragic discovery. Oedipus gained the rule of Thebes by answering the riddle of Sphinx. Sophocles used the riddle of the sphinx as a metaphor for the three phases of Oedipus' life and to further characterized him as a tragic man.