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.
Over the years she has harboured ill feelings concerning her husband Agamemnon because he killed her husband and then begged her father for forgiveness. Eventually Iphigenia decides that she wants to sacrifice herself for glory and Greece. Glory is what stems all of the events throughout the movie. Greece is going to war against Troy because Helena left her husband. Greece wants a glorious win over Troy and are willing to sacrifice Iphigenia for a possible upper hand. Agamemnon is willing to sacrifice his eldest daughter so that he can be the great military leader that he once was. Iphigenia is willing to die with the belief and hopes of being immortal in the history of
How much are you willing to sacrifice for another? Whether they are a family member or a complete stranger. In the novel The Kite Runner Baba was was willing to risk his life when he had stood up and was trying to stop the Russian soldier from rape the young woman as payment for letting them pass through one of the checkpoints. Then there had been Amir it was when he had suffered extreme injuries, nearly losing his life when he had fought Assef, so that he could save Sohrab for the abuse he was suffering from the Taliban. Both Character Baba and Amir were willing to sacrifice themselves for another person, regardless of who they were. Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, teaches the reader sacrificing your life can lead to another person’s happiness through Baba saving the woman from the Russian soldier and Amir fighting Assef.
There are obviously many obligations at hand in Iphigenia at Aulis. The one however that widely catches my attention is Iphigenia’s ending decision to accept her fate. Iphigenia’s fate of death is a sacrifice that her father Agamemnon has to uphold to his brother Menelaus. Agamemnon like any father would not willingly offer his child as a sacrifice, however he does so because of his “commander-in-chief” position and the oath he took on behalf of Menelaus.
Sacrificing is the act of giving up, destroying, permitting injury to, or forgoing something valued for the sake of something having a more pressing claim. In Liberty and Exile by Julia Alvarez a lot of people have to take certain responsibilities which can involve sacrificing.
The subject of Homer’s epic poem, the Iliad, is very clearly stated--it is “the rage of Peleus’ son Achilles.” The reader remains continually aware of the extent of Achilles’ rage, yet is never told the reason why Achilles remains angry and unreconciled. There is no definitive answer to this question. Achilles is not a static character. He is constantly changing; thus the question of why he remains angry solicits different answers at various stages throughout the poem. To find an answer, the reader must carefully examine Achilles’ ever-changing dilemma involving the concepts of mortality and honor. At its simplest, Achilles’ dilemma is that if he goes to war, he will die. But he will die with glory.
In the film Saving Private Ryan, directed by Steven Spielberg, Captain John Miller takes his men behind enemy lines to find Private John Ryan. Private Ryan’s three brothers have been killed in the war and no one knows if Private Ryan is alive or not. Captain Miller takes on the challenge of bringing home Ryan to his Mom so she wouldn’t lose all of her sons in the dreaded war. The story follows the journey and hardships Captain Miller and his men face trying to locate and bring home Private Ryan. Spielberg portrays the theme of sacrifice in the scenes when the group almost splits apart, they find Private Ryan, and Captain Miller dies.
The Greek theme of women suffering at the hands of men continues with the myth of Iphigenia. In the most famous incident of sacrifice of a young person, a prophet tells Agamemnon that in order to cease the wrath of Artemis so that he may sail to Troy, he must appease her by sacrificing one of his daughters, Iphigenia. This story is told by the playwright Aeschylus in his drama...
When we watch any military motion pictures or documentaries we perceive that youthful troopers are taught that they ought to be prepared to give up their life whenever for their country. What does self-sacrifice actually mean? It’s an ability to willingly give up something good for something better. Envision a soldier fighting in the war where he has to establish a hard decision which includes either to relinquish his life to spare thousand different lives or be narrow minded and let others bite the dust. What do we anticipate from the soldier? Nearly all of the people will concur that he will give his life, and it’s true that he will as it’s his task to defend his nation. It’s not a child’s play to sacrifice happiness and spirit; one requires a large deal of strength and courage to act thus. Mot of the savants believes that one can’t evaluate the strength of someone by merely expecting at their physique, only by the readiness of self-sacrificing themselves for the betterment of others. In the movie Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring directed by Peter Jackson, the main character Frodo Baggins, his companions Marry and Pippin and a wise wizard Gandalf self-sacrificed their comfort, serenity and life in order to successfully complete their quest and to stop Sauron from crushing the Middle Earth. Sometimes individuals face compelling circumstances in their lives where they need to make life altering choices. The film proposes that by the act of self-sacrifice one can achieve internal strength that may have never existed before.
In 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.
Achilles is known for his many battles and achievements during the war, where he gained his pride. It is when Agamemnon has to suck up his pride by giving back Apollo priest daughter for the good of his people: But I am willing to give her back, even so, if that is best for all. What I really want is to keep my people safe, not see them dying.
... 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).
The first requirement of Aristotle's tragic hero is that they are more admirable than the average character. Achilles meets this requirement because of his ability on the battlefield. In The Iliad, the background to the story is the war between the Greeks and the Trojans. This background is not only the basis for the story overall, but is also the basis for Achilles' own story. This begins when Achilles refuses to join the battle because he is insulted by Agamemnon. This decision results in the action that drives the remainder of the story. Later in the story when Achilles becomes angered and goes to the other extreme, launching into battle and killing ferociously. The significance of this is that it places battle as central to both Achilles' story and to what is important in the setting of the story. Importantly, the aspect that makes Achilles greater than most is his ability o...
Her version of the story reveals her agenda to redeem revenge in the form of justice for her daughter. Her narrative focuses on the turpitude of Agamemnon’s act and never accommodates the information the chorus communicates to her about how difficult it was for Agamemnon to make the decision; that when Artemis requested the sacrifice he felt like “[his] hands [were] stained” and that he had no other option (page 110, line 210). In Robert Fagles’ translation of Agamemnon, this does not get incorporated into her story because she was not present, when this occurred. Had she been present she might have been more empathetic to Agamemnon creating a more nuanced version of the story; not to say she would have spared his life, but had she still decided to execute him her reason might have been more geared towards justice than revenge. As a result of her absence during the murder, she now only perceives him with resentment, and this is the beginning of the discrepancies in their stories. A problem in the retelling of the story of Iphigenia that
In 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.
Because he embodied Greek ideals, was ‘immortalized’ through his actions and glorious death, and was courageous, Achilles was an epic hero. Honor was of the utmost importance to both him and the entire Greek society, he chose to die a hero in battle, and he avenged the death of Patroclus even through mourning; Achilles is the true hero of the Iliad.