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fate and free will in greek tragedy
character analysis of the character oedipus
analysis of the king of oedipus play
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In Sophocles' play Oedipus the King, the roles of free will and destiny in human life come into question, and it seems that Sophocles took a direct standpoint on the answer. One interpretation of the play provides the notion that Sophocles was pointing out to his fellow Greeks the reality of human free will.
The question arises throughout the episodes of the play: Is it fate or autonomic decision-making that determines the course of events in the life of Oedipus? To the Greeks, one aspect of this argument was the idea that the character of an individual greatly affected his or her fate in life. The character of each individual has certain positive and negative attributes that affect the choices that he or she makes.
For Oedipus, one of the attributes that affected his ultimate destination in life was his intense desire for knowledge and truth. One of the driving forces in the play is Oedipus' desperate attempt to find out the truth of his origin. He pushes Tiresias, Creon, Jocasta, the oracle, the messenger, and the shepherd for information regarding his beginnings. Each of these characters refuses to give him a straight answer at the very least. Even as he draws nearer to the answer, and the others have long-since put the pieces together, Oedipus pushes beyond the comfort levels for the answer. He says, "I can't stop now. Not with all my birth clues in my hands," (59). The desire for truth, so deeply rooted in his honest character, pushed him to continue his search, ultimately leading to his downfall. He had the capability to discontinue the plight, however, and made the independent decision to continue.
Other instances in which Oedipus made choices directly linking himself into the prophecy were at the points in w...
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...ssence, Jocasta and Laius were indirectly responsible for their own deaths, and Oedipus was responsible for his ruin. Oedipus even seems to admit his responsibility when he says, "What title of sincerity and trust when all my past behavior's proved so wrong," (75). In each of the aforementioned examples - in the character attributes that led to individual choices and in the natural autonomous choices made by the characters - it becomes obvious that the events of the play were not predetermined at all. Instead, with a close reading of the text, one can take the interpretation that the choices made by the characters were independently made by each individual.
With the Oedipus the King text, Sophocles seemingly made it clear to his fellow Greeks that humankind has the ability, even with prophecies, to make choices free from the influence of divine forces.
The changes made by Vatican II were essential, as society was becoming more liberal, and religion was becoming increasingly irrelevant with its old and conservative ways of practicing Catholicism. Without Vatican II, almost certainly the Church would have lost its appeal to the increasingly liberal societies of the late 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and now. Vatican II stopped the Catholic Church from becoming an irrelevant part of our society, and now is stronger than ever. But, many Catholics, and Christians believe it is time for further reform as the undirected youth of today strays from the church.
In the book Travels in France by Arthur Young, he states that “There is an injustice in levying the amount each person must pay. Lands held by the nobility are taxed very little. Lands held by commoners are taxed heavily…”. This line is important because yes, it is easy to see that only the middle class but Arthur is English, not French. From the website Encyclopedia Britannica they state he is an “English writer on agriculture, politics, and economics. Besides his books on agricultural subjects, he was the author of the famous Travels in France. The book is especially valued for its vivid descriptions of the French Revolution and of the conditions that produced it”. If an English man can see that French have a financial crisis because the king is in debt, then there is a financial crisis. The clergy and the nobles were not being taxed even though they had lots of money. Even the nobility went against their own people, the website Bastille Day and The French Revolution state that “Faced with all these problems, Louis XVI needed more funds to govern is country. His financial advisers, inspired by Turgot, decided to turn to the nobility and tried to pass a law that would make them pay more taxes. The nobility opposed the king 's decision. By a clever game of persuasion, they even rallied part of the third estates at their side to denounce the power of the King”. As can be seen taxes were
By 1789, France was still paying off debts incurred by the wars of Louis XIV, that is, wars of the late 17th and early 18th century. Furthermore, a number of social groups and institutions did not pay taxes of any kind.
Even though "fate" seems to determine Oedipus' life, he does, in fact, have a free will.
The French revolution was also caused by a bad ruler and a bad economy. During the early 1780's a big percent of annual budget went towards king Louis XVI's lavish estate at Versailles. France also had no central bank, no paper currency, no ways of getting more money, and an out-dated tax system which only taxed the poor who had no money to begin with. Signs of revolution first appeared when the peasants stormed the fortress known as the Bastille looking for gun powder.
A common debate that still rages today is whether we as a species have free will or if some divine source, some call it fate, controls our destiny. The same debate applies to Oedipus the King and Oedipus at Colonus. Does Oedipus control his actions, or are they predetermined by the gods? It’s that question that makes Oedipus a classic, and many different people think many different things.
Jealousy is an emotional state that erupts when a valued relationship is being threatened (Buss et al., 1992). Men and women both express jealousy tendencies when they feel their romantic relationships are being threatened. Many researchers have studied sex differences in romantic jealousy to investigate at what particular time do men and women feel the most distressed or jealous. For instance, Bus et al. (1992) and Harris and Christenfeld (1996), found that men feel more distressed when they think their romantic partner is engaging in sexual infidelity, whereas women feel more distressed when they think their romantic partner is emotionally attached to someone else. These findings may be very insightful and useful to many of us who experience jealousy episodes; but importantly, it will allow us to investigate the validity of the evolutionary theory that is used to explain most sex differences. In the following paragraphs, I will describe the evolutionary theory that explains sex differences in jealousy and four related empirical studies. Lastly, I will
...g that is dance able but has a marching feel to it, lyrics such as “ Uncle Jam’s army, here- yeah. Disturbing the peace at the bridge of the river quiet. Marching in the name of the groove. No AWOP-absent without the P. Uncle Jam’s army here-so you wanna dance? This is booty do your duty time. We’re soldiers on booty patrol. And I’m your thrill sergeant, And he’s your thrill sergeant. Gonna keep you on your toes, cause Uncle Jam wants you, To do what you’re supposed to do, and join his army! The playfulness in this song can express the point but at the same time people can have a fun time doing it as well. This specific song came out in the mid-seventies but still is a prime example of how Parliament Funkadelic played of the Black Revolution and appealed to Popular Culture.
The first and main reason for the French Revolution was the terrible leadership of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette. The peasants wanted to overthrow them as they made France bankrupt by overspending. He spent a little less that 228 million livres in the span of 15 years. King Louis had sent huge amounts of money, military equipment and soldiers to America during the American Revolution because he wanted to help them beat Britain. He also spent a lot of money to build his palace, the Versailles. Marie Antoinette also used huge sums of money for her lavish parties and to fulfill her extravagant tastes. Both of these combined created a further debt for France. King Louis wanted to increase the taxes of the Third Estate to pay off the debts, which made the peasants even angrier, which will be talked about in the next paragraph. King Louis came into power at the age of 20, and he put most of the financial duties to Turgot, one of the best statesmen. When he finally realized the French Revolution was a big problem, all his attempts to stop it were all in vain because he didn’t know what to do sin...
In Oedipus the King, one of Sophocles’ most popular plays, Sophocles clearly depicts the Greek’s popular belief that fate will control a man’s life despite of man’s free will. Man was free to choose and was ultimately held responsible for his own actions. Throughout Oedipus the King, the concept of fate and free will plays an integral part in Oedipus' destruction.
In Sophocles ' Oedipus the King, the themes of fate and free will are very strong throughout the play. Only one, however, brought about Oedipus ' downfall and death. Both points could be argued to great effect. In ancient Greece, fate was considered to be a rudimentary part of daily life. Every aspect of life depended and was based upon fate (Nagle 100). It is common belief to assume that mankind does indeed have free will and each individual can decide the outcome of his or her life. Fate and free will both decide the fate of Oedipus the King.
Dainton and Gross (2008) specifically discuss the repercussions that negative behaviors such as jealousy induction may have on relationship maintenance. For instance utilizing negative maintenance behaviors such as jealousy to react to a relationship is negatively associated with relationship satisfaction. This research is tied in with the idea of social support and how individual respond to their partners. Researchers agree that jealousy in relationships can have a negative impact, yet also enhance romantic feelings and satisfaction based on how jealousy is initially communicated (Dainton & Gross, 2008; Yoshimura, 2004). “An essential idea behind this study is that the ways in which jealous individuals communicate their jealousy influence how the target communicatively responds. The results showed that targets of jealousy expressions most strongly respond in the style of the initial expression” (Yoshimura, 2004, p. 95). The way jealousy is expressed initially based on attitude and mood can affect the response of the partner and at shaping and guiding the relat...
There were many causes and events leading up to the French Revolution in 1789. Before the Revolution, France had been involved in many expensive wars, especially the American War of Independence, causing financial difficulties and debts which were increased through the expensive upkeep of the Royal Family and their courts. At this time the Age of Enlightenment was occurring and new ideas, challenging the Ancien Regime and the Absolute right to rule, were emerging. The monarch of the time, King Louis XVI, was a weak monarch who was incapable of making decisions and sticking to them. King Louis XIV was also incapable of using his powers in a way to spark fear and gain control of those under his power. As a result of the high debts held by the French Government, the King decided to start taxing the First and Second Estates. They objected causing the Third Estate to question why the first two estates were given choice in paying taxes when the Third Estate, who were so heavily taxed, paid all their taxes. These were the major causes leading up to and, in some cases, triggering, the French Revolution.
...k. "Effects of relationship length on the experience, expression, and perceived appropriateness of jealousy." The Journal of Social Psychology. v. 137 Feb 1997: 23-31
“Every man has his own destiny: the only imperative is to follow it, to accept it, no matter where it leads him.” In other words, the connotation of this anonymous quote states that despite whatever one chooses to decide, the outcome of their choices and decisions will still result to their predetermined fate. Sophocles’ tragedy, Oedipus the King, demonstrates this statement throughout the play in the role of his tragic hero Oedipus. In the course of Oedipus’ actions of trying to escape his predestined fortune, his fate and flaws of being human played major roles to bring about his downfall.