Alcestis is a myth that is "the most touching of all the Greek dramas to a modern audience" (Lind 213). It is a tragicomedy by the playwright Euripides and it centers on the king and queen of Thessalia. Admetus, the king, has been fated to die yet, due to his alliance with Apollo, is given the chance to find a replacement. His wife, Alcestis, volunteers for the position claiming that she cannot imagine life without her husband. After Alcestis submits her life, Admetus discovers the pain of loss and even determines that Alcestis is the lucky one in dying.
In a surprising turn of events, a friend of Admetus, Heracles, goes down into the underworld, wrestles Death, and wins Admetus back his bride.1 This tale, as mentioned above, tugs at a reader’s heartstrings. We, as an audience, want to believe that Alcestis is brought to life at the termination of this drama, yet there are those interpreters who believe otherwise. A specific example of this type of person is D.L. Drew, who proposes that the woman given to Admetus is the corpse of his wife rather than the resurrected Alcestis. Drew goes further to comment that this is Heracles’s revenge against Admetus for tricking him into believing that she who died is a stranger and not Alcestis.1 This is a terrible proposition that tends to disturb a reader and, through the examination of the text, seems to be rather incorrect. The concept that Alcestis has been resurrected can be supported, in fact, by several elements.
Through the influence of the god Apollo in the drama’s entirety, through the temperament and motivations of Heracles, and through the presence of many comic elements in correlation with the definition of comedy, one can truly believe that Alcestis is brought back to life. In the onset of Alcestis, the god Apollo utters to Death an oracle. "For a man comes to the dwelling of Pheres…and he shall be a guest in the house of Admetus, and by force shall he tear this woman [Alcestis] from you" (Euripides 66-69). These are the last words of Apollo in this text, yet he does not completely disappear from the drama. He seems to show his covert influence through the use of light and sound.One may first examine the use of light in this drama.
The characters use the concept of the sun many times throughout their dialogue. "Sun, and you, light of day…" (Euripides 244). A similar line...
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... the above elements and then also by a rise of the protagonist in the drama’s termination. It thus follows that if Alcestis has the elements of comedy, then there must also be some sort of comic rise! There seems to be two comic rises. First, Admetus understands the true sacrifice that Alcestis has made.
"No pain ever shall touch her again; she has reached the noble end of all her sufferings. But I, I who should have died, I have escaped my fate, only to drag out a wretched life. Only now do I perceive it" (Euripides 938-941). Although this does not seem to be a comic rise for Admetus, it is an enlightenment of sorts. Admetus has seen that he has been selfish and is shamed by it. The final comic rise is the resurrection of Alcestis, which seems to be an almost reward for Admetus’s enlightenment.
This resurrection of Alcestis is necessary in order to fulfill the definition of comedy and is thus proven through it, through the actions of Apollo, and through the motivations of Heracles.Footnotes1. L. R. Lind (1957), Ten Greek Plays in Contemporary Translations Houghton Mifflin Company; Boston, Mass.2. Thomas Bulfinch (1855) The Age and Fable or Stories of Gods and Heroes
Ariosto adapts and transforms Vergil’s final episode of The Aeneid into his own conclusion in Orlando Furioso. The final scenes in the epics parallel one another in many ways, yet also show distinct differences. Ruggiero and Rodomont represent Aeneas and Turnus, respectively, and the actions of Ariosto’s characters can be interchanged with their corresponding characters’ acts in The Aeneid. Ariosto reminds us of controversy and questions that Vergil elicits in his conclusion and responds interpretively, reshaping the ending and clarifying ambiguities.
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.
The decision of Achilleus is a crucial moment in understanding how fate works in epic (Homerian) literature. Thetis tells Achilleus of his opportunity to win renown as the greatest warrior of all time, earning glory through his fearless acts in battle against a foe who is sure to overcome the Achaians. The fate of ten years of attack on Troy hinge upon the decision of Achilleus, who is given the choice to win glory for the Achaians and, more importantly, himself.
Even before this story begins, irony is brewing and continues throughout the pages. The creative author is using this enticing technique as a backbone for his play, and also as a key component in foreshadowing the tragic plot. Oedipus Rex by Sophocles is filled with many different ironies, so much so, that this reoccurring element tremendously affects the outcome of the story.
...l., 1987). In a study in which the participants performed sprint interval training (Bayati, 2011), there was an increase in maximal blood lactate from pre to post training, indicating greater capacity of anaerobic glycolysis. This increase was found coinciding with increased peak power, mean power, and total work . Sharp et al. (1986) reported an increase in blood lactate concentrations and total work performed during a 45-s maximal cycle sprint after eight
Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles, is a tragic drama that portrays a great deal of irony. Oedipus, the protagonist, suffers serious misfortune that is significant in that the “misfortune is logically connected with the hero’s actions” (AbleMedia LLC). When the reader learns about the background of Greek culture and the life of Sophocles, this tragic drama is able to become more alive and valuable. It is important to familiarize oneself with the author because it allows for a greater connection to the dialogue presented. Through the character development of Oedipus, one can see how ironic circumstances can turn a prideful king into a tragic figure.
life. In the long end he was cursed from the beginning to the end where he finally met his own faith. 8 SOURCESBooks•Bloom, Harold. Oedipus Rex. New York :An imprint of InfoBase. Publishing, 2007•Will, Frederic. Oedipus The King. New York: A Division of Simom & Schuster Inc•Grant, Michael. Greek and Latin Authors, New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1980Websites•Cox, Michael W. " A critical Analysis of 'Oedipus The King." Discovering Authors. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resources in Context. Web. 29 jan.2014•"Oedipus Rex" The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy". What Every American Needs To Know. E.D. Hirsch, Jr, Joseph F. Kert and James Trefil. 3rd ed. Boston: Houghton mifflin, 2002. General One file. Web. 29 Jan.2014
The main principle of intermittent fasting is: giving your body enough time to eat and digest your meals during the day, usually within a 6 to 8 hour period. Then the rest of the hours are devoted to fat-burning. Your body does this naturally when you don’t consume anything with calories after 8 to 12 hours of your last food or drink intake.
In his published lecture concerning Aristophanes' plays, Cedric H. Whitman discusses what he considers as the general template of all of Aristophanes' main characters: the comic hero. Whitman defines a comic hero as possessing great individualism, a good deal of poneros, meaning wickedness, and striking a balance of eiron and alazon, which translates into being a mixture of an ironical buffoon, who makes fun of himself for his own amusement, and an imposter, who disguises his true identity or feelings. He sees the comic hero as one who is extremely self-motivated and self-centered: "whatever is heroic is individualistic, and tends toward excess, or at least extremes. It asserts its self primarily . . ." Whitman also declares that poneros is necessary in the character of the comic hero, that this person is villainous, manipulative, and very convincing. The comic hero is shameless in expressing his desires, and he has no shame in pursuing them by any means necessary, whether such acts would be considered right or wrong. Whitman also recognizes the mixture of eiron--ironical buffoonery--and alazon--being an imposter--in the comic hero of Aristophanes' plays. "The mere buffoon, says Aristotle, makes fun for the sake of getting a laugh for others; the ironical man makes fun for his own amusement, which is more worthy of a free man.
Today in the Western Hemisphere, many chronic health problems result from bad eating habits. There are a mix of people who are over-nourished, malnourished, or both. We eat chemically altered, high-fat toxic foods that do not provide a sufficient amount of essential vitamins and minerals to our bodies. Clogging of the eliminative systems with excess mucous is thought to sustain congestive diseases. Ineffective digestion and poor nourishment result in vitamin and mineral deficiencies. A well-balanced diet can overcome this health crisis. A diet of raw foods and fluids helps cleanse the body, and fasting takes the cleansing a step further.
For centuries, many variations of fasting have been used in an attempt to improve health. Recently however, the practicality of long-term fasting has been questioned, therefore causing intermittent fasting to emerge with debatable weight loss results. According to Adrianna Taylor Abbott, in her book Intermittent Fasting, this method of fasting is much more than simply dieting. Rather, it has evolved into a revolutionary way of living life and of improving overall fitness. This review will examine the overall reliability of the book’s claims as well as whether intermittent fasting should indeed be trusted as a viable method for weight loss.
Thesis: Despite his accomplishments and the glory associated with his life, Aeneas only achieves the status of hero through divine intervention, and this god-given position causes him just as much grief as it does splendor.
This paper aims to study two significant playwrights, Sophocles and Euripides, and compare their respective attitudes by examining their plays in respect to plot and character structures. To achieve this goal, the paper is organized into two main sections. In the first section, we provide a brief biography of both Sophocles and Euripides. The second and last section includes summaries of Sophocles’ Electra and Euripides’ Electra which were based on same essentials and give an opportunity to observe the differences of the playwrights. This section also includes the comparisons that are made by our observations about the plays.
The main characters in Aeschylus’ Agamemnon formulate two different narratives about the death of their daughter, Iphigenia. As a result of their stories and coping mechanisms being different, the unity of their home is disrupted. Like most stories with multiple authors there are discrepancies, exaggerations, disregarded information, and changes in the way the story is told in order to support the narrators’ agenda. In Agamemnon, Aeschylus reveals through the transformed relationship between Clytemnestra and Agamemnon-as a result of the death of Iphigenia-that when marital partners have discrepancies in shared personal memories that their ideas of home and homecoming are also inconsistent.
To view the links that are instilled between mortals, immortals, and fate in The Iliad, it is worthwhile to examine each on its own to observe how they connect. The characteristics of the three are inherently unique in relation to each other, though in some areas there is overlap. Man is defined as a mortal, someone who can die from old age and disease. Products from mortal and immortal procreation, such as the hero Achilles, fall into a sort of category all their own, but Achilles himself suggests that he would die from old age if he were to return home (9:502-505). In this weakness of the flesh they differ from the immortal gods, who cannot die from natural causes. Nevertheless, the gods share the imperfections of man: disloyalty, deceit, anger, and even lust. They see themselves as above man, and yet their actions are often as selfi...