Hades In Lord Of The Flies Research Paper

When Boys Become Gods

Could you imagine Ralph as Cronus, the most powerful Titan? What Greek gods do characters like Jack and Roger represent? Are there similarities in the Titanomachy and the fall of humanity? Would these boys fit the gods of Olympus? In Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses mythological allegory in the boy’s personalities, leadership roles styles, and the Titanomachy to show their similarities to Greek gods.

The Titan Cronus and Olympians Zeus and Hades have similar personalities to Ralph, Jack, and Roger. In Lord of the Flies, Ralph has Cronus’ personality traits. Like Cronus, Ralph was the chosen leader of the schoolboys stranded on the island. In Lord of the Flies, the description of Ralph was “But there was

Zeus is very powerful, persuasive, and brave Olympian. Jack’s personality has similar characteristics to those of Zeus. Even though Golding describes Jack as “tall, skinny, and bony” in Lord of the Flies, we see Jack’s qualities of power, persuasion, and bravery (20). Both Zeus and Jack have leadership qualities in their personalities that make them strong leaders.

Another god represented by a boy in Lord of the Flies is Hades. When I thought of Hades, the character who portrayed him was Roger. Roger was Jack’s right hand man.

As we read the novel, the development of Roger is more prominent. Hades wanted full power instead of his brother Zeus being in charge. Like Hades, we see the desire for power increasing in Roger. Once Jack’s tribe had persuaded most of Ralph’s tribe to become savage, we see the increase of Roger’s desire for power by his actions in killing Piggy. All three of these boys accurately represent the Titans and

In addition, Hades gave his wife Persephone “the forbidding fruit pomegranate, forcing her to remain in the underworld with him for one third each year” (“Hades”). Overall, Jack, Ralph, and Roger have the same leadership styles as Cronus, Zeus, and Hades.

Cronus wanted to ensure his safety of power, thus he ate all of his offspring. His son, Zeus, was saved by his mother. Using her cleverness and intelligence, Rhea “tricked Cronus into swallowing a rock, instead of Zeus” (“Cronus”). When Zeus grew of age, he poisoned Cronus. All of Zeus’ siblings came out of Cronus, and Zeus overthrew his father. As leading god on Olympus, he drew in his siblings and they ruled together. This change in power was the Titanomachy; “the great war that occurred between the Titans, the old generation of Greek gods, and the Olympian gods, led by Zeus” (“Titanomachy”).

Obviously there was more gore and myths to how Zeus came to power, but it is similar to how Jack overthrew Ralph. As we know from reading Lord of the Flies, Ralph was chief on the island where the boys were stranded. He kept order and peace among the boys, assigning jobs to each and creating rules. As time wears on, we see the boys turn savage and join Jack’s new tribe. With the deaths of Piggy and Simon, there was simply no hope for Ralph, the lone civil