Ancient Greek writings often dealt with the nature of the relationship between mortals and gods. Their interactions reflected mortal’s changing beliefs of relations between gods, between gods and mortals, and between mortals. Over the years, Greek texts reflected the change in religious beliefs. The texts of interactions between gods and mortals demonstrates how power was distributed in ancient Greek culture and how power distribution changed over time. The issue of power struggle was present in Greek texts since Theogony; however, the issue of whom the struggle was between changed from text to text. Throughout this anthology of ancient Greek Literature, the issue of power is a common theme, which causes tension between gods and mortals. Power …show more content…
struggle plays such an important role in ancient Greek texts because for mortals with power came nobility and class. Power separated the slaves and peasants from the rulers of kingdoms. Also, nobles of different kingdoms fought to increase their power. This power struggle between mortals is the main power relation seen in this anthology. The most terrifying and uncharted form of power struggle was between gods and mortals, because mortals did not question the gods’ authority. Gods’ power over mortals is best exemplified in The Libation Bearers when Orestes kills his mother to fulfill Apollo’s prophecy. Orestes would rather deal with the consequences of killing his mother than disobeying a god. Homer approaches this subject different than other writers. Homer’s writings incorporate a reliance on the gods, and a common thread amongst his writing include power struggles between gods and goddesses. Hesiod’s Theogony is the only other story that deals with god relation like Homer’s writings. Other writers such as Sophocles in Oedipus and Aeschylus in The Libation Bearers deal solely with power struggles between mortals and do not bring the issue of gods into their writings. Interaction between gods In this anthology, The Odyssey and The Iliad are different from other texts because they have power struggles between the gods that are mortal induced. Homer’s readings tend to have power struggles between mortals and gods, because the gods are more widely used in his writings than by other authors in this anthology. In The Odyssey, Homer uses power struggle as the main issue in his epic. It is not an underlying issue. There are multiple power struggles shown between mortals and between gods. The suitors are fighting over who will replace Odysseus as the ruler of Ithaca. Meanwhile, Athena goes around Poseidon’s back over whether Odysseus should be allowed to return home to Ithaca. The struggle between Athena and Poseidon was caused by a battle that Odysseus was involved. Athena and Poseidon had different views of what Odysseus did, and Poseidon believed he needed to be punished for his actions. Poseidon keeps interfering when Athena tries to help Odysseus return home from Ithaca. The fact gods have power struggles over the issues of mortals is interesting, because gods are seen as a higher power that do not deal in mortals affairs. Gods are believed to not partake in the same interactions that trouble mortal and this epic demonstrates differently. However, the mortals are engaging in a different kind of power struggle than the gods. The gods are arguing over which mortal has done wrong and whether they deserve to be punished, and which god is right on how to handle the matter. The mortals are fighting to gain more power. The Iliad is another epic attributed to Homer, and it shares the issue of conflict between the gods with The Odyssey. In both writings, the struggle between the gods was induced by mortal conflict. A conflict between the Trojans and Achilles resulted in the gods, Apollo and Zeus, taking sides and supporting different armies. However, The Iliad differs from The Odyssey, because rather than one god prevailing over the other they were able to come to a temporary truce. The Theogony is believed to be written by Hesiod and to be the first writing in ancient Greek literature. Theogony was where the power conflict was first introduced into written ancient Greek texts. It differs from the first two stories in the anthology, because it is a narrative poem rather than an epic. Theogony describes how the gods came into existence and their fight for power. The most significant example of power struggle is shown between Cronus and Rhea. Cronus is overcome by anxiety that one of his children will steal his power as he stole his father’s power, and to prevent this he eats his children. Cronus eating his children is his way to control procreation and insure that his power will never be challenged. Rhea tricks Cronus resulting in the birth of Zeus who will later overthrow his father. Zeus prevents having children that will overthrow him by eating his wife, Metis, to prevent procreation before it is possible. Theogony shows that power cannot only be threatened by an invading outside force. It also introduces the father-son conflict seen much in ancient Greek Literature. Interaction between gods and Mortals Aeschylus wrote The Libation Bearers after the death of Agamemnon at the hands of Clytamnestra and Aigisthos. In reading The Libation Bearers, it is important to understand that the deaths caused are to avenge Agamemnon’s death. The god Apollo sends Orestes back to Argos to gain vengeance for the death of his father. While at his father’s grave, he meets up with his sister, Electra, to help bring vengeance to their father’s killers. Orestes kills his mother’s lover, Aigisthos, but does not now know how to handle killing his mother. He is then reminded by Pylades of his duty to Apollo and what will happen if he fails to carry out his duty. This leaves Orestes to decide who has more power over him in the matter; his mother or Apollo. Orestes determines Apollo, the god, has more power over him and kills Clytamnestra and carries out Apollo’s command. Orestes was not in a position to gain power but had to decide who had more power and influence over him Clytamnestra or Apollo. As a god, Apollo’s power and influence prevailed over his mortal mother in his decision of whether to kill Clytamnestra. This anthology features a dark tragedy called The Bacchae, which is about the horrible treatment of Zeus’ son, Dionysus. Before he was born, Dionysus was saved by Zeus who appeared to his mother, Semele, in his divine form killing her. Since Dionysus was a god, he possessed powers that mortals did not. Pentheus, the ruler of Thebes, had Dionysus arrested for posing a threat to his power as king. He allowed himself to be arrested easily knowing that it would lead to Petheus trying to punish him. Dionysus then turned the tables on Petheus using his god powers to punish him. He was able to convince Agaue into killing her own son. Then, Dionysus used his power to turn Cadmus and his wife into snakes and ban Agaue from Thebes. The Homeric Hymns are connected to Homer, because they reflect his style of writings and were from the same period. It is believed that Homer wrote many hymns pertaining to different events that celebrated god’s lives; however, the only two in this anthology are the Homeric Hymns to Demeter and Apollo. The first hymn in this anthology is to Demeter. Demeter was the goddess of agriculture who lost her daughter, Persephone, which set her into a state of depression. She refused to let anything grow, until she was reunited with her daughter. Demeter had the power to prevent anything from growing until she was reunited with her daughter. The Hymn to Apollo focused on the struggles Leto faced, when trying to give birth to Apollo. Leto struggled to find a place to give birth; because most places were afraid of Apollo’s power since he was the son of Zeus. When Apollo takes his place on Mount Olympus not all gods welcomed him warmly, because they knew of the power he possessed. Apollo possessed enough power to over throw his father, Zeus, but he does not want to. Interaction between Mortals The power struggle between mortals is an element of almost every text in this anthology, because there are many ways mortals struggled for power. Mortals struggled for power within kingdoms as seen in Antigone, and they fought against other kingdoms displayed in Lysistrata. The first three stories of mortal conflict work as a series, because they are all part of the Theban plays by Sophocles. The first Theban play in the anthology is Oedipus the King; however, it was not the first one written. Antigone is believed to be the first Antigone play written and maybe the only one written by Sophocles. Oedipus the King addresses a power struggle that was first introduced in Theogony. Oedipus was born into Theban royalty to King Laius and Queen Jocosta. King Laius was scared that because of this Oedipus would challenge him for his place as the ruler of Thebes and ordered for him to be killed as an infant. Fathers were willing to kill their own sons in order to make sure they would never be a threat to them and Laius ordered for just this. Kings did not want to risk losing power to anyone, even if it was there own sons. However, Oedipus was not killed as ordered, and was able to come back and kill his father to gain power even though it was out of ignorance. The power he gained was not worth how horrified he was when he found out that he killed his father and married his mother. For Oedipus, it was not worth killing his father to gain control of Thebes, so he blinded himself and left Thebes forever. Oedipus at Colonus resumes where Oedipus the King left off with Oedipus after he left Thebes. While near Athens, Oedipus received word that his sons, Polynices and Eteocles, are now battling for control of Thebes. Eteocles has raised an army to attack the city and take control; however, the city leaders know if they can get Oedipus to return his presence will protect the city. Oedipus now has the power to choose whether to return to save Thebes, which he does not. The final text to the Theban plays is Antigone; however, it is believed that this is the first text Sophocles wrote.
Sophocles opens the play up after Eteocles defeated Polyneices to be the new ruler of Thebes, and leaves Polyneices body outside to rot for challenging him for power. These were two brothers that were torn apart because of their need for more power. Antigone does not want her brother’s body to rot on the street and plans to bury it properly with the help of her sister, Ismene. This is directly against an edict Creon has proclaimed saying to leave the body alone. The significance in their defiance is greater than just a power struggle because it is the first time in this anthology we see a woman defy a man’s order. Previously men have not had to worry about women when it comes to power, because they did not question what they were told to do. Antigone’s defiance of Creon causes Haemon, her fiancé, to defy his father trying to free Antigone from a certain death sentence. This action of defiance leads to Creon freeing the women which upsets the gods. The gods are upset in the way Creon has handled the opposition shown by Antigone, Ismene, and Haemon. Woman fighting for power has caused Creon to act against the gods and ultimately the death of his wife and children as …show more content…
punishment. In this anthology, Agamemnon comes after Antigone because it is another text of women uprising in ancient Greek literature. In the beginning of the text, Agamemnon sacrifices his daughter, Iphigenia, to Artmis for favorable traveling conditions when going to the Trojan War. After the war, Agamemnon returns with the Trojan Princess, Cassandra, who speaks of a curse on the house of Agamemnon. The doors to the palace open and Clytemnestra is seen standing over the dead bodies of Agamemnon and Cassandra. She proclaims she killed them as revenge for the death of her daughter, Iphigenia. Clytemnestra was having an affair with Agamemnon’s cousin, Aegisthus, while Agamemnon was at the Trojan War. The death of Agamemnon was not only to avenge Iphigenia’s death but also open his position up for Aegisthus to take. Agamemnon’s death gave Clytemnestra an opportunity to put Aegisthus in a position of power. Lysistrata stands out in this anthology, because it is the only comedy and a woman is the main character.
Ancient Greek texts tended to focus on male figures, but this text relied on women to tell the story. The women of Greece had a meeting to discuss how they could end the Peloponnesian War. Lysistrata and the women discuss how they are going to quit having intercourse with their husbands until the war comes to an end. The women use their power to stop their husbands from having sex until the war ends as a reason to devise a peace treaty between the Greek states. Later in the text, Lysistrata with her handmaid, Peace, appear nude to the peace negotiations to distract the men in order for Lysistrata to lecture the men of why peace is needed. The women are able to use the power of their bodies to persuade the men to do as they want and end the
war. Euripedes has a unique opening to Medea compared to other texts, because it opens already in conflict. The text opens with Jason having abandoned his wife and children for Glauce, the daughter of Creon. Jason marrying Glauce increases his power, because he is marrying into nobility. It is not known if Jason left Medea because he loved Glauce more, or if he left Medea because he knew marrying Glauce would give him more power. Either way, Medea decides that she must get revenge for Jason’s actions. Medea plots to kill all that are important to Jason including his children; Gluace and Creon. After poisoning Creon and Glauce, Medea kills their own children before fleeing in a dragon-pulled chariot headed to Athens. Medea killing Glauce has left Jason with nothing, because everything he left her for was gone.
The plot revolves around a story of Antigone’s struggle to give Polynices, her brother, his final rights by giving him a proper burial, despite the fact that Creon has forbid for anyone to do so as Polynices was a traitor to Thebes and its people. One major struggle throughout the play is the apparent conflict between Antigone and Creon. Creon and Antigone have temperaments that clash with each other. Antigone values passion while Creon values the state. Although they have very different values, Antigone and Creon have very similar personalities. They are both stubborn, independent people who are so similar that they can never see eye to eye on issues. Both Antigone and Creon are filled with pride and passion in their beliefs. These traits can be considered both very advantageous and moral as well as being a negative trait that represents the stubbornness in human beings. Antigone and Creon are incredibly proud, making it impossible for either one to concede defeat once they have taken a stand for what they believe in. As stated by Tiresias “stubbornness brand...
In Sophocles' Greek tragedy, Antigone, two characters undergo character changes. During the play the audience sees these two characters' attitudes change from close-minded to open-minded. It is their close-minded, stubborn attitudes, which lead to their decline in the play, and ultimately to a series of deaths. In the beginning Antigone is a close minded character who later becomes open minded. After the death of her brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices, Creon becomes the ruler of Thebes. He decides that Eteocles will receive a funeral with military honors because he fought for his country. However, Polyneices, who broke his exile to " spill the blood of his father and sell his own people into slavery", will have no burial. Antigone disagrees with Creon's unjust actions and says, " Creon is not strong enough to stand in my way." She vows to bury her brother so that his soul may gain the peace of the underworld. Antigone is torn between the law placed against burying her brother and her own thoughts of doing what she feels should be done for her family. Her intent is simply to give her brother, Polyneices, a proper burial so that she will follow "the laws of the gods." Antigone knows that she is in danger of being killed for her actions and she says, "I say that this crime is holy: I shall lie down with him in death, and I shall be as dear to him as he to me." Her own laws, or morals, drive her to break Creon's law placed against Polyneices burial. Even after she realizes that she will have to bury Polyneices without the help of her sister, Ismene, she says: Go away, Ismene: I shall be hating you soon, and the dead will too, For your words are hateful. Leave me my foolish plan: I am not afraid of the danger; if it means death, It will not be the worst of deaths-death without honor. Here Ismene is trying to reason with Antigone by saying that she cannot disobey the law because of the consequences. Antigone is close-minded when she immediately tells her to go away and refuses to listen to her. Later in the play, Antigone is sorrowful for her actions and the consequences yet she is not regretful for her crime. She says her crime is just, yet she does regret being forced to commit it.
In the play Antigone, created by Sophocles Antigone is a foil to Creon because their personalities contrast. This makes Creon a Tragic Hero because he thinks that he is a god but in reality he is a mortal upsetting the god's and he will eventually meet his demise. At the start of the play the reader is introduced to a character named Creon, who is the king of Thebes, the previous king, Eteocles, was killed by his brother Polyneices. There is a law arranged by Creon, so nobody could bury the body of Polyneices but Antigone, the sister of both Eteocles and Polyneices, wants to bury her brother and is willing to risk her life to bury him. She eventually gets caught and is sentenced to death by Creon.
The opening events of the play Antigone, written by Sophocles, quickly establish the central conflict between Antigone and Creon. Creon has decreed that the traitor Polynices, who tried to burn down the temple of gods in Thebes, must not be given proper burial. Antigone is the only one who will speak against this decree and insists on the sacredness of family and a symbolic burial for her brother. Whereas Antigone sees no validity in a law that disregards the duty family members owe one another, Creon's point of view is exactly opposite. He has no use for anyone who places private ties above the common good, as he proclaims firmly to the Chorus and the audience as he revels in his victory over Polynices. He sees Polynices as an enemy to the state because he attacked his brother. Creon's first speech, which is dominated by words such as "authority” and "law”, shows the extent to which Creon fixates on government and law as the supreme authority. Between Antigone and Creon there can be no compromise—they both find absolute validity in the respective loyalties they uphold.
Pride is a quality that all people possess in one way or another. Some people take pride in their appearance, worldly possessions, or position in society. The story of Antigone written by Sophocles has two characters who have a tragic flaw of pride. I will show how Creon’s pride of power leads to his destruction, and how Antigone’s pride makes her an honorable character who should be treated as a hero.
The play starts off with Antigone discussing what happened with her brothers Polyneices and Eteocles, with her sister, Ismene. Antigone wants her sister to come and help her give their brother Polynices a burial because she was not given one. Ismene decides not to help her sister becuases she is scared of the law Creon declared. Anyone who buries Polyneices will be punished. Croen is surprised to find out that Antigone buried Polyneices because she is a woman. To make an example out of her and to not lose his pride as a king. Antigone later dies and Hamaon, Creon’s son kills himself because Antigone was his soon to be wife. Since Hamaon died Creon’s wife killed herself because she could not bear to lose her son. The play Antigone is a Tragedy
Antigone, as a character, is extremely strong-willed and loyal to her faith. Creon is similarly loyal, but rather to his homeland, the city of Thebes, instead of the gods. Both characters are dedicated to a fault, a certain stubbornness that effectively blinds them from the repercussions of their actions. Preceding the story, Antigone has been left to deal with the burden of her parents’ and both her brothers’ deaths. Merely a young child, intense grief is to be expected; however, Antigone’s emotional state is portrayed as frivolous when it leads her to directly disobey Creon’s orders. She buries her brother Polynices because of her obedience to family and to the gods, claiming to follow “the gods’ unfailing, unwritten laws” (Sophocles 456-457). CONTINUE
Sophocles' Antigone, in its later phases is no longer about the conflict of law; It is about stubbornness and self will, about the sin of refusing to listen; about a man who has never been told.
sense of loyalty leads to her simultaneous violation and observance to the duty of women
The play “Antigone” is a tragedy by Sophocles. One main theme of the play is Religion vs. the state. This theme is seen throughout the play. Antigone is the supporter of religion and following the laws of the gods and the king of Thebes, Creon, is the state. In the play Creon has made it against the law to bury Antigone’s brother, something that goes against the laws of the gods, this is the cause of most conflict in the story. This struggle helps to develop the tragic form by giving the reader parts of the form through different characters.
Political power results from the fear of force. The individual acts out of a fear of consequences of disobedience and in accordance with the desdire for self-preservation. Political Authority results from a belief in the moral correctness of the organization in question. The individual acts of a sense of obligation and acknowledges the right of the ruler, morally, to rule and the moral correctness of the laws are accepted. The laws are obeyed for their own sake.
The book also has conflict between Antigone and her sister, Ismene. In the opening chapter, Ismene becomes central to this moralistic tale as she stands for all that was expected of women in Greece in 5BC. She alone, in her dialogue shows us, right from the beginning why Antigone is so brave in her decision to bury Polyneices when she says; “Two women on our own faced with a death decree – women, defying Creon? It’s not a woman’s place. We’re weak where they are strong. Whether it’s this or worse, we must do as we’re told.”
In the play Antigone, by Sophocles, it is greatly apparent just within the first few exchanges between Ismene and Antigone that there are various social issues surrounding the women in ancient Greece. The play raises many gender and socially related issues especially when looking at the contextual background of the playwright and the representation of the women within the play. When the characters of the first scene begin their analog, it is important to note what they are actually saying about each other and what their knowledge of their own social status is. The audience is first introduced to Antigone who we later learn is the antagonist of the play as she rebels against the protagonist, Creon. Her sister, Ismene, is the second character the audience is introduced to, hears of Antigone's plan to bury their brother's body in the first scene. Ismene’s actions and words give the reader the hint that her sister’s behavior is not usual, "so fiery" and "so desperate" are the words used to describe Antigone's frame of mind. At this very early point in the play the reader discovers that Antigone is determined to carry out her mission to bury her beloved brother. However, she is in no position that gives her the rights as a woman, sister, or even future queen to make her own decisions and rebel. Instead, her decision to bury her brother demonstrates her loyalty to her family, the gods, and to all women. Her motivation for those decisions will end up driving her far more than that of what the laws set by Creon have implemented. She shows no fear over disobeying the king and later says about the punishment of death "I will lie with the one I love and loved by him"(Sophocles, 2). Throughout the play the reader can see the viewpoint of an obedient woman, a rebellious woman, and the social norms required for both of them.
“Lysistrata” is a tale which is centered around an Athenian woman named Lysistrata and her comrades who have taken control of the Acropolis in Athens. Lysistrata explains to the old men how the women have seized the Acropolis to keep men from using the money to make war and to keep dishonest officials from stealing the money. The opening scene of “Lysistrata” enacts the stereotypical and traditional characterization of women in Greece and also distances Lysistrata from this overused expression, housewife character. The audience is met with a woman, Lysistrata, who is furious with the other women from her country because they have not come to discuss war with her. The basic premise of the play is, Lysistrata coming up with a plan to put an end to the Peloponnesian War which is currently being fought by the men. After rounding up the women, she encourages them to withhold sex until the men agree to stop fighting. The women are difficult to convince, although eventually they agree to the plan. Lysistrata also tells the women if they are beaten, they may give in, since sex which results from violence will not please the men. Finally, all the women join Lysistrata in taking an oath to withhold sex from their mates. As a result of the women refraining from pleasing their husbands until they stop fighting the war, the play revolves around a battle of the sexes. The battle between the women and men is the literal conflict of the play. The war being fought between the men is a figurative used to lure the reader to the actual conflict of the play which is the battle between men and women.
The role of the gods in the lives of men is very apparent in many works of literature. The gods play a significant, if not dominate role in each and every one of these works. The gods use their powers for many diverse and essential actions. In the numerous works, readers can see the gods determining the events in the lives of men time after time.