Retribution And Vengeance In Sophocles 'Herodotus'

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Herodotus and Sophocles both believe(conclude in their texts that) God expresses his will through divine communication and thus the inescapability of Gods will is enforced by the placement of human beings who act to fulfill divine messages. Herodotus believes Gods decisions presented by his divine communication with humans is justified by Crosesus’ and Astyages’ ignorance. The text of Herodotus’ follows the theme of retribution and vengeance throughout its stories. This theme presented by Herodotus masks Gods own beliefs which are represented by his divine communication and his placement of individuals in the cosmos. No man can escape his fate due to Gods ability to place a human in time) Herodotus explains that Croesus is an ignorant …show more content…

His ignorance not only fulfills the prophecies and will of God, but also Herodotus theme of retribution and vengeance. The stories of Croesus also prove that God is deceptive in his divine communication. The Oracle “predicted that if Croesus were to wage war against the Persians, he would destroy a great empire.(Herodotus, 30,1.53)” The Oracle then advised Croesus to become allies with the most powerful hellenistic empires.(30, 1.53) Because Croesus was so ignorant he did not realize that he me must find powerful allies to save his own “great empire.” Divine messages are only reliable to those who are wise, men who are ignorant lose sight of what the messages really mean, therefore they are unreliable to them. The oracle helps to promote the idea that God places humans in the cosmos to fulfill his will. The way the Oracle words the prophecy causes Croesus to make the wrong decision. If the Oracle told Croesus his nation would be destroyed the prophecy would not have been fulfilled thus the Oracle would not have been placed as a catalyst and Gods fate would be …show more content…

Harpagos is placed in time by God and helps to fulfill his will thrice. First he gives the child to the herdsman with a stillborn child, secondly he urges Cyrus to lead a revolt against Astyages, and thirdly he tells the people of Medes to run away thus achieving Gods prophecy and his own revenge against Astyages who made him eat his son. The herdsman with a stillborn son is also placed by God to fulfill Gods will. It is not a coincidence that the herdsman wife bore a stillborn because without a stillborn child the prophecy could not have been fulfilled. In comparison to Herodotus, Sophocles story of Oedipus the King and his inability to escape fate mirrors Herodotus story of Astyages and his inability to escape his

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