The Essence of Tragedy in The Book of Job and Oedipus Rex
In the search for the essence of the tragedy, The Book of Job and Oedipus Rex are central. Each new tragic protagonist is in some degree a lesser Job or Oedipus, and each new work owes an indispensable element to the Counselors and to the Greek idea of the chorus.
The Book of Job, especially the Poet's treatment of the suffering and searching Job, is behind Shakespeare and Milton, Melville, Dostoevski, and Kafka. Its mark is on all tragedy of alienation, from Marlowe's Faustus to Camus' Stranger, in which there is a sense of separation from a once known, normative, and loved deity or cosmic order or principle of conduct. In emphasizing dilemma, choice, wretchedness of soul, and guilt, it spiritualized the Promethean theme of Aeschylus and made it more acceptable to the Christianized imagination. In working into one dramatic context so great a range of mood---from pessimism and despair to bitterness, defiance, and exalted insight---it is father to all tragedy where the stress is on the inner dynamics of man's response to destiny.
Oedipus stresses not so much man's guilt or forsakeness as his ineluctable lot, the stark realities which are and always will be. The Greek tradition is less nostalgic and less visionary---the difference being in emphasis, not in kind. There is little pining for a lost Golden Age, or yearning for utopia, redemption, or heavenly restitution. But if it stresses man's fate, it does not deny him freedom. Dramatic action, of course, posits freedom; without it no tragedy could be written. In Aeschylus' Prometheus Kratos (or Power) says, "None is free but Zeus," but the whole play proves him wrong. Even the Chorus of helpless Sea Nymphs, in siding with Prometheus in the end, defy the bidding of the gods. Aeschylus' Orestes was told by Apollo to murder his mother, but he was not compelled to. The spirit with which he acquiesced in his destiny ( a theme which Greek tragedy stresses as Job does not) is of a free man who, though fated, could have withdrawn and not acted at all. Even Euripides, who of all the Greek Tragedians had the direst view of the gods' compulsiveness in man's affairs, shows his Medea and Hippolytus as proud and decisive human beings. And, as Cedric Whitman says about the fate of Oedipus, the prophecy merely predicted Oedipus' future, it did not determine it.
From the moment Norman found out that there was a UFO spacecraft 3,000 feet under him he was eager to go down there and witness it for himself. Him and the rest of the crew members were wondering where the ship came from and how did it wind up 3,000 feet under the Pacific Ocean.
Steven Spielberg’s Jaws was a branch off the novel Jaws written by Peter Benchley . The Novel was written in 1974 receiving a best sellers award and therefore setting up for a movie just one year later in 1975, which soon invented the phrase “blockbuster”which simply is to gross over 100 million dollars. Since this was a highly publicized and successful novel Steven Spielberg was held to a high expectation for this movie to be an ultimate hit. The book and the movie have a lot of differences. The book gives you an all around synopsis on every character while the Movie gives you a breath description on what the character was about and more emphasis on the shark.
Set ages apart, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman and Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex provide different perspectives on the topic of tragedy and what is defined as a tragic hero. Although Oedipus would be thought of as better representing the tragic hero archetype due to tradition and time period, the modern tragic hero of Oedipus Rex is more of a dismal one. Through analysis of their respective hamartias, it is exemplified that the New York businessman with his humble story proves to be more thought provoking than the King of Thebes and his melancholic tale. **By incorporating a more relatable character and plot, Arthur Miller lends help to making Willy Lowman spiral toward his own downfall while building more emotion and response from the audience than with Oedipus. When Oedipus learns of his awful actions, this invokes shock and desperation.
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.
Schindler’s List, Jaws, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and Jurassic Park, notable movies all directed by the inspiring person; Steven Spielberg. He even produced the Transformers series. No one really knows who Steven Spielberg really is, however, everyone is familiar with the movies he has produced and directed. Steven Spielberg was born December 18, 1946 in Cincinnati, Ohio.2 “To deal with stress he would make movies which would be his shield against bullies at school, trouble at home, and any issues he dealt with.”1 He was the oldest child of three sisters. He loved to frighten them even though, surprisingly, he was scared of the same things they were, however, he learned to overcome his fears by making his sisters more scared than he was. Even though he had a rough time at school, making family movies gave him more self-confidence. Steven Spielberg and his dad did not get along as much because his dad was more of a practical person and more of a workaholic. His dad was trying to provide for his family any way he could. His mom was more of the artistic and creative one and, she was the one who convinced Steven Spielberg to use his feelings to make great movies. His mom was the one who got him his first camera. Steven Spielberg acknowledged his mom as the inspiration for his movies. He and his father clashed often as he transitioned into high school and his dad pressured him more than ever to follow him in his footsteps. Steven Spielberg had little interest in math and science. In high school, he was ostracized because being social and outgoing did not come natural to him. Unfortunately, he could not seek refuge in his parents because they were going through a stressful period in their marriage.3 His father was, often, on business ...
The ancient Greeks were fond believers of Fate. Fate, defined according to Webster’s, is “the principle or determining cause or will by which things in general are believed to come to be as they are or events to happen as the do.” The Greeks take on Fate was slightly modified. They believed that the gods determined Fate: “…fate, to which in a mysterious way the gods themselves were subject, was an impersonal force decreeing ultimate things only, and unconcerned with day by day affairs.” It was thought that these gods worked in subtle ways; this accounts for character flaws (called harmatia in Greek). Ancient Greeks thought the gods would alter a person’s character, in order for that person to suffer (or gain from) the appropriate outcome. Such was the case in Oedipus’s story.
The class spiders belong to is Arachnida. Class Arachnida contains one of the defining traits of a spider, having eight legs. Other species included in this class include scorpions, tics, and harvestman. The order that defines spiders is Araneae which contains three suborders that are Mesothelae, Mygalomorphae and Araneomorphae. A specific characteristic to this order is that these species bodies are segmented into two distinct sections, the cephalothorax (anterior) and abdomen (posterior). Finally, the genus of the South Black Widow spider is Latrodectus. This genus is famous for having spiders with a poisonous bite (Preston-Mafham 1984).
The great sphinx ,in other words “Father of Terror”, was built 5,000 years ago. It was very tall and used for many things, So let's go on an adventure to the great sphinx. The Arabs called the great sphinx Father of Terrors because they believed it witnessed all the horrors of history. 5,000 years ago they built or chiseled the rock to create the head of the great sphinx.
Ancient Egypt has produced many great things. One of those things were sphinxes. Sphinxes were very important to Ancient Egyptians in many ways.
The Great Sphinx is believed to be created from 2575-2465 BC by Pharaoh Khafre. The location of the statue is Giza, Egypt, and is next to the great pyramid of Giza. The color of the statue is a tan color, like sand. The statue consist of the head of a human and the body of the lion. Very little is known about the statue.The reason behind the statue is unknown to this date today. The use of it is also unknown today, and also how it was created with the technology they had back then for the statue to be so big. Some believe symbolically it protected Giza. It points towards the East and aligns with the rising sun. Archaeologists have found secret passage
In Herodotus’ story, the bones of tragic hero Orestes served as protection for the Tegeans. Fagle’s allusion is crucial to Sophocles’ depiction of redemption as a result tragedy, in Oedipus at Colonus. In Oedipus at Colonus, we finally witness the triumph of free will over fate. Due to free will, Oedipus is doomed to suffer, and because of his damnation, he learns to accept they ways of the gods and is thus blessed in death (Lines 424-433). We can therefore conclude that Oedipus’ desired free will to escape his fate, led him to redemption. Despite his redemption, fate continues to influence the lives of his children: Antigone and Ismene doomed to carry their father’s shame, and Polynices and Etiocles, doomed to kill each other. Overall, we notice that in Greek Culture, fate holds more power over free will, but it is only through free will that the Greeks through learning by suffering, and are thus blessed by their gods. In conclusion it is safe to say that though fate holds more influence over free will, both fate and free will are of equal value to the Ancient
Classical literature is filled with stories of capricious deities playing with human lives as if they were only toys. The Greek tradition of tragedy is based upon celebrating this very aspect of the nature of the pantheon of Greek gods. Sophocles finds a perfect example of this celebration of fate, in the tragedy Oedipus the King. Conversely, the Story of Job uses the dramatic tension of a "wager" between God and Satan on the sincerity of Job's devotion to God. Where Oedipus' life, regardless of personal choice, is bound up by fated situations and their fated outcomes, Job's story is one of choice in the midst of supernaturally imposed difficulties. While both strive to teach resignation to the will of God, they each espouse quite different attitudes in resignation.
Elements of Tragedy in Oedipus Rex It is not the tragic subject matter of the text that is of primary interest but rather the manner in which the plot is developed. The story line progresses as if the reader is "unpeeling an onion. " The tale of King Oedipus is well known. An enraged Oedipus unknowingly slays his father (Laiusq, King of Thebes) and supplants him as monarch and as husband to his own mother (Queen Jocasta).
It can be argued that Oedipus possesses more freedom at the end of the play than at the beginning when it is learned that he is at fault for Lias’ death, as he has become aware of his fate, is released from the responsibility as king and father, and can be worry free of his family ties (change to other things: free in a philosophical sense). Oedipus is a freer man at the end of the play than he is at the beginning, and his slavery ends when he is finally revealed as the criminal he has been seeking. Throughout the play, Oedipus encounters a number of problems in which he wants to solve in order to not allow these issues get in the way of his freedom. Ironically, the action of doing so is in fact what makes him “non-free.” At the beginning of the play, Oedipus is blinded by his fate, and runs away from it.
The issues of destiny, predetermination, and foreknowledge play a part in proving Oedipus as innocent or guilty. Oedipus embodies the human condition in just this paradoxical relation to both open and closed conceptions of life. Segal (2001) suggests he is both free and determined, of able to choose and helpless in the face of choices that he has already made in the past or circumstances like those of his birth, over which he had no power of choice. Segal suggests Oedipus does not have a tragic flaw, this view rests on a misunderstanding of Aristotle and is a moralising way out of the disturbing questions that the plane means to ask. Sophocles refuses to give so easy in answer to the problem of suffering.