Ms. Hines
World Literature
The Persecution of Heracles Children
The play “The Children of Heracles” a drama, the author is Euripides (485-c-406 BC). The type of play is a tragedy. The locale of the play takes place before the temple of Zeus at Marathon. The principal characters of the play are Iolaus, aged friend of Heracles, Copreus, herald of King Eurystheus Demophon King of Athens Macaria Heracles daughter Alcmene mother of Heracles and Eurystheus King of Argos. The play was written during the Peloponnesian War. The play deals with the persecution of Heracles children by the King of Argos, Eurysrhes, the play is set at Mararthon, a small town twenty five miles northeast of Athens.
The play starts after the death of Heracles, As the play begins, the children of Heracles and a friend of Heracles, Iolaus have taken refuge at the altar of Zeus in Marathon. The two sons of Heracles stays on the steps outside the temple of Zeus, while Alcmena and the daughters of Heracles take refuge inside the temple. Since Iolaus and the children were sent into exile, they had been pursued by the enemies of Heracles, especially Eurystheus, King of Argos, who had stated that punishment would come to any town who would give refuge to Iolaus and the children of Heracles. As Iolaus and Heracles sons set on the steps of the altar of Zeus they are confronted by Copreus, the herald of King Eurysthues. He demands that Iolaus and the children of Heracles return to Argos, Copreus the herald of King Eurystheus attempts to drag Heracles sons from the altar. Iolaus pushes Copreus to the ground. Copreus gets up and continues to drag Heracles sons from the altar. Iolaus cries out as Copreus is removing the sons of Heracles. Iolaus cries of help are answered by the men of Marathon.
After Iolaus explains the situation to the men of Marathon about how the kings of Argos Eurystheus wants the decendents of Heracles returned to the city of Argos for punishment and death. The older men of Marathon informed Copreus he should take up the issue with the king of that region. And that would be Demophon king of Athens son of Thesus. King Demophon arrives along with his brother. Acamas who remains quiet. The herald for King Eurystheus Copreus defends its rights to take Iolaus and the children of Heracles because the people of Argos had passed a sentence of death upon Iolaus and the children. And Copreus also stated that any interference would provoke a war between Argos and the people of Athens.
Later the servant enters the temple and tells Heracles mother Alcmena that Hyllus challenged King Eurystheus to a one on one battle. But the king did not the one on one so the war began. Then the miracle happened, Iolaus prayed to Hebe and Zeus to make him young again. His prays were answered. After hearing King Eurysthus was defeated Alcmene rejoices and predicts that King Eurysthus will die soon. Alcmene wants the king dead.But the law states that anyone captured in battle will not be put to death. Alcmena urges that King Eurysthus be led to death, and the guards lead him to his death. It stated that ancient manuscript to the play breaks off and it is uncertain what happens to King Eurysthus.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
Odysseus is sent to Troy to help fight the Trojans in order to win back Helen. In order to help the Greeks Odysseus must leave his wife, Penelope, and his son, Telemachus. Odysseus was gone for many years and in that time face many problems as well as when he was back in Ithaca. Medea is a sorceress who falls in love with Jason and helps him steal the Golden Fleece from her father and escape. Medea and Jason safely reach Greece are married and have two children, but Jason leaves Medea to marry a new bride and become king. Medea is the protagonist of Euripides’s play Medea she is comparable to Odysseus from Homer’s epic The Odyssey in that they both are faced with many problems, but the way in which they handle the situations sets the two apart.…
- 749 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The first plot in the play is the court party of Theseus; Theseus the duke of Athens is preparing to marry Hippolyta, the queen of the Amazons, after he won her in battle. He plans to have four days of merriment and amusement and arranges for some entertainment. During this Egeus, one of the noblemen, arrives asking Theseus to punish his daughter Hermia if she refuses to marry Demetrius in favor of the man loves, Lysander.…
- 1616 Words
- 7 Pages
Powerful Essays -
presence in his palace. After devising a plan to kill the suitors with Eumaios and Telemakhos ,…
- 716 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The engrossing story, The Odyssey, tells the tale of the heroic Odysseus’ journey to reach home after the Trojan War. In the first four books, the reader learns about Odysseus through other characters eyes. They follow the footsteps of Telemakhos, the son of Odysseus, and his awakening to save his father. Telemakhos’s house is being overrun by his mother's’ suitors, however dear Penelope can’t help change that. Telemakhos is then visited by Athena, in which she arouses him and gives him the confidence and steady mind to search for word on his father. Telemakhos and the reader can interpret from the stories told about Odysseus that he was an important warrior and is thought to be dead. Therefore he is held to a higher respect than most Trojan…
- 264 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
This story is told as a narration by a dying Xeones to the Persian king Xerxes. The loan surviving greek is kept alive after sustaining battle wounds by a surgeon to tell his account of the battle of Thermopylae and the events before it. His narration jumps back and forth between time to explain certain events. Xeones and his cousin, Diomache, are orphaned at a young age and hide in the hills with a slave. Diomache is taken as a maid after being gang raped as punishment for stealing and Xeones continues to Sparta where he becomes a battle squire under Dienekes. He explains in horrid detail the gruesome training of the Spartan children to become citizens or 'peers'. Xeones takes the married life and has a child. Persia threatens to invade Sparta and, under the leadership of King Leonitas, the Spartans go to fight the incomming forces. Defending the main passage of a narrow path through the mountains, the Spartans, accompanied by only a few thousand greeks, face the better part of 2 million Persian troops. As the first day of battle draws to an end, many Persians lie dead, yet only a few Spartans lay in their wake. Xerxes learns of a path leading behind the Spartans and sends a force to entrap them. After 7 days of gruesome battle, the Xerxes and his troups finally overpower the troups, and Leonitas is beheaded. After his story is finished, Xeones passes due to his wounds. The scribe writing his story accounts for the rest of the war after his passing including the Persians losing the war to the Greek army.…
- 280 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays -
“The Odyssey” is a story about a King named Odysseus, who goes off to lead a war and is separated from his family and kingdom for 20 years. While he is away for so many years his son grows up into a man and helps his mother; Odysseus’ wife, Penelope rules the kingdom. After many years of Odysseus being gone, suitors or “wooers” arrive trying to win over the queen. When Odysseus gets back he brutally slaughters everyone who was involved with the suitor’s plans, including the innocent servant women, who were working in his castle at the time.…
- 510 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The book starts with Odysseus, who is still dressed as a beggar, speaking to his son Telemakhos about their plan to kill the suitors out of spite for trying to marry Penelope. Odysseus commands his son to hide the suitor’s weapons so that will not be able to fight back. He also commands the maid Eurykelia to lock the women in their quarters so they will not witness the carnage. After Telemakhos obeys, a light brightens the room and Telemakhos believes that this is a sign from the gods of their approval. When the preparations are finished, Odysseus is invited to join Penelope in the manor to speak so she can learn about who he is. When they meet, Penelope asks Odysseus questions like where are you from, who are you, and who are your parents. In response, Odysseus starts by complimenting Penelope’s beauty and then says that the telling of…
- 713 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
In this paper, I suggest that the themes of justice and vengeance are reflected in a progressive movement throughout the trilogy. The never-ending cycle of revenge and vengeance was between not only mortals like Clytaemnestra and Orestes but also between gods for example Apollo and the Furies. The theme of justice and vengeance are important because the play reflects a movement from a time of savagery and revenge and a movement towards civilization and justice.…
- 890 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Lizeth Marin Honors Introduction to Literature Period 3 18 April 2008 Odysseus: Hero or Villain? Heading home, to Ithaca, Odysseus is faced upon many obstacles that he and his men try to overcome, but in the end substantiate that Odysseus is a villain. “The old soldier in despair: He has spent ten years (seven of them as Calypso’s not entirely unwillingly captive) trying to get home” (652, summary). Evidence proves that Odysseus is a villain, because he tries to convince that he was kept unwillingly by Calypso. However, it is true that Odysseus was kept as Calypso’s captive for a time. Yet he can still be judged as a villain, because he does not just stay as a prisoner, no, he assists Calypso by being with her for the pleasures that she offers to him. Of course that Odysseus never says no to that, which reveals his true and voracious side.”As Circe of Aeaea, the enchantress, desired me, and detained me in her hall. But in my heart I never gave my consent” (656,141-143). This quote once again proves Odysseus to be a villain. This could be argued and said that Odysseus was only taking precautions so that he would not get killed or so that Circe would not release her rage at him in some sort of way. However, with Circe he could have left whenever he wanted unlike when he was with Calypso. Odysseus continues his journey, though he is retained by many obstacles, but only proves that his felony is even stronger than what could have ever been imagined. Odysseus once again through his action proves himself worthy of being known as a villain. Bitten by curiosity, Odysseus proposes to go see the Cyclops’s cave and insists on waiting for him (660, summary). His action leads him and his men to danger. Odysseus after his encounter with Polyphemus, a Cyclops and Poseidon’s monstrous son, is captured along with his men. Odysseus outsmarts the Cyclops and saves some of his men, but it still leaves him as the person responsible for the felony that his men commit to Cyclops…
- 638 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
At the beginning of the play, Oedipus exhibits strong leadership qualities. King Oedipus solved a past problem by defeating the Sphinx. Doing so the people of thebes went straight to him to try to solve the next problem in the city. Oedipus asks the people of thebes what the new problem is. ”what is it my children?”(1) trying to be a strong leader he accepts. Oedipus was destined to find out who was laius’s murderer. Oedipus asks apollo's oracle for the answers to his problem. ”I command you to do first for me!”(2) oedipus is fully motivated to solve the mystery and once again be the hero. Oedipus listens to the oracle and does not want to believe it.…
- 449 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Before concluding with how the gods did not serve the mortal in a just way, and establishment needs to be made on what the mortal wanted. In the Oresteia, Aeschylus began with the homecoming of Agamemnon from the Trojan War. There, he acquired a concubine, Cassandra. Upon bringing her home, his wife, Clytemnestra and her lover, Aegisthus, plotted their murder. This prompted the return of Orestes from his years of exile from Argos to avenge his father’s death. Ultimately he killed both Clytemnestra and Aegisthus. This lead the Furies to drove him into madness and both Apollo and Athena had to be brought in to stop the tutor. In this play, the motives for each of the killings was justified by the killers because they did it for the justice of another person. For Orestes, he wanted to avenge his father to the best of his abilities. Clytemnestra said that she wanted Agamemnon dead was because of the death of their daughter Iphigenia. She was sacrifice after Agamemnon offended the goddess Artemis and could not set…
- 1147 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
Herakles role in the play leaves intrigue into what his motives actually where, whether genuine hero or male patriarch. Regardless of debate, the presence of Herakles in the Alcestis was purposely decided by Euripides, and as many playwrights of ancient Greece, he took what qualities of Herakles were known, and concentrated on his popular traits, brute strength, determination, and human compassion. Herakles was a popular hero, and as a mythological nomad, he represented the whole of Greece and his arrival in the Alcestis completely changed the tone of the play. Herakles was a mortal with divine strength. Both friend and foe of the gods Herakles remained a popular hero, and his role in the Euripides was exactly that, the exciting hero's role to create a happy…
- 1004 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
Sophocles is one of the best and most well-known ancient Greek tragedians. He influenced the development of drama especially by adding a third character and thereby reducing the importance of the chorus in the presentation of the plot. Even though he wrote 123 plays, he is mostly famous for his three plays concerning Oedipus and Antigone: these are often known as the Theban plays or The Oedipus Cycle. One of these plays is “Oedipus the King”, which will be discussed throughout this essay. In Oedipus the King, Oedipus learns, as the story unfolds, that he committed both patricide and incest. Sophocles’ use of dramatic irony emphasizes how limited human understanding is and the pain and suffering that is created due to misunderstandings. As time progresses, he slowly and powerlessly watches his world and everything he has known crumble before him. Now, the real question is whether or not he bears full responsibility for what is happening and for his past acts. In my opinion, Oedipus is indeed responsible to a great extent for his fate.…
- 1315 Words
- 6 Pages
Better Essays -
An earlier play entitled, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, by William Shakespeare, is a comedy outlining the destinies of two bothered couples. Shakespeare tactically demonstrates the love of two Athens individuals, Lysander and Hermia. The conflict is, Hermia’s father is against the marriage of the two and insists upon marriage with a man named Demetrius. However, the already complicated situation becomes more complex when Hermia discovers that Helena, a deep-rooted friend, is in love with Demetrius. My initial interest of the play arose during the introduction of this conflict.…
- 819 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Agamemnon arrives late in Aeschylus’ play; until his arrival with Cassandra, most of the play deals with other characters anticipating his appearance. The reader gathers from the Watchman’s prologue a feeling of somberness: “dear gods, set me free from all this pain” (pg. 102). Once the Watchman sets the scene and theme for the reader, he vanishes before the chorus is introduced. Now that the chorus has the stage, they proceed in telling why Agamemnon and Menelaus’ mission was permitted by Zeus. Paris dishonored Zeus the god of Xenia, hospitality, by smuggling Helen back to Troy, but Paris also simultaneously infringed on Menelaus’ liberties as her husband. On their expedition to Troy, Atreus’ sons are held at Aulis: “port of anguish…head winds starving, sheets and the cables snapped and the men’s minds strayed” (pg. 109). The omen they witness, told through the chorus entailed two…
- 472 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays