In Aeschylus’s Seven Against Thebes, Eteocles had an agreement with his brother that they would alternate the throne every year. However, due to Eteocles’ greed, he refused to step down and his brother gathered an army to take back what was rightfully his(xiv, line 12). This rebellion created by Polyneices had become Eteocles’ most significant obstacle. This resulted in Eteocles creating an army, seven men to guard each gate. Polyneices’ men were suited up with armor and a specialized shields. Eteocles’ greatest tool was his ability to change the interpretation of the blazons his brother’s soldiers carried (367). He talked down the weapons of defense to his men in order to enhance their ability to fight by increasing their confidence.…
The ancient religion of Greece was polytheistic. According to Greek myths, the Gods and Goddesses lived in Northern Greece, on Mount Olympus. Ancient Greek citizens honored their gods and goddesses with temples, festivals, sacrifices, and athletic competitions.…
I will now briefly discuss Dionysius I, a tyrant of Syraceus during the classical period of Greek history. Aristotle, in his work Politics, wrote, ‘a tyrant is set up from among the people and the multitude to oppose the notables, in order that the people may suffer no injustice from them’ . As before with the Cypselid dynasty, we see Dionysius I come to power with the aid of the military and the demos. However despite their origins we once again during Dionysius reign see the steady decline of populous support. Dionysius I was an aristocrat and held a clerical position within the political system of Syraceus until he was elected as a general in 405B.C. Once again we see a tyrant using social unrest to gain access to power. During the Peloponnesian…
The play Pericles, Prince of Tyre is arguably one of Shakespeare's best plays. In this play Shakespeare displays two informative underlying themes. One of the themes that Shakespeare is trying to portray in this play is what goes around, comes around, and in the end good always triumphs over evil. Shakespeare also displays a belief in Gods, and how they control fate in peoples' lives. This theme represents loyalty. If you are true to yourself, worship the Gods, they will oversee your life, and bless it with gifts. The gods play a major part in the play Pericles, Prince of Tyre. They used good people, pirates, and coincidental events to reward Pericles in the end for overcoming adversity. Also the gods use the same method to punish the people…
Writing is such an expressive way to reveal the dramatic world of influences. Playwright Euripides compelled in his work, tragedy to re engage his life. The techniques used were to be realistic not fictional. He influenced other writers which cause them to rewrite his plays and other works. Medea mainly was focused on human nature but, cultured his writing fully on women, his life and career and the mysterious end of his life.…
Medea's first public statement, a sort of "protest speech," is one of the best parts of the play and demonstrates a complex, at times even contradictory, representation of gender. Medea's calm and reasoning tone, especially after her following out bursts of despair and hatred, provides the first display of her ability to gather herself together in the middle of crisis and pursue her hidden agenda with a great determination. This split in her personality is to a certain degree gender bias. The lack of emotional restraint is "typical" of women, and the strong attention to moral action is a common trait of heroes. Medea actually uses both of these traits so that her wild emotions fuel her ideals, thus producing a character that fails to fit into a clear mold.…
Euthyphro's second definition of piety is what is pleasing to the gods. Socrates agrees with this definition because it is expressed in a general form, but criticizes because the gods disagree among themselves as to what is right. This would mean that a particular action, disputed by the gods, would be both pious and impious at the same time and this is a logically impossible situation. Euthyphro tries to argue against Socrates' criticism by pointing out that not even the gods would disagree amongst themselves that someone who kills without justification should be punished but Socrates argues that disputes would still arise over just how much justification there actually was and therefore the same action could still be both pious and impious. Socrates yet again believes Euthyphro's 'definition' cannot possibly be a definition.…
Euripides’ play starts by introducing us to one the two main characters: Pentheus, king of Thebes, whose characteristics can be immediately noticed, like his rationality and his will to enforce law and order in his city; thinking that this will help his people prosper and his kingdom…
Dionysus was a god of many things. He was the god of wine, drugs, revelry, Cheer, completeness, and also lord of the dance of life. Dionysus stood for the positive and negative effects on life, in general. Many compared him to Zeus, which was the God of all Gods.…
Fate is the will of the gods and it is apparent in ‘The Burial at Thebes’ that the gods’ will is not to be questioned. According to Greek mythology, each god was believed to possess individual and unique powers that could either help or hinder the lives of mortals. In ancient Greek plays, the actors would have worn masks to help transform them into gods and goddesses. It can be seen in the play that while direct interaction from the gods is non-existent, their indirect effect on the stated beliefs and actions of the main characters influence several events in the play. The character of Antigone was portrayed throughout the tragedy as being clear of mind, always certain not only that honoring the divine was the proper course to take in any situation, but also of how exactly to pay respect to them: “I know I am pleasing those I should please most”.…
The gods, like those in Greek mythology, are constantly scheming and plotting against each other, and people are often the unwitting victims, caught up in these mighty struggles. Likewise, they often hold humans collectively…
Living a life as a sovereign ruler is not always the peaceful, golden roads of glory one would think. In the tragic play of “Oedipus the King”, Oedipus completes a dreadful and long journey in which his respected and well-known position in the Greek city of Thebes crumbles because of his tragic flaw of ambition and hubris. The claws of the past are at the throat of the king and the audience begins to feel pity for Oedipus when his renowned name tragically falls down from grace.…
Cited: Grene, David, and Richmond Lattimore. Euripides I. The University of Chicago Press: Chicago, 1955…
In The Bacchae, Euripedes portrays the character of Pentheus as an ignorant, stubborn, and arrogant ruler. These character flaws accompanied with his foolish decisions set the stage for his tragic downfall. Pentheus' blatant disregard to all warnings and incidents, which prove that Dionysus is truly a god, lead him to his own death. In the end, his mistakes are unforgiving and his punishment is just.…
The role of women in Greek society is a major theme in Euripides’ Medea. In ancient Greek society, women are frail and submissive according to men, and their social status is considered very inferior. Feminism is the theory of men being treated differently than women and the male dominance over women in society. Because of Jason’s betrayal of Medea, she is a challenge to the traditional views of ancient Greek society based on her actions. She wonders about the differences between the treatment of men and women and the active roles they play in society, such as the woman’s role to bear and nurture children. Medea ignores those feminine qualities and questions Jason’s sexist ideals. She internally struggles between self independence and motherhood. Euripides uses Jason’s affair with his new found wife and Medea’s obsession with wanting to bring much pain to him to display a feministic point of view in his play.…