Odyssey, Gilgamesh, Greek Drama, the Aeneid
1) Compare and contrast the epics of Homer- The Odyssey and Virgil’s Aeneid and Gilgamesh.
Homer and Virgil present exemplary narrative poems that highlight significant aspects of their respective histories. Their epics register great intensities of comparison and contrast. “The Aeneid” is a literary epic while “The Odyssey” and “The Gilgamesh” are oral epics. This is a chief contrast because of the delivery of the respective epics. For example, in the Aieneid there seems to be prophesies of the events that occur at the end. The Odyssey and Gilgamesh display an exemplary use of similes in their respective structures.
The consideration of the above narrations originates from the information that they convey. Epics discuss serious issues, and these narrations do the same. For example, the Gilgamesh epic highlights the diverse meaning of life. Significant contrasts in the epics include the following aspects. First, the epics have different structures and some use minimal application of similes in their narrations. The Odyssey uses such similes as the relation between hospitality and kindness. The protagonist in this epic displays kindness after he receives fascinating hospitality from Nausicaa. In the epic of Gilgamesh, there is constant reference to the meaning of life by the authors and use of relevant similes. The use of twelve tablets in delivery of its diverse messages is a fascinating style in the epic. This is because the tablets simplify the messages and provide an admirable order of events for the readership. The similarity in the poetic structures of all these epics proves that past writers were effective in the delivery of messages in their narrations.
Both The Aeneid and The Virgil use the structure of dactyl hexameter. These two epics ensure success of their narrations by using flashbacks. Another significant style that the two epics use is the telling of stories. This ensures that the authors prophesy future occurrences at the beginning of their narrations. All the above epics involve gods in any decisions making that their respective protagonist must make. The authors include the symbolic journey to the underworld that provides necessary insights to their protagonists.
In the epic of Gilgamesh, the author explores intense details of the phenomenon of life. For example, the inclusion of sensitive human affairs seems to be the prevailing message in this epic. Love, friendship and sex raise questions that the epic attempts to answer in a mythic way. Other significant messages in the epic of Gilgamesh are human desires and general civilization. The epic suggests that human beings have certain desires to be the greatest people. They become obsessed with some of these desires and wish that they never died. The messages in the Odssey have great focus on hospitable homes. These messages suggest that people will always return to their respective homes regardless of their experiences. For example, in the epic, Odesseus returns after ten years of difficult travel. The epic also includes the message that there needs to be uniform hospitality. This is because its narration tells of beggars who experience intense levels of hospitality. Throughout the epic women and servants offer food and bathing water. In the Aeneid epic, the chief message is about conflicts with the gods. The creator of this epic suggests that gods help human beings by using their fellow human beings.
2) GREEK DRAMA :Aeschylus’ Agamemnon, Sophocles’ Antigone, and Euripides’ Medea and Trojan Women.
Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, are great Greek authors who portray female characters in their narrations questionably. Their use of women in their respective dramas has both significant similarities and differences. In all the above plays, the choruses seem to emphasis the mistakes that societies perceive women to make. They highlight unfair treatment that women receive because men consider them as inferior. In Agamemnon, a father sacrifices his daughter making his wife infuriated. This is both a positive and negative portrayal of women in the narration. It is negative because men believe that their sacrifices have to be women. The affirmative feature of this situation is that women have the ability to fight against diverse elements of oppression.
In Antigone, the leading woman displays several exemplary traits that make readers like her. For example, she has love for her family and disobeys the gods because of this love. When her brother dies, she decides to bury him even after Creon says it is wrong to do so. She is the character who facilitates all significant developments in the play. Euripides reveals the level of patriarchy in the Trojan civilization. The women in this society suffer because of their gender. For example, Hacabe wonders why she receives extreme harassment in the way she does in the play. In this play, all the women come from diverse backgrounds, to suggest a similar complain. This is effective because it proves that the entire Trojan community does not respect women.
In all these three drams, there is a portrayal of women as being inferior creatures. This is because the women in these narrations keep experiencing challenges regardless of the efforts they make. In The Trojan Women, the war seems to affect women to intense levels. This proves that women have vulnerabilities that continue to make them extremely week in their respective societies.
In the Trojan War, Euripides creates four sets of women who help him to develop his themes in the drama. These four women include Hecabe, Andromache,Cassandra and Helen. Thw women live unsuitable lives with their children because of the negative impacts of the war. In Agnemon, the playwright portrays women as sexually immoral. He portrays his three female leading characters (Helen, Clytaemestra, and Cassandra) to be adulterous in most of their actions. In Antigone, the playwright blames women for all incidences of infidelity that occur. He also praises women for some of their exemplary actions. For example, Antigone sacrifices her life for her society to have an admirable justice system.
All these plays share the following characteristics in their structure and narration techniques. They satisfy almost every element in their respective analysis as tragedies. First, the pays have choruses that emphasis the message of the respective playwrights. Similarity in the plays is the fat that all of them have significant Greek playwrights. This ensures that they highlight their respective messages in fascinating and captivating ways. The messages in all these plays highlight troubles that women face because of extreme patriarchy in societies. The plays are trilogies of other plays that represent similar themes in their narrations. All the playwrights display similarity in their descriptions of both their off and onstage actions. A final similarity in these plays is the inclusion of the gods in making significant decisions.
3) Compare and contrast definition and conventions of an epic with Aristotle’s theory of tragedy.
The first convention of an epic is the traditional invocation if a guiding spirit that plays a significant role in the epic. Several Greek epics, for example, Gilgamesh and Aeneid include these spirits in their narration. The epics also reveal their occurrences through intense use of flashbacks. This is because the epics begin by telling their narration after events occur. They reveal this information through flashbacks and storytelling later in the narration. For example, the epics reveal deaths of chief characters when the respective narrations are almost ending. The revelations in flashbacks are normally insightful because it explains why characters behave in certain manners in the dramas. This convention is similar to the theory of tragedy. This is because the in the respective dramas there is an intense consultation with the gods by the protagonists.
Another similarity of the two is between the elements of plot in the theory and the two types of epics. In epics, the authors ensure that they provide readers with descriptions of their respective characters. This style is called stock epithets, and they enable readers connect relations with the fathers of the respective characters. Both tragedies and epics employ extensive use of repetition in their narrations. The repetition in tragedies is not extremely pronounced, but readers keep witnessing repetition of events. For example, in Greek dramas heroes repeat significant actions that develop the tragedies. These heroes could consult their gods on actions to take and return for further instructions. This is proof of repetition in the tragedy. Repetition in the epics is evident from the choruses that emphasize the messages in the epics.
In epics, the poets are blind to build the development of the respective epics. For example, this blindness represents the intensity of reflection that the protagonist must engage in before they are successful. There is no blindness in the characterization of tragedies because the heroes do not have extremely significant roles. They seem to get help from several aspects including gods and leaders in their respective societies.
A significant contrast between the conventions of epics and Aristotle’s theory is the division in the two. In the ideal tragedy, six parts make a tragedy. Epics do not have these subdivisions because the styles that they take depend on the nature of the epic (oral or literacy). In epics, the similes allow readers to predict occurrences while in the theory no prediction is possible. This is because the dramatic action relevant incidences at the end of the respective plots. This is also different from the convention of the epic that reveals significant information in the middle of the epics.
Reversal of the situation is an obvious contrast between the two. In Greek epics, the actions are clear, and one can determine the next action. This is untrue in Greek events because actions keep reversing. Aristotle also suggests that a perfect tragedy should create heroes from negativity to positivity. Most Greek tragedies apply this suggestion in their narration because they make their heroes realize any mistakes that they make before the tragedies end. In the epics, none of this is true. For example, in Trojan Women, chief characters seem to be naive when the play begins. After significant developments in the play, readers notice that the women become rebellious because they demand justice.
4) What is the general message a writer is conveying in a Greek Tragedie according to Aristotles definition
Greek tragedies convey diverse messages to their respective societies. First, all the tragedies above teach that human beings learn from their mistakes and become better people. Writers in Greek tragedies use the element of catharsis to educate human beings on their ability to forgive and concentrate on the future. The tragedies present heroes who fail, but later rise and perform their respective expected responsibilities. Antigone seems to derail in her pursuit for justice, but finally gets on the right track. Her decision to sacrifice herself comes after she makes several mistakes and readers almost believe that she will fail.
The element of recognition in all these plays further enhances the above message that Greek playwrights portray. Aristotle suggests that at some point, the heroes recognize their mistakes. The recognition of mistakes is extremely significant because of the following reasons. First, it allows the heroes to understand the impact of their negative actions on their roes. For example, in Trojan women, the women realize that there can never be a reverse of the war. It is true that the war destroys their lives. No level of revenge can change the effects of the war. After this significant realization, the women seem to re-strategize their counter wars against the men in the Trojan society.
The suggestion by Aristotle that a perfect tragedy should not transform people from good to bad is relevant in the above tragedies. Tragedies should create bad people who later reform to be exemplary characters in their societies. The playwrights in Greek follow this suggestion and in turn introduce their characters as those whose behavior in indecent. Later in their narrations, they make their heroes change from negative to positive. Agamemnon, Antigone and the Trojan women display exemplary change of behavior when the respective tragedies develop. This transformation means that people need to change from any negative traits that they display. This is because negativity destroys everyone in his or her respective societies. People begin to experience positive results when they practice acceptable behavior in their societies.
The Greek playwrights’ inclusion of the concept of Harmatia facilitates their efficient delivery of messages. Harmatia could mean the negativity of pride that one experiences especially from the gods. All these Greek writers warn people that they should fear the gods because of their obvious superiority. Antigone suffers from two incidences of Harmatia because of the extreme confidence that she has in herself. She disobeys Creon and buries her brother because she had extreme love for him. She also disobeys the gods on several occasions in the tragedy. These playwrights suggest that people can alter the rules in exceptional circumstances, for example, there was no need for Antigone not to bury her brother. It was just a rule existing for the sake of existence of rules.
The unities of time and location are equally significant in the delivery of messages from the Greek dramas. Playwrights ensure that their narrations are sensible when they apply Aristotle’s unities. The sensibility that they create with unities makes the messages to be realistic. This further ensures that their respective audience believes what they seem to be encouraging people to do. In all the above tragedies, there are evident unities of place and time. For example, in the Trojan Women all the events occur after the war in Trojan minimize on any likely confusion.
