Coriolanus Essay

This attempt quickly failed when she said that his hubris just took over. “I knew that Caesar should have stayed away from the Senate house yesterday, but I guess his pride just took over his mind, it was just all too much,” Calpurnia sobbed. “This has turned out to be the most tragic moment in my life and I hope those conspirators kneel to the gods, for they have upset the heavens with the killing of the mightiest leader Rome has ever seen.”

Oedipus’ pride and a heightened sense of confidence is very conspicuous throughout the play Oedipus Rex. From the beginning of the play, Oedipus accepts the idea that he can avoid the prophecy given to him by the gods. Oedipus is also seen interrogating Creon and attempting to banish him with Tiresias towards the end of the play because they are saying facts corresponding to the prophecy. He tries to become like a god himself by thinking he could control his own fate. Although Oedipus’ pride can be justified by his accomplishments of being king; the tragedy of Oedipus is the pure result of his overwhelming pride because he killed his father, mocked Tiresias, and blinded himself.

His bragging almost results in the death of his entire crew. Odysseus doesn't think highly of his men, and this is apparent throughout the entire story.

The example of Odysseus’ raid on the city of the Cicones—and the loss of six men from his ships that results from it—shows a starting point in Odysseus’ evolution of humility by showing a a pre-suffering few of Odysseus—that of a man who encourages the sacking of a city—and a post initial dose suffering view of the same man—a man who blames his crew for the aforementioned suffering instead of taking responsibility himself. On his path home from the Trojan War, the fighter Odysseus—still filled with the greed and seeming invincibility of a victor came across a set of bystanders to the war known as the Cicones “There [he] sacked the[ir] city, killed the[ir] men, but as for the[ir]

Throughout Aristophanes’ “Clouds” there is a constant battle between old and new. It makes itself apparent in the Just and Unjust speech as well as between father and son. Ultimately, Pheidippides, whom would be considered ‘new’, triumphs over the old Strepsiades, his father. This is analogous to the Just and Unjust speech. In this debate, Just speech represents the old traditions and mores of Greece while the contrasting Unjust speech is considered to be newfangled and cynical towards the old. While the defeat of Just speech by Unjust speech does not render Pheidippides the ability to overcome Strepsiades, it is a parallel that may be compared with many other instances in Mythology and real life.

Oedipus also displays this uncompromising attitude in his devotion to Thebes. Oedipus' loyalty to Thebes is another factor that led to the tragic figure's ruin. Aristotle explains that a tragic character is just and good, but fatal error, pride(possibly hubris), or frailty brings about his misfortune. Oedipus fits this description perfectly. Oedipus could easily have left the city of Thebes and let the plague take its course he “would be blind to misery/ not to pity [his] people kneeling at his feet”. When Apollo's word comes back in the hand of Creon, Oedipus could leave the murder of Laius uninvestigated as it had been for so long, but “rising in his pride, he protests: he pits himself in some way against whatever…seems to him to be wrong…”(Levin 178). Oedipus can not let this investigation be overlooked; he must solve the riddle of who killed King Laius because his pride overpowers him. Oedipus' pride also reveals itself again in his loyalty to the truth.

In the Odyssey, Odysseus’s crew believed and trusted him with their lives, but Odysseus did not tell them of the last prophecy. “The Ithacans set of. Odysseus does not tell his men of Circe’s last prophecy-that he will be the only survivor of their long journey.” (Homer 3:1066). Wiesel gives the example of how no man is perfect all the time. This is shown many times in the Odyssey. When Odysseus slays the Cyclops’s eye he boast and teases the Cyclops. Even after his men beg him to stop patronizing the Cyclops, Odysseus continues. “Cyclops, if ever mortal man inquire how you were put to shame and blinded, tell him Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye: Laertes’ son, whose home’s on Ithaca” (Homer 3:1057). In my third paragraph, Jason Shen talks about how our heroes are just like us. Our heroes make mistakes and experience emotions. Odysseus gave in to humanly emotion when he decided to stay with the beautiful goddess Calypso. Odysseus didn’t fight back because he was discouraged. “The old soldier is in despair: He has spent ten years (seven of them as Calypso’s not entirely unwilling captive) trying to get home” (Homer 3:1038). Jason believes our heroes are just normal people who happen to find themselves leading influential lives. “Salt tears rose from the wells of longing in both men, and cries burst from both…” (Homer 3:1083). At this moment, Odysseus has just been reunited

Cassius’s jealousy caused all the events in the play to be set in motion, and thus led to his downfall. A prominent example of this would be when Brutus and Cassius are speaking and Cassius is trying to convince Brutus to join his plot by telling a story of how Caesar had to ask for Cassius’s help because he was too weak and tired to continue swimming. This leads Cassius to say, “Did I the tired Caesar. And this a man / Is now become a god, and Cassius / A wretched creature and must bend his body / If Caesar carelessly but nod on him” (I.ii.115-118). This quote in modern times would say, “Caesar was tired. And this man is supposed to be a god, and I am a wretched creature who has to kneel to Caesar.” Cassius is implying that Caesar is supposed to be this strong god and Cassius a wretched creature, yet Cassius had to save Caesar from drowning. This quote leads to Cassius’s downfall because it shows his jealousy through what he is feeling towards Caesar. His downfall is also shown because this scene is Cassius trying to convince Brutus to join his plot. Another quote that proves Cassius’s tragic flaw occurs after Brutus has died. Messala is asking

The overconfidence of Odysseus, consumed with pride for past successes, evokes anger in the reader and causes them to understand the importance of humility in a world that has gone far but still has far to go. Having defeated Polyphemus, a cyclops, through clever cunning, Odysseus proclaims, “‘Cyclops—if any man on the face of the earth should ask you who blinded you, shamed you so—say Odysseus, raider of

“Oh my children, the new blood of ancient Thebes, why are you here?” said Oedipus when addressing his people during his first appearance (1-2). Flamboyant, yes, well in Oedipus the King, the main character Oedipus is a boastful and pompous character faced with troublesome pasts and future predicaments. In actuality, he is king of Thebes and the rightful ruler, but when a plague strikes he is quickly led into a misfortune of events that ultimately leads him to dig his eyes out in attempt to relieve him from the truth he discovers. It then becomes a revelation to distinguish the characteristic fault which leads Oedipus through such tragedy. Only to become apparent, Oedipus’s excessive pride is the main culprit behind his tragic ending. In

Also, when Creon asks Oedipus the possibility that he is wrong when accusing Tiresias and himself, Oedipus disregards the needs and rights of other people in order to avoid the truth of the suffering that Tiresias has bestowed upon him: “‘What if you’re wholly wrong?’ ‘No matter-I must rule’”. Oedipus became rash and selfish when faced with suffering when he threw away the rights of the citizens for his own self pleasure despite the lack of evidence and reason to do so. Therefore, when Oedipus is faced with suffering, he blames others for his own fate to avoid the truth until it is right in front of him. Therefore, unlike Tiresias and King Laius, Oedipus is more hasty and selfish when faced with suffering.

So when the Cicones gather an army from inland to ward off the Greek invaders, Odysseus loses many men and rather than acknowledge his error in judgment, he shifts the blame of the defeat to his crew. Convincing himself that he is not at fault for having been defeated, but rather his selfish crew who refused to leave, he justifies his actions, “Then I urged them to cut and run, set sail, but would they listen? Not those mutinous; there was too much wine to swill, too many sheep to slaughter”(9.50-52). Odysseus knows that if he stays on the island, the Cicones will rally an army and come to kill Odysseus and his men. Despite this, he stays and reassures himself that the major defeat was by Zeus’ hand, “Zeus presented us with disaster us, me and my comrades doomed to suffer”(9.61-62). Homer teaches us that no matter how many great accolades one holds, they are destined to fail if they cannot own up to their mistakes and actions.

Nevertheless, his speech articulates the mannerism of the honest politician who goes against his own political system, as Trump does. However, he organizes a coherent way to communicate his ideas. “[Y]our stinking greasy caps in hooting at Coriolanus’ exile ” (IV.vi.134-5).In this quote Menenius recognizes that Rome is exposed to a big disaster because of the rulers who vow to exile Coriolanus. Furthermore, the phrase, “[Y]our stinking greasy caps” (IV.vi.134) implies that there is a corrupt system in Rome; especially, greasy conceives the conception of an obscure system that can be swindled (OED, “Greasy”,a2). It serenely refers to the pillars of Rome that are not well cemented and that politicians that are the cause of the collapse of this

As society lacks critical thinking, people let those in power manipulate them to get a taste of power. When Caesar returns from the battle with Pompey, the people of Rome are rejoicing in the streets. Yet Marullus accuses that “[the men of Rome] have hard hearts” and “[do not remember] Pompey” (I.i.32-37). The people of Rome abandon Pompey’s side as soon as Caesar wins. If they join Caesar, Caesar will like them more and their fellow citizens will continue to respect them. If they align with Pompey, the masses will attack them because Pompey’s army no longer has all it’s honor and power. Similarly, when Cassius is asking Brutus about his thoughts on Caesar, he philosophizes that “men at some time are masters of their own fates: the fault, [Brutus], is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings” (I.ii.139-141). Cassius’ statement explains that the less power someone has, the less control of their fate they have. Because Brutus has a huge amount of power as Caesar’s friend and as a senator, the people of Rome honor and respect him. Brutus aligns himself with Caesar and Cassius

Commodus also went against the demonstration of normatively appropriate conduct, which is a shared definition of ethical leadership according to Eisenbeiss (2012), and something that also includes the advocacy of such behavior to followers.(Eisenbeiss 2012:792) Connecting the orientations of justice and moderation, is also applicable here, due to the proposed shift by Aurelius and also something that i.e altered the course of his life drastically and immediately (Eisenbeiss 2012:795) Another aspects addressed in this paper is the dilemma Commodus encounter in his meeting and interaction with Maximus, someone with an authentic leadership style, further contrasting his own shortcomings and strengths. The way that Commodus dealt with his- what he considered- betrayal, actually catapulted Maximus even further into such a leadership, due to the life changing event that occurred when his family was slaughtered (Northouse 2013:266) The theoretical approach for authentic leadership would have it that such leaders display self-awareness, and internalized moral perspective, balanced processing and relational transparency, all of which can be seen in the character of Maximus even though his processing went through stages where his balance was in questions, naturally due to the loss of his family and being imprisoned and sold like a slave. His moral reasoning, stemming from a military core as well, could have said to have a further impact on