Greek Heroes In The Odyssey, And Oedipus Rex

Disobeying the gods is a prominent theme in Prometheus's and Sisyphus' stories. In Sisyphus' story, he had died and was sent to the underworld. He tricks Hades and returns to the world of the living. For committing this crime Sisyphus was punished severely for disobeying the god of the underworld, "Sisyphus must always push a huge rock uphill. Each time he gets

Discuss whether or not a hero who is tragic by trait and definition can exist within the structure of the monomyth.

Oedipus the King by Sophocles is a tragic hero that fits the main character, Oedipus, into Campbell’s concept of the Heroic Journey. Oedipus is an intelligent, confident and brave Prince of Korinth. Overall, the story Oedipus the King is about how King Laius learned from a prophecy that his son Oedipus was going to kill him and marry his wife Queen Jocasta. King Polybos of Korinth and his wife adopted Oedipus; at the banquet, Oedipus heard the same prophecy and decided to search for the truth. During his journey to Thebe, Oedipus got into a confrontation and killed the man.

A classic example of this divine involvement occurs within the first page of The Iliad.  Achilles, the great hero of the Achaean armies, and Agamemnon the commander-in-chief of the Argives clash bitterly, and the entire epic centers on this conflict.  Homer details the cause of this

The personalities of the gods are as broad as there are stars in the heavens, and as such the ways that these gods interact with mortals vary. The purpose of gods intervening with the days of man comes down to two things, good or bad; there are gods who are caring and loving towards mortals while others view man as pawns which they can use for their own personal agenda. A few gods that capture and exemplify the various personalities of the gods can be found in Ovid: The Metamorphoses of Ovid and Homer: The essential Homer: Selections from the Iliad and the Odyssey. Although the ways man and the gods communicate and get each other’s attention are different, there are reoccurring and overarching themes such as desire, and loyalty that make each intervention between gods and mortals similar.

The gods intervene in human affairs in The Odyssey because they are similar to humans and prefer to see their favours fulfilled. The gods share many common characteristics with humans: they feel intense versions of human emotions; however, their emotions hold heavier consequence, they love and favour what is like them and they can sometimes be fickle. Because gods are similar to humans, they can relate to humans and see themselves or their virtues represented in humans or conversely, ignored by humans, thus their intervention in human affairs is necessary. Gods must maintain their godly authority and virtues by intervention, whether it be through reward or punishment. Since the gods are susceptible to the aforementioned human qualities it follows that they would be prone to conflict, and since gods are the ultimate embodiments of specific traits, there may be friction when trying to achieve personal means. The main gods portrayed in The Odyssey are Athena, Poseidon and Zeus. The gods see how humans act, and it is deducible that the gods care what humans do since human actions can affect gods in many ways. Human behaviour can embody or discount the different virtues that gods value or represent and mortal actions can directly impact them. Each of the main gods have intervened in human affairs for the aforementioned reasons.

The concept of fate and the influence of gods on mortals’ lives are prominent aspects of Greek mythology. While the gods of Olympus are commonly presented as the primary manipulators of human lives, the Fates are the true creators of destiny. Gods may be able to affect human lives in monumental ways, but predetermined destiny and the Fates’ intentions ultimately reign. The gods have respect for this authority, as well, as they’re aware that a limit on their ability to intervene is necessary to maintain the order of the universe. This leaves one to question the amount of knowledge that the gods themselves have of fate, and whether they have their own free will to refrain from intervening or if they truly must submit to the authority of the Fates and their plans. The gods do have some knowledge of the Fates’ plan, but they are also wise enough to avoid too much interference and therefore don’t necessarily need to be commanded; they sometimes help guide mortals by sending them messages and symbols—and sometimes even influencing them for their own advantage—but ultimate fate cannot be avoided.

Through the sampling of readings from The Norton Anthology of World Literature book, one could come to the realization that in a majority of those stories, the deities seem to influence or even control the outcomes of the heroes, often in a negative manner. In the first epic, Gilgamesh encounters the gods at various times, and in The Iliad, the gods manipulate the Greeks and the Trojans for their own desires and wants.

Written about two thousand and seven hundred years earlier, the Odyssey is still influencing modern storytelling today. Odysseus, the legendary Greek king of Ithaca and protagonist of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey was recognized as a great hero of his time. He was known for his defining qualities of superior strength and athleticism, sharp intellect, sensual ness, and a thirst for glory. These character traits are still being used to attribute modern day fictional heroes such as Neo, Captain Jack Sparrow, James Bond, and Spiderman. Accordingly, the heroic qualities of Odysseus can be still be seen in today's modern day fictional heroes.

One example of the tension between the gods and humans is when Ishtar is rejected by Gilgamesh, and tries to destroy Uruk. Unlike any other person who had been refused, Ishtar used her relationship with the gods to demand the Bull of Heaven kill Gilgamesh and cause famine in Uruk for seven years. She ordered, “Give me the Bull of Heaven, just for a little while. I want to bring it to earth, I want it to kill that liar Gilgamesh and destroy his palace. If you say no, I will smash the gates of the underworld, and a million famished ghouls will ascend to devour the living, and the living will be outnumbered by the dead”

Unlike Achilles, Hector bravely stays in the battle and calls upon Achilles. As Achilles rejoins the battle, Hector cowardly runs from Achilles thus also showing an un-hero like response from Hector. As the epic poem climax’s into the battle between Achilles and Hector, both characters are in angst to whom the God’s will side with.”I know you well- I see my fate before me./Never a chance that I could win you over.../Iron inside your chest, that heart of yours./But now beware, or my curse will draw God’s wrath/upon your head, that day when Paris and lord Apollo-/for all your fighting heart-destroy you at the Scaen Gates!” (Homer 22:420-424) In this quote Hector realizes that the Gods have sided with Achilles and death is near to Hector. As Achilles pursues to kill Hector, Hector pleads for a proper burial. This is because in Ancient Greek times, it was often believed if you did not have a proper burial, you were destined to suffer between worlds until your rites of passage into the underworld were completed. The Greeks saw immortality as areté, which means excellence and virtue. This is achieved through victory in battle which Hector was not able to obtain. “But this Achilles - first he slaughters Hector,/ He rips away the noble prince's life/ then lashes him to his chariot, drags him round/ his beloved comrade's tomb. But why, I ask you?/ What good will it do him?What honor will he gain?/Let that man

In ancient times, gods were a holy image in people’s mind. Each god had its own role in the universe. Such as the role of creation, the controller of the nature, and the role of the destiny control. The gods had extreme powers, and controlled everything in the world. Worshiped gods became a daily routine for ancient people. In the minds of people in ancient times, worshiped their gods were to prevent these gods became furious, and punished them with their extreme power. Even though the gods were extremely powerful, in many epic texts we could see they also had emotions and characteristics that were just like humans. However, there were still some major differences between the gods and humans.

Favoritism plays a large role in the god’s motives to help the mortals. Humans are simply pawns the gods use to amuse themselves, but each god has preference when it comes to who they help and who they deceive. The divine each have their own special qualities to lend to who they

“Gods can be evil sometimes.” In the play “Oedipus the King”, Sophocles defamed the gods’ reputation, and lowered their status by making them look harmful and evil. It is known that all gods should be perfect and infallible, and should represent justice and equity, but with Oedipus, the gods decided to destroy him and his family for no reason. It might be hard to believe that gods can have humanistic traits, but in fact they do. The gods, especially Apollo, are considered evil by the reader because they destroyed an innocent man’s life and his family. They destroyed Oedipus by controlling his fate, granting people the power of prophecy, telling Oedipus about his fate through the oracle of Apollo, and finally afflicting the people of

It is not uncommon for the gods to make appearances in the Iliad, and Achilles is no exception. He receives help from the supernatural on multiple occasions, much like an epic hero would. The most significant divine intervention Achilles received was by Athena, the goddess of wisdom. “Now let’s get tough and fight and not spare Any spears. Either Achilles kills us both…Or he goes down with your spear in his guts,” Athena said to Hector, pretending to be Deiphobus which deceives Hector into fighting Achilles (Puchner Book XXII, 270-272). There is no arguing whether or not Achilles received help from the gods, as he did on multiple occasions. Athena even helps him again in his battle versus Hector by returning his spear after a missed throw. It is the actions like these that craft Achilles into an epic hero, he isn’t asking for the help, but he receives it anyways because it is his destiny to become the epic hero. At points such as these, it seems as if mortal men don’t have much control over their destiny and that the gods are manipulating the outcomes. This can also be seen when Athena prevents Achilles from attack Agamemnon.