Idolatry In Alan's Equus: Summary

In this passage, King’s presentation of logos is genius. He effectively shows the clergymen two sides of the community, the one of complacency and the other of hatred and cynicism. In this excerpt he does not attempt

As France’s religious freedom slowly incinerated, laws were passed by the National Assembly, which confiscated the Infant King of His crown and scepter. Once the procession of the Infant King came to the dorm of Blanche, she rejoiced in holding the little statue. She adored the statue, and was about to kiss it but noticed the crown and scepter was missing. Instantly, Blanche dropped the statue of the Infant King, breaking off its wax head. Speaking to herself, Blanche exclaims that “now there is only the Agnus Dei” meaning Lamb of God (p. 41).

These idols are worthless and cannot compare to the power of God. God has absolute power over everything. “..The sovereignty of God bends his creatures to perform his will.” (Page 23) Youngblood explains that if it is God’s will, it will happen no matter what we think. We as Christians should be encouraged to trust in him and should not rely on our own strengths. Because if it is In God’s will, it will happen and there’s no way to avoid it. Youngblood states “God’s children are not permitted to do anything through their own strength or by means of their own resources to assist in the fulfillment of his promises.” (Page 27)

Loyalty has always been seen as a commendable trait, not only in human beings but in any creature, all through history. Soldiers have admired their enemies for their loyalty to fallen comrades, thousands of stories have been written about the intense loyalty animals portray for their owners, and even companies in the workforce look for loyalty in potential employees. Loyalty has been seen as something that distinguishes the trustworthy from the untrustworthy, and something that sets the great apart from the good. The archetypal hero commonly has a cause, whether it be another person or personal beliefs, that they are loyal to, and this unwavering loyalty is what makes them appear so highly in the eyes of the reader. Loyalty can be found in practically any work of literature, but within The Torah, The Odyssey, and Inanna is the idea that true loyalty, although a rare attribute, is the key to a successful relationship.

life” (Visual Arts Cork). The Roman Catholics were criticized for having false images of the bible in their artworks and worshipping idols as if they were holy. This decreased the amount of paintings of idol figures from the Protestants Luther stated that anything that one imagines of God apart from Christ is only useless thinking and vain idolatry. “You are not to have no other Gods” (Exodus 20:3).

In Oedipus, the King, the main character, Oedipus, starts the play in the highest prestige, he is the King of Thebes and is held in high regard to almost all citizens for his prosperous reign. By the end of the play, Oedipus is vilified by his citizens and almost all the people of Thebes. I argue that Oedipus’ downfall is directly linked to his rejection of religious guidance and omens; namely, the Gods and the oracle. One could argue that no divine entity openly acts out toward Oedipus, however this analysis will focus on more indirect patterns and instances of divine action. Oedipus’ constant disapproval of religious consultation and figures is seen as a slight to the Gods and so they contribute to his fall from reign. These divine

“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

The Aeneid has a long story to tell so, the following would focus on the Book I: A Fateful Heaven. Firstly, it is undeniable that the gods play an important role in the Aeneid. At the beginning of the book, Aeneas and his fellows was already experienced seven years’ of wandering, had left Troy and towards Italy. No wonder it was a tough situation. However, how could this happen at the very beginning of the book which seemed unreasonable?

In the play Equus worship and passion are seen in many contrasting lights. In the example of Alan, the boy in the centre of the play, worship and passion are the same thing. What he is devoted to inspires excitement in him, in this case the God Equus. With his parents, it is the same, but in different ways of worship. Alan’s mother is a devout Catholic, and also has worship with a passion, but she is so devoted to this single cause she is unable to experience passion for anything else.

In ancient Greece, there was veneration for the gods as mystical powers who governed the universe. There were gods for all the important aspects of life and the ancient Greeks believed the gods influenced all human activity. Today we would generally refer to such beliefs as religion. Interestingly, the Greeks did not have a word for “religion”. Such beliefs were not a distinct aspect of everyday life, but rather a fundamental part of it (Garland). It may seem ironic to analyze “religion” in Oedipus Rex; but, in reality, the Greek’s relationship with the gods is a fundamental aspect of the story of Oedipus. “Certain forms of behavior did offend

The duality of his relics symmetrizes itself at the end of his tale, but not before he speaks of the oppositions of religion and sin that directly criticize his audience and, subconsciously, his own hypocrisy.

The role of the gods in the aeneid is clear from the onset: it is the journey aeneas must make to fulfill the will of the gods at the same time as enduring the fury of other gods in order to become founder of the roman race (find a quote). Aeneas is able to do this through his self-sacrifice and ability to resist temptations and own desires, whereas those that do not and resist the will of the gods die tragic deaths eg dido and turnus.

In the tragic play, Oedipus Rex, the Gods and religion greatly influence the social structure which in turn has a profound effect upon how the events unfold. Oedipus is the head of the state. There is a direct parallel in the demise of his household and city state which eventually comes to a full circle to destroy him. Even though Oedipus is praised by his people for being a responsible and honest king, he possesses a major character flaw in his attitude towards the gods which causes the tragic torture he faces in the end. Over the duration of the play, there is a strong sense of contamination towards the state, because it is facing a time of plague, and towards the leader Oedipus, because he is unknowingly in a relationship with his own

Birmingham City University. (2007, Feb 20). Learner Development Unit. Study Guides, Writing a Literature Review. Retrieved from http://www.ssdd.bcu.ac.uk

In discussions of our susceptibility of delusions and false beliefs, Plato argues that humans can choose whether they want to follow the false beliefs in the darkness, or go into the light by facing all aspects of reality with honesty. Bacon’s argue is similar to Plato’s and Bacon combines the four mistakes of human nature into four different idols. Idol of the tribe, cave, marketplace, and theater. Although Plato and Bacon claim that we are susceptible to delusions and false beliefs, I claim that the truth is distorted by human understanding and people are teaching the distorted truth to other people, so people become blinded when they go from the darkness, the bad, to the light, or the good.