In Plato’s Republic, many stories are used as allusions and metaphors to describe the issues being discussed. One of these stories is known as the “Ring of Gyges”, which focuses on a ring with the power to turn the wearer invisible. This story has many similarities to the Ring of Power in The Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit, which also grants the ability to turn invisible. In this essay, I will compare and contrast the “Ring of Gyges” and the events surrounding the Ring of Power in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies. The Ring of Gyges is found when “a violent thunderstorm and an earthquake broke open a chasm in the ground” (38). The Ring of Power is also found within the ground, by a curious Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins. This occurs when Bilbo is lost within the goblin city, when he runs into the deformed Gollum. In the other story, the ring is found on, “a corpse, which seemed to be of more than human size” (38). Gollum, the ring bearer prior to Bilbo Baggins is much smaller than the average human, due to his ancestry as Riversfolk and the powers of the ring, which make his soul less just, and power thirsty. The Ring of Gyges is found by a “shepherd in the service of the ruler of Lydia” (38), who can be considered a person of lowly status. On the other hand, Bilbo is a Hobbit, a creature that is considered lowly, and …show more content…
The Ring of Power automatically turns the wearer invisible, if they decide to wear it. Once Bilbo discovers the power of the ring, he uses it for increasingly unjust deeds. Originally, he only uses it to escape the villainous creature Gollum, but he finally uses it to steal the Arkenstone from a dragon. Gyges only uses the ring for heinous deeds, such as when he, “seduced the king’s wife, attacked the king with her help, killed him, and in this way took over his kingdom”
Bilbo the Hobbit, persuaded by an old wizard named Gandalf, to set out on a quest with thirteen militant dwarves. Seized by a self-assured, fire-breathing dragon named Smaug, the dwarves went on a challenging adventure to reclaim their kingdom, retrieve back the gold that was kept inside the palace, and defeat Smaug for good. Along the way, Bilbo found a magical ring and was able to turn invisible, which is a very useful technique for rescuing the dwarves. They manage to pass many obstacles and met different types of villains. At the end, Bilbo and the dwarves did not go up against Smaug, instead Bard the Bowman from Lake-men defeated Smaug and after that the Battle of the Five Armies began.
The ring makes him invisible, but he doesn’t know that yet. He then comes across a little shriveled up hobbit named Gollum. He knows the way out of the cave so he made a bet with Bilbo. If you can beat me in a game of riddles I will show you the way out, but if I win I get to eat you. Bilbo bravely accepts his challenge. Bilbo then wins the challenge by pure luck. “What have I got in my pocket?” (Tolkein, 78) That was his last riddle that Gollum didn’t get. Gollum gets mad and thinks Bilbo is trying to trick him. He then puts on the ring. Gollum then goes to the exit of the cave unknowingly followed by Bilbo. Bilbo then jumps over Gollum and out the door. He was very brave to face Gollum.
Bilbo’s weapons that he has with him on the journey are his invisibility ring and he also a magic sword that lights up when danger is approaching. The sword he has, Sting, was made by powerful elves of the past. The sword and ring helped him past many challenges on his journey. “He wanted it because it was a ring of power, and if you slipped that ring on your finger, you were invisible; only in full sunlight could be seen, and then only by your shadow and that would be shaky and faint.” (Tolkein 45.) This shows the great power the ring has. The supernatural help that Bilbo receives is during The Battle of The Five Armies. When Bilbo is knocked unconscious during the avalanche, the Eagles come over and help him to safety until he regains his consciousness. When he regains his conscience he grabs the Arkenstone before Thorin could get to it, and later Bilbo gives it to the humans for negotiating
Bilbo's encounters with Gollum in Chapter 5, "Riddles in the Dark," are particularly pivotal, as they test his wits and moral compass. Bilbo's cunning and intelligence enable him to outsmart Gollum and obtain the precious ring, a turning point in his journey. In Chapters 6 and 7, "Out of the Frying-Pan into the Fire" and "Queer Lodgings," Bilbo's growth as a character is further exemplified as he takes on a leadership role within the group. He proves himself to be a valuable asset, using his wit and ingenuity to devise plans and overcome
Lucky for Bilbo the ring he found, allows the person who wears it to turn invisible so it doesn’t take long for Bilbo to escape and find his way out on his own. When Bilbo
Gollum is, “...as dark as darkness, except for two big round pale eyes on his thin face.” (Pg. 82) He is a lonely fellow, and believes that Bilbo’s fate is sealed. Gollum underestimated Bilbo’s expertise, and promptly challenges him to a high stakes riddle contest. If Bilbo fails to answer Gollum’s riddle correctly, he becomes Gollum’s lunch. If Gollum loses, Gollum has to tell Bilbo how to escape. Bilbo thinks on his feet in an effort to gain his freedom. In the form of a riddle, Bilbo asks Gollum to identify the object in Bilbo’s pocket. The cave is extremely dark and Gollum can’t see what is in Bilbo’s pocket, so Gollum cannot know the answer. These circumstances parallel with the scene between Bilbo and Smaug in chapter
After this they start traveling once again. When they approach Misty Mountains, they take shelter in a cave to let the storm overhead pass. While they are waiting for the storm to pass they get captured by the Great Goblin but can escape thanks to Gandalf. On their way out, Bilbo trips and loses his consciousness. When he wakes up he tries to make his way out of the cave once again, but he finds a ring that he eventually pockets. After he pocketed the ring he encounters Gollum, who is a murderous creature who kills and eats goblins and those who wonder in the caves. During this encounter Bilbo exchanges riddles with Gollum and even gives Gollum an easy riddle to buy himself more time to think of a trickier riddle. This shows that he is so confident that he will be able to answer Gollum’s next
Greco-Roman mythology is rich in names, characters, and events. Dozens of gods, goddesses, and mortal women and men participate in a variety of activities that reflect or exemplify behaviors and power relations in Greek and Roman societies. A wealth of literature was written about the relationships between mortals and immortals in Greco-Roman mythology. Much was written and said about the place humans occupy in the complex mythical hierarchies. However, the role and place of women remain the topic of the hot literary debate. In Greco-Roman mythology, the image of woman is always
But when Gollum stole it, Frodo remembered something Gandalf had told him' "'But do you remember Gandalf's words: Even Gollum may have something yet to do? But for him, Sam, I could not have destroyed the Ring. The Quest would have been in vain, even at the bitter end.'" Gollum was so mentally warped, his mind could not perceive the danger between him and the ring. His lack of foresight coupled with his obsession with the Ring brought about the ultimate end of both himself and the One Ring. Smeagol is an allegory for the depravity of Man because he puts all of his focus on a physical object with absolutely no eternal value, Gollum's devotion to the One Ring led to major physical and mental transformations, and Gollum's eventual obsession with the One Ring brought about the terrible end of both himself and the
In The Republic by Plato, Plato constructed an ideal city where Philosophers would rule. Governed by an aristocratic form of government, it took away some of the most basic rights a normal citizen should deserve, freedom of choice, worship, and assembly were distressed. Though the idea of philosopher kings is good on paper, fundamental flaws of the human kind even described by Plato himself prevent it from being truly successful. The idea of an ideal democratic government like what our founding fathers had envisioned is the most successful and best political form which will ensure individual freedom and keep power struggle to a minimum.
If I had the ring of Gyges, I would use it differently to oppose what many politicians, that is, they practice injustice without
evil. An example of when Gollum was evil is found on page 105. The text say’s “and still sometimes he put it on … when he was very, very, hungry, and tired of fish. Then he would creep along dark passages looking for stray goblins.” You can see in this quote that Gollum uses the rings power for evil. Gollum hides in the shadows until he finds a right target to capture and eat. This also shows that Gollum is very sly. Another example of when Gollum was evil is found on page 96. The text say’s “He was anxious to appear friendly, at any rate for the moment, and until he found out more about the sword and the hobbit, whether he was quite alone really, whether he was good to eat ...” Gollum thought. You can tell by the tone of Gollum’s thought that he was trying to be sly, and evil. Gollum was trying to get to know more information about Bilbo, so then perhaps he can eat Bilbo. One more example of Gollum portraying evil and greed can be seen on page 108. The text say’s “Bilbo could not guess what had maddened the wretched creäture, but he saw that all was up, and that Gollum meant to murder him (Bilbo) at any rate.” You can see by the tone and mood of the atmosphere and the narrator that Gollum was so attached to his precious ring, that he got so angry and; wanted to kill Bilbo. As he thought that Bilbo had his ring in his
Regardless of the time frame, Virgil’s Aeneid and Homer’s epic the Iliad share both a copious amount of similarities and differences. For example, many common themes such as heroism, fate, and destiny are apparent in both works. Within the Aeneid and the Iliad, it is seen that the wars going on during that time were glorious that is why the role of gods were significant in leading both Aeneas and Achilles and influencing fate. In both texts, it is clear from the beginning that the role of the gods is to make Aeneas and Achilles fulfill their journey The Iliad focuses on the end of the Trojan War and the damaging power, while the Aeneid is focused during the aftermath of the war and underlies the foundation for the new civilization. This paper will address and argue the comparison of the role of gods and how each of the authors representation of the gods have influence on the lives of mortals.
Chapter six Out of the Frying-Pan into the Fire and the last part of the first movie there were some minor differences that will impact the rest of the book and the next movies. In the book, once Thorin and company escaped the goblin tunnels, Bilbo told the others how he had escaped using this magical ring. However, in the movie, he did not mention using any magical ring while escaping Gollum.
In the previous century there have been two major series of fantasy novels; "Lord of the Rings" and more recently "Harry Potter". The genre, fantasy, is very broad, but generally contains one main character, the protagonist, who is fighting for, or against something, often against evil. In both these novels the main protagonist is fighting against evil and endures a kind of adventure and personal growth. As in most fantasy novels, the main characters are in an ulterior world, which is comparable in many ways. I intend to investigate into some of the many comparable components of these two novels.