The Imagery of Bloodshed in The Oresteia Essay

In “Shame: The emotions and morality of violence,” James Gilligan, a professor of Psychiatry at New York University, argues to make a point that shame can lead to violence in a certain amount of people. After working and interviewing with two convicts in a prison, he learns that there are three preconditions to be met before being considered violent. The first is to not show their feelings of being ashamed due to it threatening their masculinity. The second is that they can’t counteract shame with their social status, achievements, friends and family. The last is not to feel love, guilt, or fear. These preconditions make Gilligan more understanding of the inmates and their lives.

In the trilogy Oresteia, the issues concerned are the transformation from vengeance to law, from chaos to peace, from dependence to independence, and from old to new. These four significant changes all take place throughout the play and are somewhat parallel to the transformations that were going on in Ancient Greece.

There are many opposing views to the way that Othello is defined within Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Othello. Some suggest that Othello is a savage "Moor," and at no point is he the noble "Venetian" he attempts to portray himself as. Others suggest that Othello is the noble "Venetian" he portrays himself as, and his ultimate demise stems directly from Iago being a savage. Yet some agree that Othello is both the noble "Venetian" and the savage "Moor," unable to fully interpolate himself into the "Venetian" paradigm, but becoming, rather, a "noble savage."

The wife’s actions often villainize her in this story in comparison to a vulnerable man who has his choices literally stripped from him and who outwardly behaves nobly, even in werewolf form he “...never touched anyone/ nor shown any wickedness” (245-246). At first glance, it appears that Bisclavret has been done a terrible wrong by his wife. She committed the most violent of acts by trapping Bisclavret in a half-animal body, isolating him from society, and taking away his ability to speak of his story or move on with his life after her. Correspondingly, Bisclavret was the victim of an appalling act of emotional violence. Considering the depth of the emotional violence demonstrated by both parties, it would be logical for them to act in a

He also uses figurative language to stress the amount of blood he lost on the battlefield. He personifies it; “and a leap of purple spurted from his thigh”, to focus the reader’s attention on that he was bleeding profusely. It was bleeding with so much speed and volume that it took on the appearance of a fountain.

HW TUESDAY, 3/20: Read "Sailing from Troy," 647-648.  In 3-4 sentences, TYPE responses to questions: #1,3, 4. [Optional Extra quiz: Cornell notes.]

Oresteia is a script whose story goes on by recalling Orestes’ lost memories. The main idea which is prevalent throughout this story is about finding the truth hidden in the acts of revenge, lies, and fates which are intricately intertwined. However, as the truth does not always give us hope and pleasant, in this story, the characters are suffered by the truth and the way to find it.

“Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.” The words of Martin Luther King perfectly illustrates the difficulties of fighting for social injustice. Similarly, the two works of literature Antigone and In the Time of the Butterflies can also teach us about the sacrifices and rewards from taking direct action against injustice. Antigone is about a girl sentenced to death by the king for burying her traitor brother. In the Time of the Butterflies is the story about three sisters who fight for freedom against the Dominican Republic’s dictator,

In Macbeth desire and violence are prevalent throughout the book. Desire blinds one’s ability to think clearly when making a decision. If violence is used due to one’s desire than violence becomes a never ending cycle until the outcome of the violence goes against the one whose desire led to violence. When making a decision, one should use reason, which is having a logical justification or motive. Violence is committed many times in the book but not all for the same motive. Macbeth commits several acts of violence in the book due to his desire for the kingship of Scotland.

According to the Odyssey, and Agamemnon, ancient Greeks value violence as a way of maintaining their society because the stories showcase how violence functions in ancient Greece polis system. The stories indicate the structure of ancient Greece society and the ideal principles that held the people together. Because works of Homer and works of Aeschylus represent a different period of ancient Greek culture, the form of society differs. However, the fundamental principles of ancient Greek society remain similar. Regardless of what period of ancient Greece, the admiration of violence by the ancient Greek can be seen from both Homer and Greek Tragedy.

The Works and Days is a Greek myth containing an appropriated version of the Israelites Ten Commandments from The Bible. Throughout Works and Days, the myth constructs a virtually identical set of rules pertaining to moral conduct; all which, if disobey, are punishable by Zeus. Both the Israelites and the Greeks believe that their Lord (for the Greeks, specifically all powerful Zeus) distributes retribution to those who disobey these moral rules of conduct. In both texts, these guidelines for judgment are crucial because they give formal validity to the punishments that each god distributes. The similarities found are as a result of the Greek appropriation of the Israelites mythology, however, the differences and variations within the

First, blood is a reference of honor, and this occurs when Duncan sees the injured sergeant and says, "What bloody man is that?"(1.2.1). This is symbolic of the brave fighter who been injured in a valiant battle for Scotland. The sergeant

Whilst the Greek and Roman predecessors of revenge tragedy showed little compunction in gruesome on-stage violence, the Elizabethan spectators were, by the time of publication and performance of Shakespearian plays, a more educated audience who would appreciate the poetic style and subtle references to classical literature. This is not to say that the sixteenth century public were sensitive to acts of startling brutality; public executions and bear baiting were frequent occurrences that no doubt permeated the psyche of a nation. It has been argued that Shakespeare, conscious of his contemporaries' efforts in this genre decided to `out-do his predecessors' but a far more probable explanation is that Shakespeare, accommodating the

thou bloodier villian than terms can give thee out!" In this quote the imagery of blood

    By definition, a tragedy is a story that details the downfall of a protagonist. Most often, the protagonist (tragic hero) is a member of high society who is faced with an oppositional force, be it internal or external. In his Poetics, Aristotle states that "tragedy is the imitation of an action; and an action implies personal agents, who necessarily possess certain distinctive qualities both of character and thought; for it is by these that we qualify actions themselves, and these- thought and character- are the two natural causes from which actions spring, and on actions, again all success or failure depends...." This quote illustrates an aspect of tragedy upon which many works are based, including