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What Is Greed In Aias

Decent Essays

I think the playwright Sophocles’ play, Aias was written in order to illustrate Sophocles’ opinion that greed was unethical, evil, and wrong. In Sophocles opinion, greed could lead to sorrowful consequences. “Sophocles was a playwright, a treasurer for the Athenian polis, a general under Pericles, and an advisor to Athens on financial matters during Peloponnesian Wars.” “Sophocles (ca. 496-406 BCE) was an almost legendary figure in fifth century BCE Athens. “ “Sophocles wrote over 125 plays, of which only seven survive, and he won the City Dionysia 18 times. “ “Aias was composed by Sophocles in the decade before the outburst of Peloponnesian Wars“ During this period, Athens was undergoing many different cultural changes. …show more content…

Aias’ greed damaged the army, fractured his reputation, left his wife a widow, and ultimately led to his suicide. “Within the play, there was a debate whether Aias deserved a proper burial. Menelaus and Agamemnon declined Aias a burial. They did not want to give Aias any respect after what he had done to the animals, and also because he had wanted to kill the council of Generals, including Odysseus. “ “Melenaus and Agamemnon wanted to leave Aias’ body on the street, so animals could devour his corpse for food.” “To the audience’s surprise, Odysseus, the one who received the armor instead of Aias and the one who Aias despised the most, convinced Menelaus and Agamemnon to allow Teucer to bury Aias.” In my opinion, Odysseus allowed a burial of Aias mainly because what goes around, come around. It was not because Odysseus liked Aias and not because Odysseus was kind and compassionate. The act was based on selfishness, because Odysseus was worried about his own future burial. By advocating a burial for Aias, Odysseus hoped he would be given a proper burial …show more content…

Aias acted more like a cave man, but at the same time he had a lot of feelings, including greed and jealousy. I think Aias was not an ordinary person in this play, because tragedy usually does not happen to ordinary people. In my opinion, a tragedy is the fall of a great person and revolves around the idea that such a person of greatness can fall and make a huge mistake. For example, if a homeless person died on the street, it would not be a tragedy inside a play. The homeless person’s death would be just sad, although it would definitely be a tragedy for his friends and family. I think, a tragic play revolves around a person who is great in the beginning, and falls from grace miserably by making a mistake. “The play Aias was a Greek tragedy, and Greek playwrights such as Sophocles truly excelled in the art form of tragedy.” “The basis for tragedy was conflict, but the tensions at work in tragedy – murder and revenge, crime and retribution, pride and humility, courage and cowardice – had far more serious consequences. “ “Tragedies often explored the physical and moral depths to which human life could descend.

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