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Medea

2006-06-22T00:58:26Z

Shess: revisions

== Summary ==

[[Image:MedeaChariot.jpeg|thumb|Medea’s Chariot]]The play [[Medea]] begins in turmoil and escalates until the tragic end. Medea tells the story of passion that transforms from love to hate. Consumed with a passionate rage, Medea seeks to avenge her husband [[Jason]] who has wronged her. Jason has left Medea and taken a new wife, the daughter of king [[Kreon]] and a Greek.

The play opens outside the house of Medea and Jason in [[Corinth]]. The Nurse tells the sorrows of Medea and how Jason has abandoned Medea after all she has done for him. The Nurse is afraid Medea will harm someone close to her. Medea’s heart is full of violence especially for Jason and the children. Medea is overwhelmed with grief that is manifesting as jealousy and rage.

The Tutor appears with Medea two young children who have been outside playing. Medea’s children are oblivious to the resentment their mother is beginning to feel toward them. The Nurse warns the children to stay out of their mother’s sight. The Tutor is the bearer of bad news. The Tutor has heard rumors that Medea and her children will be exiled from Corinth. The Nurse is sympathetic to ''Medea’s'' plight while the Tutor is blasé.

The [[Chorus]] of Corinthian women arrives to check on Medea. The Chorus hears Medea’s cries and curses from inside the house. The Chorus asks the Nurse to go see if Medea will come outside so they can console her.

A distraught Medea enters the courtyard and delivers a poignant speech on the sufferings and indignations of women in an oppressively man’s world. Medea points out to the Chorus being a woman is even worst for her because she is a foreigner without a family or a home. The Chorus sympathizes with Medea. Medea despises Jason for taking another wife, and condemns Jason, his new bride, and king Kreon. Medea makes the Chorus promise if she finds a way to revenge Jason, they will remain silent. The Chorus gives Medea a vow of silence agreeing Medea is right to seek revenge.

Medea has been blatantly lamenting her disgruntlements. ''Medea’s'' condemnations have come to the attention of king Kreon. King Kreon enters and exiles Medea and her children because he is afraid of Medea. Using her children, Medea appeals to king Kreon on a paternal level and asks for one more day for the sake of the children so she can get her affairs in order. King Kreon reluctantly agrees and allows Medea to stay in Corinth one more day convinced she could not do the evil he fears in one day.

The Chorus pities Medea but Medea assures them one day is all she needs to avenge Jason faithlessness. When considering how to kill her enemies, Medea rules out swords or fire because that would mean close contact with the victims and she may get caught giving her enemies a reason to laugh at her. Being humiliated is one of Medea greatest fears and motivates her to lash out to save face. Medea decides to use poison. A conniving manipulator Medea schemes to poison Jason, his new bride, and king Kreon. Medea is determined no one especially a man will mistreat her and live to tell about it.

Jason visits Medea. Similar to Kreon when he visited Medea, Jason immediately chastises Medea for her behavior and blames her for her own exile. Medea calls Jason a coward and reminds him of all she has done for him in the name of love. Medea is instrumental in assisting Jason in obtaining the Golden Fleece. Medea betrays her father, murders her brother, an exile from her homeland, and orchestrates the death of Pelias … all for a man who has snubbed her. Jason tries to convince Medea he married king Kreon daughter for her and their children sake. Marrying into prosperity will benefit them all. Jason argues Medea has benefited from their marriage more than he. Jason took Medea away from a barbaric, lawless land. Medea is very popular living among the Greeks. ''Medea’s'' cleverness is admired in Corinth whereas in [[Colchis]] cleverness is not revered. Also, the children need royal siblings to protect them. Medea and Jason continue to argue. Medea feels Jason should have been man enough to tell her he has taken a new bride. Jason believes Medea is too irrational to handle the news of his bride and her behavior now reflects he was correct in his assumption. Jason offers Medea contacts with his friends that will help her once she and the kids are exiled from Corinth. Fiercely pride Medea refuses to take anything from Jason who betrayed her.

By chance Medea’s friend king [[Aigeus]] of [[Athens]] visits. Medea envisions a safe haven for escape. Medea tells Aigeus of Jason’s treachery and her pending exile. Medea beseeches Aigeus for asylum in Athens. King Aigeus unaware of Medea’s murderous intentions offers Medea sanctuary in return for her offer of drugs that will end his childlessness. However, king Aigeus gives Medea one condition for sanctuary, Medea must come to Athens on her own will. Aigeus swears an oath to all the gods at Medea appeal that he will not turn her over to her enemies no matter what. Reassured Medea sets her scheme for vengeance in motion. Medea tells the Chorus of her plans.

Medea’s scheme of murder is coming together. Medea has a safe haven once the murders are complete. As her scheme unfolds, Medea realizes she must also murder her own children to completely avenge Jason’s dishonor. Medea wants to hurt Jason deeply and she cannot risk anyone who does not love her children hurting them. The Chorus begs Medea to reconsider murdering her children. Medea says, ”No compromise is possible” (803).

Medea sends for Jason. Medea uses an assuaging attitude with Jason. Medea apologizes for her angry and tells Jason he is right to have married king Kreon’s daughter. Medea pretends to be submissive like Jason expects a good wife to be. After “''kissing up''” to Jason, Medea sends her children along with Jason and the Tutor to the bride with gifts of a poison woven dress and a golden diadem.

The Tutor returns with the children and tells Medea the royal princess will let the children stay in Corinth. The Tutor is baffled by Medea’s melancholy behavior. Medea exhibits tenderness and cold-heartedness as she cries and talks to her children preparing herself to murder them. When Medea’s children smile at her she considers relinquishing her murderous scheme. The fury Medea feels at being betrayed by Jason conquers her resolve. Medea is compelled to finish what has already been started.

Medea anxiously waits for news from the palace. The [[Messenger]] enters surprise Medea is hanging around. The Messenger tells Medea to run. The Messenger brings news that the royal princess and king Kreon are dead. Medea glories in the details as the Messenger tells her of the anguish deaths. Jason’s bride and king Kreon die an awful, torturous death with suffering as well. The golden diadem burst into flames sitting upon the royal princess head burning her body and the woven dress sloughs the flesh from her bones. As king Kreon cradles his daughter dead body the poison consumes him as the poisonous woven dress adhered to his flesh.

Jason returns looking for his children to protect them from the angry Corinthian mob after he finds out his new bride and father-in-law have been murdered by Medea. The Chorus tells Jason his children have been murdered by their mother’s hand. Jason is appalled and looks for Medea. Medea has hung around to gloat. Medea appears above the place in a chariot drawn by dragons provided by her grandfather, [[Helios]], the sun god. The children bodies are on the chariot. Jason begs for the children’s bodies, but Medea cynically laughs at him refusing to give his the honor of burying the children dead bodies. Jason desperately wants to kiss his dead children and bury them, but Medea refuses to give him the satisfaction. Jason insults Medea by telling her a Greek woman would never do the things she has done. Medea and Jason blame each other for the children’s death. Medea prophesies Jason’s death. Medea and Jason argue violently as the play comes to an end. The Chorus closes the play reflecting on capricious nature of gods’ will. Medea succeeds in revenge and Jason is lonely and tormented. Jason has lost his financial security, his status, and children to carry on his name. Jason is left without distinction. and Medea’s revenge is achieved.

== Themes and Motifs ==
=== Right Message, Wrong Messenger ===

Euripides’ Medea, was the first in a series of plays in which vivid, powerful women appeared on the Euripidean stage. It was produced in the year that the Peloponnesian War began, and sought to play on the low morale of the public to restore the female sex in positions of social influence and power. Throughout the centuries it has been regarded as one of the most powerful of the Greek tragedies, and also one in which the theme of women was more important than most. It is in this play that Euripides could either restore or condemn the female populace in society (Pelling).

Euripides questions many social norms of the period, but he uses a female such as Medea to convey his message. While Medea has no legal rights, she is the sorceress’ grandchild of the Sun God and therefore able to articulately explain her actions and passionately act on her plans. She is initially able to gain the sympathy and support of the Corinthian women for her plight by passionately pleading her case to the public at large. Medea’s passionate arguments fly in the face of the Greek tradition that only the male has the ability and right to lucid, rational argument. Jason although regarded as civilized by Greek society, is by contrast weak, compromised and cowardly. Medea also challenges ancient Greek society’s decree that the greatest glory for a woman was to bear children, provide sex and to fulfill the demands of her husband (Rassidakis 220-226). From the first compelling moments of this one-act play the audience is drawn into contradictions confronting Medea: to challenge injustice and betrayal or accommodate to it and the financial security and comfort it could bring (Pucci). Traditional behavior of women was a very important aspect of this play, and portraying Medea as both similar and different to fellow womankind allowed the audience to make judgment on the role of women as they knew it. Medea recurrently assaulted fundamental and sacred values and that gave the play much of its power and allowed Euripides to most persuasively portray her as an incarnation of disorder. Could any male audience possibly start to respect any woman that could crush basic human order? Euripides did not himself condemn Medea. Rather, he gave the audience a choice on whether to accept her character and actions. However by implication he is associating a breakdown in human order as being due to the wickedness in such a woman. Yet associating such a drastic event with women would imply that they had the power to be so destructive, and that was not an option of the times - especially when a war had just broken out, and unity was of great importance (McDermott).

In the tragedy Medea, Euripides fails to rehabilitate the female sex. He chooses a semi-divine, foreign sorceress to voice the appeals of ordinary Athenian wives. She is a woman capable of murder, manipulation and deception, and she has no sense of remorse. In choosing her, Euripides appears to be sending out mixed signals concerning women. Her concerns are those that apply to the majority of women at the time, and an audience would no doubt have understood these; yet Medea deals with them in a way that is abhorrent for a woman of fifth-century Athens (Easterling). She invokes both pathos and disgust, and, for a male audience, she would encourage distrust and continuing ‘imprisonment’ and lower social status for women. Although Euripides may well have believed in promoting womankind, it would have been difficult to put this idea across to the male audience of the day, and that may be why he is unable to make any significant advances in the Medea. He had the right message, but used the wrong messenger (Strauss 237-270).

=== Xenophobia ===

Euripides’s Medea explores the tensions which existed between citizens and foreigners and Greece’s subsequent Xenophobia. In the play, Medea represents the non-citizen who completely lacked legal and social rights. Not only is she far from the comforts of her native land, but also, as both a woman and a foreigner, she is viewed as a “poor creature” (643), below the level of a human being.

As Doctor Gerry Lucas pointed out in his lecture, marriage was a citizen’s contract, meaning Medea had no legal hold on Jason and could not take any form of official recourse. The Nurse laments that “…she has discovered by her sufferings/ What it means to one not to have lost one’s own country” (643). The Nurse is making a deliberate comparison to Jason, who as a male citizen enjoyed legal protection and political activity. Medea, a female non-citizen, is left without a voice or support. Her lack of institutional support led to the necessity that she herself administer Jason’s punishment.

Jason most aptly expresses the Xenophobic snobbery inherent in such disparity between citizen and foreigner. As he explains to Medea the advantages of living in a ‘civilized’ culture he insists that “…instead of living among barbarians/ You inhabit a Greek land and understand our ways/ How to live by law instead of the sweet will of force” (653.) Such ethnocentric attitudes were both stemmed from and perpetuated by the lack of citizen’s rights. According to Wikipedia, women and foreigners were unable to vote and therefore could not create public policy that would help eradicate Ancient Greece’s sexism and xenophobia.

===Feminist Concerns===

Euripides wrote ''Medea'' in 431 B.C. (640). Greek mythology shows us how Greeks, at that time, had firm beliefs on how women should behave themselves and the values they should hold. The perceived submissive behavior of women begins the very moment a wife arrives in her husband’s home (O’Higgins 104). A woman is supposed to provide heirs to the man (O’Higgins 104).

An Athenian perception pertaining to a “good woman” was that a woman be loyal to her husband and children (Sourvinou-Inwood 254). The most common characteristics of a good woman would be goodness, self-control and the fact that she was devoted to her husband and children (Sourvinou-Inwood 254). A good woman would reflect the culture’s established values and provide a look into the culture itself. A bad woman would be the opposite of the positive norm. In the beginning of ''Medea'', she portrays herself as a good woman. She was devoted to Jason and loved him so much that she felt as though she could not survive without him. When the nurse is talking in the beginning she states that “poor Medea is slighted, and cries aloud on the vows they made to each other, the right hands clasped in eternal promise (643).” Even though the play begins as seeing Medea as a normal, possibly good woman, she has already shown signs of abnormality in her behavior for a woman at that time. Medea is already showing signs of hatefulness towards her children. “I hate you, children of a hateful mother (645).” Medea is already showing behavior that women would not dare show in this time.

Medea could be seen as a heroine for women who do not want to be confined to the role of the “producer of legitimate offspring (McDonald 303).” By killing her children, she separates herself independently from her husband and the general patriarchy (McDonald 304). Even though at this time, husband’s were expected to be with other women, Medea feels as though her family rights were violated. Medea was also different in this aspect. She didn’t believe that and felt vengeful. The ultimate punishment for Jason, was to violently take his heirs from him. Medea’s anger turned into aggressive action, which can make her into a symbol for women (McDonald 304).

Throughout the play, Medea was more or less an ordinary woman portrayed as a bad woman. However, she could be the victim of male power and just seemed very out of the ordinary for the role of females at this time (Sourvinou-Inwood 258). She ended up being a version of a very bad woman, by killing her son’s and wreaking havoc on Jason and male power (Sourvinou-Inwood 258).

The idea explored in this play possibly suggests that women like Medea “use the weapons of the weak, which are both deceitful and violent and hurt men where they are vulnerable to women (Sourvinou-Inwood 261).” The play suggests that normal philosophy is not perfect and easy and if things go wrong men also suffer.

===Disease===

Medea refers to disease that her children caught from Jason. Disease stand for the Greek society.The Greek society was rule by laws that restraint the citizen to certain things. In Greek society, women wasn't allow to take thier revenge out on the husband.

== Historical Context ==

Greek tragic playwright, Euripides was born in Athens circa 480 BCE. He is credited with authoring at least 80 plays, 19 of which have survived until modern times. Several of his tragedies feature very strong female characters, including ''The Trojan Women'' and ''Medea''. He died at the court of the Macedonian king in 406 BCE. His work gained a greater popularity after his death than it had received during his lifetime (Crystal 317).

''Medea'' was first produced in Athens in 431 BCE. The earliest works in which Medea first appeared, such as the ''Building of the Argo'' and the ''Journey of Jason to the Cochians'' by Ehpimenides of Crete are only fragments, but her story seems to be an old and popular one (Johnston 3). From at least the early fifth century B.C., Medea was seen as a complex figure. Medea exhibited an extraordinary range of behavior and was different from most other figures in Greek myth(Johnston 6). According to legislation passed, twenty years earlier, a foreign woman could not legally marry an Athenian male. Any children begotten through such a union would not be considered legitimate heirs in the eyes of the law (Vandiver 217-16). In the late fifth century, after Euripides production of ''Medea'', everyone began to emphasize Medea’s role as a foreigner within the Greek Society (Johnston 8). Medea also began to challenge thoughts of what drove humans to inhuman behavior (Johnston 10).

Medea has moved to the forefront in the twentieth century. She forces us today to look into the depths of our own souls (Johnston 17). Even though Medea was first produced in 431 B.C. she is still shown today as a “barbarian woman” and shows us the crime of infanticide existed even in Euripides time period.

== Characters ==
* [[Jason]]

* [[Medea]]

* [[Kreon]]

* [[Aigeus]]

Medea is the princess of the Isle of Colchis(642). Medea is a sorceress, skilled in magic, and is renowned for her cleverness. Medea comes from a prestigious lineage; she is the daughter of king Aeetes and Idyia and the granddaughter of the sun god, Helios, and the niece of Circe who is also known as a sorceress. Medea admires and is a protégé of goddess Hecate, a patron of witchcraft.

Medea falls in love with a man named [[Jason]] when he reached the land of Colchis in pursuit of the [[Golden Fleece]].(642) Medea falls in love with Jason, helps him steal the Golden Fleece from her own country and leaves with him.(642) She even kills her own brother to run away with Jason. They eventually marry, have children, and live in exile in Corinth.(643)

Medea learns that Jason plans to marry the King of Corinth’s daughter. (643) She learns he has intentions of marrying her and leaving Medea and the kids to fend for themselves.(647) Kreon, King of Corinth, hears of Medea’s anger and threats with Jason and the king’s daughter.(648) Kreon approaches Medea and sentences her and her children to exile from Corinth.(648)

Due to the drastic news of Medea's husband, she becomes furious and in her angered state plans for the demise of her husband, his new bride to be, and her father.(658) Medea first covers her base by finding a safe place to live in exile. (656) King Aigeus, King of Athens, agrees that if she can find her way to his doorstep she can stay forever and be safe in return for her helping him to produce a male heir with his wife.(656)

Now Medea plans the way to kill Jason’s bride to be and anyone who touches her.(658) She plans to poison two bridal gifts for Jason’s new bride and have the children hand deliver them to her.(659) Jason falls for the plan and takes the children to his bride to be where she receives her gifts and puts them on falling to her death.(664) A messenger tells Medea the fate of her children and Jason then finds Medea after finding out the dastardly deed she has done.(669) Medea escapes Corinth with her dead children on a dragon drawn chariot given to her by Helios, her grandfather to protect her from her enemies.(670) She escapes to live in Athens and Jason never sees his children again.(670)

== Commentaries ==
* [http://litmuse.maconstate.edu/~glucas/archives/000320.shtml Euripides' ''Medea'': Patriarchal Terrorism]]

== External Links ==
* [http://www.pantheon.org/articles/m/medea.html Medea]
== Questions for Consideration==
* [[What was the Golden Fleece?]]
* [[Was Jason a caring father/husband?]]
* [[Why would any mother kill their children?]]
* [[Why did Creon choose Jason to marry his daughter?]]
* [[How is Medea powerful as a women?]]
* [[Is Medea somewhat immortal?]]
* [[Why does Jason wait until the end to express his love for his children?]]
* [[Medea a feminist character, what implications does her action present?]]
* [[Was Medea schizophrenic?]]
* [[Was Medea a witch?]]
* [[Why couldn't Jason see Medea's muderous intent?]]

== Works Cited ==
* “Athenian Democracy.” 2005. Wikipedia. 8 April 2005 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athenian_democracy#Citizenship_in_Athens>.
* Buxon, Richard. ''The Complete World of Greek Mythology''. NY: Thames & Hudson. 2004.
* Crystal, David. ''The Cambridge Biographical Encyclopedia.'' Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge. New York. 1995.
* Easterling, P.E. “The Infanticide in Euripides’ ''Medea''.” ''YCS'' 25, 1977.
* Ferguson, John.'' A Companion to Greek Tragedy''. TX: University of Texas Press. 1972.
* Graves, Robert. ''Greek Myths''. NY: Penguin Books. 1981.
* Grimal, Pierre. ''Larousse World Mythology''. New Jersey: Chartwheel Books Inc. 1973.
* Lattimore, Richard. ''The Poetry of Greek Tragedy.'' MD: John Hopkins Press. 1958.
* McDermott, Emily A. Euripedes’ Medea: The Incarnation of Disorder. University Park, PA. 1989.
* Melchinger, Siegfried. ''Sophocles''. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co. 1974. 35-42.
* Pelling, Christopher. ''Greek Tragedy and the Historian''. Oxford, 1997.
* Pucci, Pietro. ''The Violence of Pity in Euripides’ Medea''. Cornell University, 1980.
* Ober, Josiah and Strauss, Barry. “Drama, Political Rhetoric, and Discourse of Athenian Democracy.” ''Drama in Its Social Context''. Ed. Winkler, John J. Athenian. Princeton, 1990.
* O’Higgins, Dolores M., Sourvinou-Inwood, Christiane, Johnston, Sarah Iles, and McDonald, Marianne. ''Medea: Essays on Medea in Myth, Literature, Philosophy, and Art.'' Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997.
* Rassidakis, Kristina. “The origins of love, hate, and retaliation in Euripides tragedy ''Medea'': a psychodynamic approach.” ''Changes: International Journal of Psychology and Psychotherapy'' 15, 1997.
* Vandiver, Elizabeth. ''Greek Tragedy''. The Teaching Company. Course # 217. Lectures 1-24.

[[Category:World Literature]]

The Odyssey

2006-06-21T11:48:45Z

Shess:

[[Image:Chagall-odyssey.jpg|thumb|The Odyssey, by Chagall]] [[Homer]]’s Odyssey is a ''nostos'', or an [[Epic Poetry | epic]] of return, and asks if one can come home again, especially after years of bloody war. In fact, an odyssey is now meant generally as a long journey home, much like [[Odysseus]]’ after the fall of Troy. The Odyssey attempts to remake order after the chaos of war. Odysseus, a young man when [[Agamemnon]] and [[Menelaos]] recruited him for the campaign against Ilium, is now a middle-aged survivor and veteran of that war who must be smarter than the champion [[Achilles]] and the leader Agamemnon in order to return home and set his lands in order. War almost seems easy in the light of Odysseus’ journey — at least in war, he knew his enemies. Enemies during peacetime wear many masks; Odyssey must do the same if he is to survive. Odyssey has emenies that can't be be humanly fought; the gods, but Athena helps him to get home safely.

== Summary ==
The ''Odyssey''’s action is spread over twenty-four books, set in medias res that generally occur half before Odysseus returns home, and half after. Throughout his journey, Odysseus faces numerous challenges that center around the deceits of the gods, the indulgences of men, and the crosscultural desire to return home. For a synopsis of each book, see [[The Odyssey Summary]].

== Comparisons ==
* [[Telemakhos to Paris]]
* [[Kirke to Helen]]

== Gods and Mortals ==
* [[Athena and Telemakhos]]
* [[Muses]]
* [[Hermes]]

== List of Characters ==
===The Various Races===
*[[The Achaeans]]
*[[The Gods]]
*[[The Cicones]]
*[[The Phaecians]]
*[[The Lotus-eaters]]
*[[The Laestrygonians]]
*[[The Cyclopes]]

===Human Beings===
* [[Telemakhos]]
* [[Odysseus]]
* [[Penelope]]
* [[Nestor]]
* [[Helen]]
===Suitors===
*[[Antinous]]
*[[Eurymechus]]
*[[Amphinomus]]
===The Women===
* [[Circe]]
* [[Clytemnestra]]
* [[Kalypso]]
* [[Helen]]
* [[Penelope]]
===The Supernatural Beings===
* [[Athena]]
* [[Circe]]
* [[Kalypso]]
* [[Polyphemos]]
* [[Poseiden]]
* [[Zeus]]
* [[Hermes]]

== ''The Odyssey'' in History ==
== Afterlife ==
* [[Greek mythology]]
* [[Hades]]
* [[Greek Afterlife vs. Christian Afterlife]]

== Internal Links ==
* [[Homer]]
* The [[Odyssey: Questions for Consideration]]

== Commentaries ==
* [http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/Odysseus.html Odysseus] — A background on the ''Odyssey'' and Odysseus
* [http://www.davidclaudon.com/odyssey/questions.html A Study Guide by David Claudon]
* [http://litmuse.maconstate.edu/~glucas/archives/000167.shtml Myth and the Odyssey]
* [http://litmuse.maconstate.edu/~glucas/archives/000314.shtml The Odyssey: General Notes]
* [http://litmuse.maconstate.edu/~glucas/archives/000313.shtml The Telemachiad] (books 1-4 of the Odyssey)
* [http://litmuse.maconstate.edu/~glucas/archives/000038.shtml Odysseus and the Poet]: Notes on Book VIII
* [http://litmuse.maconstate.edu/~glucas/archives/000316.shtml The Odyssey: Notes on Book IX]
* [http://litmuse.maconstate.edu/~glucas/archives/000317.shtml The Odyssey: Notes on Book X]
* [http://litmuse.maconstate.edu/~glucas/archives/000215.shtml Poor Confusing Elpenor]
* [http://litmuse.maconstate.edu/~glucas/archives/000318.shtml The Odyssey: Notes on Book XI]
* [http://litmuse.maconstate.edu/~glucas/archives/000318.shtml The Odyssey: The Lessons of Hell] (more on Books XI and XII)
* [http://litmuse.maconstate.edu/~glucas/archives/000319.shtml The Odyssey: Odysseus’ Return]
*[http://www.sparknotes.com Quiz to review

== Suggested Reading ==

== Works Cited ==

* Grimal, Pierre. ''Larousse World Mythology''. New Jersey: Chartwheel Books Inc. 1973.

[[Category:World Literature|Odyssey]]

Greek Afterlife vs. Christian Afterlife

2006-06-21T11:41:43Z

Shess: new article about the ancient Greek afterlife compared to the Christian afterlife

Depending on an individual’s belief, there are many different ideas of the afterlife. The afterlife consists of life or existence believed to follow death. Most beliefs are held that when a person dies there is a place they go to such as Heaven, Hell, the Underworld, Purgatory, or somewhere for their spirit to rest for eternity. Two such beliefs are that of the ancient Greeks and the Christians. Each believes that when an individual passes away, there is a place for their soul or spirit to rest, but that is where the similarities end. The differences between these two beliefs are much greater than their similarities.

When we as Christians think of the afterlife we assume that there are two places that constitute the afterlife, Heaven and Hell. Those who believe in Heaven generally hold that it or Hell is the afterlife destination of many or all humans. Heaven is generally construed as a place of happiness, sometimes eternal happiness. When we think of the word Hell, we automatically think of a place or a state of pain and suffering. Hell is often portrayed as the final resting place of the Devil, prepared as his punishment by God Himself. Hell is commonly believed to be for eternity with no chance of redemption or salvation for those who suffer there. Christian faith teaches it to be a domain of boundless dimension and torment. Many monotheistic religions such as Christianity regard Hell as the absolute ultimate worst-case-scenario.

When the ancient Greeks mention the afterlife, there is only one place that is thought of as to where the afterlife lingers for eternity, the Underworld. The Underworld is neither Heaven nor Hell as we think of our afterlife, but both. The Underworld consisted of two main sections, the Elysian Fields and Tartarus. The Elysian Fields were the final resting place of the souls of the heroic and the virtuous and it is comparable to the Christian belief of Heaven, whereas Tartarus is comparable to Hell. You may assume that the ancient Greeks Heaven consists of the many Gods and their Hell consists of all afterlife, but it is not directly labeled as Heaven or Hell. The Greeks do not portray their afterlife as two separate locations, the punished and non-punished. In a way it is wrong to label the afterlife of the ancient Greeks as Hell because the usual aspect of Hell is that which consists of the punished, but the ancient Greeks believed that all afterlife lived together. Both cultures believe that burying the deceased signifies an honorable end to their worldly existence such as the instance when Elpenor asked Odysseus to give him a proper burial.

On one hand it is right to say that ancient Greek afterlife is Hell because it is referred to as a place consisted of countless drifting crowds of shadowy figures. In Homer’s epic, The Odyssey, the ghost of the great hero Achilles told Odysseus that he would rather be a poor serf on earth than lord of the dead in the Underworld. Odysseus witnessed a few of the tormented souls such as Tityos, the son of Gaia, who had vultures hunched over him rifling his stomach for all of eternity. He then sees Tantalus, agonized by hunger and thirst, because each time he reaches for the grapes that are hanging above him or drink from the pool of water, they rise or sink out of reach. He witnesses the punishment of Sisyphus, struggling eternally to push a boulder over a hill only to have it roll back down whenever it reaches the top.

Oedipus Rex

2006-06-20T11:00:29Z

Shess: revisions and modifications to summary

[[Image:Oedipus.png|thumb|Oedipus and the Sphinx]]''Oedipus the King'', by the tragedian [[Sophocles]], is based on a legend deeply rooted in the cultural identity of Athens. The myth of Oedipus contains a historical and religious authority based on the cultural values of an oral tradition. It concerns the relationship between humans and their gods and, perhaps more importantly, primal hopes and fears that unearth a terror and despair normally buried in human consciousness. Oedipus is a typical Athenian who commits the most egregious of human taboos: incest and patricide. Within the character of Oedipus are both the faults and virtues of the Athenian people. Some critics suggest that Oedipus might be a warning to Athenians that have ushered in a new era of intellectualism.

== Summary ==

Oedipus, in Greek mythology, king of Thebes, is the son of Laius and Jocasta, king and queen of Thebes. Laius was warned by an oracle that he would be killed by his own son and his son would be brother and father to his children. Determined to avert his fate, Laius pierced and bound together the feet of his newborn child and left him to die on a lonely mountain. The infant was rescued by a shepherd, however, and given to Polybus, king of Corinth, who named the child Oedipus (swollen foot) and raised him as his own son. The boy did not know that he was adopted, and when an oracle proclaimed that he would kill his father and marry his mother, he left Corinth. In the course of his wanderings he met and killed Laius, not knowing at the time that Laius is the king and his father, because he believed that the group of travelers were a band of robbers. In doing this act he unwillingly fulfilled the prophecy of his own fate.
Lonely and homeless, Oedipus arrived at Thebes, which was beset by a dreadful monster called the Sphinx. The frightful creature frequented the roads to the city, killing and devouring all travelers who could not answer the riddle that she put to them: What walks on four legs in the morning, on two legs at noon, and on three legs in the evening? The answer was a human being, who in infancy crawls on all fours, in adulthood walks upright on two legs, and in old age uses a cane. When Oedipus solved her riddle, the Sphinx killed herself. Believing that King Laius had been slain by unknown robbers, and grateful to Oedipus for ridding them of the Sphinx, the Thebans rewarded Oedipus by making him their king and giving him Queen Jocasta as his wife. For many years the couple lived in happiness, not knowing that they were really mother and son.
Then a terrible plague descended on the land, and an oracle proclaimed that Laius's murderer must be punished. Oedipus soon discovered that he had unknowingly killed his father. In grief and despair at her incestuous life, Jocasta killed herself, and when Oedipus realized that she was dead and that their children were accursed, he gouged out his eyes and relinquished the throne. He lived in Thebes for several years but was finally banished. Accompanied by his daughter Antigone, he wandered for many years. He finally arrived at Colonus, a shrine near Athens sacred to the powerful goddesses called the Eumenides. Oedipus died at this shrine, after the god Apollo had promised him that the place of his death would remain sacred and would bring great benefit to the city of Athens, which had given shelter to the wanderer.

== Character Traits ==

* Conscientious and patriotic ruler
* Quick to rage — anger — does not listen to anyone
* Confidence in human intelligence — self-confidence
* Man of action and decisiveness, even if imprudent
* Obdurate — Jocasta says “You’re so unbending” (l. 769).
* Courage in the face of despair
* Impiety — disdainful and supercilious
* Wants to know the truth at all costs

Much of the tension in ''Oedipus the King'' revolves around dramatic irony: the gap between the one meaning known by the audience and the other known to the players:

* Every step prompted by his intelligence is one step closer to tragedy
* His knowledge is ignorance
* His clear vision is blindness

Oedipus falls because of the man that he is, not through some random event in nature or fated outcome. His self-discovery comes at a huge cost: his own destruction. Although the oracle predicts what Oedipus will do, it does not determine the latter’s actions. Oedipus has erred in his faith in human intelligence; there are powers in the universe that are beyond our control and our understanding.

Aristotle mentions ''Oedipus'' eleven times in his ''Poetics''. Aristotle’s obvious favor of Sophocles’ play suggests that it is the measure of all [[tragedy]].

== Free Will versus Fate ==

“Even if everything is determined, we have no way of knowing what the total pattern is, so we must act on our own best judgment; free will is, therefore, a necessary illusion. Apparently wise men attain some insight into this pattern (or are given it by the gods), but all of us have the freedom to disregard such insight, follow our own desires, and suffer the consequences.” Walter Agard’s ''The Humanities for Our Time'' (1949).

The concept of human suffering loses all significance if humans have no free will.

“The central idea of a [[Sophocles|Sophoclean]] [[tragedy]] is that through suffering a man learns to be modest before the gods.” Bowra

“His ''Oedipus'' stands for human suffering, and he neither attempts, like [[Aeschylus]], to justify the evil, nor presumes, like [[Euripides]], to deny its divine origin” J.T. Sheppard

“[[Sophocles]]’ difficulty is the problem of suffering, as Aeschylus’ is the problem of sin.” A. Zimmerman

“It’s all chance, chance rules our lives.” Jocasta, l. 1070

“I count myself the son of Chance.” Oedipus, l. 1188

'''
'''Oedipus is siad to have no free will and yet, it was his choice to leave Cornith, it was his choice to marry Jocasta, it was his choice to kill the man he didn't know was his father.....Oedipus may have had a destiny but he certianly had free will!!!!''''''

== Themes and Motifs ==

* Sight and blindness
Oedipus’ life could be called a train wreck; that is, two trains were moving head-on toward each other—one oblivous to the truth and one with knowledge of the truth. When these trains met, the wreck took the {emotional and/or physical} lives of everyone close to Oedipus. Although he could physically see, he was blind to who he really was. Oedipus had no idea that his wife was actually his mother, that the people who raised him were not his biological parents, that his daughters were also his half-sisters, and that he had murdered his biological father. First, he brought in the blind prophet, Tiresias, who revealed the future. Second, he blindly denied these revealations. And third, after he could see the revealations were true, Oedipus blinded himself physically.

In the beginning of the play, Oedipus has perfect physical vision. However, he is blind and ignorant to the truth about himself and his past. He desperately wants to know, to see, but he cannot (Hibbison). Ironically, Tiresias, the blind soothsayer, saw the future from the beginning. Neither Oedipus nor his wife, Jocasta, knew how devastating their lives were. When their true history was revealed by Tiresias, they refused to believe him. Tiresias meant two different things when he referred to sight. First, he knew Oedipus was blessed with the gift of perception; he was the only man who could "see" the answer to the Sphinx's riddle (verse 501). Second, he could not see what was right before his eyes. He was blind to the truth he sought (Little).

Oedipus, furious at the suggestion of his guilt, berated the prophet, who retorted by insisting that Oedipus was yet blind to the truth and would soon learn of his guilt (Awerty). In verse 478, Tiresias told Oedipus that “…darkness shrouding your eyes that can see the light”. Oedipus angrily dismissed the sightless old man, accused him of conspiring with Jocasta's brother, Creon, to overthrow him (Awerty). Although blind to the truth, as the facts became clear, Oedipus was forced to open his eyes: Oedipus did, in fact, kill his father, Larius, and marry his mother. Oedipus’ slaying of Laius at the crossroads was an intentional act, but also an unconscious one; therefore a “pure” one. Later, when Oedipus blinds himself, the audience is capable of exhibiting the correct emotional response: that of pity and fear. This act, after Oedipus’ recognition of his error, proves that he feels remorse for his actions and shows the audience that he would never have performed them had he known the facts (Lucas). Oedipus was responsible for the bad times in Thebes. The truth was then so obvious to him that he had to confront it.

Oedipus furthered [[Sophocles]]’ sight metaphor when he defended his decision to humble himself through blindness: “What good were eyes to me? Nothing I could see could bring me joy” (verse 1473). When Oedipus finally discovered the truth, ironically, he was so distressed that he ran pins into his eyes (verse 1405). Oedipus’ self-inflicted blindness is, in effect, his “purification” of his pathos and makes him a proper recipient for the audience’s pity and fear (Lucas). He had been blinded to the truth too long. Oedipus would forever walk in physical darkness, though the truth was now visible. With nothing to look at, Oedipus was forced to think about his life and what had happened. The darkness and the physical pain he had inflicted on himself was just as agonizing as his blindness to the truth.

Figurative blindness can be harder to deal with then literal blindness. A person who is physically blind knows that it will probably be life-long will learn to accept the blindness. However, if a person is blind to the truth, there is nothing that person can do until they learn and acknowledge the truth. The person may not even know that their situation is wrong. When that person does learn the truth, he tends to feel ignorant. That person wonders if things could have been avoided had the truth only been known sooner. When Oedipus learned the truth, his way of dealing with his figurative blindness was to physically blind himself. In this play, blindness led to the truth, and the truth led to blindness. Oedipus and Jocasta were blinded, yet found the truth.

* Light and darkness
* Historia — a free spirit of inquiry
* Knowledge comes only through suffering
* The responsibility of humans for their own acts
* The error of setting human reason above obedience to the gods
* Consequences of excessive pride
* Ship and navigation metaphors (e.g., ll. 1010-11; 1454)

Chorus — present and objectively severe and conventional, gradually growing more troubled and anxious, and finally into utter despair.

Archetype of drama? Hero’s quest for himself.

Works Cited:
Little, Jennifer. “Oedipus Rex / Oedipus the King.” Gradesaver. July 19, 2000. Retrieved March 31, 2005. <http://www.gradesaver.com/ClassicNotes/Titles/oedipus/summ2.html>.

No author. “Oedipus Rex by Sophocles (c. 496-406 B.C.)” Awerty Notes. Retrieved March 31, 2005. <http://www.awerty.com/oedipus2.html>.

Lucas, Gerald, Ed. “Poetics and Purgation”. Dr. Gerald Lucas. July 16, 2003. Retrieved April 12, 2005. <http://litmuse.maconstate.edu/~glucas/archives/000252.shtm>.

Hibbison, Eric, Ed. “Oedipus the Wreck – Blindness in Oedipus Rex”. VCCS Litonline. Virginia Community College System. Last Updated February 21, 2005. Retreived April 18, 2005. <http://vccslitonline.cc.va.us/OedipustheWreck/blindness.htm>.

== Questions for Consideration ==

# Many consider ''Oedipus the King'' as the greatest of the Western [[tragedy|tragedies]]. Even if you are not familiar with other Greek [[tragedy]], consider the greatness of ''Oedipus the King'' from your own perspective. What themes common in the [[tragedy]] resonate for us today?
# All of the crucial action of the play takes place off stage: Oedipus' killing of his father, etc. Consider the dramatic effect of this decision: what is, therefore, highlighted if not the egregious acts committed by the protagonist?
# Even though during his investigation, Oedipus begins to suspect the truth of the situation, yet he pushes on to prove the terrible truth. What does this say about Oedipus specifically and the [[tragedy|tragic]] hero in general? Does this shed any light on Oedipus' eventual death?
# What is Oedipus' [[hamartia|tragic flaw]]? Is there only one?
# Professor Literary Critic states that "to Sophocles, man has become an emancipated individual with a free will who cannot excuse his deeds by blaming Fate, the gods, or oracles. Reason is thus man's highest possession and greatest power." Discuss the contrast of fate verses free will in ''Oedipus the King''.
# When Oedipus discovers his crimes, he blinds himself. Discuss the symbolic significance of this action. What does this act say about vision in general? (Perhaps start by thinking about that other blind character have we met this semester...)
# If Oedipus represents both the best and the worst of his culture, what values can we infer from our reading of the tragedy?

[[Category:World Literature]]

Oedipus the King Summary

2006-06-20T10:53:35Z

Shess: modifications and revisions

Oedipus the King [[Image:Oedipus the King.gif]]

There is a plague in Thebes. Oedipus has sent his brother-in-law, Creon, to find out news from the gods on how they can get rid of the plague. When Creon returns, he tells them that Apollo has spoken and says to find the murderers of Laius, the king before Oedipus, and rid the land of them. Oedipus wants to find out who killed Laius, so they call on the prophet Tiresias. The prophet tells them that Oedipus is the murderer and with this accusation he is offended by this nonsense, and after intense arguing, he sends the prophet home. Oedipus then starts arguing with Creon and accusses him as the murderer because he called upon the prophet. Jocasta enters the room and stops them from arguing. She mentions that the prophets told her that her husband would be killed by their child, but a shepard who was the only one to survive from the group of travelers consisting of King Laius, told them this was the not the case because he was killed by thieves. While Jocasta is praying, a messenger from Corinth comes and tells her that Oedipus’ father, Polybus, is dead. They first rejoice at this news because it appears that Oedipus is not the killer of the king and the prophets were wrong. This news also meant that Oedipus could not be his father’s murderer, he died of natural causes. Later, the messenger informs Oedipus, that Polybus was no more a father to him than he was. They learn that this man had received Oedipus as a child, from a Shepard, a shepard from King Laius. He had been given to him by the Queen Jocasta, Oedipus’ wife, to go and have him killed, due to the fact that the prophets told her that her child would kill his father and be be father and brother to his children. The Shepard didn’t have the heart to kill a baby, so that’s how Oedipus ended up in Corinth. Oedipus trying to keep from fulfilling the prophecy of killing his parents, left Corinth and ran into Laius on the crossroad, and killed him not knowing that this was really his father.

Jocasta began to put the pieces of the puzzle together, and ran off to her room telling Oedipus he should just let it die and leave it alone. But Oedipus was determined to find out his birthright. Jocasta hung herself, while Oedipus was learning of his cursed destiny, and when he discovered her body, he took the brooches from her dress and gouged his eyes out. After being blinded, he faced his people and told them to seek Creon, so that he could be put to death. Oedipus asks Creon to take care of his two daughters, because he knows that no man would want to marry them. He asks to see his daughters one last time, and then Creon separates them and takes Oedipus to be executed.

The Odyssey Summary:Book 23

2006-06-20T10:29:09Z

Shess: revisions and modifications

[[Image:Odysseus-penelope.jpg|thumb|Odysseus and Penelope]]
Book Twenty-Three begins with Eurykleia, Odysseus’ nurse, telling Penelope that Odysseus has returned home and has killed the suitors (XXIII ln. 1-80). Penelope refuses to believe her at first because she thinks it is someone posing as Odysseus or that a god has come down and killed all the suitors. Finally, Eurykleia persuades Penelope to come down from her room to see Odysseus.

While going to see who Eurykelia is calling Odysseus, Penelope is questioning herself as to what to do when she first sees him. She does not know if she should run up and great him or withhold herself. She decides to withhold and sits down across the room from Odysseus.

Telemachus is frustrated with the way is mother is reacting but Odysseus reassures him that it is all well and that she does realize that it is Odysseus. Odysseus and Penelope both realize that each other have changed, but they still hold their past memories in their hearts. Odysseus has changed physically because Athena has made him “taller, and massive, too, with crisping hair in curls like petals of wild hyacinth but all red-golden” (XXIII ln157-160). Penelope has grown harder, in her personality, due to the fact of having Odysseus gone so long and having to deal with the suitors.

Finally, to test Odysseus to see if it is really him, Penelope suggests to the nurse to move their bed outside of their room. Odysseus gets very upset because he thinks that someone has ruined the bed that he built especially for him and Penelope out of a live olive tree that is growing through their house. This event marks the time when Penelope knows that it is Odysseus because only one other person knew about the bed being carved out of a tree.

Odysseus and Penelope join each other in bed to get reacquainted after being apart for twenty years. Odysseus tells of his travels and Penelope tells of the suitors. Athena even makes the night last longer so they can spend as much time together in bed as possible, because the next day Odysseus must leave and travel to the mainland on another one of his adventures.

Teiresias has told him to travel to the mainland with an ore until he meets men who have never seen the sea. Once there he must offer a ram, bull, and a buck to Poseidon. Although he does not know how long it will take, he told Penelope he will come home to her again (XXIII ln 271-283).

[[The Odyssey Summary:Book 22|Book 22]] < [[The Odyssey Summary|Index]] > [[The Odyssey Summary:Book 24|Book 24]]

[[Category:World Literature]]

The Odyssey Summary:Book 22

2006-06-20T10:24:02Z

Shess: revisions and modifications

[[Image:SlaughterofSuitors1.jpg|thumb|Slaughter of the Suitors]] Book twenty-two opens with Odysseus shooting an arrow through Antinous’ throat. Antinous, the leader of the suitors, falls dead and sparks immediate reaction from his comrades. The suitors have no idea that Antinous’ murderer is Odysseus due to the fact that he is disguised, and therefore threaten to kill him. Odysseus is enraged and announces his true identity, with this knowledge the suitors begin to panic and fear for their lives. Odysseus feels these men must die for bleeding his house to death, ravishing his serving women, and wooing his wife.

The suitor, Eurymachus, explains that Antinous is to blame for any insubordination on their part. Eurymachus tries to calm Odysseus by offering compensation from each of the suitors. This payment included a value of twenty oxen, as well as bronze and gold. Odysseus finds no resolve in this matter and is bent on killing everyone in the room. With this turn of events, the suitors begin to fight Odysseus.

In this fight, Telemachus joins his father’s side in the conflict. On his father’s orders he quickly arms himself and the servants of the palace. Now Odysseus has the suitors trapped in the great hall and can dispose of them at his leisure.
Athena enters; Odysseus is thrilled to see her taking the voice and build of Mentor, an old friend of his. Odysseus knows this is the daughter of Zeus and is being protected by her. With this development, Odysseus is energized to finish the onslaught he placed on the suitors.

During the fight no one was spared a grizzly death except the herald and the singer, who were saved by Telemachus’ will. Odysseus also calls on the old nurse, (Eurycleia) to round up the women who serviced the suitors needs during his absence. These women were ordered to clean up the blood and remove the bodies from the palace, later they were executed by Telemachus.

After the gruesome slaughter, Odysseus ordered the palace to be purged with fire and brimstone for cleansing purposes. In the end, his devoutful-serving women greeted Odysseus as they kissed and praised him for coming home.

----

[[The Odyssey Summary:Book 21|Book 21]] < [[The Odyssey Summary|Index]] > [[The Odyssey Summary:Book 23|Book 23]]

[[Category:World Literature|Odyssey]]

The Odyssey Summary:Book 12

2006-06-19T00:16:09Z

Shess: modifications and revising

Book XII, concludes Odysseus’ narration of the events leading up to his captivity on Kalypso’s island. The book begins with Odysseus and his men sailing from the underworld toward Aiaia. Odysseus keeps his promise to Kirke, and gives Elepenor a burial ceremony. Kirke in turn feeds Odysseus and his men and warns him about the Sirens, Kharybids, and Skylla.

[[Image:Ulysses-sirens-Draper-L.jpg|thumb|Odysseus and the Sirens]] Again Odysseus sets sail with his men and attempts to pass the Sirens, whose sweet singing lures sailors to their doom. Odysseus puts wax in his crews hears so they will not hear the luring singing, but he alone listens while tied to the mast, unable to steer toward shipwreck.

Next they encountered Kharybdis, who swallows the sea in a whirlpool, then spits it up again. “When she vomited, all the sea is like a cauldron seething over intense fire.” Avoiding this catastrophe Odysseus and his men skirt the cliff where Skylla exacts her toll. Each of her six serpent-like heads grabbed a sailor in its jaws and wolfed him down.

After circumventing these disasters, Odysseus warns his men that Teiresias and Kirke both told him to stay away from the island of the Sun. However, they do not listen due to the fact that they were exhausted; they disregard all warnings from Odysseus and slaughter Helios’, the Sun God, cattle. Afterward, when they are back at sea, Zeus destroys Odysseus’ ship with a thunderbolt, due to Helios’ pleading. Odysseus alone survives and washes up on the island of Kalypso, where he has been held captive for the last seven years.

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[[The Odyssey Summary:Book 11|Book 11]] < [[The Odyssey Summary|Index]] > [[The Odyssey Summary:Book 13|Book 13]]

[[Category:World Literature|Odyssey]]

The Odyssey Summary:Book 9

2006-06-13T14:17:14Z

Shess: revising and editing

Book IX of Homer’s Odyssey begins with Odysseus’ reply to Alkinoos, who has asked his visitor to reveal his name and explain his apparent grief. Odysseus tells Alkinoos his name and goes on to tell of his adventures during the war—specifically, his adventures with Kyklops. Odysseus begins with the story of a battle upon the coast of the Kikones, where many of his shipmates and friends were killed because of their greed. They set sail only to run into a violent storm that lasted for two days and nights. Once the storm had passed, Odysseus’ ships were caught in the current and were taken out to sea, where he drifted in high winds for nine days. They landed on the coast of Lotos Land. There, Odysseus sent three of his men to find out about the inhabitants, who offered them the sweet lotos, which caused the three men to long “to stay forever, browsing on that native bloom, forgetful of their homeland.” Odysseus dragged the men back to the ship and quickly set out to sea before anyone else could be tempted to eat the lotos.

They sailed until they reached an island just off the coast of the Kyklopes, where they made harbor. On their second day, Odysseus and some of his men rowed to Kyklopes land to check out the island and its inhabitants. When they arrived on land, Odysseus took twelve of his best fighters and explored a cave. The men become locked in when Polyphemos, a Kyklopes, returns with his sheep and closes the opening of the cave with a large boulder. Odysseus explains how they arrived upon the island and requests the usual hospitality—which is the mark of civilized people. Polyphemos tells them that he has no fears of Zeus and will not let them. The giant also asks Odysseus where he is from and what part of the island is their ship located. Odysseus cunningly tells him that they were the only survivors of a terrible shipwreck. Polyphemos responds by brutally beating and then eating two of Odysseus’ men. The rest of the Greeks are terrified but Odysseus realizes that they cannot kill Polyphemos or they will be trapped in the cave forever.

The next morning, Polyphemos eats some more of the men and sets out with his flock of sheep. While Polyphemos was gone, Odysseus came up with a plan to fashion a stake with which they could stab Polyphemos in the eye. Polyphemos came back and ate two more men for dinner. Odysseus offered him some wine that he had brought with him and Polyphemos accepted, drinking it all. Polyphemos passed out and the men drove the spike into his eye. Polyphemos called for help from the other Kyklopes. When they asked him who had harmed him, Polyphemos told them “Nohbdy,” which is what Odysseus had called himself. The neighboring Kyklopes disregarded his pleas because “nobody” hurt him and Polyphemos is left to suffer. He moved the stone from the cave opening, blocking the doorway in hopes of catching any man who tried to escape. Odysseus demonstrates his wit once again and comes up with another plan.

He and his men tied groups of three sheep together and each man would hide under a group. In the morning, when Polyphemos let the sheep out to pasture, the men escaped unnoticed. They led the sheep back to the ships and once they were aboard, Odysseus turned and shouted his victory at Polyphemos. Odysseus tells him his real name. Polyphemos reveals that he had been forewarned that he would lose his eye at Odysseus’ hands. Polyphemos is surprised that Odysseus is such a little man and begged him to come back. He promises to treat him well and to make Poseidon favor his voyage. Odysseus tells Polyphemos that he would like to kill him. This angers Polyphemos and he prays that Poseidon will take vengeance and never allow Odysseus to see his home again. As the men sail away, they try to make offerings to Zeus, but to no avail.

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[[The Odyssey Summary:Book 8|Book 8]] < [[The Odyssey Summary|Index]] > [[The Odyssey Summary:Book 10|Book 10]]

== External Links ==

[[Category:World Literature|Odyssey]]

Achilles

2006-06-07T22:50:45Z

Shess: modifications to the information provided

[[Image:Achilles-chiron.jpg|thumb|The education of Achilles]]Achilles was the son of the sea nymph, [[Thetis]], and [[Peleus]], king of the [[Myrmidons]] of Thessaly.

The story of Achilles (The Greek hero) is that his mother dipped him into the River Styx to make him immortal. This made him invulnerable except for the heel by which his mother held him. Achilles was the son of the sea nymph, Thetis, and Peleus, king of the Myrmidons of Thessaly.

When Agamemnon, the king of Mycenean took the maiden Briseis from him whom represented Achilles authority and accomplishments, Achilles withdrew from the battle. The Trojans began winning the war when Achilles and his soldiers, the Myrmidons, refused to fight in battle. Patroclus, Achilles dearest friend and cousin, led the Greeks into battle and was later killed by Hector. Achilles returned to battle to avenge his friend’s death and slew Hector because the armor Hector was wearing was Achilles'. Therefore he knew the weak points in the armor and was able to kill him. Achilles allowed Achaean warriors to stab Hector repeatedly and he then dragged Hector's body through the streets of Troy behind his chariot, despite Hector's plea that requested his body be given back to Troy. In the final battle of the Trojan War Achilles killed the king of the Ethiopians. He then led his troops to Troy where he meets death by an arrow to his heel by Paris.

== Works Cited ==
* [http://www.pantheon.org/articles/a/achilles.html Achilles] Hunter, James, 1/11/2004.

[[Category:World Literature]]