Case Analysis Fate, Athena - 1490 Words

In the conclusion to the case which decided Orestes’ fate, Athena, offering explanation for her final decision, notes her inherent preference towards men: â€Å"There is no mother anywhere who gave me birth/ and, but for marriage, I am always for the male/ with all my heart†¦ I shall not value [Clytemnestra’s] death more highly than his† (The Eumenides, lines 736-40). This argument calls back to Apollo’s claim that children are not born from the characteristics of both their parents, but rather from their father’s seed: â€Å"The mother is no parent of that which is called/ her child, but only a nurse of the new-planted seed/ that grows† (The Eumenides, lines 658-60).Women are only the vessels, imparting no influence besides nurturement to their children. While this clearly biased justification eschewed the rights for her own gender, this reasoning worked within the consistency of Athens’ cultural frame. The case, in the canon of the play being Athens’ first trial by an impartial jury, was decided largely by the influences of the personal sexist biases held by most citizens in that society. The morally pure systems defining Greek democracy could only be seen as true if the moral inconsistencies derived from their cultural bias were ignored. The system of justice and democratic vote appealed to the higher ideals of human virtue, but humans inevitably let their own personal prejudices intercede. The American Declaration of independence sought, as it claimed, life, liberty, and theShow MoreRelatedThe Eruption Of The Iliad1558 Words   |  7 Pagesto Achilles. Agamemnon offended Apollo when he refused to give the girl back which resulted in a curse by Apollo. â€Å"Apollo heard his prayer and descended Olympus’ crags Pulsing with fury, bow slung over one shoulder, The arrows rattling in their case on his back As the angry god moved like night down the mountain.† (130, I: 52-55) Here Apollo is humanized by the expression of his anger. He rages on, shedding plague and death over the Greeks. For nine days the god’s arrows rained death on theRead MoreThe Involvement By The Gods888 Words   |  4 PagesThe involvement by the gods simply begins with Aphrodite. Though the gods do not determine fate, they work alongside the fates and have the ability to act against them. Zeus tells Thetis, who has convinced him to aid her son Achilles to attain revenge against Agamemnon, â€Å"I’ll say yes to you by nodding my head, / The ultimate pledge. Unambiguous, / irreversible, and absolutely fulfilled, / Whatever I say yes to with a nod of my head† (Lombardo 1.556-559). And despite Hera’s reluctance, Zeus speaksRead MoreZeus Vs. Greek God Essay2252 Words   |  10 Pagesmillennia. Rather than cover generalities yet again, I ll focus on probably the best known of the polytheistic gods - Zeus, IMHO the extraterrestrial (though one could just abo ut pick any of the thousands of polytheistic deities and perform a similar analysis). Zeus vs. God: The Greek god Zeus (Jupiter in the Roman pantheon of gods) was a King-of-Kings deity, top of the totem pole, but unlike the monotheistic God... Zeus was born and had a precarious start in life and childhood. His daddy wasn t aRead MoreHelen Of Troy1455 Words   |  6 PagesAn oath sworn beforehand by all the suitors (known as the Oath of Tyndareus) requires them to provide military assistance in the case of her abduction; this oath culminates in the Trojan War. When she marries Menelaus she is still very young; whether her subsequent involvement with Paris is an abduction or a seduction is ambiguous. The legends recounting Helen s fate in Troy are contradictory. Homer depicts her as a wistful, even a sorrowful, figure, coming to regret her choice and wishing to beRead MoreMythology: Edith Hamilton Archetypes2717 Words   |  11 PagesArchetypal Analysis of Myths Part One: The Gods, the Creation, and the Earliest Heroes Chosen Myth: Dionysus or Bacchus Situational Archetype: Battle between Good and Evil In the myth of Dionysus there isn’t exactly a conflict between two sides of people battling for good or evil, its more as a battle between the two sides of Dionysus’ inner self. Unlike most examples of good versus evil, there isn’t a triumphant side. Just the personality switches between Dionysus being the joy-god or theRead MoreThe Greek Mythology Of Women1820 Words   |  8 Pageswomen had the position of both power and necessity as well. This reigns true in the case of the mythological tale of â€Å"Pandora’s Box,† in Hesiod’s Theogony . At the command of Zeus to punish mankind (after Prometheus fed the gods bones instead of food), the god Hephaestus crafted the first mortal woman as a gift to Epimetheus. She is showered with gifts, thus her namesake Pandora (â€Å"all gifted†), by the Olympians. Athena grants her the talent of weaving, Aphrodite bestows upon her grace and beauty, andRead Moretheme of alienation n no where man by kamala markandeya23279 Words   |  94 PagesEurydice takes her own life, leaving Creon to grieve alone. THEMES Major Themes Sophocles’ plays often deal with the specific struggle of a strong- willed individual against fate. In Antigone he depicts a resolute and heroic female protagonist, who pits her individual free will against the intractable forces of fate and against the irrational and unjust laws of tyrannical men, like Creon. Basically, the play centers on the conflict between the steadfast protagonist and an equally resolute antagonistRead MoreA View from the Bridge: Story of a Brooklyn Longshoreman6101 Words   |  25 Pages1930’s had a profound effect on Miller as he has intimated in his autobiography, but not solely for the pain of watching his family and community suffer. Growing up in the Depression meant a time â€Å"when it had been all but impossible to think of one’s fate apart from that of society† (Timebends 363). This is a belief that would stick with Miller and so many other working class men and women because it was linked to their survival. Through a seri es of economic depressions – 1870s, 1890s, and now the 1930s