blog 6

The character of Aeneas

Aeneas is a very popular character, but is surrounded by some controversy. He is a product of a Trojan prince and and the goddess Venus and is a Trojan hero. He is a trustworthy man is is highly respected by his men. He is seldom questioned is being a great leader comes naturally to him. He is a dutiful servant of fate and of the gods. One of his best qualities is his devotion to his country and family, as well as the task at hand. 

Blog 5

Aristotle wrote the book about these definitions to analyze and come up with conclusions about them. The first one is tragedy, defined as a work that arouses pity and fear. In other terms a work should make the reader should either be scared or feel sorry to be good. Tragedy has three characteristics, is mimetic , is serious or tells a story. Another word is hamartia, meaning something being taken mistakenly.  Katharsis, another word Aristotle used, described as a purge of emotions of pity or fear. Deus ex machina is the last word Aristotle talks about, basically meaning someone of a higher power, like a god, comes in and saves the day. Aristotle doesn't like this idea because people should learn how to solve the problems on their own.

Blog 4

Antigone and Creon are both tragic figures in their own right, however the characteristics that make them so are different. Antigone goes though intense situations with a lot of pain and tragedy along the way. Sophocles gives her incredible strength and  perseverance throughout  the play, despite the threats from her uncles at the beginning. Creon on the other hand was not supposed to be a king, if everything went according to plan. But due to the untimely demise of Oedipus and his two nephews, it fell on the shoulders of Creon. Creon was very headstrong and ruthless, but Antigone was the only one to ever stand up to him. It is wondered why Creon has more lines in the play than Antigone, and the name of the play is Antigone and not Creon. Creon has more power and authority but Antigone is the one who we should really focus on because she goes through the most hardships and comes out victorious. Creon doesn't realize that he has messed up until after Antigone has killed herself. This leads to everyone close to Creon killing themselves and he is left all alone, and it is all because of him

Blog 3

1) Athena and Odysseus have a special relationship that is unusual because one is a man and one is a god. Odysseus has a statue of Athena in his home and throughout the movie asks her for help and guidance. The relationship closely resembles a mother and son. She protects, guides and supports Odysseus through out his journey.

2) The women in Odysseus play an unusual role in that they are pretty important and hold a lot of power and authority. A majority of the women in the epic tale are placed in positions of high authority, such as goddesses and queens and princesses. An example is Calypso; she controls an entire island and when Odysseus needed help she took him in and fell in love with him. She kept him prisoner for many years because he was unable to escape.

3) Intended: Telemachus in book 16 and Penelope in book 23
Unintended: Argos in book 17

Blog 2 - Joseph

Some may question is Joseph is an epic hero or not and I am going to try and answer that question. An epic hero is a character in an epic poem who is affected by major events, and responds in a very brave manor and because of this, is admired by the people, like Odysseus. Joseph is to this day remembered as a great character in the old testament and was a favored child by his father. However this does not mean that everybody liked him. One group that did not appreciate this was his sibling who obviously envied his for being the favorite. Joseph often got what he wanted, which lead to more hatred from his siblings. Joseph also claimed to have dreams that one days all his sibling would look up to him and this really did not sit well with them. So they did what everybody seemed to do at the time when they didn't get their way, they plotted to kill him. But instead of them killing him, they put him on a caravan to Egypt where he was surprisingly welcome and well treated. while being in charge of Potiphar's house hold, Joseph was tempted by the wife, but refused. this made her mad so she planted his clothes and framed him for wanting to sleep with her. this got Joseph thrown in jail again. One thing that got Joseph through all this was his faith in god. Joseph later rose to power again and was brought face to face with his brothers that sent him there when a famine brought them to Egypt. Instead of punishing them for sending his away, he awarded them with gifts and money and sent them home. Through this good faith, despite all the hardships Joseph went through, I would absolutely consider Joseph to be an epic hero.