Pliny the Elder (23-79) left medieval and renaissance thinkers with a large assortment of beasts who shared certain human aspects. This belief in monsters formed part of the basis for European conceptions of natives in the New World. When Pliny had a thought, idea or something just to put down he would a document regardless if it was true or not. This leads to the conclusion that he wasn’t always right about what he had written in his natural history. Too much writing lead to Pliny not being able to check his own work. For this is when social construct was somewhat created as an idea put into the minds of Greeks and the romans. Ideas such as evil-eyed Illyrians, one-legged monocoli and animal-human hybrids. He suspected that these monsters
Julian B. Annotated Bibliography Of Julius CaesarBy Plutarch “Caesar” The internet Classics Archive. Translated by John D. Daniel C. Stevenson, Web Atomics, 1994. Web. 22 Nov. 2014. http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/caesar.html.This site provides information pertaining to Julius Caesar. It talks about Julius and his early day as well as his life. The site talks about Caesars family. The site has useful information because it is an academic site.By, Liu, Berry. “Julius Caesar.” History. UK, Oct.2012. Web.30 Nov. 2014. http://www.history.co.uk/biographies/julius-caesar.The history site provides me with information about Caesar and how he was killed as well as his biography.Donegan Enterprises, Devillier. “Julius Caesar.” PBS. PBS, 2006.
The theme of sight and blindness is undoubtedly important to notice while reading Oedipus the King. The number of times the words “see” or “blind” are in the play make it make it undeniably obvious that they are significant. The theme is developed throughout the dialogue, through characters such as Tiresias and Oedipus, and also directly in the irony of the play. It is important in a play about the truth because almost every character was “blind” to the truth. All of the characters, except one, can physically see, but mentally cannot see the truth.
When Pliny was first challenged with the issue of Christianity in his region, he was extremely confused and worried. He had never dealt with the issue before and so had no prior experience to dwell upon. However, he ended up dealing with them like any other threat to the Roman Empire he had dispensed with. He viewed these individuals as a contagion and threat to the Empire that needed to be distinguished. However, he knew that he did not have the resources or manpower to adequately confront the issue as it had spread not just in the cities, but also to the towns and farms across his region. This leads to the start of multiple letters to Emperor Trajan, so that he could be informed and order what needed to occur.
Oedipus is extremely upset in this paragraph. You can tell because he is using words like weep, bitterness, and brilliant rites unfinished. This reinforces the reversal by stating about how he is extremely upset by the suicide of his mother/wife. He this follows this by saying his goodbyes to his loved children and lives out his life where Oedipus’s mother and father wanted him to die. He now has to live with this heart tearing truth.
Do you think our fate is predetermined or do we have some control over it? Many people now think that we have some control in our destiny, depending on the actions and steps that we take during our life time. On the other hand some people think that you have no control over your fate, and have to follow the destiny of your family members. In Oedipus the King, Sophocles seems to argue that man has no real control over his or her destiny. Throughout the whole story he shows us how people try to run away from their fate and no matter how hard they try to change the outcome, they can’t.
Both Marcus Aurelius and Cicero try to create a guide, based on their stoic views, on how a person is supposed to live a purposeful life. Marcus Aurelius was an emperor and Cicero was a politician, so both serve somebody or something. In Cicero’s “On Friendship” he bases his guides on what he has learned from important people in his life. In Marcus Aurelius’ “Meditations” he bases his guide off of what he has learned as an emperor with stoic views. Some of what he Aurelius has learned is different from Cicero’s view of stoicism; an example of this is in section seven of Meditations. Section seven of Meditations is about what Aurelius learned from his tutor. He states, “Endure hardship, and have few needs; to do things for myself and not
“As monstrous races faded from popularity, the increased focus on unnatural or monstrous individuals added new interest in the long-standing philosophical and theological debates about whether or not monsters could be human and where monsters fit within God’s ordered universe […] philosophers and theologians in both the medieval period and the Renaissance often interpreted these monstrous individuals as carrying a specific meaning for the community into which they were born (Wright 6).”
The tale of Oedipus and his prophecy has intrigued not only the citizens of Greece in the ancient times, but also people all over the world for several generations. Most notable about the play was its peculiar structure, causing the audience to think analytically about the outcomes of Oedipus’ actions and how it compares with Aristotle’s beliefs. Another way that the people have examined the drama is by looking at the paradoxes (such as the confrontation of Tiresias and Oedipus), symbols (such as the Sphinx), and morals that has affected their perceptions by the end of the play. Nonetheless, the most important aspect is how relevant the story is and how it has influenced modern ideas like that of Freud and other people of today.
Hans Rockwell 8/26/17 Question 1 Question 1.) One of the responses people usually have about Oedipus is if he really deserved the fate that he ended up with. It’s not his fault that Jocasta and Laius tried to outsmart fate and dispose of him.
In his essay, “Introduction to Oedipus the King”, Bernard Knox supports free will by stating that Oedipus’ downfall was not caused by fate. According to Knox there is not a doubt that, “Oedipus is the free agent who, by his own self-willed action, discovers that his own predicted destiny has already been fulfilled” (86). He clearly states that Oedipus is responsible for his free actions during the play. He insists that Oedipus’s made the decisions to discover the truth about himself.
A distinguished military veteran and dedicated historian, Pliny the Elder’s work provides us with aspects of everyday life in Ancient Rome, and is a valuable source for knowledge on the state of science in that time. Gaius Plinius Secundus, better known as Pliny the Elder to distinguish himself from his nephew, Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, wrote as a naturalist, biographer, and historian. Around 79 A.D, Pliny died during the eruption of Vesuvius which decimated Pompeii and Herculaneum, his nephew wrote of these events in his letters to Tacitus . Throughout his lifetime, Pliny obtained many military positions in the government, including administrator of Equestrian Rank and Procurator of Africa.
How could such a thought leave a person’s lips? For Claudius to assume that the sorrow I feel over my father’s death is feigned. He even went so far as to compare my sorrow to that of a painting; the mere illusion of emotion, yet no substance. Just the thought of such an accusation leaves my hands shaking. He says the flame of love dampens with time, yet how can that be so, when every day I was away in France the fondness I felt for my family only grew. Especially for my sweet sister, Ophelia. Oh, poor Ophelia! You handed me rosemary the last time we saw each other, for remembrance, “please remember” you said. Were you to know your life was in danger as you hung those weeds upon those branches, or sung snippets of ballads as you were floating
Have you ever been in a fight with your younger siblings and your mother asks for both sides of the story? Your sibling tells the story as accurate as it can be and then it is your turn so you add in a few extra details just to soften up your part of the story. Well in Virgil’s epic, The Aeneid, Aeneus does just that. Aeneus is at sea and wrecks due to a storm caused by Juno. The city that he flees to is Carthage, a city being built by Queen Dido.
Sophocles Oedipus the King is a tragic play which discusses the tragic discovery of Oedipus that he has killed his father and married his mother. The story of Oedipus was well-known to the Athenian's. Oedipus is the embodiment of the perfect Athenian. He is self-confident, intelligent, and strong willed. Ironically these are the very traits which bring about his tragic discovery. Oedipus gained the rule of Thebes by answering the riddle of Sphinx. Sophocles used the riddle of the sphinx as a metaphor for the 3 phases of Oedipus' life and to further characterized him as a tragic man. The Sphinx posed the following riddle to all who came to obtain the rule of Thebes: “What is it that walks on 4 feet and 2 feet and 3 feet and has only one voice, when it walks on most feet it is the weakest?” Oedipus correctly answered “Man” and became the king of Thebes. This riddle is a metaphor for the life of Oedipus. As a child man crawls on his hands and knees this is the four feet to which the Sphinx refers. Also, man is at his weakest as a small child. He depends solely on others for his nourishment and well-being. Oedipus was the child of Jocasta and King Laius who was taken to the mountain by a Shepard to be killed so the omen of the god Apollo that Laius' son would kill him and lay with Jocasta would not come true. Oedipus was the weakest of his life at this point.
Oedipus did not have a fair start in life. His father, Laius, heard prophecy that Oedipus would one day kill his father and sleep with his mother. In order to prevent this, Laius gave Oedipus to a shepherd to be killed. Fortunately, through a string of events, Oedipus's life was saved, and he even went on to become the honored king of Thebes. Despite this feat, Oedipus still managed to make several decisions that ultimately fulfilled the original prophecy told to Laius, and inevitably sealed Oedipus?s fate.