Analysis Of Oedipus, Seven Against Thebes And Analysis Of Oedipus, Seven Against Thebes And Medea Oedipus, Seven Against Thebes & Medea Oscar Wilde once said, “There are two tragedies in life. The first is not getting what you want. The second is getting what you want.’ This paradoxal statement, when examined, can be found to have some truth in almost everyone’s life. It is particularly valid in the works Seven Against Thebes, Medea, and Oedipus The King. A closer look at these works will show how these two statements truly can destroy a character. In Aeschylus’s Seven Against Thebes, the truth to Wilde’s statement is very evident.
Once the king dies, it becomes clear to Polynius and Eteocles what they want. The goal for both of them is to become king. It is decided that Eteocles will become the king, while Polynius will become leader of the army. This decision shows one aspect of the meaning of Wilde’s quote.
Both brothers wanted to be king, but only one could attain that goal. In this case, Eteocles got what he wanted, and Polynius did not get what he wanted. According to Wilde, now both brothers’ lives will end in tragedy. After a few more complications, this does happen.
Once the brothers go against each other at the seven gates of Thebes, their desire to have what they want continues to destroy them. At each Gate, Eteocles wins; even though Polynius leads the army. Once they reach the final gate, Eteocles and Polynius go against each other. This final gate found Polynius angry that he was not king and Eteocles angry that his brother represented himself as just.
The Essay on Oedipus Thebes King Mythological
Oedipus the King A myth and The mythological critic easily evaluates the written version of Oedipus the King, finding the prevalent mythological or archetypal characteristics in the text as well as common hero characteristics in Oedipus. The myth begins with a journey as Oedipus arrives in Thebes from his home in Corinth as the son of King Ply bus. The ideas of heaven and hell are visible in the ...
It is at this final gate that the brothers both perish. The outcome of them getting what they wanted, or the lack thereof truly did destroy them. Polynius did not receive what he wanted. Therefore, as the army leader he led his men to fight with evil. On the other hand Eteocles did receive the prize of becoming king and did get what he wanted.
Once Eteocles and Polynius reached the final gate, the outcome of that decision for the throne was what caused the death of these two brothers. In Euripedes’ Medea, Medea, a woman of noble descent, is enchanted by a man named Jason. She leaves her family for him, and even commits murder to save him. Jason and Medea marry and have two children. They seem to be much in love, although many people see flaws in their infatuation. Their fire of passion dies out, and Jason moves on to a lovely, blonde haired, blue eyed, twelve year old girl.
Medea, full of rage, kills the young mistress and her two children. Now Jason and Medea both have to live with their losses, after suffering the slings and arrows, they now cannot see which is worse, getting, or not getting what you want. One last analysis on the truth of Oscar Wilde’s paradox is displayed in Sophocles’ Oedipus The King. Opposed to the plot of Seven Against Thebes, there were not two characters which each received a fate of what they wanted or did not want. In this work, Oedipus went after what he wanted and ended up getting what he didn’t want. Unbeknownst to Oedipus, his future has been prophesied while he is still an infant.
This Prophecy said that Oedipus would end up killing his father and falling in love with his mother. In order to prevent this from occuring, Oedipus was sent off to be killed, but in fact ended up being given to sheep herders by Jocasta, his mother. As a grown man, Oedipus meets Jocasta and falls in love with her. Then he kills Jocasta’s husband Laius in order to have Jocasta for himself. Once he has committed this crime of passion, Oedipus believes that he gotten what he wanted. He has the woman he has been lusting after.
His happiness fades once he finds out that he has slain the king, who also turns out to be his real father, in order to be with the woman he loves, who he realizes is his mother. This realization brings Oedipus to gauge his eyes out, horrified by what he has done. After thoroughly examining three works which exemplify Oscar Wilde’s statement that, “There are two tragedies in life. The first is not getting what you want. The second is getting what you want,’ it has proved true in all three cases.
Tragic Figure Essay Oedipus Hippolytus Medea
According to Aristotle, a tragic figure is a human yet better; having a misapprehension in circumspection which causes a decline from a pinnacle; and claiming victory by realizing their mistakes. The main characters in Medea and Hippolytus, both Greek tragedies written by Euripides; Oedipus, a Greek tragedy written by Sophocles; and Desire Under the Elms, a twentieth century tragedy written by ...
Wilde’s statement is seemingly pessimistic and paradoxal, but perhaps that is the truth of these great plays. All of them ended in tragedy no matter what the characters were given.
