Quote~*
1.)Creon
"Bargain away!All the silver Sardis, all the gold of India is not enough to buy this man a grave;...even such a threat of such a taint will not win this body burial....The most reverend fall from grace when lies are sold
Wrapped up in honeyed words-and all for gold." (237)
2.)Messenger
"...we could see her hanging with a noose of linen round her neck, a leaning on her, hugging his cold lover lost to Hades, Haemon,bridegroom, broken, cursed the father who had robbed him, pouring out his tears of sorrow." (246)
Description of Significance~*
1.)The quote I chose again relates to 'the corrupting nature of power.' I complied the main parts of the somewhat lengthy speech made by Creon. He speaks of how men will do anything, even go against their own law, for a reward, but how HE will not. He states that no amount (but he failed to mention tea in China) will 'buy this man a grave.' Which simply means, nothing anyone does, not even a threat, will make him go against his will and bury Polyneices. And to my surprise, I found that he spoke the truth (well, until the end but that doesn't count). However, he was truthful to his word, it was harsh and over-bearing, which in the end was his tragic flaw.
2.)This second quote relates to not necessarily a theme, but definitely something we had mentioned in class using the PowerPoint. Antigone hung herself, sounds familiar, does it not? (well it should) Jocasta, Antigone's incestuous mother, killed herself in the same way. This is obviously a throw-back to Jocasta. Sophocles really seemed that he wanted to make this a noticeable recall because she actually hung herself with the same kind of item: a linen rope. Sophocles could have just made it she bit her tongue off and bled to death(gruesome I know), or even just hung herself with something else, but she used LINEN, like Jocasta in the bedroom(sounds like a game of Clue, huh?) It is not just a coincidence(I can't spell XP), Sophocles definitely wanted to make a direct connection.
Questions~*
I have a question about the whole Greek "afterlife" bit. So is there only one place with two sections (smoking or non-smoking?) or is there two places like Heaven and Hell? I'm confused. (.......skolt?)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
*puts on nerd glasses, pushes them up*
The Greek Underworld, aptly named Hades after its ruler, is divided up into three distinct sections: the Elysian Fields, The Asphodel Fields, and Tartarus.
The Elysian Fields is what we would call Heaven. It is where all the just and heroic go upon passing. This would surely be where all Greek heroes such as Heracles and Achilles reside.
The Asphodel Fields is relative to Purgatory. Basically, a neutral party. Anyone who is neither good nor evil is sent there. It's described as simply wandering with nothing to do for eternity, possibly *shrug*
Tartarus is Hell, in every aspect. Described as a black pit, it is where the most vile of villians are sent. It also serves as a Prison, chaining up Kronos and the Titans in its depths.
So all of those wouldbe considered in one entity, the Underworld, as perpetual Hell, but with different aspects. Heaven could be looked upon as Mt. Olympus, the residence of the Gods, but no mortals usually ever become Gods to join them. *See the movie Herculs for details ;D*
And voila, crash course of Greek After-life. *pats head* You've been a good student. ^.^
...*brain short* you wanna run that by me one more time...?
Post a Comment