The Greek Views of Wisdom and its Effects on Happiness

In the work of Sophocles’ “Oedipus” and “Antigone” wisdom is one of the key elements in the shaping the characters and story line. Oedipus, who is the main character in “Oedipus”, is used to show the audience how the lack of wisdom can effect the happiness of a normal human being. Oedipus is the king of Thebes, and he was highly respected. He came into power when the previous king, Laius, was murdered. All is good in Thebes except, there is a plague. It is killing thousands, and Oe

In the Greek play “Medea” the theme of happiness in wisdom is a little less obvious than in Oedipus. But knowing thyslef is also the main element of wisdom that is signified in the play. Coincidentally, Medea is the main character in “Medea”, and she was married to Jason. Jason decided later on to divorce Medea after giving her two children. He decided to marry the king Creon’s daughter, Creosa, the young beautiful princess. This clearly enraged Medea, and she became deeply depressed. She still loved Jason and knew that she wanted vengeance. One would think that Medea is the one who did not act wisely and brought herself to sadness and death, but Jason is the one who is not wise in the play. Medea still knows what comes first though, “women hate war, women may hate husbands, but never hate children.” (Medea act I). Jason on the other hand is acting very irresponsible and unwise. Eventually Medea is exiled from Corinth by Creon because he fears that she will harm Creosa in retaliation because of Jason. Jason claims that he is marrying into the royal family to bring their children to a higher status, but that is not the wise thing. One does not divorce a loving faithful wife and betray his children for a young royal romance. Medea does plan to take revenge against Jason and Creosa. After begging on her knees to Creon for an extra day before she has to be exiled to get her things together. Really any fool can see that this is when she is going to take revenge. Medea ends up burning Creosa and Creon with a magic spell. While Creosa and Creon are dying Jason is saying goodbye to his children. Then a messenger comes to tell Jason the news, and Medea takes the children and kills them and herself so that Jason will suffer the ultimate price for his misdeeds. Jason is devastated, but one can see that if he had acted wise and been true to Medea she would not have gon

Some topics in this essay:
Execution Socrates, Oedipus Medea, Jason Jason, Laius Laius, Jason Medea, Laius Oedipus, Age” Greek, Plato Aristotle, , Creosa Creon, happiness wisdom, “golden age”, knowing thyself, greek society, lack wisdom, own father, “oedipus” “antigone”, jason jason, bring downfall, historical accounts,