Beowulf vs. Oedipus
A hero stands as a prime example of who we should be and who we wish to be. However, heroes naturally have inherent flaws, which we do not wish to strive towards. For example, Superman’s flaw is his weakness to kryptonite. In literature, these flaws are not used as examples of what we should be but rather as examples of what not to be. This is especially true in the Greek hero, Oedipus. To me, Oedipus is the bravest of the Thebans. Many politicians might not have pursued the truth in the first place. Others would have had secret meetings to keep things quiet. Still others would have suppressed the evidence and continued holding power. Oedipus does not hide from the truth nor allows the truth to hide from him or his people. While the Greek hero follows his fate, making serious mistakes and having a fairly simple life, the Anglo-Saxon "super" hero tries, and may succeed, to change his fate, while dealing with a fairly complex life. The Greek hero is strong and mighty while his wit and intelligence are highly valued. In the Greek tragedy, the hero struggles to avoid many flaws. Among these flaws are ambition, foolishness, stubbornness, and hubris-the excessive componen
t of pride. He must overcome his predestined fate-a task, which is impossible. From the beginning of the tale, it is already clear that the hero will ultimately fail with the only way out being death. In Oedipus, the hero is already confronted with a load of information about his family and gouges his eyes out. At this point, when he tries to outwit his fate he has already lost and is sentenced to death. The Anglo-Saxon hero must also deal with his "fate" but tries, and usually succeeds, to change it. While the Greek hero battles his fate with his excessive pride and intelligence, the Anglo-Saxon hero tries to eliminate his doom by force. The Anglo-Saxon hero is considered a barbarian of sorts due to his sometimes unethical and immoral views and courses of action. At the end, the Anglo-Saxon succeeds in altering his fate though. The Greek hero is so normal, that the reader can relate to him. He is usually a "common" human being with no extraordinary life. His story seems believable, even possible. We would have no hard time imagining the hero's conflict as being ours. As in the case with Oedipus, we can understand how he feels it would be possible for his circumstance
Some topics in this essay:
Oedipus Oedipus,
Conception Poetics,
,
Greek Anglo-Saxon,
greek hero,
anglo-saxon hero,
life greek hero,
tragic hero,
hero tries,
tries outwit,
life greek,
Join now to see the rest of the essay!
Approximate Word count = 791
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
Example Essays Home
