Tragedy and Their Reactions to Adversity

Throughout many Greek tragedies, plays, and poems there are many characters that are faced with adversity when tragedy occurs. With these many instances a multitude of emotional reactions arise. The variances of emotion, although shown from a character, are all based on human responses. These responses are countless in number for the reason that there are many facets to human nature. In looking at only two characters in Greek writings; Oedipus from Oedipus the King written by Sophocles and Medea from Medea written by Euripides, we can see two different reactions to adversity in tragedy. Medea, when faced with the loss of her husband to another woman, turns vengeful and murderous, “the emotions of the woman whose love has turned to hatred, and equally those of the man who loves no more, represent something eternal and unchangeable in human nature” (Page xv). Oedipus, when faced with the knowledge that he killed his birth father and married his birth mother, turns self destructive. “The tragedies of Sophocles concern resolute, intelligent, civilized people, determined to understand everything; they never do, because th

looking straight up into the points,

“He rips off her brooches, the long gold pins

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