... Upon this misfortune, he and his men started a raid on the land of the Cicones. However, this only provided them with temporary success. The Cicones had struck back and defeated a vast majority of Odysseus's crew. This was their first of many disastrous experiences to come. Storms then blew his ships to Libya and the land of the Lotus-eaters, where the crew was given Lotus fruit from which most lost their entire ... memories from home. Odysseus, and the others who had not tasted it, recovered the sailors by force, and set sail again, westward, this time to the island of the Cyclops, a w...

• Word Count: 2524
• Approx Pages: 10
• Grade Level: High School

... surrounded the palace of the king so that he would know that they were there, "singing the name of Dionysus". The Bacchae on the hills of Cithaeron danced in ecstasy. Up on the mountain they waited for Dionysus in the secret caves of Crete. The land flows with mild, honey and wine. From the ground Dionysus rises and possesses the women. They run, dance and sing the praises of Dionysus. Their naked limbs glistening in the flames of the fire ... . At this point Pentheus has now completely lost his mind. The stranger, w! hose name is Thunder, calls to the daughters of Cadmus to open their a...

• Word Count: 3013
• Approx Pages: 12
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... to see one such situation that would have been confronting to the Grecian audiences. The entirety of the play is staged on the front steps of Jason's house - the one "neutral" territory between male and female relations. The steps symbolize the no-mans-land between the home, the source of power for women, and the public domain, the place of power for men. But even in this impartial territory, Medea, a woman, has ... holds this enormous power; more than enough to scare the pants off of the audience, and make them wonder how she has such power. But this wonder soon turns to horror when Med...

• Word Count: 7698
• Approx Pages: 31
• Grade Level: High School

... Oedipus, "You were better off dead than alive and blind." The use of irony in Oedipus Rex reveals much about the character of Oedipus. We see that Oedipus truly is the 'public' man and can only possess one sight, that of the 'public' world. This public persona proved to be the end of him when he decreed his own fate to the people of Thebes. The 'private' sight, the inward sight, which Teiresias accuses ... , this does not mean that the fate controls the actions of the man. The Prophesy must be looked at as being out of time, seeing the past, the present and the future all at once. Althou...

• Word Count: 2522
• Approx Pages: 10
• Grade Level: High School