Essays on Fate

Moby-Dick; or The Whale by Herman Melville tells a story of Captain Ahab's voyage who is in pursuit of a great white whale. Stubb, Flask and Starbuck are three mates of Pequod; they are in pursuit of a whale as they seek to revenge following the order given by Ahab the captain. This paper will focus on Flask and Starbuck, considering that the two have differing personalities and attitudes apparent from the story, this paper will essentially compare the two characters: their attitudes and actions.
Stubb the first mate of Pequot is portrayed to be a person who approaches Continue reading...

Oedipus Rex is an astounding and great Sophoclean play which portrays a tragic hero in a unique way. The play was composed during the ancient Greece time when Sophocles took advantage of the using character flaws in the drama. He gave Oedipus the role of a tragic hero to ensure that he captured the attention of the audience. Sophocles’ play was outstanding because the play-watchers felt to be part of it and experienced a catharsis of reactions. At the beginning of the play, Sophocles gives Oedipus a decidedly recognized character with a high sense of intelligence. Oedipus is portrayed Continue reading...

Oedipus Rex, written by the Greek playwright Sophocles, tells the story of the titular King Oedipus, who reaches the status of King of Thebes only to become embroiled in an investigation into the murder of the previous king, Laius. Over the course of the play, he is informed of a prophecy in which he is said to kill his father and marry his mother; despite the inevitable nature of this prophecy, Oedipus refuses to believe it. However, once he is told that he was the one who killed King Laius unknowingly in a raid some time ago, he learns Continue reading...

Sophocles was one of the most prescient and well-regarded playwrights of Greek drama, whose tragedies have established many literary and theatrical conventions that are still alive today. While Sophocles’ work is indicative of the culture in which it was created, it is also a trenchant critique of human nature as well. This comes across especially clearly in his Theban plays – Antigone, Oedipus the King, and Oedipus at Colonus – in which he uses his stories and characters to reflect flaws and issues he sees with the human condition and its relationship with the gods. Exploring these critical aspects of Sophocles’ Continue reading...

Shakespeare in the “Julius Caesar” play was much concerned about how individual lives. He provides an insight of the human’s life by raising the argument about the aptitude free will versus the power of fate in life. The playwright ultimately backs the philosophy in which freedom and fate have delicate coexistence. He uses characters such as Cassius, Caesar and Brutus to bring about the issue of the fate and free will. As Cassius and Brutus were attempting to eliminate Caesar from power, Caesar suggested “men at some time are masters of their fates: The fault, dear Brutus, is Continue reading...

Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex essentially bulges, pregnant with the themes of hubris and hamartia that the Greek playwright so frequently used. It is the play’s protagonist, King Oedipus, who is the unfortunate soul born unto a terrible prophecy that foretold that he would one day kill his very own father and marry his mother. In order to prevent such a horrendous nightmare from occurring, Oedipus’ father sent baby Oedipus to be murdered but he was instead given to the childless king and queen of Corinth to be raised as their own. Oedipus in later years hears rumors of the Continue reading...

A story is written when a prediction is made. A character’s journey is laid out as they’re being guided towards their fate by the invisible hands of the Gods. Fate is as important today as it was thousands of years ago and this was the reason the Greeks incorporated the concept of fate in their stories and plays. While fate can decide a person’s well-being or destruction, the Greeks almost always depicted fate in a tragic sense. By depicting their heroes as prone to tragedy and fate, the ancient Greeks who conceived these fables might have Continue reading...

Moira is a close friend of the narrator Offred. They were college friends who shared some good times together but lost touch of each other. When they met at the Center, a place that represents women opression and injustice, Moira became the voice of reason, sense and action, and a strong spirit that will not easily give in. Offred sees Moira as her safety, saying “It makes me feel safer, that Moira is here” (Chapter 13, p. 71). In a place where women are forced to submission, Moira represents the strength that the women in the Center were robbed Continue reading...

Research Essay on the story "Behind the Law"

According to Jean-Paul Sartre, no God is responsible for creating human beings in tune with a conceptual divination. In his work on existentialism, Sartre wrote, “Existence precedes essence” (Jill, p.6). This basically means that each of us human beings has their philosophy about life. That what we are or become in life is due to the personal choices we make in our lives. We are wholly in charge of our lives, and we cannot just follow the choices and thoughts of others blindly and let them define our lives. Essentially, we define ourselves through our attitudes and perceptions we Continue reading...

Oedipus the King is one of the most eminent literary works in the history of literature. The work has stood the test of time, and has left an everlasting mark on the minds of the avid readers. The critics across the world have spoken in unison regarding the literary quintessence of the literary work. The character of the protagonist, Oedipus, is an immortalized literary character that embodies one of the most tragic fates in the history of literature. His characteristic traits set him apart, and the chronology of events in his life that shape him as an individual leaves Continue reading...

Sophocles was an ancient Greek writer, who along with Aeschylus and Euripides had a great influence on the development of the dramaturgy in general and became the forefather of the tragedy in particular. Those several dramas that remained till nowadays (“Ajax”, “Antigone”, “Electra”, “Philoctetes”) are the masterpieces of ancient Greek literature, and “Oedipus the King” is recognized as one of the peaks of the world drama and the crown of a tragic theater. On the first stages of Athenian tragedy’s formation and development Aristotle was one of the first philosophers who determined the features of this form of Continue reading...

In the sixth-century A.D., the Anglo-Saxon culture left behind nearly 30,000 lines of literature. Of those, 4,000 lines formed the epic poem, Beowulf. The author of the piece remains shrouded in mystery as does the exact year of its writing. The ancient, alliterative poem tells the tale of the adventures of the strong and courageous warrior, Beowulf, who comes to the aid of Hrothgar, King of the Danes. Beowulf himself is the nephew of Higelac, King of the Geats, and is said to have the strength of 30 men in each of his arms (pace.edu, n.d.). The Continue reading...

According to Socrates and Plato, the debate on whether we are prisoners of fate or we can control our own destiny would be very interesting because it impinges on human rights and freewill. Socrates was Plato’s mentor and as such, he would have the upper hand in seeking the absolute truth and justice in the issue (Guthrie, 1975, Gill, 2006). Plato having attended the trial of his mentor, Socrates in 399BC got troubled on the destiny of humanity and, as such, he wanted to come up with an ideal society (Gill, 2002, Jowett, 1871). The following is a Continue reading...

Introduction

Oedipus tragedy is predicted even before his birth in the oracle of Apollo at Delphi, as his father, Laius, will meet his fatal death in his hand and he will marry his own mother, Jocasta, when he grows up. The oracle is the major reason for his parents to infanticide him. Aristotle, the great Greek philosopher, adverts Oedipus as a best example of tragic hero ever. Aristotle’s panorama about Oedipus is vividly described in the following lines: “must be one who is highly renowned and prosperous-a personage like Oedipus” (Poetics XIII paragraph 2) and “he who hears the Continue reading...

I am a Muslim and believing in fate is a prerequisite of being Muslim but Islam also supports the concept of free will. A lot has written and said about fate and free will and many theories already exist but nobody has a clear answer. According to me these concepts have been made complicated unnecessarily. A Muslim believes ALLAH Almighty is the ultimate source of all powers and knowledge and everything is in His control. One must wonder, if He controls everything then does He controls every aspect of our lives? The answer is No. ALLAH has all the Continue reading...

English: Essay

Response Essay on

The short story “The Old Man at the Bridge” is written by Ernest Miller Hemingway and describes the story of an old man and a storyteller during the Spanish Civil War. The writer himself the narrator of the story relates his experiences of working as a war correspondent for North American Newspapers Association. For this particular event, the writer preferred to write a short story instead of writing a report. In this paper, an effort has been made to write a response essay covering the major themes of the story.
The story deals with an event Continue reading...

According to the ancient Greeks, a hero was an immortal religious figure that had received cult honors and was anticipated to come back, so to bring prosperity to the entire community (that worshiped the hero), including the animals and the fertility of the crops (Nagy). However, a hero could also be a mortal, hence a literary figure, whose life had to undergo an ordeal, in order to receive immortalization after he dies (Nagy).
Born with a heavy legacy already on his shoulders, Oedipus spent his entire life trying to avert an ominous prophecy that placed him as the person Continue reading...

Introduction

In Sophocles’ play, Oedipus the King, fate and free will play a central role, around which all characters revolve and knit their lives, one way, or another. On the one side, there are characters that play along with what their society demands, meaning they accept that fate drives people in a pre-determined path, where no deviations are possible, or have a meaning. On the other hand, there is Oedipus, who strongly advocates his right to have free will and the freedom to express himself, and drive his life where he wants.
Oedipus’ actions eventually led to his destruction, making Continue reading...

The issue of free will versus predestination is something that is present in quite a bit of fiction and mythology; mankind’s belief that it is in control of its choices often goes against the grain of religious belief in gods that have master plans for us all. Two of the most fascinating examples in early literature and religion are Job from the Hebrew Bible and Oedipus from Sophocles’ play Oedipus the King. Both of these characters struggle with divine misfortune that is dispensed upon them seemingly without cause, leading them to wonder as to the nature of the Continue reading...

English

Sophocles’ Antigone is the story of two protagonists’ Antigone and King Creon, who, in their pursuit to define their destiny, fade into oblivion. The two form the nucleus of the play around which Sophocles develops his tragedy. On close observation of the reading of this play, it is hard to eliminate the explication of the Greek rhetoric that, all humans are mortals. The phrase, “We die for ever” (58), was told by Antigone to her sister Ismene, when Ismene tells her that they would have to face the wrath of Creon, should he come to know of their act. Continue reading...

Determine Matt Fowler’s fate after the end of the story.

The short story entitled “Killings” written by Andre Dubus was a story of revenge. Matt Fowler, the father of Frank, devised a plan to avenge the killing of his son, Frank by Richard. At the end of the story, Matt succeeded in killing Richard in cold blood. The current discourse hereby aims to determine Matt Fowler’s fate after the murder of Richard had been committed.
At the onset, it was evident that Matt had been immensely disturbed by the fact that his youngest son, Frank was ruthlessly murdered. Even members of his family, especially his wife, Ruth, and Continue reading...

A human life can be viewed in various ways, but the most common way to describe and understand it is as a path towards one's fate and self-realisation. The book "Sky Burial" by Xinran Xue tells the story of Chinese woman Shu Wen, who on the path of searching for her husband has found herself and realised new ways in life. Although the book might seem quite simple in its narration and plot, the message indented behind is quite complex and aims to reach a wider audience.
First of all, Xinran aims at the description of one's love story Continue reading...

Biographic Information of the Author

The topic, which has been chosen for this paper is Oedipus the King. The author of this piece of writing is Sophocles. Sophocles was the innovator of drama. He has well known as the master of tragedy. Sophocles was appreciated because of his multiple roles including a political, priest and the leader of the military (Zachrisson pp. 313). There are several writings, which are associated with Sophocles. However, most of these writings are ancient. Therefore, it is not possible to consider them trustworthy. The biographical information of Sophocles, presented in this paper, is related to the general information, which Continue reading...

Sophocles’ plays and Elie Wiesel's holocaust are two works that are closely correlated. Sophocles is one of the ancient Greek tragedians whose play has endured the aspect of time. Born in around 496 BC, and a luminary force in Classical Athenian culture, his plays have ostensibly attracted lots of attention since most of them portrayed the real things that were actually going on in the society during those times. The themes that Sophocles wrote about are still relevant even in the contemporary world. Elie Wiesel, born in 1928, was a human activist who tried so much to reconcile his Continue reading...

Introduction

As a hoplite, we were the Greek citizen soldiers who were basically the strongest, bravest and able-bodied adults who were middle aged. Our obligation was to do anything to protect our geographic coverage. The general types of weapons we use are spears, shields and arrows. During the Battle of Marathon which took place in 490 BC, we the Athens and Persians met under the intensive culmination of the first and only attempts from the Persians to subjugate the our land under their king who was named king Darius l (Hanson 69). Despite our minority in numbers, we decisively defeated Continue reading...

Oedipus the King and Antigone are great plays written by Sophocles. They give an account of the tragedies which befell Thebes. Whereas Oedipus the King chronicles the story of Oedipus, a mysterious man who suffers during childhood before eventually murdering his biological father, marrying mother and becoming a king, Antigone continues the chronicle by giving the story of King Creone who established his rein before eventually falling due to fate and his own arrogance.
Both plays have heroes. Although they establish their leadership regimes in this kingdom, they really suffer. However, this suffering is not only attributed to fate, Continue reading...

Even thought the phrases ‘victim of ambition’ and victim of fate’ appear inconsistent with the character of Macbeth, elements of both ambition and fate surface in his life. Although it appears that Macbeth might have always preconceived the desires to be king, this is not revealed until he meets the three witches, who prophesize that the ball is set in motion thereby bringing his ambitions to light. After this meeting with the witches, several instances of both fate ambition and fate mold Macbeth’s character. By the end of the play, though his wife’s ambitions and the prophetic Continue reading...

English 2 Period.6

A Story of Oppression and Injustice
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, which was first published in the year 1859, a novel that depicts the French peasantry’s predicament at the hands of the aristocracy, and the vengeance and violence that erupted. It talks about a love story that became muddled within the most violent revolutions in human history. The story revolves around the family of Dr. Manette, particularly on the love life of his daughter Lucie Manette, and explains vividly how they manage to escape the mayhem in France and reach England safely. The expression of Continue reading...

There were various Greek gods and goddesses whose roles and powers were different and specified. Most of them are described in detail, in both the Iliad and the Odyssey, books written by Homer as well as the play “Oedipus Rex”. The main gods were the Olympian gods. Among them, Zeus was the overall king of the gods. The wife of Zeus, and queen of the gods, was known as Hera. Apollo, the god of the sun, poetry, music, healing and dance protected bards and poets. Artemis was the goddess of the hunt. She could heal or bring sudden plagues Continue reading...

Who could have though that a simple act of sending a card at the post office would have profound changes in my life? It was my aunt’s birthday in a couple of weeks so I decided to get a card for her and send it through the mail, instead of just greeting her online . With the card in my hand I waited in line for my turn at the counter and then I noticed that the person in front of me had an envelope addressed to my aunt as well. I tried hard to contain my curiousity, but Continue reading...

The concept of free will is an interesting one when taken in a Biblical context – if God has a divine plan, and everything happens for a reason, where then is the level of choice we are assumed to have as human beings? The tale of Joseph in Genesis 37, 39-46 demonstrates the ability of God to provide for those who are good through the effective use of prophecy. This is slightly different from Sophocles’ tale of Oedipus Rex, wherein prophecy is treated as completely immutable – there is nothing you can do to stop it no matter what you do. Continue reading...

Introduction

Oedipus the King is a play by Sophocles in which Christopher Plummer plays the role of the psychologically disturbed Oedipus. This play is about a successful kingdom, which begins to fall apart as the king discovers that he had killed his own father and married his mother. It is paradoxical that Oedipus sleeps in the same bed that he was conceived with his mother. These facts disturbs Oedipus mother to an extent that she commits suicide. Hamlet is play whereby the king Hamlet of the Elsinore castle of Denmark got dead and his brother Claudius had to inherit his Continue reading...

Sophocles Oedipus-analysis of the play

The play revolves around a young Greek man who is almost run over by a chariot belonging to a rich arrogant person. This defines the position that Oedipus takes in the society. The play developed in a Greek mythology. Oedipus meets a lot of riddles and challenges that move him to the state of solution and prompts him to use his problem solving skills and resolution tactics. Eventually, due to the solution of one of the riddles that faced him, he rises and becomes the king of Thebes. The previous king is murdered by unknown person, which put Oedipus Continue reading...

Introduction

Sophocles’ play “Oedipus the King” and William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” impose philosophical discussions about fate versus divine providence, supernatural and they both set examples of tragic heroes dealing with tragic events. Although they share common themes and motifs, there are both similarities and differences between the two plays, which will be further explored within the current paper.

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Similarities and Differences
Both Oedipus and Hamlet are sons of kings, they are young princes, who become men by facing the vicissitudes in their lives. In addition, they both face the deaths of their fathers, but at this point a dissimilarity appears: Continue reading...

Movie Review

The movie industry is very rich and has virtually been taken up the world over. Different countries, continents and cultures have a stake in what can be called their contribution to this entertainment arena and one of them is the Indian movie industry. There are several interesting movies from this part of the world and one most outstanding movie from the Indian Peninsula is “Sangam.” In it, culture is portrayed as a determinant of a person’s destiny if one does not rise up to the occasion to fight the said suppressing culture.
The movie is a clear indication Continue reading...

Watching Oedipus, one of the most notorious tragedies written by ancient Greek tragedian Socrates, was my choice for some quality time out on June 7th, 2013. The Socratic tale of a man (Oedipus) that tried to avoid an ominous prophecy that wanted him killing his father and marrying his mother, was masterly performed combining industrial and ancient elements, such as specially selected electronic music that gave the audience a more tribal sense and the use of the original translated text.
The welcoming addition of the Chorus landing from the top of the stage to the center of the scene Continue reading...

In today’s world, nothing elicits so much outrage than the subject of slavery. The bone of contention seems to be: why should one human being enslave another? Although people in the modern world may not fathom the rationale behind slavery, it is indeed true that slavery was an accepted institution in the ancient civilizations. It is even possible that slavery predates civilization. One of the reasons why slavery as a practice went on for so long was because enslavement of war prisoners and slavery as a punishment were accepted in the ancient civilizations. Nonetheless, such acts prompt the Continue reading...

Introduction

Pride is termed as the “silent assassin” to good leadership. It is normally referred to as the general state of one feeling proud or rather a pleasure arising from performing a certain task. In a community context pride come before a fall therefore an emergence and adoption of such a trait is considered as suicidal to the leadership skill and would result to a downfall of that particular leader. The scenario is well illustrated in the play Oedipus the king. When Oedipus managed to save the people of his kingdom against the curse of sphinx he was declared the Continue reading...

Existentialism can be explained as a philosophical theory that insists on the existence of an individual as; a person should be free as well as determine their own development and destiny through the actions of their will and feelings. According to the theory, a person begins with the feeling of confusion in a life that seems meaningless as well as hopelessness. It is confusion that an individual makes personal discovery and accepts life the way it is while working hard for their development. During the late ninetieth century, with the word war and other happenings of the time, philosophers Continue reading...

Philosophy

Essay

Fatalism is believing that all events in a person’s life are preordained. A person holding onto such a faith feels that it is futile to plan for an outcome, or choose to act differently to get a different outcome. Whatever he does, the result would be the same. Some groups of people believe that this predetermination is the plan made by a supernatural entity, for that individual or group or a nation. Man may propose, but it is for God to dispose. Many Hindu, Budhist,Islamic and Christian theologists subscribe to fatalism, and adapt it as an Continue reading...