Belinda Yeung, 11/25/20, PD8, Day C

Belinda Yeung

Period 8

11/25/20

Day C

Modern Mythology 2021 

Write about your thoughts regarding the most current reading.

OEDIPUS REX BY SOPHOCLES

Having saved Thebes from the Sphinx, Oedipus assumes the throne and the rest of the city views him as their savior. When disaster strikes Thebes once again, they turn to their faithful leader that helped guide them out of tough times in the past. Oedipus is eager to help and passionately decrees great efforts and bold statements upon hearing what needs to be done. He is blinded with confidence and hubris that the issues of Thebes are as simple as his past experience with the Sphinx, as simple as solving a riddle. The duality of Oedipus’ character can also be seen as his downfall, he is brilliant enough to solve a riddle that troubled Thebes for years yet he is simple enough to overestimate himself and the situation at hand.

Oedipus seeks the truth, but those around and dear to him knowing the truth want to conceal it for the sake of his good, but he misinterprets their good intentions as plot to usurp him. Like many myths, he is blinded by power and afraid that people want to take it away from him. Their relationship between each other quickly shatters and becomes meaningless and he is no different from his father and many others willing to sacrifice their children to keep their power. I can understand Oedipus’ fear, because growing up Oedipus was forced to leave his family from the exact same fear of the procephy of killing his father and at the same was left to die by his real father who had the fear of dying in the hands of his own kin. These selfish reasons might all be part of the inevitable prophecy, but they have led Oedipus to Thebes and gave him the sense of belonging he long desired for but never had. So Oedipus, in a way, was forced to pursue his own demise. He couldn’t watch the innocent citizens of Thebes suffer by not knowing the truth and not kicking out the murder of Laius, which was destroying his home and everything he had. The truth had to come to light, but it is tragic and we can sympathize with him, because he is trapped by his own fate. 

However, we can’t say we don’t have a part in our fate or Oedipus was a hero that was simply unlucky. Oedipus wasn’t a perfect hero, and another reason why we can sympathize with him because he has flaws that come with being human. His brashness blinds him from being rational and causes him to make actions on impulse that he doesn’t mean to. He allows his emotions to cloud his judgement which ultimately led to his fall. 

Oedipus Rex also captures the essences present in many other myths: the consequences of curiosity, the inevitability of one’s fate, punishment of hubris, and the prevalence of justice. Oedipus cannot fight fate nor can he change his prophecy. He cannot find comfort as king and disregard the ideas and opinions of the citizens. His actions in the past will come back to haunt him and his murder of Lauis will not go unpunished. Seeking for the truth also presents unknown dangers that will threaten everything as he knows it.

PRIDE BY DAHLIA RAVIKOVITCH 

As humans, we all have our own breaking points but we also have our own pride. We’d like to appear strong in front of our friends and families and even strangers. The strength associated with not showing our emotions makes us hide our pain with the “illusion of calm”. However, this build up of these emotions will eventually overwhelm us and cause us to “crack” and when we do, all these emotions lash out at once. This can cause us to make reckless decisions and lead to  daimonic. It is better to express your emotions upfront rather than ignoring them. This is one of the reasons why Greeks and people in general, watch tragedies, for catharsis. To purge their emotions instead of letting them fester and deteriorate their being. 

This is also why Greeks placed such a heavy emphasis on theaters. To Greeks, the emotional well being of its citizens came hand to hand with their productivity. This breaks the negative association with expressing your emotions, and perhaps other cultures should learn about the toll carrying emotional burdens can have on its people. Just because we don’t see someone’s pain doesn’t mean they aren’t suffering.

Reflect on any new information you have learned in English class by considering how that learning influences your critical perception.

We always have to consider the duality of each character and by reading their stories, only then can we understand their complexity. We also shouldn’t characterize characters objectively as heroes or villains, based on one action or how they are portrayed in one story. We fail to consider characters beyond the paper, but characters are made based off of reality, based off of humans. They contain human traits and they are all dynamic. When we first read about Oedipus, he is the hero, saving the city of Thebes from the Sphinx. But later on we find out that he is actually the murder of his father, the previous king and he married his mother, all of which is considered taboo. So what is Oedipus, a hero or a villain? There is also the story of Medusa. She is best known as a villain and a monster, but some people fail to see the story behind that. There will always be turning points in our lives, but we shouldn’t let these define us objectively. Oedipus may have killed his father, but he made amends and even blinded himself.

STRUCTURALIST CRITICISM

Structuralism views literature in regards to its structure and you can connect different works using common patterns in its structure. Aristotle applies structuralism in Poetics, in which he outlines the general structure of tragedies. He talks about key components and characteristics found and essential in all tragedies. An important element of tragedies is peripeteia, the reversal aspect that is most striking to the audience, evoking the emotions of pity and fear. Peripeteia is not only found in Oedipus Rex, but in other popular tragedies as well like Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet.

How is what you’re learning applied to any other classes/the world around you?

In regards to pride and emotions, I can see it prevalent in real life, as people rather show a facade and a fake front than show any sign of weakness or vulnerability. The emotional scars that people hide also explain the importance approaching people in a non judgemental way. We don’t know when or if the next insignificant thing may tick them off, so we need to be considerate of our actions. We also can’t be quick to judge or criticize someone for what they did on impulse or emotionally. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes and that is part of life, we grow and we learn from them and become better people.