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Why do Greek figures suffer punishment from the gods? Gods had a very benevolent attitude to life. They were not constrained by family relationships, which is why brothers could marry their sisters and could kill their fathers with children or a son. Many moral rules deities can commit would not apply to us, one could say the gods are amoral.
The sentence for humans is severe for breaking a moral or divine law. These same laws didn’t apply to deities, gods often cursed Greek citizens for any reason. For the Greeks, there was the anti-blasphemy law, which forbade people to speak ill against a deity. The Greek gods would get furious and kill him if someone did so. Whenever a disease or misfortune struck in Greece the people would immediately associate these occurrences with punishment from the gods and pray to be forgiven. Gods in ancient Greece were often searching for any excuse to punish humans and felt constantly obligated to demonstrate and prove their divinity. There are many examples of the gods’ divine punishment showcased in Greek plays written by Sophocles and Euripides. A common sin that would be punished is called hubris; this is a sin of pride, meaning a human is too prideful, has claimed to be as important, or owns skills equal to the gods.
In Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, we see how the Greek gods punish Oedipus for his pride. The story of Oedipus has a lot to do with fate and trying to avoid fate. This is an act that is also punishable by the gods, this is because fate is the will and plan of the gods. Trying to change or thwart this fate is seen by the gods as an act of disrespect. For humans to believe they can change the will of God is an act of hubris. Oedipus’s parents attempt to change their fate after they visit Delphi and hear that their son Oedipus will kill his father and marry his mother. They attempt to kill Oedipus, but no one can prevent fate, and often in their attempt to prevent prophecies, they accelerate them, this is referred to as a self-fulfilling prophecy. Oedipus commits two crimes, one of which is the murder of his father, King Laius, and marries his mother Jocasta. Oedipus unknowingly committed these crimes because of his attempts to avoid fate. He was raised in a city far from Thebes, where he was born, and assumes his parents live in the city of Corinth. After a visit to Delphi, he discovers he will kill his father and marry his mother, so to avoid killing anyone he flees the city. This attempt to avoid fate fulfills the prophecy, on the road, he encounters his father king Laius and over a small dispute over traffic, Oedipus kills this man whom he did not know was his father.
The gods punished his rage and place a plague over his birth city after he returns and becomes king. The gods will lift this curse when the murderer of the old King Laius leaves the city of Thebes, and Oedipus searches for this murderer. In the play there are a few fortune tellers or soothsayers, Teiresias is one of them. He tells Oedipus reluctantly “By thine own proclamation; from this day Speak not to these or me. Thou art the man, Thou the accursed polluter of this land”. Oedipus rejects this and accuses him and Creon of conspiracy against the throne. Tragic heroes in Greek plays often disregard warnings from soothsayers and the prophecies of deities and this sin of pride often results in their punishment. Oedipus states “Vile slander, thou blurted forth these taunts, and think’ st forsooth as a seer to go Scot free… is this a plot of Creon or thine own?”. Teiresias simply tells Oedipus, he leaves these prophecies to the gods, he claims “I leave to Apollo what concerns the god”. This results in Jocasta committing suicide, and Oedipus banishes and blinds himself.
In Antigone by Sophocles, there are more instances of punishment from the gods. Newly crowned King Creon has refused to allow the burial rites for the traitor Polyneikes brother of Antigone. He states “ Him I decree that no-one should dare entomb that none should utter wail or loud lament, but leave his corpse unburied by the dogs and vultures”. The gods punish Creon’s negligence concerning the gods’ law of proper burial rites. Antigone makes many mentions of the laws of the gods and makes it her mission to bury her brother to avoid displeasing the gods despite Creon’s decree to kill whoever buries Polyneikes. Antigone exclaims “ Guilty of the holiest crime. Thou pleases count as dishonored what the Gods approve”. She goes on to bury her brother even after her sister Ismene begs her to follow Creon’s decree. When she is brought forth to answer for her crimes Creon asked why she disobeyed his laws and she responds “ For it was not Zeus who gave them forth… The unwritten laws of God that know not change But live forever, nor can man assign of any man’s resolve was I prepared Before the Gods to bear the penalty of sinning against these. That I should die.”. Creon gives her a harsh punishment by banishing her into a cave to die slowly this mistake leads Creon into many problems, but he will not listen to any voice of reason from his son or the Chorus.
Like Oedipus Rex, Tiresias makes an appearance in the play and again tells a tragic hero that they are making a mistake, however, he also heeds advice to avoid looking weak as the new king. As a result of Antigone’s death, her fiance and Creon’s son Haemon kill himself. As a result of Haemon killing himself, his mother and Creon’s wife also kill themselves from the grief by using their only son. Creon is left in grief with most of his family dead. This demonstrates some of the effects of disobeying the gods. The Greek gods aren’t always just and most of the time they punish humans in excess. The play The Bacchae by Euripides is a tragedy based on the King Pentheus of Thebes and his mother Agave who are punished by Dionysus for refusing to worship him. This example is the most obvious because the god Dionysus is a character in the play and he directly punishes Pentheus and Agave. Dionysus has been traveling with a cult of female worshipers named the Bacchae and has returned to his birthplace Thebes to punish the ruling house of Cadmus because they refuse to worship him.
The god has driven women of Thebes mad including Agave Pentheus’s mother, and they dance and hunt, ripping animals to shreds. In addition to this, older men like Tiresias have turned into worshipers of Bacchic rituals. King Pentheus forbids the worship of Dionysus to ensure order in the city. He orders his guards to arrest people that are engaging in these rites and drinking. Dionysus then disguises himself as a priest of himself and is questioned by Pentheus who is interested in these rites. Soon Pentheus receives a report that these Maenads (worshipers of Dionysus) are performing miracles and the guards are being defeated by women carrying sticks. Now Pentheus is extremely interested and Dionysus convinces him to dress up as a woman to witness the Maenads. However the god did not stop with only humiliation as punishment after helping Pentheus up a tree the Maenads realize someone is watching them and attack Pentheus, his mother Agave possessed by Dionysus sees her son as a lion, and she and the woman rip him apart.
Agave appears in the palace with the head of Maenads who she believes is the head of a lion. Cadmus, Pentheus’s father is shocked and claims that this is God punishing them, yet he states this was in excess. Even with all this suffering, the has caused this family the god is still not satisfied and appears in his true form and exiles Agave and her sisters. Then for further punishment to the family, he turns Cadmus and his wife Harmonia into snakes. A common thread in all these plays is the character Tiresias, who makes his 3rd appearance and warns Pentheus to allow and to start worshipping Dionysus, however as all the other tragic heroes Pentheus doesn’t listen and sees these worship rites as madness which results in many deaths. Even the Bacchantes acknowledge that the gods’ punishment was far in excess and look at their victims with compassion. The term “hero” is very popular, however, there is a difference between the classical and the modern conception of a hero.
Classical heroes often just have great talent or strength, making them a hero, for example, Hercules was a hero because of his strength. The difference between modern and classical heroes is that modern heroes are always generous and sacrifice themselves to protect or save others. The classical stories in Greek drama are tragic, the tragic hero usually is a good person but commits a mistake they regret. In Greek, it is called haramatia which means a tragic flaw. In every play we see the tragic hero go through a reversal and a recognition. Oedipus’ tragic flaw was his rage, had he not murdered the man on the road over him taking up too much of the road he wouldn’t have murdered his father, therefore being unable to marry his mother in Thebes. His reversal occurs in the play when the messengers explain to him his parents aren’t the ones in Corinth and the survivor of Laius’s murder identifies Odepius as the killer. He then recognizes that he is responsible for his actions and stabs his eyes and banishes himself. In modern stories, heroes are often made to be relatable. They are very compassionate and focus more on society and less on fate and fortune like in Greek dramas. There are many similar traits in modern and classical heroes. All heroes will have a greater power that makes them different than most people. In addition to this, they are brave like the Greek hero Achilles the bold warrior. Unlike modern heroes, Achilles was a hero because of his skills and ability on the battlefield. He had toxic traits uncommon in modern heroes, Achilles was brash and would often ignore orders because the gods and his mother made him nearly invulnerable. While modern heroes are considered heroic when they save lives Greek heroes can just be strong fighters. Classical characters are men who were more courageous and tougher than most men and who had done great deeds. A modern hero is a person of distinguished courage or ability, admired for their courageous deeds and noble qualities.’However the concept of a hero changes over time, and as we grow as a culture, it will continue to change. The attributes of past, current, and even potential heroes, though, will always be similar; a person with bravery and some skill, who will perform a great act. There is thus a clear relationship between classical time heroes and present-day heroes. Stories in Greek plays always involve the gods in some way, while modern ones are barely religious. The hero is always blessed by the gods and is trying to keep them on his side in order to complete his quest.
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