McNamara Whitney Andrew Miller Greek Civilization 12/16/06 Final Exam: Take Home Essay
One of the main types of Greek literature is the classic, tragedy. Unlike modern tragedies, when you long-lost lover goes into a coma, Greek tragedies happen on a much larger scale. Much of Greek literature comes from long, bloody wars and the consequences of them, such as deaths in mass proportion, being sold into slavery, wandering aimlessly around the world for several years and so on. One thing that leads to most of these large scale tragedies is when a leader possesses hubris, also known as pride, wanton arrogance, or reckless disregard of limits. A common theme is Homer's Illiad, Aeschylus's The Persians, and Euripides The Women of Troy is the use of hubris of a leader which leads to a tragic and unbearable end to many of his people. In Homer's Iliad, many characters come to mind where arrogance is concerned. Paris, son of King Priam of Troy, is the definition of reckless abandonment and selfishness for his homeland. He steals the most desired, and already taken, women in the world from the Greeks, raging a ten year war in which his men die, women become widowed and children become fatherless. Paris shows hubris by his reckless nature. Knowing well in advance what enticing Helen back to his homeland will result in, he disregards this and follows his heart carelessly. When Hector scolds Paris for cursing your father, your city, and all your people by starting this war without thinking, Paris responds mundanely, pit me against Menelaus dear to Ares--right between the lines--
we'll fight it out for Helen and all her wealth. Our people will live in peace on the rich soil of Troy, our enemies sail home to the stallion land of Argos... This shows Paris's complete arrogance to the fact that he cannot fight. He is rather feminine when it comes to hand to hand combat and the fact he is idealizing the situation shows how much hubris he possesses and how out of touch he really is. Another important character, Agamemnon, insanely jealous and arrogant to any form of respect, steals Achilles war prize Briseis, when he is forced to give his war prize, Chriseis, back to her father. Also, Agamemnon wanted so badly to beat the Greeks he waged a ten year war because of his greed as well as for his brothers sake as well. Last but not least, Achilles is the head of the arrogance table when it comes to his stubborn nature and exudes a great deal of hubris. When he feels disrespected by Agamemnon, he runs to his mother who in turn gets Zues to wage a plague on his own forces. This shows how reckless and egotistical he is by destroying his own men to prove a point to benefit himself. Achilles describes why honor in this war is so important to him and how much Agamemnons disrespect dampers his life's purpose: Mother tells me, the immortal goddess Thetis with her glistening feet, that two fates bear me on to the day of death. If I hold out here and I lay siege to Troy, my journey home is gone, but my glory never dies. If I voyage back to the fatherland I love, my pride, my glory dies. . . Achilles, if he is to stay and fight, must be glorious or else his short life will have been a waste. No exception to the rule, Aeschylus's The Persians, illustrates the grand scale of destruction that can result from the hubris of a nave and brash leader. The Persians focuses more on the aftermath, when the men have died and the kingdom has fallen to its knees. Xerxes, as the book describes as the impetuous king, waged war on both land
and sea out of his desire to build his empire. The Chorus asks angrily, What mortal man can elude immortal guile? Where is he whose nimble leap lightly clears the enclosing net? Smooth Delusion's flattering smile leads but where her trap is set. The Chorus points out that Xerxes went into the war thinking he was invincible and delusional was with the thought of victory, or being the master of all Hellas. Xerxes was also ignorant to the gods, disregarding their intent for the battle and being disrespectful, attacked prematurely on the Persian forces and boasted he would cut off the head of every Persian captain, which showed how ignorance of the gods intent had dazed his mind. The result of this brash and overwhelming large attack was the mass murder of all of the soldiers and consequently the fall of the empire. The messenger explains even those who did not die in battle, that the remnants of the army suffered fearful loss, tortured by hunger, thirst, exhaustion. The Messenger describes the death of the greatest men that the country had to offer and thousand others saying if I should speak for ten days and ten nights, I could not tell you all that day's agony. Another work also illustrates the aftermath of an imprudent leader. Euripides Women of Troy exemplifies the tragic horror that results when a city state has fallen and the suffering its people go through. A repeating theme in Greek history of why nations lose wars and these horrible consequences ensue is because of an overzealous leader, one who's head gets too big to fit within his own empire. The Women of Troy show the heartbreaking aspect of the widowed women's fate after their men have all been killed and their homeland is no longer existent. Poseidon sums up the greatest of the tragedy in his beginning speech, It is Hecabe. She does not know that her daughter Polyxena died just now most pitiably, an offering slaughtered at Achilles grave.
Her husband Priam, is dad, so are her sons. Her daughter the prophetess, Cassandra, whom Apollo himself left virgin she will be taken by force, in contempt of the gods and all pious feeling by King Agammemnon as his concubine. Farewell, then, city. You had your day of glory. This demonstrates how deeply ruined the lives of the survivors are, and the devastating effects of loosing the city state in which you have known your whole life and looked at with pride. Queen Hecabe shows us how many people are actually effected by saying, Come you widowed brides of Trojan fighting-men, Weeping mothers, trembling daughters, Come, weep with me while the smoke goes up from Troy! The fate of the women is not only to lose their brothers, sons, fathers, and husbands, but to also be separated among the empire to various important men to be their concubines. From one simple leader hubris and reckless attainment can heed ruined lives and a desecrated empire in which centuries were dedicated to build. The most heartbreaking part of The Women of Troy is when Andromache is forced to let them kill her baby son Astyanax, so there is no man to take revenge or try to usurp power later in his life. Andromache's shares her final moment with her only child, Dear child, so young in my arms, so precious! O the sweet smell of your skin! ...Once more, for the last time of all. Come close to me, Wind you arms around my neck, and put your lips to mine. This heart wrenching scene shows how tragedy can strike from an overzealous, hubris, leader.
To write a successful tragedy, it needs to make the audience feel the emotion of the characters pain. For tragedy writers who base their plays on history, this is not a hard task. For many of centuries of tyrants and leaders have come along, trying to make their
empire the best and the biggest, ignoring all reason and rationale, and making themselves prime examples of hubris, a common theme throughout many Greek writers, which often leads to devastating losses of good men and a nation strong in culture built up from the ground. Paris in the Illiad, to Xerxes in The Persians, and the women in Women of Troy all show the frequent theme of hubris, and the horror that can result from it, in many works throughout Greek literature.