Overwhelming Emotions: Examining the Role of Death in Greek Literature

           Only one thing in all of life is absolutely certain – even more so than taxes.  That certainty would be death itself, the end of this life.  This is a fact that people are aware of, yet, understanding it is not only difficult but it is an idea that few can easily get used to.  For this reason, the subject matter of death should be presented not only with the respect it is due but also with the reverence that great loss deserves.  In “Oedipus the King”, “Antigone” and “The Odyssey”, we are presented with a variety of deaths within the context of various relationships – most of which are handled either with care by those feeling the loss or with the wrath that dishonor can bring out in someone consumed with the need for justice.  In the multitude of deaths in these tales, death is not seen as something that means nothing but, rather, something that means nearly everything to the characters.  It is the passion of their emotions that drive them in each of these stories – even leading many characters to death’s door. 

            In “Oedipus the King”, the death that does not occur appears to be the one that would have meant the most in saving so many from future pains.  Yet, it is precisely because Oedipus’s death as a baby does not occur that the grief of death meets Oedipus so cruelly.  His wife’s suicide, once all comes out into the open, is not taken lightly.  “I am agony.” (Sophocles 652)  This agony he feels is for a variety of reasons but it is overwhelmingly because he sees his wife hanging from a noose – all they had has been lost.  “The joy they had so lately, the fortune of their old ancestral house was deep joy indeed”.  (Sophocles 651)  It is because they loved one another that both of them end up in a place of pain and darkness.  To see his wife’s body hanging, dead is too much for him to bare – along with the many other pains of that day.  He was going to kill her himself, in this scene, but the reality of it hits him hard and he is simply unable to take the sight.  With her pins, he makes it clear that he does not want to see the truth of it yet he cannot escape the pain.     

            In “Antigone”, the death of Antigone’s brother begins a domino effect – with several of the characters being dead before the play is complete, all of which stems from the grief of a sister who has lost her brothers.  “But if I had allowed my own mother’s son to rot, an unburied corpse – that would have been agony.” (Sophocles 670).  Antigone has been sentenced to death herself for burying her brother so he may be accepted into the underworld by the gods.  Without this burial, the belief of the time was that he could not go on in life after death.  Antigone is put to death, which leads to the death of her fiance – in his grief.  The death of Haemon by suicide causes his mother to then commit suicide also.  For all of these characters, it was the intensity of the emotional pain that drove them to want to die as well as to follow through with such actions.       

            In “The Odyssey”, it is Odysseus’s rage and need for what he perceives as justice that brings about the largest loss of life throughout the story.  Though it is the unknown status of Odysseus’s life that actively drives the story, his death is assumed by most – including the suitors - though not accepted by Penelope or Telemakhos.  When Odysseus returns home and takes his anger out on the suitors, it is a punishment for their disrespect not only of him but also of his household and his wife.  “They respected no one, good or bad, who came their way.  For this, and folly, a bad end befell them.” (Homer 505)  Had they not assumed him to be dead but waited for an answer to the question, they would not have met such an end.  Telemakhos takes out his anger on the harlots for being disrespectful of his mother.  “I would not give the clean death of a beat to trulls who made a mockery of my mother and of me too.”  (Homer 506) 

            Though there are many deaths in each of these stories, none of them are handled lightly.  Each of them is handled with an intense burst of emotion – whether in grief or in anger.  Particularly in “Oedipus the King” and “Antigone” does the reader feel a connection, an understanding and a sense of what has been lost.  Men and women both have a profound reaction to the death of their loved ones.

  In “The Odyssey”, it is a feeling of what has been found instead – a sense of justice for a family that has suffered deeply.  By today’s standards these deaths would be seen as extreme, yet, in “The Odyssey”, it seems to be what is owed to Odysseus and his family for all they have withstood.  To be so blatantly disrespectful of a king and his queen at this time in history would have meant death and death is what was given out.  Before Penelope recognizes Odysseus as her husband, she states that this type of behavior was punished by the gods.  “Some god has killed the suitors, a god, sick of their arrogance and brutal malice.” (Homer 509)  They all believe, to the core, that these deaths are justified – not only in their eyes but also in the eyes of the gods.

Each of these works present us with a dramatic look at death.  Though, at the time, death was not considered the absolute end.  There is an afterlife for those who die.  Antigone makes this clear when she defies her king and buries her brother openly.  In “The Odyssey”, there is not only mention of an afterlife but a full description as to what happens to those who have died.  “Meanwhile the suitors’ ghosts were called away by Hermes of Kyllene.” (Homer 516)  In “Oedipus the King” the afterlife does not play as large a part as in “The Odyssey” or “Antigone”.  Oedipus asks Creon to bury his wife.  “the woman inside, bury her as you see fit.  It’s the only decent thing, to give your own the last rites.”  (Homer 655).  He does not go into much more about the afterlife as he is too consumed with grief at that moment – it seems he simply cannot go that distance in his thoughts.

In all three of these stories, death is seen as something very serious – regardless of how often it happens or how it happens. The gravity of the situations that lead to death is fully explored by the characters left behind – whether the characters are in pain or grateful for the death of their enemies.  

Works Cited

Lawall, Sarah and Maynard Mack, eds. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Second Edition. Volumes A, B and C. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2002.  Print.

Parent-Child Relationships in Greek Literature: The Human Bond

The intensity and passion of parent-child relationships in “The Odyssey”, “Oedipus the King” and “Antigone” greet the reader with a sense of family devotion and the importance of family legacy that either grows stronger over time or dissolves quickly before the reader’s eyes. Within these texts much time is focused on familial relationships. The love and admiration that the family members have for one another is undeniable though as will be seen in “Antigone”, the bonds that child rearing has developed can be broken within no time at all. “And you will never see me, never set eyes on my face again. Rage your heart out, rage with friends who can stand the sight of you.” (Sophocles 678)  In “The Odyssey” the love is cherished and in “Oedipus the King”, it is twisted and turned, eventually breaking under the pressure.

In “The Odyssey” a son leaves home quickly slipping away into the night to find his father – a man who has been missing for ten years.  He does so not only because he is motivated by the gods but also because his future and his father’s honor are at stake.  His father, meanwhile, longs for nothing more than to see his wife and child again.  The two men are now attempting to meet in the middle without the knowledge that either one is even trying to do so.  Odysseus’s son, Telemakhos, leaves behind a mother who now grieves his disappearance from her life.  Her crying, day and night, turns into tears for both her husband and her child.  Telemakhos has left her quietly, attempting to keep her from worry any longer than need be.  When both of them return home, Telemakhos is empty-handed and his father is hidden in a disguise.  When Odysseus reveals himself to Telemakhos, the bond that would have appeared broken to outsiders is clearly seen.  Odysseus trusts his son without question, handing over to him the knowledge that he has returned in secret.  Telemakhos keeps this secret for his father.  The trust and care that goes into all of these interactions reflects greatly how much they mean to one another; both between Odysseus and his son as well as between Telemakhos and Penelope.  Toward the end of “The Odyssey”, there is one more parent-child relationship that is examined.  The one between Odysseus and his own father, Laertes.  In his joy, Laertes – who had grown increasingly feeble over time is suddenly rejuvenated in both body and spirit.  This is directly linked to the love between all of them.  “Ah, what a day for me, dear gods!  To see my son and grandson vie in courage!” (Homer 529)  The respect and admiration among them is not only impressive but truly beautiful.

“Oedipus the King” takes a much different turn though the love within their family is also very profound.  Oedipus was essentially abandoned as a child – his mother fearing that he would kill her in time due to a prophecy.  He was slated to die but in one man’s mercy he was saved from this fate, only to come upon what he would consider a much worse fate.  Eventually, the realization that this prophecy has or is becoming true takes over what could have been seen as a wonderful life for Oedipus, his wife and children.  Jocasta, his mother and wife, is so distraught when the turn of events is revealed that she hangs herself.  The revelation that her child did not die, that he now knows she attempted to kill him as a baby and that she has now mothered her own son’s children appears to be too much for her to take – it is also too much for Oedipus as well.  He gouges out his eyes in the rage that follows.  At the end of the play, he feels terrible remorse for the daughters he loves and whom he now feels are disgraced.  “How I weep for you – I cannot see you now… just thinking of all the days to come, the bitterness, the life that rough mankind will thrust upon you.” (Sophocles 656)  This turn of events destroys every parental bond in this play yet it is not through anger but simply grief that this bond is broken – and grief will not come unless there is a loss.  This loss, for Oedipus and his family, is simply the loss of love.

In Antigone, the focus of the play is one of Oedipus’s daughters.  Yet, the parent-child relationship that this play examines most thoroughly would be the relationship between Antigone’s fiance, Haemon and his father, Creon.  This is a relationship that starts out full of respect and admiration but quickly turns to anger and then a fast break of the bond they shared altogether.  Though it does not seem to occur to Creon that his son may stand behind the woman he loves over his own father until the time is at hand – not only because this would not have been customary at the time - but his father is a king, not just an average man.  King’s are not defied by anyone, not even one’s son.  In their heated argument, however, Creon’s words focus mainly on the disappointment he feels as a father whose son does not stand behind him.  “What wound cuts deeper than a loved one turned against you?” (Sophocles 675)  In the end, Haemon ends up dead due to the reason for their disagreement.  His father, too late, discovers his own mistakes in what he has done.  “not through your stupidity, no, my own.” (Sophocles 691)  In his wife’s grief she takes her own life, having lost a child she truly loved.

In all of these works, there is a nearly undeniable and deep understanding of parents and children alike and how much their love can either destroy them or make them stronger.  In “The Odyssey” the love they feel is an obvious source of strength – right down to the very end with Odysseus’s father.  In Oedipus, there is much love between them – though the true love of Jocasta for her child might be considered questionable since she had attempted to have him killed.  It was her love for him as a wife that appeared stronger than the mother-child bond.  Oedipus’s love for his own daughters, however, is apparent through his pain for what has unwittingly happened to them in their innocence.  In “Antigone”, it is the pain of a disagreement and pride that does the family in.  The disagreement, while based on very real and necessary issues that needed confronting, did not have to go the way it did.  The father did not truly consider what his son was saying but only saw himself as the true source of wisdom – something that a man of wisdom should know is not a sign of wisdom at all.  “You’d do well, my lord, if he’s speaking to the point, to learn from him, and you, my boy, from him.  You both are talking sense.”  (Sophocles 677)  All respect, by the end of the argument had disappeared and this loss cost them all what was most dear – as can happen in any parent-child relationship, if one is not careful to take the very essence of such a strong yet delicate relationship into consideration. 

Works Cited

Lawall, Sarah and Maynard Mack, eds. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Second Edition. Volumes A, B and C. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2002.  Print.

Stuff Nobody Tells To Beginners

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”
― Ira Glass

***The Odyssey, Book XX***

Nachos

Tortilla chips
Cheddar cheese
Monterey Jack cheese
4 oz can chopped chili peppers
Sour cream
Salsa
Jalapeno pepper rings
Green onion, chopped

Preheat broiler.  Cover a metal baking tray with tortilla chips - an overlap is fine.  Shred enough cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese to coat chips.  Coat the chips with the cheese.  Spread some of the chili peppers over the cheese, do so to taste.  Broil for 2 to 3 minutes, until cheese is melted.  After cheese is melted, coat with sour cream, salsa and sprinkle with the green onion.  Serve with the pepper rings for those who enjoy the kick.

*** Working on the Odyssey.  Can barely take it.  Had to order the Cliff Notes.  On Book IV. ***

Hemingway: External Turned Internal

            Ernest Hemingway has long been regarded as one of the greatest American authors.  His brilliance, which is demonstrated so clearly in his most well known novels, “For Whom the Bell Tolls”, “A Farewell to Arms” and “The Old Man and the Sea”, trickles down to even his shortest works. In the short stories, “Indian Camp”, “Hills Like White Elephants” and “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place”, he reaches his audience with all of the gusto a reader can hope for from a piece of  his work – long or short.  His writing uses modernism in such a way as to teach the reader about human beings and the external situations that they turn internal – even if he was unable to internalize the same lessons in his own life.

            Hemingway faced many battles of his own during his life; including war, alcoholism, multiple marriages, bipolar disorder and eventually his life ending in tragedy – by his own hand.  For someone who had dealt with so many challenges along the way, it should be no surprise to readers that his wit and wisdom becomes radiant in his words.  In “Hills Like White Elephants”, he takes on the tough issue of abortion without an obvious statement as to the nature of the character’s argument.  The girl in the story does not appear to want to go through with it while the man in the story would prefer that she would.  “We’ll be fine afterwards. Just like we were before” (Hemingway 3).  While she remains unconvinced that she will, in fact, be “fine” afterwards, it is interesting to note that both characters are so vividly drawn within the context of the disagreement – without ever being overt or ugly about such a sensitive issue.  This is an example of modernism at its finest, focusing on the individual and what is stirring within.  “Modernists concern themselves with the sub-conscious” (Lorcher 2009).  While Jig does not state outright that she does not want to go through with it, she does not want to speak of it either.  “Would you please please please please please please please stop talking?” (Hemingway 5)  Instead of coming to a definitive answer to the issue at hand, she chooses instead to ignore the problem while the man in the story wants to face it head-on and come up with the solution – the solution he wants.  One interesting thing to note about this piece is the use of the words “girl” and “man” as opposed to “woman” and “man”.  The woman’s way of dealing with the problem at hand could be perceived as childish – in her attempts to ignore it.  Drinking and changing the subject being two of her tactics, both of which do not deter the man she is with.

            In “Indian Camp”, we again see interpersonal turmoil – though not as blatant.  This time it is between a father and son.  The son, Nick, who may have begun the evening with interest becomes disheartened by the extreme nature of what he witnesses.  “He was looking away so as not to see what his father was doing” (Hemingway 2).  The father then proceeds to boast about the fantastic job he has done in delivering the Indian woman’s child – though a suicide in the same room causes him to reconsider his boasting.  In “A Clean Well-Lighted Place”, the interpersonal turmoil is between co-workers – coming from two different angles on aging.  While aging is not the only component to the story, it is interesting to note the two viewpoints of people who hold the same job.  One wants to go to bed while the other has no desire or interest in doing so. 

            During the reading of all three of these stories, there is a sense of seniority.  A father over a son, a man over a woman and an older co-worker disagreeing with the actions of a younger co-worker.  However, in each of these stories – in the end – the character who appears more naïve ultimately shows their own brand of wisdom.  In “A Clean Well-Lighted Place”, the younger waiter wants to return home to his wife and go to bed – and so he does.  In “Indian Camp”, the son finds the trauma of watching a troubled birth and a suicide a decidedly difficult thing to bear and makes a wrong assumption based on the close proximity of these two events – “he felt quite sure that he would never die” (Hemingway 4).  In “Hills Like White Elephants”, it is very possible, at second glance, that it is not that Jig wants to remain in denial or continue to use avoidant behavior but she is carefully considering the consequences her actions may have on her – as well as on her relationship with the man with whom she speaks. 

            In Hemingway’s life and subsequent death, there is a pervasive sense that he may have been or become disillusioned himself – and ultimately became a bit unsure of anything at all.  For many who have been through many trials and tribulations in life, this is a natural reaction.  Things do not always work out the way one may hope and growing older and “wiser” may not hold the answers one is expecting.  Situations between people will always come from two different angles and worldviews, regardless of the closeness of the relationship.  “Modernists believe the world is created in the act of perceiving it; that is, the world is what we say it is” (Lorcher 2009).  Ultimately, Hemingway’s wisdom comes in the form of understanding human nature to the point of understanding the differences between individuals and looking into this with grace and tact.  In understanding modernism, it helps to understand that most modernists do not prescribe to one line of thinking.  They do not side with one thought process or worldview.  Ernest Hemingway mastered this in his career – as is evident in the stories mentioned herein.  No one person is the champion of the story but merely human, no one person is in the right or in the wrong – they just are who they are.  This is a direct reflection of who Hemingway was in his own life; a unique and seemingly larger than life soul from whom countless readers have reaped the benefits and rewards.   

           

Works Cited

Lorcher, Trent.  “Lesson Plans: Modernism in Literature”. 26 Dec 2009.  Brighthub.com. Web. 18 June 2011.

Hemingway, Ernest.  “Indian Camp”.  http://www.nbu.bg/.  Web.  19 June 2011.

Hemingway, Ernest.  “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place”.  Mrbauld.com.  Web.  19 June 2011.

Hemingway, Ernest.  “Hills Like White Elephants”.  Gummyprint.com.  Web.  19 June 2011.

       

“Beloved”: At the Mercy of the Past

According to Dr. doCarmo’s notes on Realism and Naturalism, “Naturalism’s central belief, in fact, is that individual human beings are at the mercy of uncontrollable larger forces that originate both inside and outside them.” In “Beloved”, nearly all of the characters show in one way or another that they are at the mercy of their feelings about the past.  In the obvious sense, Sethe is at the mercy of her dead daughter – while in a more profound sense; she is at the mercy of all she has been through; circumstances and memories that haunted her to the point of killing her child and beyond.  “How if I hadn’t killed her she would have died and that is something I could not bear to happen to her” (Morrison 236), in Sethe’s mind, Beloved’s death by her mother’s hand was simply the better choice than a slow death under the keeping of the schoolteacher.

            When Sethe is first introduced in the novel, there are three occupants in her home.  She shares it with both her daughter, Denver, who is very much alive and her dead daughter – Beloved - who haunts the house with not only a sadness but with “outrageous behavior”. (Morrison 4).  She has lost the admiration and love of those around her, including her other children as well as their neighbors and friends due to the “baby’s venom” that lives within 124. (Morrison 3).  However – it is not so much the actual spirit of her daughter that scares those around them away, it is the actions that lead to her dead daughter’s death to begin with, namely the fact that she murdered her daughter with a handsaw.  As the novel progresses, a man from her past becomes part of her present and begins to share their home.  This fourth person in the house is too much for Beloved to bear, so she comes from beyond the grave to reveal herself in human form.  At first, she appears to be a lost and sick visitor.  By novel’s end she is a true terror to all those around her.  “Beloved ate up her life, took it, swelled up with it, grew taller on it.” (Morrison 295)

            During their lives Sethe, Paul D, Baby Suggs and Stamp have lived an endless mire of oppression by whites.  They all feel it, they all know it; “what Baby Suggs died of, what Ella knew, what Stamp saw and what made Paul D tremble.  That anybody white could take your whole self for anything that came to mind.” (Morrison 295)  For Sethe, however, her own past has eaten her alive and has begun to eat away at her child Denver as well.  Sethe is unable to let go of her memories and it has not only deadened her eyes but also the whole of who she is.  When Paul D comes to stay, a part of her is awakened not only as a woman but simply as a human being. “She knew Paul D added something to her life – something she wanted to count on but was scared to.” (Morrison 112)  This awakening uproots not only Sethe’s established household (including both Denver and Beloved) but Paul as well.  He is a wandering man, afraid to stay in any one place for too long.  The past they shared while both slaves, bonds them in a way that nothing else could. 

            Trauma and its lasting effects are felt throughout this intense novel.  All of the characters show in their own ways that some scars do not heal.  Whether brought on by others or by oneself, some things just appear too much of a strain to be able to get over.  A life in captivity, whether it is by a ghost or by plantation owners – is barely a life worth living.  Yet, if someone is pushed hard enough it is possible to overcome.  Denver shows this when she grows the courage to reach out for help. “So it was she who had to step off the edge of the world and die because if she didn’t, they all would.” (Morrison 281)

            What haunted Sethe most turned out to be not her daughter’s ghost coming to tangible life but the guilt, victimization and condemnation she lived with for so many years.  She received condemnation from the surrounding community – as well as herself, she was victimized from her various keepers – both human and inhuman and she felt tremendous guilt about a child she loved right into the grave.  Her life so desperately wanted the freedom she was both unwilling and unable to give it and what proved to be necessary was the eventual depletion of these emotions that came from Beloved feeding off her.  “Now she is running into the faces of the people out there, joining them and leaving Beloved behind.  Alone. Again.” (Morrison 309)

Many times, it is just this – moving beyond all of what one has known and leaving the past as it is that leads to the greater freedom that most people truly long for.  “Freeing yourself was one thing; claiming ownership of that freed self was another.” (Morrison 111)

Works Cited

doCarmo, Dr. “Dr. doCarmo’s Notes on Realism and Naturalism”. BCCC Faculty Web Server. Web. 31 May 2011

Morrison, Toni.  Beloved. New York: Vintage Books. Print.

Chicken Parm

4 large chicken breasts, skinless, boneless
6 egg whites
1 cup grated parmesan
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
2 tsp Italian seasoning
Olive oil
shredded mozzarella

Place egg whites in a shallow bowl, beat slightly.  Combine parmesan, bread crumbs and Italian seasoning in seperate bowl.  Cover bottom of frying pan with olive oil and begin heating at medium heat.  Chop each chicken breast into 3 or 4 equal(ish) pieces.  Dip each piece of chicken into egg whites and then coat with bread crumb mixture.  Place into hot oil.  Cook chicken for about 6 minutes on each side.  After the second side is cooked, cover each piece of chicken with a spoonful of sauce and top with mozzarella.  Cover dish and lower heat to a simmer.  Allow to cook, covered for 3 minutes, until cheese is melted.