"Iliad" and "Oedipus the King"

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how, in both "Iliad" by Homer and "Oedipus the King" by Sophocles, the idea of authority is used by both authors to construct the chains of relationships between the characters of these literary works. The paper further looks at how this idea also reflects the attitudes of one social group towards the other, or the relationships between men and women, between father and son, mortals and immortals. In addition, the paper discusses how both books help us understand better the ethics of ancient society.

From the Paper:

"From the first pages of Book One of the "Iliad" we can see a number of levels of authority existing in the Ancient Greece. Even in the first few sentences one can notice hints which show the relationships between different classes. "Will of Zeus was accomplished"(Homer 59) can explain the very high level of authority of this god above others. The audience does not know what was that will exactly and how was it accomplished, so it makes an impression that anything said by Zeus was accepted and done immediately and without compliant. This leads to the conclusion that Zeus indeed possessed the highest level of authority above all others - both mortals and immortals. However, as we know from the further readings, other gods did not always agree with Zeus. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Homer "Iliad". The University of Chicago Press, Chicago,1961
• Sophocles "Three Tragedies". 2 ed. University of Chicago Press, Chicago,1991

More papers on "Iliad" and "Oedipus the King":

• Analytical Essay # 60294 : "Achilles and Oedipus"
• Comparison Essay # 57181 : "Hamlet" and "Oedipus the King"
• Comparison Essay # 30214 : "Knowledge in "Hamlet" and "Oedipus the King"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: