Grrek Mythology Heroes free essay sample

Q) In what ways are Perseus and Heracles typical heroes? In what way are they not typical? In the realm of Greek myth, it is the focus on heroes rather than of Gods themselves that humanises the myth. Although Gods may operate in the background it is the human traits such as worth, dignity and potential that holds the main focus. The heroes of Greek myth share certain characteristics or experiences. Some of these include a divine parent or ancestor, physical strength, a performance of seemingly â€Å"impossible feats† and an encounter with divine powers. Although the hero has his own characteristics, he will typically follow a traditional pattern throughout his life. Both the work of mythographer Lord Raglan and the Russian folkorist Vladimir Propp have identified characteristics of heroes. This paper will look at the characteristics of heroes, then by following the lives of both Perseus and Heracles show how they confirm to the pattern then differ from that of a typical hero. We will write a custom essay sample on Grrek Mythology Heroes or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The Greek heroes’ adventures follow a typical pattern. In the book by Stephen Harris and Gloria Platzner titled Classical Mythology the pattern is broken down for us to follow. The hero is often born in an unusual or unnatural form. While still in infancy, the hero will survive an attempt on his life. The hero can quite often have two fathers, a divine real one and a mortal father figure. He will often face threats from the mortal father figure, which will lead to hostility. On reaching adulthood, the hero will either crave adventure or be sent on a mission that not only acts as a journey of discovery about himself, his society and universe but also to test his powers. In all cases, the hero is not expected to succeed. It is while on this quest that the hero will become isolated and must do battle with monsters or creatures and overcome almost impossible odds. To have success on his mission, the hero will often venture down to the Underworld or visit death in the face. It is here that the hero confronts the divine powers and gains a deeper insight to his relationship with the universe. Returning successful, having gained victory over his quest or a King, the hero will often be rewarded by the gift of marriage or a kingdom. By returning from the Underworld, the hero has experienced the whole life cycle, that of life, eath and rebirth. It is this that reclaims his spiritual life and links him to the divine world. 1 The mythological adventure of a hero may be summed up as found in Jason Cambell’s The Hero With a Thousand Faces in the formula represented in the rites of passage as â€Å"seperation – initiation – return. †2 Campbell states â€Å"A hero ventures forth from th e common day into a region of supernatural wonder : fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man. 3 The final trait found in many heroes is a trait that can also turn society against him. Having a compulsion for excess in times when society needs protection, the hero is no threat, however his cravings for love and companionship in times of peace can be the undoing of both himself and a threat to the society he is protecting. The hero can meet or cause a mysterious death. Perseus was one of the first Greek heroes. He has a god as a father in Zeus and a mortal mother named Danae. His birth was unnatural. With an oracle telling Acrrisius, Danae’s father that a child of his daughter would kill him, Danae was locked in a tower away from men. Zeus, being attracted to her beauty came in the form of golden rain. After she had given birth, Acrisius locked mother and child in a chest and put them out to sea. They survived and washed ashore at Seriphus, were taken in by Dictys and raised amongst Dictys’ brother King Polydectes. 4 This shows the first traits of the hero’s rite of passage. Perseus was born from one god as a parent, in an unusual method of conception and faced a threat to his life as an infant. A foster parent in a distant land raised him. Upon reaching manhood, Perseus was to face his challenge. With Polydectes now pursuing Danae, Perseus offers a gift as a substitute for his mother. Knowing the quest would be fateful; the king demanded the head of Medusa, one of the three Gorgons. As Harris states, â€Å"Perseus does not hesitate to volunteer for impossible missions, possessing by virtue of his divine parentage, the courage and skill to succeed. †5 With the help of Athene and Hermes, Perseus finds Graiae, and the nymphs to obtain magical weapons and set off to bring back the head of Medussa. Entering the cave backwards with the aid of a shield or mirror, Perseus is successful in his quest. On his way home, Perseus sees Princess Andromeda chained to a rock, at the mercy of a sea monster. He offers to rescue her for exchange of her hand in marriage. After returning home and defeating Polydectes, Perseus visits his grandfather, Acrisius hoping to reconcile. While attending funeral games for a friend, Perseus throws a discus that goes off course, killing his grandfather and fulfilling the prophecy. After their own deaths, Athene transforms Perseus and Andromeda into constellations. Further to the hero rite of passage, Perseus undertook a seemingly impossible quest. His entrance into the Gorgon’s cave represented an entrance to the underwold. 6 In rescuing Andromeda, Perseus wins the princess’s hand in marriage. The myth of Perseus as Harris states â€Å"embodies the complete cycle of the heroic rite of passage. 7 He fulfils the quest for immortality completing the cycle for heavenly rebirth and aquires fully divine status that later heroes will risk life to achieve. Heracles too assumed the rite of passage of the Greek hero. He was born the son of Zeus and the mortal women Alcmene. He too was threatened as an infant. Hera, motivated from Zeus infidelities, made every attempt to destroy him. Firstly, Hera tried to retard the birth of Heracles and brought the premature birth of Eurytheus so by aborting his destiny. 8 She sent a serpent into his cradle but the might of the young infant strangled it and survived. During his youth, Heracles turns his prowess to good use. He kills a marauding lion that was devouring the flocks of King Thespius. For the good of humanity, Heracles helps many. As stated by Harris, â€Å"Heracles helps many kings – leading armies, defeating armies, and, building and defending cities. 9 This fact is further pointed out by Linda McGuire’s article titled Heracles: Super Hero in which she states Heracles work of restoring order and furthering the common good. â€Å"He destroys monsters that threaten crops and herds, rescues the populace from cruel rulers and†¦ overcomes tremendous physical odds and conquers unknown territory, all to organise and consolidat e the world into order and deliver it from chaos. †10 Heracles like other heroes was given King Creon’s daughter Megara’s hand in marriage for a reward of helping the Thebans defeat their enemies. However like other heroes in times of peace, Heracles’s traits cause his undoing. In a fit of rage he kills his wife and children, an event dramatised in Euripides’ play Heracles. As a result, Heracles is to perform the Twelve Labours ordered for King Eurystheus. As with other heroes rites of passage, these were all designed to destroy him. 11 Heracles first Labours call on his physical strength. These include the Nemean lion, and the Lernaean Hydra, a nine headed water serpent showing an example of a type of monster that many heroes were to face in their quests. Heracles â€Å"fulfils the hero’s most significant function – to extend the parameters of human experience†¦ and to retrieve powers and knowledge otherwise limited to the gods. †12 It is during his travels that Heracles must, like other heroes confront his own death. He voyages to the Underworld twice in the typical rite of passage to as Harris writes, â€Å"find a loophole to escape the ultimate trap of mortality. †13It is the final Labour that sees Heracles returns from the underworld with Cerberus, the three headed hound, yet another monster figure. After his return from the underworld, Heracles re-marries but again is restless at home. It is the time of peace with his new wife Deineira that ultimately causes his death. Deineira is tricked into rubbing the blood of Hydra and Nessus onto Heracles shirt but when he puts it on, the mixture eats through him, killing him in agony. Once again we see the hero die a mysterious death. His quest for immortality is filled. Although these two heroes share many features that are typical of all heroes, they also demonstrate differences to the norm. Perseus was unusual in that he had positive relationships with women whether divine or human. 14 In fact Perseus performed all of his exploits either on behalf of or with the aid of them. All throughout his career, he was able to maintain mutually supportive relationships with them. Later heroes of the patriarchal system separated themselves from women for their power. â€Å"From the very beginning of the Perseus myth, the opposing powers of male and female, human and divine are more closely reconciled than they will be in later hero myths. †15Another factor of Perseus not typical of heroes was his lack of physical power. This is likely why he receives help from both Athenea and Hermes in his quests. Athene took Perseus to Samos to where the Gorgons lived, showing him an image of the three, so he could distinguish amongst them. She warned Perseus to look at the reflection of Medusa only. Perseus also had help from Hermes who gave him a sickle. 16 Even Perseus weapons of the pouch, mirror, sandals and cap are more feminine than other heroes would later use. For Perseus, powers such as flight, and invisibility usually reserved for gods showed that Perseus in effect became a demigod and reconciled the human and the devine more completely than any other later god. 17 For Perseus, although never travelling to the Underworld, it was represented by entering Medusa’s Cave. The fact that he derived his power direct from females through magical weapons, performed his heroic acts not in isolation or chasing immortality and in defence of women and that he successfully settled down in peace with women stood Perseus apart from the typical hero. Perseus was transformed into a constellation achieving immortality of a sort. Heracles, was the strongest of all mortals. He is the only man born of mortal woman to become a god upon his death. 18 Inheriting a divided nature, Heracles was â€Å"unnaturally brave, strong and clever. 19 Heracles is more closely associated with the centaur than any other hero. While killing many on his quests, Heracles journeyed to the Underworld twice and twice rescued mortals from death. Heracles, being of divided nature was often capable of committing irrational, ridiculous, and very violent acts. As recited by Homer in the Odyssey, Heracles remained divided in death as he was in life. But transcending the masculine, feminine conflic t, the hero undergoes the sacred marriage between hero and goddess, as the perceived obstacle of the pursuit of immortality is gone. As is evident, both Perseus and Heracles display many features that are typical of the hero. We can see by their stories that they are both obligated in some way to a king to perform their great acts of bravery. Due to necessity in their own circumstances they act on behalf of their sense of honour. We have seen that they both follow the rite of passage of a hero from their unnatural conception or birth through threatened infancy and on to maturation. They both leave on their voyages of discovery, facing threatening monsters and challenges that seem impossible to win while gaining the knowledge they require.

Twilight in delhi Essay Essays

Twilight in delhi Essay Essays Twilight in delhi Essay Essay Twilight in delhi Essay Essay Essay Topic: Waiting for Godot The term Absurd is essentiallyimpregnated with assorted human conditionsand state of affairss eliciting absurdness and is needfully present in the station universe war coevals. Life has become acrimonious sweet or „life in decease and decease in life? to the coming coevals. This human quandary sprouted its lances during 1920s. developed during 1940s and perpetuated in the ulterior universe. This very impression wasenchanted. transported and sometimes devastated by the intellectualsof this universe such as T. S. Eliot. W. B. Yeats. Existentialists. Expressionists. Surrealists. and Absurdists of the twentieth century. And Waiting for Godot is cardinal Sun unit of ammunition whom all the absurdist notionsmove. Ittranscendentstime and hasthe cosmicsignificance even after 60 old ages ofits publication. Itinsinuates modernismand perpetuates postmodernismthatisnothing but â€Å"too much with us ; late and shortly. acquiring and disbursement. we lay waste our lives before it. † Truly in the midsty of so terminologicalmayhem. Absurd is best identified withWaiting for Godot with its sense of void in life. Lapis Lazuli -An International Literary Journal ( LLILJ ) 29 Cardinal words: Absurd. Existentialism. Surrealism. and Post modernism. ThetermAbsurd is essentiallyimpregnated withvarioushumanconditions and state of affairss arousingabsurdityand is needfully present inthe postworld wargeneration. Lifehas become acrimonious sweet or„lifein decease and deathinlife? to the coming coevals. This human quandary sprouted itsspears during 1920s. developed during 1940s and perpetuated inthe laterworld. This verynotionwasenchanted. transported and sometimes devastated bythe intellectualsof this universe. Ontheone manus T. S. Eliotbeautifully mirrored theinnerabsurdityofthemodernworld in his magnum-opus The waste land ( 1921 ) . and Samuel Beckett in his maestro piece Waiting for Godot ( 1955 ) . on the other. Superficially Abusrd means pathetic. but literally it means „Sense holding bunk? or „having everything hath nil? . That is considered absurd is really anti- traditional andavant-garde. henceis ridiculed. But originally itssignificancelies in itscrude world. WhenEliotrepents for religious asepsis in themodernworld. which isfulloffuryand quag. Absurd playwrights were fixing a suited platform to expose the absurdness of modern adult male? s life. Absurd dramatistsevenopted the absurd formto expose theabsurdityinits mosteffectiveway. Thisincludesthewriters ofbothdramaand prose fiction ; and themostsignificantofthemare Gallic Jean Genet and Eugene Ionesco. Irish Samuel Beckett. English Harold Pinter. American Edward Albee and others. Both temper and dramaturgyofabsurditywere anticipated intheir plants. Theywere besides supported byfewothermovementslike expressionism. and surrealism. alongwith fewotherforcefulworks ofFranz Kafka ( TheTrial. Metamorphosis ) . Thiscurrent movementemerged inFrance after the universe was 2nd. asa rebellionagainstessentialbeliefs and values oftraditional civilization and traditionalliterature. whichhad the belief that-„What a piece of work is a adult male? How baronial in ground. how infinite in module! In signifier and traveling how expressand admirable! In apprehensionhowlike a God! The beauty ofthe universe! The idol of animate beings? . ( Hamlet: 47 ) Speculating the Absurd: Waiting for Godot SixtyYears After 30 But afterthe 1940s existentialist doctrine byJean- Paul Sartre A ; Ablert Camus opined human being as an stray existant. dramatis personae into an foreign existence. holding a bootless hunt for intent and significance and proceedingtowardsnothingness. They believe that: Its an uneven universe Full of allthings absurd Most ofit obscure Unseen and unheard. ( Brainy Quotes ) Thisvery absurdityhas been attractively penned byAlbert Camus in his â€Å"TheMythof Sisyphus? ( 1942 ) as – â€Å"Ina existence thatis all of a sudden deprived ofillusions and oflight. manfeels alien. Hisis anirremediable exile†¦ This diovrce between adult male and hislife. the histrion and his scene ; genuinely constitutes the feeling of absurdness. † ( 13 ) and as EugeneIonesco added fire to the fuel by statingthat- â€Å" Cut off from his spiritual. metaphysical. and nonnatural roots. adult male is lost. all his actions become mindless. abusrd and useless† . ( A Glossary of the Literary Footings: 1 ) Thisvery notionseemssimilartothefollowing lines byS. T. Coleridge. ofhisfamousballad Rime of the Ancient Mariner. – â€Å"Water-water every where Not a bead to drink† . ( Coleridge: 14 ) SamuelBeckett ( 1906-89 ) . the mostcelebrated writer ofthisvein. isanIrishauthor. composing inFrenchand thentranslating hisownworks into English. His get downing lies inthe dislocation of traditional values. His outstanding and dominent subject. hence is adult male? s disaffection and hunt forself ; which is the predominating manner of modernman? slife. His works showthe twilight ofmodernismand dawnofpost-modernismand so washonored withNobelPrize for Literature Lapis Lazuli -An International Literary Journal ( LLILJ ) 31 in1969. As we bid adieuto onestar. we welcome the other ata transitionalpoint. in the same manner the publication of Waiting for Godot in 1955. was the apprehended transitional presence on the phase. which bid adioss to themodernism and welcomed post-modernism. ThetermPostmodernism designates „ excessively muchwith us ; late and shortly. acquiring and disbursement. we laywaste ourlives before it. ? Thefounder of this termis Charles Jencks. buthas beenbeautifully defined by Dick Hebdige in Hiding in the Light as: The corporate humiliation and morbid projections of a post- War coevals of babyboomers facing disillusioned in-between age. the „predicament? of reflexivity†¦ the prostration of cultural hierarchies. the apprehension engendered by the menace of atomic self-destruction†¦ a sense ( developing onwho youread ) of„ placelessness? or theabandonmentofplacelessness ( criticalregionalism ) . Waiting for Godot attractively designates all these gears of postmodernism through a obscure and cloudy word every bit good as term of terminological mayhem „absurd? . The drama has proliferated at anexceptionalrate overthe lastsixtyyears becauseitdealswiththenotionof adult male? s being in this ineffectual universe. The playWaiting for Godot portrays an image of adult male? s being. which evenafter60 yearsofitspublications seems rather existent. Todaymanhas gained material promotion but interior pettiness or breakability is still skulking upon his ego. The drama is a modern fable of post-war adult male in a godless. dimensionless and nonmeaningful universe. late Syrian Army attacked on Damascus suburb with chemical arms. after the Nato? s onslaught on Yugoslavia and the right to vote in Iraque. Here the lines of W. B. Yeats seems rather applicable. when he says that – Turning and turning inthewidening coil. The falcon can non hear the hawker? Thingss fall apart ; the centre can non keep. Mere anarchyis loosed upon theworld. The blood dimmed tide is loosed and everyplace. The ceremonial ofinnocence is drowned. ( The Second Coming ) Speculating the Absurd: Waiting for Godot SixtyYears After 32 Waiting for Godot formulates a definition of adult male that transcends the clip. The dramas that follow it are besides pre-occupied with the experiencing typical of our times. All that Fall ( 1959 ) . a wireless drama. depict adult male? s defeat and absurdness. Kropp? s Last Tape ( 1958 ) is concerned with the perfect realisation of Beckett? s thought of â€Å"human isolation. † Embers ( 1959 ) is a soliloquy of an old adult male who is haunted by the memory of the past and feels used. confused. and abused. Happy Days ( 1961 ) stages the unreason of human being without intent and order. Beckett? s universe bears a close resemblance to Camus? s universe depicted in The Myth of Sisyphus. Universe all of a sudden divested of semblances and visible radiations. adult male feels an foreigner. alien. His expatriate is without remedysince he isdeprived of the memoryofa losthomeor the hopeofapromised land. Camus? s book appeared in 1942. i. e. . during the World War II. The development of the feeling ofthe absurd passesthroughfour phases: ( 1 ) First one recognizes the nonsense oflifewhichis flooring. Second isliving inconflict between purpose ( innervoice ) andreality. Thethirdistheassumptionofheroic dimensions through populating the conflictand makingithis God. The fourthand finalstage consists inthe witting affirmationthatnothing happens in lifein world. The sense ofanguish at the absurdityoflife is the subject oftheplays notonlyofSamuelBeckett. but ofAdamov. Ionesco and Genetalso. Asimilarsense ofthemeaninglessness oflifeisalso thetheme ofdramatists. like Sartreand Camus. Butthereis a difference. Thetheatreofthe Absurd abandonsrational devices whereasSartre and Camus expressthenewcontentinthe old convention. MartinEsslin remarks on the dramas of Beckett is disposed. apposite. and appropriate: Beckett? s plays lack secret plan even more wholly than otherworks of the Theatre of the Absurd. Alternatively of alinear development. they present their writer? s intuition of the human coordination by a method thatis basically polyphonic. they confront their audience with an organized construction of Lapis Lazuli -An International Literary Journal ( LLILJ ) . 33 statements and images that interpenetrate each other and thatmust be apprehended in their entirety. instead like the different subjects in a symphonic music. whichgain significance by their coincident interaction. ( The Theatre of the Absurd: 44-45 ) Waiting for Godot is now recognized as a modern-day classic. It was written in 1948. since thenithas beentranslated into manylanguages and performed all over the universe. Themost singular thingabouttheplayisitsunconventional design. Theplayis seemingly haphazard. Butactually it isan inordinately powerfulplayin which signifier and significance are skillfully blended. The coreofa good playis actionorhappenings. here the verypurpose oftheplayis to state that nil happens -nothing truly happens in human life. Waiting of Godot is therefore a paradox. Itisa play of inactivity. Asmanisusually ignorantabout hisrealpurpose in life and he lives inhope ofsome revelationinfuture. We justhangaround waitinglike thetramps or rushmadly aboutlike Pozzo in hunt of some intent. We try to acquire a intent and orderinthat universe whichsteadfastly refusesto grounds either. Waiting for Godot is holding four characters. who are non four distinguishable personalities. They are instead generalised images of allâ€Å"mankind† ( 109 ) whichinLucky? s phrase. â€Å"isseento waste andpine wasteand pine† ( 73 ) . Theyrepresent aview ofmanas a incapacitated victim of his life. Non-specific scenes are a common characteristic of Beckett? s play. The phase -space intheplayisabsolutelybare. â€Å"Itisindescribable. Itis likenothing. Thereis nil. There is a tree† says Vladimir ( 117 ) . Strange occurrences ( sudden rise of the Moon. germination of foliages ) . unusual characters and their irrational behavior suggest abstract quality of this scene. The text describes itas nothingness ornothing. Thewhole secret plan. whichis actuallyabsentmoves unit of ammunition thewaitingofthat personwhose individuality. is evennotsure. Vladimirand EstragonwaitforGodot. whose arrivalissupposed butalways suspended as modernmanwhatever wants to make or accomplish. scattersinsilence. Now. united we Speculating the Absurd: Waiting for Godot SixtyYears After 34 do notstand butfallinthisfutile universe. Eventhoughtlessnesshasbecome the beginning oftrouble. Thefollowing discussionmade by Vladimir and Estragon attractively designates it: We are in no danger of believing any more†¦ Thinking is non theworst. What is awful is to hold thought. ( 1954: 62-63 ) Finally the grace of Beckett? s Waiting for Godot pruned the modern adult male? s organic structure and psyche likewise. Even after 60 old ages of its publication. we designate its significance and relevancy both thematically and stylistically. Really whena manpassesthroughexcess deprivationand hopelessness. whether he commits self-destruction or attempts to take retaliation but absurdness even does non let either. Abrams. M. H. AGlossaryofLiteraryTerms. India: ThomsonBusinessInternationalIndiaPvt. Ltd. 2006. Print. Beckett. Samuel. WaitingforGodot. NewYork: Grave Press. 1954. Print. Camus. Albert. The Myth of Sisyphus. Harmondsworth: PenguinBooks. 1975. Print. Coleridge. S. T. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. India: Anmol Publication. 2009. Print. Esslin. Martin. The Theatre of the Absurd. New York: Doubleday. 1961. Print. Hebdige. Dick. Hiding inthe Light: On Images and Things. London: Routledge. 1988. Print. Shakespeare. William. Hamlet. India: Atlantic Publishers and Distributors. 2001. Print. Lapis Lazuli -An International Literary Journal ( LLILJ ) 35 Bio-note- Vijay Kumar Rai. Research Scholar. Dept. of English. DDU Gorakhpur University e-mail-Vijaykumar. [ electronic mail protected ]/*com.

Describe the international efforts to combat the trafficking of Essay

Describe the international efforts to combat the trafficking of cocaine, heroin and cannabis before evaluating their success using both qualitative and quantitative data - Essay Example According to Boivin (2013), international drug trafficking could be attributed to an interplay of geographic, economic, political and cultural factors. Over 40% of trade in cocaine, heroin and marijuana occurs in peripheral countries, with the 2006/2007 United Kingdom Threat Assessment of Serious Organised Crime indicating that criminals drawn from particular ethnicities, Turkish and Columbian traffickers common in the UK case, are largely involved in trafficking. Interestingly, a majority of countries postulated to benefit from the trade in drugs rarely appear among the top global economies. Drug trafficking, and indeed drug abuse, has been associated with negative socio-economic effects among nations (Lyman 2014). Therefore, drug trafficking has been fought against by the international community for many years now. Cocaine heroin and cannabis are among the most common forms of drugs that international focus has been given to prevent cultivation and distribution. Even with such efforts, drug trafficking still remains a rampant practice in a majority of countries across the world. Whereas governments have institutionalised programmes aimed at dismantling the illicit trade, no meaningful reduction in the trade has been experienced. Thus, this paper evaluates some of these efforts to determine their effectiveness. Nations around the world have adopted critical strategies to combat international trafficking of drugs. According to the Maxwell Knowledge Group (2007), four pillars have been adopted in a majority of these cases. As borrowed from the UK Drug Strategy, these pillars encompass prevention of young people from being drug users, reduction of crimes related to drugs, increasing the number of those who could access drugs and reduction of supply of illicit drugs. Combined together, these four efforts seek to eliminate drug trafficking across