MEDEA

Medea was a great story to read and really showed the wrath of a woman when what belongs to her is taken away especially something as important as a husband. Medea is full of rage after Jason decides to marry another woman but she lets the rage take over her. Even though she thinks and devises her plan before carrying them out she doesnt weigh the consequences of things before doing them. Like "is it worth killing my brother to marry a man?" Or "is it worth killing my children to hurt my husband?" She is very hardhearted and would do anything to get revenge. She can be seen as similar to Achilles in her rage and wrath but similar to clytemnestra in her pursuit of revenge.

Jenelle Fiori; Othello Act 1

The plot of Othello begins in Act 1, when Iago finds out that he did not get to be lieutenant. Instead Othello has gained the position. So, he tells Barbantio that Othello and Desdemona, Barbantio’s daughter, are sleeping together. When the Duke arrives, they all find out that their Turkish enemies are going to the nearby island so they must attack, with Othello in the lead. To this, Barbantio tells the Duke of Venice about what he has heard, to which Othello says that he and Desdemona are married. What is interesting about this argument is the fact that Othello is clearly an outsider to Venice. He is called the “black ram” who corrupts and woos the “white ewe” with the magic of his words and other sorcery. Another thing that is interesting to note is the fact that both Othello and Desdemona claim that before either had met, they both felt violent with anger, which foreshadows the events to come. I have read Othello in high school and found it interesting to see how Shakespeare compares two different places and people by using the objects around them and their actions. I really enjoy this play because of this, though I love all of Shakepeare's work.

Medea

I really liked reading Medea. it was different from the other Greek tragedies because it had a feminist point of view which was interesting. It has a female chorus which was a new concept, and Medea was a strong character who had been betrayed. It is interesting comparing her and Clytemnestra because Clytemnestra kills her husband because of the death of her child, but Medea kills of her children because of her passion turned to hatred for Jason. Medea puts her husband above her children, even her revenge against him, while Clytemnestra is only concerned with avenging her child, even though her husband is considered a Hero and did nothing directly to her.

Jenelle Fiori; Frogs

The plot of Frogs is about a man, named Dionysus, who wants to bring the poet Euripides back from the dead. When he arrived in Hades, he finds out that there is a contest to see who the greatest poet was in their life. The contesters include Euripides and Aeschylus. They argue by weighing their poetries and tragedies based on the lines they wrote, resulting as Aeschylus winning and Dionysus taking him back to Earth with him. This comedic satire was difficult to understand in that I was questioning why such esteemed poets would bicker as though they were immature children. In this, I wonder if the author, Aristophanes, wrote the play to make fun of the old ways of poetry and how it should be analyzed. In any sense, however, it was an interesting look at the lives of poets and their writings through a different point of view.

Medea

Euripides Medea tells a story of the supposed granddaughter of the Sun. This woman, Medea, helps Jason (who was in pursuit of the Golden Fleece) to complete tasks set forth by her own father Aeetes. While helping Jason, she actually ends up betraying her father and killing her brother. Medea and Jason end up fleeing from Colchis, Medea’s homeland. The play takes place in Corinth, the place they ended up after running away. Throughout the play she is portrayed as a cunning and determined woman who sought nothing but revenge against her husband, who betrayed her with another woman; a revenge so desired, she would hurt her own children to see it through.

Lillian Lai - Oedipus Rex

After reading Oedipus Rex, it can be inferred that fate is inescapable. In the story, it starts out with the oracle foreseeing that Oedipus will kill his own father and then marry his own mother. Oedipus’ father becomes extremely worried so he sent away Oedipus on a mountaintop as an alternative of him killing his own son himself. The reason for this is because killing your own family members will angry the Gods as seen in Orestes with the Furies. This illustrates the Greek culture and how it is immoral to kill your own family members and the consequences of doing so. Unexpectedly, Oedipus survives and ends up playing out this cruel fate as he kills his own father without knowing it and then gradually, marries his own mother. The play shows how no one can change their fates no matter how hard they try. It also illustrates the importance of oracles as they are the messengers of telling this cruel fate.

Oedipus Rex, Ralph Monfort

One of the famous Greek tragedy, that focuses on the idea that man can't escape their destiny. A premonition was made that Oedipus would kill his father. So, the king (father) abandon his son. He eventually grows up and return to seek the truth of his abandonment. However, just like it was prophecies he ends up killing the king and marrying the queen. The sad part about it is that the king was his father and the queen is his mother. Sadly, the mother eventually kills herself and Oedipus blinds himself.

Margaret Yoon: Medea

Medea is quite different from the works we have read because of the power given to the female figure, Medea, as well as the important role the Chorus of women plays. Similar to how others think Clytemnestra is manly in Agamemnon, Medea shows characteristics that were thought to be manlike at the time, such as her aggressiveness and potency. Clytemnestra and Medea also use language very cunningly to realize their goals. For example, Clytemnestra receives her husband with great welcome, as if to present a pretense of joy, and Medea convinces Jason that she has turned from her foolish anger and realized his good purpose to ensure their sons a bright future. But their words are empty, for their underlying intentions involve murder. Medea is more extreme to me in her desire for revenge, however, because she goes so far to kill her own children. Even though she has moments of weakness and indecision as to whether she should kill her children or take them with her to Athens, when she thinks of Jason’s unfaithfulness, she is fully resolved to continue her schemes again.

I think it was noteworthy that Jason slanders her with being a foreigner, connecting her crimes to her origins. He says, “I was mad before, when I brought you from your palace in a land of savages into a Greek home-you, a living curse, already a traitor both to your father and your native land” (179). Jason is beyond angry at this point, but I don’t think that excuses him from saying this, for Medea committed those crimes for his sake. By condemning her for killing her brother and deceiving her homeland, he envelopes the misunderstanding that spans the whole play-that he does not appreciate her full devotion to him in the past, evident in his marriage to Creon’s daughter.

Oedipus Rex

I met a girl named Cassandra in my economics class and when she saw the book "Greek Tragedy" on my desk, she got excited and start telling me how much she loves stories in the book. She told me Oedipus Rex was her favorite story. Thus, I wondered what is good about this story? At first, this story reminded me, Shakespear's Hamlet when the father who is king, was destined to be murdered by his own son and therefore abondon his son to far-far away as if Laius sent his son to a shepherd fearing the prophency. Ironically, the child ended up in the hand of king Polybus and Queen Merope who were childless themselves. He was named Oedipus. Oedipus later learns about his orables and avoid himself returning to Corinth. Unfortunately, by his misunderstanding of the oracles, he ventured to Thebes and killed Laius without realizing his as the king of Thebes nor as his birth father. Interestingly, I thought Sphinx is an Egyptian figure but also make its appearance in Greek Tragedy. Later on, Oedipus becomes a king by marrying widowed Queen, Jocasta. Tragedically, Laius' actions tried to avoid the oracles have led to the success of the oracle.

William Chiu

The fame of story of Oepidus Rex became relevant to me when i began to realize that T had heard of the story long before when i was merely just a child. i had seen a comical reanactment of the tale in an episode of the cartoon sitcom "the Simpsons. " The story was definitely a breath of fresh air in comparison to the stories of war that we have been reading in the past few tales. The meaning behind the story fails to have any significance to my reality however. I cannot birng myself to believing the strength of superstitions and fate to determine the events of my life and most importantly death. I believe he could have prevented the horrible events that seemed to pile upon one another in sequence, if he would have kept his head high and ignored his fate. His eyes would have been spared and he could have even continoued to be shielded from the truth which eventually forced him to over react to the situation which unevitably changed his future.

Oedipus Rex

Oedipus Rex is one of the more interesting stories out of ancient Greece. Starring Oedipus Rex, it deals with trying to change fate; Oedipus is charged with soon killing his father, and sleeping with his mother. While most Greek tales deal with fate, this one takes the idea to task the most directly I've seen so far this year. The entire story revolves around this premise; Oedipus was abandoned by his father due to this premonition, and the reason he leaves his new adopted home is again thanks to this telling of the future. Of course, after he leaves his home he ends up killing his father and indeed claiming his mother's hand in marriage. The story ends in true tragedy fashion, with Oedipus's mother killing herself and Oedipus himself blinding himself and leaving the kingdom. Very well told story overall, and one that deals with the easily grasped concept of fate and predestined actions.

Santigui Tounkara, Agamemnon

The play of Agamemnon is the story following the event of Iliad. After Agamemnon conquer Troy,a bad surprise was going to happen to him.His wife, Clytemnestra, decided to arrange is death after he sacrafied their daughter, Iphigenia, to the gods in order to have a safe return home from Troy. Clytemnestra was also very upset because she found out that her husband had an affair with a women named Cassandra.Clytemnestra seemed very evil in the play because of what she did to her husband and the fact that she also had an affair while Agamemnon was gone.

Oedipus Rex

Oedipus Rex was a fascinating play to read. It unfolded in a similar manner to a modern-day mystery story, but with gods and fate playing a role. I found the entire process of searching for the murderer to be incredibly ironic, since it is Oedipus that both initiates the search and ends up being the murderer. His character is likable, and it seems as if he is undeserving of his fate. His entire life, he has tried to be a good son, a good ruler, and a good husband, yet in the end he turns into a poor, blind beggar for the rest of his days. His only mistake was to try and avoid his fate of murdering his father and marrying his mother, yet for that one mistake he is punished heavily. I really liked the whole dramatic end scene where the chorus is narrating Oedipus' actions inside the house as he finds Jocasta dead and stabs his eyes out. The fact that the whole violent scene is never actually shown makes it much more ominous. The very end, too, where he is lamenting the fate of his daughters and then has to say goodbye to them forever is very sad. That seems to be the only point of the story: sending the message that trying to avoid one's fate will lead to ruin. I can definitely see this play as comprising part of a general campaign by the leaders of Athens to keep the populace subjugated, since the whole story is about knowing your place and accepting everything that happens to you or else facing the consequences.

Oedipus Rex

Oedipus Rex is one of the most famous plays of all time. It was written by Sophocles in a time where gods and goddesses were often featured interfering with human life. Fate was a key theme emphasized in many epics and tragedies. Oedipus Rex is no exception, and the story is built on how Oedipus, his father, Laius, and mother, Jocasta attempt to prevent their fate and end up suffering terribly.

Reading the story of Oedipus makes me feel this tragedy was intended to stir human emotion. I see it as a way of humbling people, and a reminder to make people realize some things are not always left up to their hands, though hopefully fate isn't as severe as Oedipus Rex. I cannot help but feel pity for the characters, as they did not intend harm but were punished for fate decreed it.

Willie Ho

Oedipus Rex is a play that follows the adage "Ignorance is bliss." When Oedipus did know know of his misdoings, he was fine with himself. When he takes the extra step and finds out the truth, he falls into a state of denial. He strongly and continuously hopes that what he hears is not true. During the scene which the facts are brought to light, Oedipus is the first to realize what has happened. It was he who killed Laius. However, the story retold by Queen Jocasta, as told to her by a servant, stated that Laius was killed by a group of men, and he is one man so he cannot be a group. Having heard this, he tries to hold on to the slim chance that it was not him.

Ironically, when Oedipus is ignorant to everything around him, he literally has vision. When he find out the truth and stabs his eyes out, he is no longer ignorant. He knows everything and is no longer in the dark. However, in a literal sense he is in the dark because he stabs out his own eyes due to his denial.

John Torres "Oedipus Rex"

Oedipus was a very interesting story. Death is a common characteristic in tragedies and it really shows in this tragedy. Dramatic irony was also very present and a major theme. Oedipus spends his entire life trying to hide a secret that eventually eats at his life and brings him down. Although he was envied by all men he lived with a secret and a crime that would not have been envied by anyone. He is only in peace after he dies. Ironically he tries to stay alive by keeping his secret and not living in peace but the only way to be peaceful is to admit to his wrongdoings and die in peace.

Oedipus Rex, Yeonsoo Kim

I have read the story of Oedipus Rex before. When I read it first, I felt bad for every single character in the story. In my point of view, they were all victims for themselves. King Laius tried to avoid his fate learned from the oracle, but due to his blunder on Chrysippus in the past, he gets paid back with death. And even he ordered the queen who is Oedipus’ mother to kill their own son. For me, Oedipus does not deserve any punishment, but he curses himself and harms his own body at the end. I guess all these tragedies really focus on the ethic so that people would learn from those and fear for the sin.

Oedipus Rex

In the tragedy of Oedipus Rex I found most compelling how throughout the entire play, the main plot line was for Oedipus to be killed. He supposed to be killed at birth, yet was saved by the shepherd, and then later in life when found out his true identity and relations to Jocasta and Laius he was also meant to be murdered in order to turn around the poor conditions of the land he rules . Yet he managed to live, blinded, but still alive. This is partly due to the fact that once the public learns that he is in fact his wife’s child and has killed his father; no one wants to go near him in fear of the curse that is posed upon him. He is already casted as an outcast in society and is believed to only have survived in order to continue to suffer the miserable conditions fate has given to him.

Oedipus

Oedipus by Sophocles is such an interesting play to read, in my opinion. The twists and turns are intriguing and keep the reader captivated. Reading Oedipus is almost like watching a crash; you know what is going to happen but there's no way to stop and you just can't look away. It's interesting that the punishment Sophocles chose for Oedipus was to have him blind himself and be exiled, a punishment worse then death. The only thing that bothers me about the story of Oedipus is that they waited so long to find the killer of Laius.
I have not begun reading Medea yet but I look forward to doing so because the story sounds interesting.

Oedipus Rex

This week in class we discussed the play, Oedipus Rex. We learn that Oedipus is the King of Thebes after solving the sphinx's riddle. He is married to Jocasta and is adamant about revealing the identity of Laius' murderer. As the play develops, we are introduced to a prophecy that ultimately identifies Oedipus as the murderer and the husband to his own father and mother respectively. The play is a story about the fate of one man; despite his efforts to not fulfill a prophecy, it is his actions that bring about his destiny and achieve the very thing he wanted to avoid. Oedipus is in denial through out the entire play and it does not come as shock when he stabs his eyes. I felt kind of bad for him and really enjoyed the play.

Oedipus the King

This week in class we discussed the Greek Tragedy Oedipus Rex. With the plague of Apollo ravaging the city of Thebes, fellow Thebans beseech their King, Oedipus to aid them through the difficult times. Oedipus is determined to cleanse the city of the awful affliction, and soon after the play begins, his brother in law, Creon, returns from the oracles with news about the plague. The oracles say the plague is caused by the unresolved murder of Thebes’ previous King, Laius. This sets up the major plot of the play, Oedipus’ quest to find the murderer of King Laius. One theme seen through the play and most of Greek Tragedy in general, is the inevitability of fate. Oedipus is predicated by the oracles to kill his father and marry his mother, and to prevent this, his parents send him off to be killed. But, in fact, he isn’t killed, and in fact, ends up killing his father, and marrying his mother. I enjoyed reading this play and it was interesting to read on and see how this impracticable prophecy unfolded.

Oedipus Rex

Oedipus Rex depicts the power of fate and how it is impossible to change our destiny's. As in the case of Oedipus who kills his father and marries his mother even with all the intervensions made to kill him by his father, mother and the shepheard. One of the elements that make this story a sad one is the portrayal of Oedipus's character. He is a person of contradiction and is quick to judgement because he wants to be seen as a good leader. If he had taken his time to find out about the murder of Laius privately or listened to the messenger and his wife and dropped the investigation he might not have found out about the abomination he commited. Oedipus not being able to see past what is in front of him makes his tragedy a very sad one. However one thing i didn't understand was why after Laius's death the throne was given to Oedipus, a stranger and not Creon, Jocsta's brother who is a native of Thebes.

Oedipus Rex

Believe in or not, the most famous part of the story of Oedipus is about the puzzle he resolved when he encountered with Sphinx on his way to Thebes. "What has four legs in the morning, two during the daytime, and three in the evening?" The great man used his wisdom to figure out the answer but he did not realize that his native wit was also the key that lead him to his tomb. In my opinion, the riddle plot is a very critical part of the tragedy. If Oedipus could not answer the question, he probably would be killed like many other travellers. Then, he would never get a chance to be overconfident about his immortal. The overconfidence blinded Oedipus and let him denied his fate till the very last moment. Therefore, Oedipus' overconfidence somehow strengthened his tragedy. I do not think that Oedipus should be a person who desired condemnation even though he killed his father and married with his mother. His fate was impressed at the very beginning of his life.

Felicia Ooi; Medea

Medea is an extremely apt example of the epithet “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”. After all the help she gave Jason in his quest to obtain the Golden Fleece and saving his life on several occasions, even betraying her father and country, I could sympathize with Medea when Jason decided to remarry another woman of royal birth – the daughter of Creon, King of Corinth at the time. However, that is the extent of my sympathy.

Medea is portrayed as a woman who is very prideful and her most important priority is that of her honor. She is deeply upset when Jason leaves her and this grief drove her to madness, to a rage that was murderous enough to go beyond any natural, human, motherly/wifely instincts that she might have possessed. There is no doubt that Medea is a woman of great cunning and with many skills at her disposal. However, her life is riddled with deaths, all of her own orchestration, from the dismemberment of her half-brother to the death of Pelias, to the deaths of her own children and Creon and his daughter.

Nevertheless, I cannot help but feel that yet again this was in part because of the gods’ intervention in mortal lives. It was after all Aphrodite who caused Medea to fall hopelessly in love with Jason. However, it was Medea herself who chose to exact her revenge on Jason in such a cruel and cold-blooded manner that involved the deaths of her own innocent children. All though she does show some regret and indecision at killing her own children, she ends up choosing revenge over her children and this makes Medea an extremely vicious character, even by Greek tragedy standards.

Felicia Ooi; Oedipus Rex

I found the Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex to be a compelling story of self-denial, especially by the main character, Oedipus himself. I felt that Oedipus was initially a very sincere person, who eventually became nothing more than a victim of cruel fate. The Greek society places grave importance on the roles played by oracles and seers and they strongly believe that fate cannot be changed, that your destiny is set out for you.

To me, Oedipus was really nothing more than a victim of his fate. Before he was born he was doomed to kill his father and marry his mother. As a result, his father wanted to kill him as an infant but fate won out and Oedipus grew up as a prince of Corinth instead of as the rightful prince of Thebes. Oedipus too places faith in fate, and because he did not wish to kill his adoptive father and marry his adoptive mother, he headed away from Corinth back to Thebes and from there on sealed his fate.

Oedipus became a character who was willfully blinded, first to the truth about his fate. Soon after he realized the truth, he physically blinded himself because of the great crime he had unintentionally committed. I actually felt quite sorry for Oedipus because he was just trying to avoid the dark fate prophesied about him, but wound up falling into fate’s trap anyway.

Jenelle Fiori; Medea

The play, Medea, is a story about a woman who is seeking revenge on her faithless husband, Jason, after he marries the King’s daughter to raise his status. Then Medea is banished from Corinth by King Creon because he fears that she will do something to harm the kingdom in response to her rage. In the end, she gets her revenge by killing Creon, his daughter and Medea’s two sons so that Jason will know how she felt when he took away her entire life- him. What I find interesting about Medea is the fact that she becomes more and more evil until her plan is fulfilled. Her past foreshadows this because she betrayed her own family and country by marrying Jason. She, however, feels that she is just in seeking revenge because she left her family to help Jason find the Golden Fleece. Meanwhile, Jason thinks that his marriage to the princess is just because he wants his sons to have a higher rank in society. Either way, I have notices that in Greek Tragedies, women are portrayed as irrational people who act in rage, as opposed to men, to cause trouble.

Willie Ho

From what I have read of Oedipus Rex so far, it has proven to be yet another greed tragedy. It stays true to the similar style seen in Agamemnon. The chorus remains a strong part of the play, as a filler for information. So the play is a bit coincidental in its nature. Oedipus Rex kills the king unknowingly and becomes king himself, only to later find that he was the killer and kills himself.

Oedipus doesn't seem like much of a likable character though. During the exchange of words between him and Tiresias, you notice his arrogance in the conversation. Tiresias has been kind enough to give him valuable information, although worded a bit strangely, but Oedipus can only make witty remarks and call flaunt his greatness. He gets rid of the sphinx and gets ahead of himself. Perhaps this is the infamous hubris that is so common among the Greek heroic tragedians?

Agamemnon

After reading Agamemnon, the readers see a whole new side of Agamemnon as it goes in depth about his life such as sacrificing his daughter for the war to his wife cheating on him. But in The Iliad, Agamemnon is perceived as a complete opposite, ruthless and coldhearted. It can be inferred when he steals Briseis from Achilles just because he lost his booty in the Trojan War. The play was interesting because Agamemnon is perceived as a victim in the play because his wife, Clytemnestra cheats on him when he is away at war and later on, she stabs him from the back. It can be inferred that Clytemnestra detests Agamemnon because he sacrificed his daughter to win the Trojan War. The play also shows Clytemnestra’s true side while maintaining Agamemnon’s brutal personality.

Margaret Yoon: Oedipus Rex

Even though I have read Oedipus Rex a few times before, my reading of it this time was different in that I had a more heightened awareness to the rhetorical devices Sophocles uses. For instance, dramatic irony is used almost excessively, for the reader or the audience know Oedipus’ fate, even before Oedipus becomes suspicious of his past. Whether it is the Chorus, Tiresias, or another character foreshadowing the impending agony truth brings to Oedipus and Thebes, the reader is fully aware of the course of events, which makes it more effective. I felt a sense of dread that continued to build throughout the play because I knew that something terrible would follow after Oedipus learns he has killed his father and slept with his mother. I could not even imagine what it must be like to experience such a thing-it is a shame beyond shame.

Oedipus’ ignorance reminded me of an Italian short story called “Una Voce,” or “A Voice” by Luigi Pirandello. In the story, there is a blind man, Silvio, who falls in love with Lydia, or more like his idea of her. Because he cannot see her, he just imagines her as a stunningly beautiful woman, which hurts Lydia and makes her run away in the end before Silvio receives his sight. I just thought that it was similar to Oedipus’ ignorance because Silvio is so blinded (not only physically but metaphorically) by his own design of Lydia that he fails to accept the possibility that she is just an “average” but kindhearted lady. Likewise, Oedipus fails to accept the truth in the beginning because he is blinded by his pursuit to find the person guilty for Thebes’ calamity, when it is himself.

One thing that confused me a little were the references to people or gods on p. 114, when the text mentions Cyllene’s lord, Pan, and Dionysus, because I do not have enough background to grasp the connection to further the ambiguity and anxiousness of knowing Oedipus’ origins.

Agamemnon, Ralph Monfort

Agamemnon is a tragedy written after the events of the Iliad. It focuses on the return of Agamemnon back home from the war. In that day his wife, Clytemnestra plots to seek revenge on their death of their daughter, Iphigenia. Right before he embarked for Troy. Agamemnon slaughtered Iphigenia so the goddess Artemis would give him favorable winds for the ships. Also, Clytemnestra plans to kill him and his mistress, Cassandra, because of their affair.

Agamemnon

The tragedy of Agamemnon begins with his back from Troy and ends with his murder by his wife Clytemnestra. Clytemnestra is created to be a viperous,dislikeable and vicious woman in the story. She murdered Agamemnon for fulfilling her revenge. Clytemnestra could not forgive Agamemnon because he sacrificed their daughter Iphigenia ten years ago in order to placate the goddess Artemis who had been sending contrary winds to prevent the Greek Armies from sailing to Troy. Agamemnon's behavior was improper and Iphigenia was an innocent girl. At this point, the murderer may win sympathy. However, if Agamemnon deserved to die because he was the murderer of Iphigernia, Clytemnestra also deserved "Payment of blood for blood". Thus, the tragedy is not only of Agamemnon, but also of his family.

Agamemnon

Agamemnon appears both in Iliad and Agamemnon. The Iliad deals with his quarrel with Achilles during the Trojan War where as Agamemnon tells the tragedy that goes around Agamamnon upon his return from Troy. This poem deals with the tragic backgrounds that was set up by adultry, revenge and death. And these events eventually leads to the pathetic death of Agamemnon. Agamemnon sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia in exchange for favourable wids in front of Greek Army. When his wife, Clytemnesrta, knew what Agamemnon had done, she seeks to avenge her daughter's death. Meanwhile, Aegisthus looks for a chance to punish Agamemnon for the crimes of Agamemnon's father Atreus against his own father Thyestes. When Agamemnon was away to the war, he seduced Clytemnestra and planned with her to murder Agamemnon when he returns. While Agamemnon was in Troy, he took a concubine named Cassandra who is the captive daughter of King Priam. Eventually, Clytemnestra ends up killing Cassadra as well as Agamemnon, describing them as lovers. Her murder was justificed as a mother who lost her daughter and seeks for revenge or a wife to punished her husband who took a mistress. She wasn't aware of her own fault of having adulterous relationship with Aegisthus...

Agamemnon

I found Agamemnon to be a very interesting and easy read to understand. One thing that i found very interesting about it was that Clytemnestra was seen as a villain. I believe that her anger was just and that she was not a villain at all. She deserved to hate Agamemnon and seek revenge because Agamemnon had selfishly sacrificed their own daughter for personal gain. In the end of the book they made Agamemnon death a tragedy because he did not die a heroes death but that is what he deserved for his greed and selfishness.

Emily Clarke, Agamemnon

The family tree and history behind the story of Agamemnon is one that is hard to keep straight. Everyone is intertwined through marriages, murders, and love. It is interesting to look back into the tree and see how people died, why they were married to who they were, and who they spited. The cursed placed upon people is also neat to learn about. The G-ds thought up very interesting way to punish people that is much different than something in a contemporary reading.

Like I talked about in my paper, it is interesting to read from the point of view of the time. After reading one can see how people, especially women, were viewed and not respected at all.

William Chiu

The story of Agamemnon truly lives up to the genre tragedy. Throughout the story characters constantly betray one another and scheme to kill each other. Most evident of these traits would be Agamemnon's wife Clytemnestra who kills her own husband. However one cannot blame her angry for Agamemnon failed to demonstrate qualities of a father nor humanity when he decided to allow the sacrificing of his daughter for his own personal gain. His inhuman act places the story's value of women in question. We are at opposing ends when we compare the emphasis placed on the power of Clytemnestra and the lack of importance placed in the life of Agamemnon's daughter. One suggest the author values the respects the ability of women to take charge and give orders. While the other shows how women can be killed almost at will. However despite the man-like qualities exhibited by Clytemnestra, she stills demonstrates the qualities that are very stereotypical of women with her reasoning for killing her husband. One cannot help but assume that she murdered her husband and husband's lover out of angry jealousy. Agamemnon a very interesting because it did not have excessively long soliloquys. It focused on the human aspect of the characters by allowing the readers to see the emotional conflicts occurring thorughtout the story.

Agamemnon

Agamemnon's death in his self-titled play seemed very fitting to me. It was satisfying in that he was punished (in my view) fairly for his murder of his own daughter as a sacrifice to the gods. The appearance of one murder to avenge another murder fits into the pattern of "violence begets violence" quite well. I liked that Clytemneptra had the courage to avenge her daughter's death, but it didn't make me like her any more. The descriptions of her character in general didn't particularly endear her to me, especially when the chorus describes her as having masculine aims and ambitions.
As depressing and tragic as the story is, however, it is definitely clear that Aeschylus achieved his aim in making the play extremely cathartic. There are no truly happy or joyful moments in the play at all, the action and plot of the story all focuses on murder and violence. Setting up the background with Iphigenia being murdered gives a reason for Agamemnon to be murdered but also helps the viewers/readers get involved with the story by wanting him to be punished. The only emotions that the audience is supposed to feel are anger and dislike, and that's what I felt reading the play.

Agamemnon

Agamemnon is a really depressing play, which i guess is a common characteristic of a tragedy. It was hard for me to decide whose side I was one between Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. How is it fair that killing a King is so much more of a crime than killing an innocent girl. I was already a little negative towards Agamemnon from the Iliad when he was so obnoxious to Achilles. It is also understandable Clytemnestra's rage at losing a daughter at the hand of her own husband. There was no other possible revenge other than killing him, because he murder was not deemed a crime.

It is interesting how different authors take on the same characters to write about. Agamemnon shows up in the Iliad and has his own tragedy. His wife is also mentioned in the Iliad. How did these characters remain constant through different stories?

Agamemnon, John Torres

Agamemnon was a very interesting piece. It was interesting to see how the Trojan War was depicted from a different perspective than The Iliad. The dramatic irony was also very interesting. There were a lot of different factors in the irony that contributed to the death of Cassandra and Agamemnon. Between the sacrificing of Agamemnon's daughter, the walking on the carpet that was an act of Hubris and the act of kidnapping Cassandra. Agamemnon was killed because of the sacrificing of his daughter to the gods but the other acts of violence were ironically involved with his death. Also it is debatable that Agamemnon's father's act of feeding his brothers children to his brother. The gods might have taken vengeance on Agamemnon for his fathers heinous crime.

Agamemnon, Yeonsoo Kim

I think Agamemnon is one of the most depressing stories that I have ever read in my life. I thought the tragedy started from when Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter for expedition, but the origin of tragedy on Agamemnon’s family led off by Tantalos who are Agamemnon’s ancestor. As time goes, the tragedy gets even worse. I can’t imagine any of the conducts that people carried out in this story. Although Agamemnon was blind for his glory so that he let his daughter to be killed, if his family was full of love for each other, the story of Agamemnon would have not been existed. Since it’s the tragedy, it shows the extreme case of this kind.

Agamemnon

The Greek Tragedy that we read this week was Agamemnon. It is about the events that take place at the Royal Palace at Argos after Agamemnon’s victory of the Trojan War. I found the use of the Chorus as the main commentators interesting. They expressed the social attitude and morals of the people in a given situation and acted as a voice for the audience on stage. Cassandra, the war prize from Troy for Agamemnon, is a peculiar character in the play. She was Apollo’s lover, and was given the gift of prophecy, but was punished by Apollo when she refused to have his child. Her punishment was that no one would believe her predictions, and this holds true when the Chorus did not believe her vision of the death of Agamemnon and herself. Overall, I enjoyed reading this tragedy and found the storyline to be entertaining.

Agamemnon

Agamemnon is a tragedy i found very interesting to read. It is about the events that happened to Agamemnon after the Trojan war. He is killed by his wife as vengeance for sacrificing their daughter in the Trojan war. One thing i found interesting in this story were the roles the women played. The women in this story unlike the epic are very strong, outspoken, very important to the stroyline and are also the main characters of the story. Cassandra can see visions and sees her and Agamemon's demise before it happens while Clytemnestra actually kills her husband. She is deceptive and plans the whole murder even before Agamemnon comes back from war. I love the roles of the two women in this story and how they stand out of the social norms of their time. However i do not really get how or why Cassandra was killed because it is not really explained in the story.

Courtney Lum

Immediately following the war, Agamemnon is a Greek tragedy that tells the story of the war hero, Agamemnon and his murder that occurs when he return home. One of the more intriguing aspects to this story is the complete lack of compassion and remorse from Clytemnestra after she murders her own husband who she hasn’t seen in 10 years. I understand that his murder was due to Agamemnon’s family curse, as well as his sacrificing his daughter for favorable conditions in the war, but what I find troubling is Clytemnestra’s defense for murdering her husband was due to infidelity, when she was cheating on him as well. I also don’t understand why Clytemnestra felt it necessary to kill Cassandra as well, I suppose it’s due to the fact that she was in a sense, the other woman. Overall, Agamemnon was a great Greek play in which the characters explored the ideas of revenge and tragedy.

Opedius Rex

The tale of Opedius Rex (or Opedius the King) is probably the most twisted tale we've read so far. Focusing on the story of Opedius, who is predicted to kill his father and sleep with his mother, this Greek tragedy deals heavily with the theme of free will. The question is how much a person has a say in their own lives, and how much is their fate determined before they are even born. In this story, the tellers of fate come in the form of oracles and prophets, who tell those who listen what will happen to them. In reality, however, few people can honestly say their fates have been accurately predicted; the popular methods of fortune tellers, and horoscopes rarely come true as they are told. Still, people who believe in these methods of telling the future hold fast to the idea of pre-ordained history, and that every action we take has been predicted and taken into account. This idea is based on somewhat flimsy evidence, but is still widely believed, as seen by the proliferance of horoscopes in newspapers and online every day.

Agamemnon

Agamemnon is a Greek tragedy that takes place in the time period immediately following the Trojan war. The story opens with the chorus describing the events of the past 10 years, which refers to the story in the Iliad. In the tragedy, Agamemnon sacrifices his own daughter, Iphigenia, to the god Artemis in order to obtain his favor for the greek fleet. Agamemnon's wife, Clytemnestra, is completely angered by this decision and is determined to seek revenge on her husband. She pretends to be happy upon his arrival, which is just a front until she kills both Agamemnon and Cassandra. Aegisthus also sought revenge on Agamemnon and joins Clytemnestra once she commits the murders. The entire tragedy occurs in the same place so that the drama or action can be as concentrated as possible. The tragedy also employs the use of dramatic irony, since the audience already knows what will happen before it actually occurs. Agamemnon is essentially a story of revenge prompted by the sacrifice made by Agamemnon.

Agamemnon and Oedipus

Agamemnon was a very interesting story to read. The character of Clytemnestra, though completely interesting, is also very fascinating. I thought that it was nice to see a strong female character in a story, who is not controlled by a man and controls her own actions. I think that the fact that she is trying to enact revenge for the murder of her daughter is a redeeming quality.

Oedipus Rex is one of my favorite stories. The twists and turns in the story make it intriguing and an easy read. I always find it amusing how characters who have had a prophecy of doom that will come with a child tries to prevent that doom by sending their child away. Then, by doing sending the child away, they bring about the prophecy anyway. Although this necessary for a story, it’s still an interesting point to think about.

Agamemnon and Oedipus Rex

The closing of Agamemnon was very interesting because it became apparent how fake and deceitful Clytaemnestra was from the beginning of the play. She was a woman with a plan and she had every intention of seeing it through. She killed Agamemnon and was quite upfront about how she went about doing it but made sure to justify her actions with the revelation of Agamemnon’s past deeds as well.

The plot of Oedipus is very interesting and captivating. I couldn’t help but get caught up in the drama that surrounded Oedipus. First off, Oedipus is the adopted son of Polybus and Periboea and birth son of Jocasta and Laius. He ran from home upon learning of a prophecy that claimed he would kill his father and marry his mother (thinking that meant Polybus and Periboea and unbeknownst to the fact that Laius, his birth father, got rid of him when he was just a baby). What ends up happening is that Laius and Oedipus crossed paths and Oedipus kills him and later on brings down the Sphinx, then replaces Laius as king of Thebes. Further on in the tale, Oedipus is struck with the task of healing his state, Thebes, and therefore reaches out to the Gods and is told that In order to restore his state he must get rid of the murderer of Laius. Not knowing that he himself was the murderer of Laius, Oedipus sets this curse upon the murderer and seeks their downfall, basically digging his own grave. This play is enticing because of this irony and unveiling of truths that Oedipus did not know. It is funny how determined he is to find this murderer and ends up accusing innocent people, when he is the actual perpetrator.

Jenelle Fiori; Oedipus Rex

I had previously read Oedipus Rex in my sophomore year of high school, which I really enjoyed. I find it very interesting how quickly a tragic hero can fall so quickly in a Greek tragedy all because of a prophecy, which is how Agamemnon relates to Oedipus. The hero, Oedipus, is put into power because he defeats the king of Thebes and the sphinx. Then he marries the Queen Jocasta. However, he hears a prophecy saying that he will kill he father and marry his mother. This is true because King Liaus, who he had killed, sent Oedipus as a child when he was younger after hearing the destiny of the child. After the realization of the prophecy coming true, despite all efforts to avoid it, Oedipus blinds himself by gashing out his eyes. Thus, the lesson of this tragedy is that you cannot escape your own fate no matter how hard you try.

Ramayana

The Ramayana is probably the most difficult text so far, in that it's origins lie in the East, and isn't a traditional western tale, and uses a number of terms that obviously don't have easy English translations. Despite this, the actual narrative is fairly intriguing, featuring a pantheon that was new and fresh to me, as well as the actual tale. Rama seemed to be flawed as a person, but as a leader single handedly won the hearts and the minds of all his populace. Despite the difficulties with comprehending the text itself, the story was well told enough for me to enjoy it.

Agamemnon, Ralph Monfort

Agamemnon is a play that is based after the events of the Trojan war. It focuses on the return of Agamemnon after his victory of Troy. Upon, his return he brings along a mistress, Cassandra who has prophesying abilities which predict the death of her and Agamemnon. Agamemnon like most Greek tragedies the whole play takes place in one day. In this time frame, Agamemnon angered his wife, Clytemnestra with the fact that he sacrificed his daughter to please one of the Gods. So, she takes upon her self to seek revenge upon him.

Margaret Yoon

Agamemnon, a Greek tragedy by Aeschylus, became more intriguing as the plot unfolded. I liked the character of Cassandra because she was a little mysterious, for her prophesying abilities, granted by Apollo, told of her and Agamemnon’s fates long before in dialogue before the Clytemnestra actually kills them. This however, strangely did not take away from the suspense and tension that heightens towards the impending murders. Revenge is a recurring theme, for Agamemnon goes to war to avenge the abduction of Helen, his brother’s wife; Clytemnestra kills her husband because Agamemnon is stained by the blood of their daughter’s death; Aegisthus plans Agamemnon’s death to avenge the wrongs Agamemnon’s father, Atreus, committed by tricking Aegisthus’ father, Thyestes, into eating his own children; and Cassandra foretells Clytemnestra that her son Orestes will avenge her for Agamemnon’s death.

When the Chorus fears a flood, evident in its dread that “the deluge is in store” (line 1535), I saw a parallel to the creation myths, especially Genesis, for God brings about the flood to cleanse man’s sin. I interpret the Chorus’ dread as the gods potentially destroying Clytemnestra for killing her husband, as well as delivering punishment to undue sin in general.

I did not like how Aegisthus is so cold-hearted and rude to the elders, for he threatens to punish them for chastising him in planning Agamemnon’s death. I think he is too strong-headed and blind in his desire for revenge.

Agamemnon

In the play Agamemnon it is obvious that the chorus plays a vital role in the development of the events. The chorus spends a lot of time sharing the details of the actions, much more than what is spent actually acting out the play. Also another obvious detail of the play is the portrayal of Clytemnestra as a very strong, almost male-like, character. I found this to be unusual considering women’s words and feelings are often times suppressed within texts and are presented as inferior to men. I feel because of her depiction as such a strong individual with such a vengeful purpose throughout the play, she steals the attention from many of the other characters. The play consists of drama that I found myself eager to see unveil as I read.

The Iliad and The Ramayana

The Iliad and the Ramayana are synchronically world literatures. Both of these two epics were created before 100 A.D. Like the significant influence of the Iliad and Odyssey on Ancient Greek, The Ramayana and Mahabharata also played a very important role in Ancient India. We can find many common points between the Iliad and the Ramayana by just comparing the two centered heroes, Achilles and Rama. Meanwhile, we may also find some diversity due to the development of the civilization in different regions. But in conclusion, Ramayana is a didactic epic and Iliad is a dialectic epic. The similarities and dissimilarities of the two epics reveal the diversities of the literature, culture and social background between the Greek and India in the ancient heroic age. This also can be concluded as the difference between the Liberalism of the Western and the Conservatism of the Eastern in the ancient age.

Agamemnon

I liked reading the Greek tragedies that I read in high school, I read Oedipus and Antigone. Agamemnon is hard to get through because the chorus talks for longs periods of time. Even a live performance of this play would be difficult to keep paying attention to because there would be no action happening on stage, basically just the chorus lecturing the audience on past events. I'm not sure how I feel about Clytemnestra. She is a strong character, and is continually compared to a man, which is seems in Greek history and social society would be a positive thing, however, she is head strong and selfish and will do anything to get what she, regardless of whether or not it is good for the country. It is crazy to think though that Agamemnon, he husband, was gone for 10 years! Most people would have moved on, but i guess during ancient wars it was more common for men to be gone long periods of time.

Agamemnon

Agamemnon was very interesting for many reasons. One thing that i liked about it was that it went in detail about a character that you only here about brifly in the Iliad. In this book you learn alot more about who Agamemnon is and where he comes from. I also liked the chorus and how they acted as narration throughout the book. Another thing i found interesting was how Cassandra could predict her future and impending death but like most Greek stories could not change her fate.

Ramayana and Iliad, Yeonsoo Kim

My book didn't arrive yet, so I will talk about the last week reading. Ramayana and Iliad, these two ancient literatures do not seem to have the similarities between them. But, quite interestingly, they share a couple of similar points. First of all, their main theme in the story is love and revenge. To be honest, love and revenge are most common topic in the world of literature, so it might not be that exciting to see it as similarity. Secondly, they are both epic. I think it is important that we are looking for the reason these two literatures were originally written in the form of epic but in prose. For me, I like the version in prose better. I think it is more comfortable to read.

Agamemnon, Santigui Tounkara

The play of Agamemnon is very interesting.It again deals a lot with the gods interacting with the characters of the play just like in Ilad. In Agamemnon, the chorus have a very important role because they link everything together.I found Agamemnon more interesting then Ilad so far because there is a lot more stuff going on. Moreover, the reading is easier to understand than some other readings we had.I am exicted to read the next chapter.

William Chiu

I found this poem to be the easiest read of all the poems we have encountered in the semester so far. It was also very convenient to have had read the other stories before concerning the details of the war in Troy. This gave me much needed insight into any parts that I found slightly confusing considering how the story actually begins with dialogue that requires prior knowledge to be aware of the happenings. The story also contains the names of many Greek beings such as the stories before. It becomes frustrating at times to try to remember all of the characters and their role and importance to the plot. Despite the appearance of so many characters, the spotlight is on Clytemnestra in a poem that is titled Agamemnon. The poem gives much needed support for women during the Greek times. Contrary to the depiction of women as weak and inferior to men in every way, Agamemnon shows us a wife who is clearly a man in all her characteristics if sex is not taken into account. This role reversal in addition to the well written translation makes the story a very enjoyable read in comparison to Ramayana.

Agamemnon

Agamemnon was an interesting play. It was definitely different from any of the modern plays I've seen in that the chorus has such a large part explaining and narrating. It seems like the play is more dependent on the chorus than on the actual characters to expound everything. The play seems very short, especially when you consider that no sooner does Cassandra get to Agamemnon's palace and realize the history of the place and her impending death, than it happens. She arrives and prophesizes her own death and Agamemnon's at the hand of Clytemnestra for revenge of the daughter sacrificed, then immediately goes into the palace and is killed. I felt a lot of pity for her since she knew what was going to happen. I didn't feel a lot of pity for Clytemnestra. Yes, Agamemnon killed her daughter, so I understand why she killed him for that, but it seems hypocritical that she also murders Cassandra because she was sleeping with her husband when she herself is friendly with Aegisthus.

Willie Ho

I discovered Agamemnon to be an enjoyable play. It is hard to believe we use this as a form of education when it was previously, at the time it was written, wrote for the purpose of entertainment. The play was filled with duplicity and many turns of events. What I like most about the Greek tragedy was the chorus. The chorus never failed to supply me with the information needed to understand the next scene completely. Sometimes the chorus went on for pages and it got rather annoying because I often wondered whether I missed a name somewhere in the middle because maybe someone else could have been saying the lines. While the chorus remained informative, the individual lines of the characters were much more entertaining because it was more like a conversation than the monotone chorus.

I would also like to note some oddities of the play. For a play titled "Agamemnon," Agamemnon himself does not appear as much as I thought. Rather, Clytemnestra appears the most. Clytemnestra and Agamemnon don't seem to match as husband and wife. They speak to each other so formally. Clytemnestra seems to be more affectionate to Aegisthus.

On a random note, it was kind of funny when Agamemnon was being killed and he says, "Help! I'm struck again!" But then T realized that violence was not shown on stage so he probably had to narrate it and it wasn't funny after that.

Courtney Lum

What was most confusing about the play Agamemnon was remembering the names of each character and their relationships to each other, but besides that I found Aeschylus’s play to be an enjoyable and interesting read. One of my favorite things about all Greek (more so Athenian) literature is that each text connects to one another to tell a collective tale about one significant event. For example, the Iliad focuses on Agamemnon and Achilles’ quarrel during the Trojan War, Aeschylus’s play Agamemnon actually deals with the king coming home from the Trojan War and his murder, while the Odyssey begins after Agamemnon’s death and his son, Orestes has avenged his death. These are three different texts from two different authors that all cover the same range of a time period, which therefore creates a complete, detailed collection of that time period that is extremely thorough.

agamemnon

After I read Shakespearian Play during my high school year, I never had chance to read any other types of Plays such as Greek Tragedy. As the title suggests, this play is about Agamemnon who is the king of Argos and has a wife named Clytemenestra. From Iliad that I previously read in class, Agamemnon was already known as the commander of the Trojan War which was caused by the abduction of Helen. I could have find some overlapping plots between Iliad and Agamemnon as the chorus talks about abduction of Helen by Paris and the beginning of the ten years of war between Greece and Troy. Although stories are told in similar form as other epical poems, it was easier for me to imagine the scenes and enjoy reading the play more. I haven’t finished the chapter yet but I can’t wait to find out what tragic events that Agamemnon will face.

Iliad/Ramayana

I haven't started reading Agamemnon so i would just talk about some of the comparisons between the Ilaid and the Ramayana which is some of what we covered in class last week. Similarites in both stories include that they are both epics, they are both didactic, they both deal with the theme of abduction, they start with a great conflict, etc. There are also lots of differences between the two stories but the greatest difference i saw was in the characters of the heroes (Achilles and Rama). While Achilles is prideful and wrathless, Rama is calm and very forgiving. Rama is contemplative and thinks about the repercussion of things before he does them while Achilles doesn't care about anything. He does what he wants at anytime. The Iliad and the Ramayana are two very great stories and i enjoyed reading both works.

Felicia Ooi; Agamemnon

Agamemnon was an interesting read. It gave me more insight into Agamemnon's story. I did not like his character in the Iliad and this tragedy did not portray Agamemnon in a more favorable light. The Chorus basically narrates the story starting from how Paris stole Helen from Menelaus and started off the Trojan War. What I don't understand is why Clytemnestra killed Agamemnon for being "unfaithful" cheating on her with Cassandra when she herself was having an affair with Aegisthus, who is Agamemnon's cousin. Once again, the gods are shown to play a very big part in the struggles between mortals.

Agamemnon

Agamemnon was an enjoyable Greek Tragedy to read. I thought the translation was very easy to understand and simple to decipher its meaning. The main theme seen throughout the play is the idea of justice, and how it’s served to those who transgress. The Chorus questions whether it was just for so many Greek lives to be lost over the sake of one woman. Also, later on in the play, the Chorus has accepted the attack of Troy, but feel the Greeks must moderate how badly they damage the city, because if they are too destructive, their acts become unjust and will be punished for their excess. Gender is another theme seen in Agamemnon. Ancient Greece is a patriarchal society, and the Chorus frequently refers to women as irrational, deceitful, and inattentive of the facts. However, her careful and rational planning of the murder of her husband disproves the irrational stereotype, while reinforcing deceit.

The Ramayana

After I found out more about The Ramayana I began to enjoy the story more because I understood what was happening a little bit better. I enjoyed how the translation made it so easy to flow through the story, and how it made it much more natural to read, even if I didn’t know entirely what was happening the whole time. Cantos 47-49 of Book 3 were particularly interesting and I enjoyed reading Sita’s defense of Ram. I think that, even if she played the subservient wife to Ram, that she is still a very strong female character and that it is admirable how she resisted Ravan during the time of her capture.

Jenelle Fiori; Agamemnon

This weekend I read Poetry, by Aristotle, The Preface to Agamemnon and Agamemnon. I read these three things in this order because it really did help me to understand what exactly was going on in the story and to understand the differences between a tragedy and an Epic. I also had a better knowledge of the characters from The Iliad. In reading Agamemnon, I have realized that a lot of the Greek tragedies portray characters that are very immature in their reaction to certain events. Such include Clytemnestra, who in response to her daughter’s murder by her husband, kills Agamemnon and his lover, Cassandra. In the beginning of the story, the woman seems to be loving and faithful of her husband when he returns home from the Trojan War, but this is a fake emotion because for the years that Agamemnon was gone, she was having an affair with Aegisthus and plotting Agamemnon’s murder. It is very rare in Greek tragedies that a woman would play such a keen role in the plot or be portrayed as such a violent character. Normally, they are portrayed as beautiful, innocent and weak, without saying a word. In this tragedy, however, Clytemnestra speaks out quite often, especially to the chorus when he speaks to her as a mere woman. In fact, this story should have been named “Clytemnestra” because she plays more of a role in the plot than Agamemnon did.

Jordan Hernandez

We started off the week discussing the Ramayana. Canto 2 of Book 1 depicts Brahma's (the creator) visit. We learn that sheeva is the god of destruction and vishnu is a god that keeps the balance. Canto 3 essentially summarizes the entire story. I also noticed that they describe sacrifices and mantras that are spoken making them quite ritualistic. In addition we began to discuss canto 47 of Book 3 when Ravan attempts to woo Sita. Moreover, we compared Achilles and Ram and the consistent themes within both epics. Such themes include war and abduction. One thing, however, that I noticed is that the "bloodiness" present in the Iliad is missing in the Ramayana. I'm not entirely sure why that is the case and I don't think that it has much significance. I enjoyed reading the two verses of the Iliad because I actually understood them. I liked reading parts of the Ramayana except for Canto's 2 and 3, which were so confusing to me.

I'm not sure how I feel about reading the tragedies since I didn't enjoy reading them back in high school.

Margaret Yoon

The Agamemnon is an interesting read because I become more familiar with a character that was already mentioned in my previous reading of The Iliad. The play presents an interesting theme of gender roles from the beginning, for Clytemnestra professes, “These are a woman’s words” (line 348 Aeschylus), whereas the chorus immediately responds with, “Lady, your words are like a man’s, both wise and kind” (line 351). Because she rules Argos in her husband Agamemnon’s absence, she takes on “manly” characteristics, evident in her strength and forthrightness. She reminds me of Medea in Euripides’ play, because both are rather frightening in their clever words. They both persuade those around them, which makes their words their weapons.

One thing I had a little difficulty with was following which side Zeus is on, for in The Iliad, he listens to Achilles’ mother, Thetis’ plea to make the Achaean army suffer, but it seems that he is fully on Greece’s side in the Agamemnon. Perhaps there is a discrepancy because I have not read the entire Homeric epic.

Lillian Lai - Ramayana

After reading Ramayana, it was similar to the other stories that we’ve read because it describes their religion. But it is entirely different from the others because it circles around the Hindu religion. It can be inferred that killing birds or others shows as a sign of disrespecting the Gods. Not only that, it can be depicted that fair skin were on top of the caste system while the darker skin was under. But one thing that is consistent in all the stories that we read is that sacrifice and offerings to God is present. This means that praying and offering to Gods are an important part of each and every one of different cultures.

Lillian Lai - Illiad 1 & 22

In the Illiad Books 1 and 22, it was more interesting than the other texts because it had more characters and an actual storyline. Like the other texts we’ve read, the story reveals the Greek culture. The main characters’ actions depict the Greek culture and their beliefs. For example, Agamemnon sacrificed goats for Apollo because he offended the God and for him to stop killing his army. Another example was when Hector was debating whether to fight Achilles or retreat back to his city. He chose to stay and fight Achilles because he didn’t want to feel ashamed and worst comes to worst, he can die in glory. This illustrates the characteristics of a classic Greek hero who lives with pride and goes by the principle that glory is more important than their lives.

Lillian Lai - Metamorphoses

In Ovid’s Metamorphoses, the story of the flood is portrayed differently than the Genesis. Even though God releases the flood because mankind is evil and useless, Metamorphoses tells the story of the flood through a darker theme. In the poem, Jove is portrayed as a ruthless God who wipes out his creation with the flood so he can create a new better human race. But on the other hand, the Lord in the Genesis saves his favorite, Noah and proceeds with the flood. Even though both Lord and Jove wanted to exterminate mankind because they were ill-hearted, they responded differently. In the Genesis, the Lord felt grieving in his heart because his creations were wicked. But on the other hand, Jove thought his creations were monsters and wanted to punish them quickly. It can be infer that Jove was more ruthless than the Lord in the Genesis.

Ramayana

This is possibly one of the most interesting stories I have ever read because to me it is so different. At first I was very confused when attempting to read, but when I found out that the 2nd canto is a summary, I felt more reassured. When reading, I was very interested in the social classes of the time. It was interesting to learn about the levels and the characteristics that go along with each. For example, it shocked me how the Sudras has absolutely no access to knowledge. I wasn't surprised to find that they could not participate in any form of learning knowledge, but the fact that they had no clue about all the vast knowledge and interesting characteristics pertaining to knowledge and religion. I could not imagine what my life would be like without schooling and knowledge.

Ramayana

This translation of the Ramayana is done well because the verses rhyme in english, so it is easy to understand that rhythm, however it is hard to understand what is going on. The video is class was really helpful. It was interesting seeing it preformed. The story about how Ram is exiled seems crazy! He is supposed to be King, but because his father's youngest wife got his father to promise to give her anything she wanted, she asked for her son to be King. Ram agrees to go into exile to keep his father's word honest, but you think the good of the country matters more than his father's reputation. Instead of doing what was best for the country and claiming the throne like he was supposed to, he left the country to unknown and possibly incapable hands, just so his father, who isn't even King anymore, doesn't look like a fool. I Think either was his father seems kind of dumb, why would he promise to give his wife anything she asked for? I think that's obviously a very dangerous thing to promise.

The Ramayana, Ralph Monfort

The Ramayana is ancient primary epic written in about 3000 BC. This epic is very important to the Hindu culture because in the story many of the Hindu beliefs are emulated from the main Hero, Ram, and those close to him. The difference between this story and the Iliad is that instead on the story focusing on his physical attributes such as with Achilles in the Iliad. They focus on Ram's wisdom and superior knowledge. In the Hindu culture, those who have vast knowledge are more important then those who are great in battle.

The Ramayana

As I read the Ramayana I notice distinct differences from this and the Illiad. When The Ramayana describes its hero, you can see which traits are considered worthy. Every epic boasts of a great man who will lead his people into ruling a land or saving a people. The epic will speak of his courage, skills in battle, strength, and leadership ability. However, in the Ramayana many other skills are spoke of as well. These other skills are considered worthy of high praise and there you can see what qualities are important for the people who wrote it, and for the culture it belongs to. These skills are having high virtues, knowing the law, having a strong conscience, eloquent, obedient, and pure.

The Ramayana

Ramayana was an interesting read because it is quite different from the epics we’ve already been presented with in class. Ramayana includes the Hindu religion; speaks of the religion’s ideal figures and ideology. One underlying theme was the challenge of being a good leader and a good husband; this was evident as Ram struggled to believe his wife over his subjects when they doubted her chastity, he sided with them. For this reason, he is an ideal ruler being that a ruler cannot allow his private life to affect the public, but the reverse is acceptable. Ramayana is repetitive, one example being the repeated phrases of what a good person Ram is, and for this reason is a very didactic epic. Presented is the idea that Ram is a good person, an ideal figure in Hinduism and for that he must prevail over the evil Ravan; good prevails over evil. Both Ramayana and The Illiad consisted of protagonists who were depicted as ideal figures in society; Ram was an ideal leader, while Achilles was an ideal man and warrior.

The Ramayana / Illiad

The Ramayana was quite an interesting, but difficult literary piece to read. It is one of the two Hindu epics, although it does not follow the traditional structure that most epics do. The poem does not start in medias res, which is uncommonly seen in epics. When comparing the Ramayana to the Illiad, one similar idea comes to mind, didactic verse. The epics are both aiming to teach a moral lesson to its readers, such as the consequences of fighting in a war. Another parallel seen between the two epics is the abduction of a women, or “prizes”, to then men who captured them. I found it interesting that the people in the poem were meant to represent the ideal type of person they were. The two epics were both enjoyable to read, somewhat confusing, but enjoyable nonetheless. However, I’m finding it a bit difficult to see any obvious comparable and contrasting themes between the Illiad and the Ramayana.

William Chiu

The Ramayana was very similar to the Iliad but didn't live up to the expectations I had for this poem. I was looking forward to a poem with a completely different form and characterization than that of the Iliad. However despite the similarities, the starting of war because of the kidnapping of Rita and Helen was the most surprising. I immediately thought that one of the authors of the poems must have imitated the other in the plot of the story. The second similarity that struck me as too similar would be the heroes of the story. Ram resembles Achilles in every way as a warrior and war ideal except for his nobleness as a human being. This is probably the greatest distinction between the stories. The Ramayana has a deep focus of morality and the way people should function in society as opposed to Iliad which seems to lack such objectives. Ram is almost the Noah of Genesis in the way one man serves to lead by example. Perhaps the authors attempted to achieve the same effect through different ways of teaching. The similarities of the stories makes me wonder if Iliad attempts to be a moral story by teaching its readers through it's depiction of a hero's anger and flaws as an example of the sinful way of living which should be avoided.

Ramayana, Yeonsoo Kim

Ramayana was very interesting in a way of comparing with other ancient literature. It has been a long time since it was written, and the volume of this story is tremendous especially in the form of verses. And it affected Indian culture and even cultures around the India as they developed centuries. Like most of ancient literature, Ramayana also has many points dealing with ethics and problems in human life. But it is more focused on one main character so that the whole story is happening and leaded to the conclusion based on the heroism. Since Ramayana is not considered as same as other general epics in India, it surely has uniqueness when many people in India still adore this piece of art.

Ramayana,Santigui Tounkara

Ramayana was again another story that was hard to read.However, by watching the video in class and doing extra reading on it, I concluded that Ramayana was a very interesting story.There are a lot of similarities with Ilad such as the war, a lady being kidnapp, and the interactions humans versus gods. The video we saw in class made more sense to me after I previously saw the dance on October 2 of last year. It was before a presentation on one of ghandi's theory.The dance that they did was the same as the one Sita did in the video when she was calling Ram.

John Torres "Books of Ramayana"

This was a very difficult piece to read but the style was very interesting. the rhyming at the end of each line gave a different meaning to the story. It was interesting in Book III how the journey through the forest was described. The story was very confusing but was still interesting to see how the different gods played their role.

Ramayana

The Ramayana was a more challenging read. I enjoyed the rhyme of the translation, but there was a lot of repetition that made it easy to lose sight of what was being said to begin with. That was one parallel that the Ramayana had with the Iliad - since both are in the epic style, there are many descriptions of the might or valor of the heroes. Both Ram and Achilles represent certain values ideal to their respective cultures. With Ram, he represents the ideal Hindu man. He is intelligent, wise, does whatever is right, listens to his people, and is a good man, ruler, and husband in general. Achilles, on the other hand, is brave, adventurous, and a good warrior as he searches for eternal glory. While he does have the tragic flaw of hubris, he still represents the ideal physical man of the time period the Iliad was written in. The major difference I found in reading both is the tone of the works. The Iliad is very much about Achilles' wrath and the consequences of Achilles' hubris. The Ramayana has a much more didactic tone where it is discussing how because Ram is good and kind and wise, he will overcome the evil Ravan. There are common themes of abduction and war in each, but the Ramayana seems to be a more stark good-and-evil tale intent on conveying the values and lifestyle the reader should follow. This is why it works well as a religious text and reference.

Ramayana

The Remayana wes by far the hardest piece of liturture we had to read in class so far. It was very difficult to understand but you could still see the paralels it had with the Illiad. One was the kidnapping of Sita which was similar to Helen leaving with pairs. Another was the role the Gods played in it. In both epic the Gods interacted heavily with the humans of the stories.

Ramayana

The Ramayana is an unique text, simply because it deals with material not otherwise covered in this class so far. The differences include the focus on the Hindu religion, the differences between being a good person and being a good leader, and the necessity of various roles and the equality these various classes need. The idea of a rigid caste system could be interpreted as the original socialism or communism, since these same ideas are toted in these two forms of government.

Despite the differences from the text we have read, there are still a number of similarities to other texts. The idea of this book being the foundation of a religion is like the bible, and the moral teachings are in line with the Iliad, although the teachings do vary.

Ramayana

This was very first time I ever read or heard about the Ramayana which is one of the two epic Hundu poems. It was really hard to understand because of the way it was written and how it was translated (hardest of all the literatures we read in class). The Ramayana is a poem that tells about the life of Rama who is the main hero in the story and his great characteristics as a leader. Intriguingly, in both the Iliad and the Ramayana contains the story of abductions and both resulted in major wars. In the Iliad, Agamemnon abducts Chryseis and it led to a war just as Raven kidnaps Sita, Rama’s lover, and ended up in a war between two characters. It made me wonder, what important role does abduction plays in ancient epics that both of the famous literature contains the stories about it? Sita, in other hand, is very virtuous character who exemplifies how woman should behave as a wife. And also Rama does not let his love affair interfere with his responsibility as a ruler although he loves Sita. There are some similarities between the Iliad and the Ramayana but their details were developed very differently.

Jenelle Fiori; La Ramayana

Week 5 Reading Notes; La Ramayana

The two epics that we read for class are both very confusing to me due to how they are narrated through different voices and different characters. However, they both seem to have a similar purpose, a didactic theme, meaning that the epics are written to teach people moral lessons. Such morals include the consequences of war, and even more specifically the consequences of one’s actions. Though the origin of the two epics are very different, the beginning of the war begins with the kidnapping of a woman- which it is good to note that women are depicted as prizes, not humans. I found that reading the Illiad was a lot more interesting than La Ramayana because I already knew a little about Greek religion. I wish we could have discussed La Ramayana more because it would have been more interesting if I could understand what was actually going on.

Courtney Lum

I enjoy reading the Ramayana not for the conventional purposes, but because I find it so interesting how the text isn’t just an epic tale of capture, war, and a tragic hero, but that it actually is a text that provides spiritual guidance and moral values. The Ramayana is an extremely complex and terribly long text that doesn’t fit the structures of an epic (for it doesn’t start in medias res, but actually starts from the birth of Rama and the death of him), but since it’s one of a kind is placed into that category. The fact that this is a spiritual foundation for the religion of Hinduism, there is a lot of information regarding how to live your live (dharma) and how to achieve spiritual means in this life. Even though the Ramayana tells the story of a man making a journey, it also explains how to live your life in accordance to Hinduism.

The Ramayana

The Ramayana is one of the two epics that express the corn values of Hinduism around 1000 BCE. The epic created typical role models such like Rama, Sita, Bharata and so forth. Rama was created to be a perfect man without any blemish. He is a righteous ruler, an obedient son and a loyalty husband. Not only Prince Rama, but also his wife, Sita, was created to be a perfect woman. When Sita heard Rama was to be banished, she begged to accompany him to his forest retreat.because she thought that it was the wife's dharma to be at her husband's side. I think Sita's behavior sounds incredible in today's society because women are no longer the accessories of men. Later in the story, Ravana, the ten-headed evil king of Lanka traps Sita. He sends a magical golden deer and thus let Rama and Lakshman be away from Sita. Before Rama left, he drew a protective circle around Sita and warned her not to step outside the circle. However, Sita does not realize that Ravana will appear to be a beggar, she finally steps outside the circle and then be grabbed by Ravana. This plot is very similar to a Chinese legend, which called the Journey to the West. I think that the main character, Sun Wukong in the Journey to the West adopts a lot of characteristics from Hanuman in Ramayana such as the magic power.

Willie Ho

After reading Ramayana and comparing it to the Iliad, I have noticed a few generally similar themes in the two epics. There are general themes of war, ethics, and abduction. In the Iliad, Chryseis was abducted by Agamemnon just as Sita is abducted by Ravan. This is when the theme of ethics are seen. Ravan was willing to let Lanka burn for his one desire for one woman: Sita. Ram and Ravan have a battle/war over Sita. It was more of a "save the damsel" situation. After Lord Ram wins the war, with Sita by his side, he questions Sita of her chastity and loses her willingly for the betterment of his rule. He wasn't willing to take a risk that would affect his rule and for that, Sita rejects him. This makes him the better ruler though because he did not let his love for a woman get in the affairs of his job as a ruler.

the end of the Illiad and The Ramayana

I enjoyed discussing the Illiad in class. It was a simple reading and I enjoy the story. I had forgotten how Hector died in the book. I was, I instead, remember the fight scene from the movie, which is quite different. So, when reading of Hectors’ death it was almost surprising to find how much of a coward he was depicted as. It disappointed me that he ran and that he was so easy to kill, I suppose that my expectations were high from remembering the movie. I guess I was expecting this grand, epic battle. Instead, I found Hector running, then being tricked into fighting, and then being brought down with a single stroke.
I found The Ramayana very difficult to read, due to the way it is written. It is extremely confusing to me. Going on the background information that was given in class, though, I think that it’s interesting that the characters are meant to be perfect examples of certain stations, such as a wife or a ruler. I also think that, if I were to completely understand the text, it would be a great source for cultural information. I find the parallels between the Ramayana and the Illiad, such as the abduction theme, to be intriguing.

The Ramayana

The Ramayana is a very great literary work. It was both interesting/entertaining and provided readers with an insight into the great culture of India. The Ramayana is basically about the life of Rama, how his throne was taken from him by his brother and how his wife (Sita) was also abducted from him by the Raven. He is the central hero in the story and exhibits the qualities of a true leader. Sita also exihibits the qualities of an ideal wife because she still loved her husband and would not deny him even with all the good things that were promised to her by the Raven. The Raven is the antogonist in this story and is seen as the opposite of Rama. Lastly The Ramayana and The Iliad were great stories to read but i think it would be a bit hard to find significant differences/similarities between both stories.

Margaret Yoon

The Ramayana was difficult to understand at first, but once I acquired background knowledge about the epic, I found the different cantos from the books a pleasure to read. It is interesting that Rama and Sita are perfect figures; they serve as sources of ideals and wisdom for common life. Her abduction by Rakshasa, or the king of Lanka, is comparable to the Achaean’s abduction of Chryseis and Briseis in The Iliad. However, Sita, being the ideal wife, puts up a much stronger and angrier response to the abduction. She wishes to remain with Rama at all costs because they are incomplete without each other. I was not sure if Ravan actually rapes Sita, for it does not explicitly state so, but there are literary implications to the deed, such as the connotations of being Rama’s “ravished dame.”

Felicia Ooi; The Ramayana

The Ramayana is a smriti text which means it is a remembrance of an event and it is attributed to Valniki, who could be either a single author, or a person who compiled the works of many authors into a single text. The main character in the Ramayana is Ram; hence the name Ramayana, which literally means the "voyage of Ram" or the life of Ram.

Ram is portrayed as a very wise scholar who is the epitome of wisdom and intelligence. He is widely believed to be the reincarnation of Vishnu, one of the 3 main deities in Hinduism. He is shown to be the ideal man as the system in India at this time was one that valued knowledge above all things. The Ramayana is basically about Ram's life, and the cantos that we focused on involved the kidnapping of Sita (Ram's wife; the ideal wife) by Ravan (Ram's enemy) and about how Ram finally rescued her.

I did not really find it easy reading the Ramayana, it was slightly confusing even, perhaps because I had no idea about the many characters who were referred to occasionally throughout the cantos. Whereas in the Iliad, I had a little bit of background knowledge on the Greek gods/goddesses and the Greek heroes, which made me enjoy reading the Iliad.

The Iliad/Ramayana

This week we discussed book 22 of The Iliad and the background information surrounding the Ramayana. Book 22 of the Iliad describes the death of Hector and is written in a didactic tone. This is clearly presented through a myriad of lessons conveyed through out the story. We also learn about the ethics of war. This is portrayed when Achilles dishonors Hector, which elicits an angry response by the gods. I enjoyed reading books 1 and 22 of the Iliad not only because I thought the stories were interesting but also because they were easy to read. On the other hand, I found it very difficult to decipher what was going on in Cantos 2 and 3 of Ramayana. All I really got from it was that a bird died and the character Valmiki was saddened by this. We did not get to discuss what had happened in the readings, however, in class we learned about the caste system in India including the difficulty or more accurately the absence of upward mobility in society. We also see the similarities between the two epics. For instance, both epics possess a central hero who is on a quest. Hopefully, I will be better able to understand what the ramayana is about.