The Collective

The servants of Zeus have no choice but to obey him, since he is the most powerful god.  Although Hephaestus was hesitant to chain Prometheus to the rock, he had no other choice because Zeus would have punished him too for disobeying. Might talked about how Prometheus is the traitor to all gods and how he should be punished for it. Chorus and Oceanos feel pity for Prometheus, but disobeying Zeus would be too dangerous since he was the new ruler and acts like a dictator. Zeus is fit to sit on the throne because in a way he saved the other gods. Kronos feared being overthrown by his children, so he ate them. However, Zeus was able to avoid being eaten. After saving his siblings, he overthrew Kronos and the other titans and sent them to Tartarus. The other gods willingly obey Zeus because they fear being punished like Prometheus was. Zeus' rule resembles that of a dictatorship. He is able to do whatever he wants because he is the mightiest god.

At the start of Prometheus Bound, two servants of Zeus, Might and Violence, and Hepheastus the blacksmith enter the Caucasus. Might tells Hepheastus to chain Prometheus to a rock, as ordered by Zeus (line 3-6). Might claims Prometheus stole the power of fire and gave it to human kind and for that he must suffer and accept the power of Zeus (Lines 8-11). With this responsibility, Hepheastus struggles and responds that he can’t bear to do it, but goes through with it because he knows that he must not disrespect Zeus (lines 13-18). He does it, because that’s his penance for loving humans, and he knows he will show his grief and sorrow, but that will do no good. Hephaestus- It’s hard to soften Zeus with prayer, or any new ruler’s mind for that matter. (lines 34-35). After these two introductory monologues, the two characters of Might and Hepheastus go into a sparring section of dialogue. M: Why are you pitying him?  H: You’re ruthless, he’s family! I can’t believe I used my ...

Pain and pleasure are definitely parts that allow the person to experience sympathy, for that particular situation. These two things are components that allow for a more submersive experience when trying to sympathize with another individuals. This idea of the concepts being connected can be seen as, different parts of one big thing. The pain aspect is the part that weights down or gives gravity to the situation at hand. To, try to sympathize with and individuals to not be able to have a solid understanding of the emotion that they are feeling at that moment makes it more difficult to sympathize; more generally it does not even have to be the emotion of pain solely , but in general the principle of self application to the other individual. The chorus in  Prometheus bound do this by directly  asking the person for a first hand account of their experience. Do they find pleasure in this? It would not be to far fetched to thing not because this allows them to experience a s...

I found the conversation between Antigone and Ismene interesting. The writer does not make it clear cut as to which sister is older or younger. Antigone wants to give her brother, Polyneices burial. Her reasoning behind this is because he is family. Also she is not quite sure it is the right thing to do. Antigone states, “Further: he has the matter so at heart that anyone who dares attempt the act will die by public stoning on the town. So there you have it and you soon will show if you are noble, or worthless, despite your high birth” (line 35-39). Her Antigone is explaining that she would die by order of Creon for going against the law and burying her brother. She is also mentioning the noble and worthless part since birth. Perhaps she is justifying her reasoning with the fact that they had not choice in the matter of who their family is. Do you think Antigone is correct for trying to bury her brother properly despite it going against the law? Or do you think she should be more conc...

Antigone and ismene both want to bury their brother and want to follow their tradition and pay him respect. However Ismene views the law of the kingdom is the highest thing to be followed above everything. She doesn’t want to disobey Creons and he is the representation of this law. Ismene believes that the only solution is to obey the law even if it asks both Antigone and Ismene to disrespect their brother. Antigone has the complete opposite idea to Ismene. She believes that loyalty to her family trumps everything. It shows how Antigone seems to not care about the law or the consequences that come with it as well. Even though her brother is considered as a traitor by Creon, she still shows loyalty to her brother by going against the law. Antigone shows how uncooperative she is as she strongly disagrees with the law. She portrays that no can convince or stop her from her beliefs. Ismene is reasonable and understands her place. Ismene fears the law, authority, and death...

It was fascinating to see right at the beginning how the two sisters are opposite from each other. Their first exchange of dialogue formed the two sisters personalities. Antigone asks her sister, "Will you take up that corpse along with me?" Ismene, "To bury him you mean, when it's forbidden?" Antigone, "My brother, and yours, though you may wish he were not. I never shall be found to be his traitor." Ismene, "O reckless one, when Creon spoke against it!" (Lines 43-47) One representing family, and religion, and the other representing the state laws, and fear. Antigone is a strong character; although she knows that her brother was a traitor, she still wants to do right by her family and bury her brother.

We can say Antigone is a  strong  person, or someone who is confident and strong-willed. From the beginning of the play, Antigone is outspoken, passionate, and confident. Even though her brother was just retaliating for being banished, she knows the right thing to do is give him a proper burial, honoring his life, their culture, and the gods. She looks past Polyneices's flaws and puts his soul to rest. 

Antigone is very outspoken and not only challenges the government but also challenges gender norms. Her being so outspoken and rebellious is in itself a threat to this construct as women were granted very little rights. The model woman would have been submissive and obedient. But Antigone is the exact opposite. Her even openly expressing any form of disagreement with the government is a bold move. She's kind of like a martyr. 

Antigone is determined to give her brother a proper burial, despite it being against Creon's decree. I'm a little disappointed to see that Ismene refused to assist Antigone in burying their brother. After getting caught, she and her sister were brought to Creon for punishment. Although Antigone insisted that Ismene had nothing to do with it, Ismene confessed to the crime. I was surprised to see how Ismene shows loyalty to her sister but not her brother. The roles of man and woman resembles that of patriarchal society. Ismene showed fear for going against the man. Creon was upset that Antigone went against his rule, especially since she was a woman.

A common theme across many of the stories we've read has been how honor lives on after someone dies, in the form of their physical body. This was seen several times in the Iliad, and pops up again in this tragedy. Although it has already been made clear that being buried is very important for someone's glory to live on and not be diminished by natural elements, Antigone's unwavering desire to bury her brother's body, presumably to ensure that his glory lives on past his death, shows just how much of an effect this desire can have on people. This is further emphasized by the many people that agreed that Creon's decision to prevent Polyneices' burial was unjust, further showing how the desire to bury the dead was in every person. The biggest example of this was with Antigone, but Ismene also showed this desire by trying to take some of the blame from Antigone, presumably also showing that she supported her decision to bury her brother, thus ensuring that his glory...

 The beginning was interesting in the sense that it opens with a  setting of anxiousness  and morbidity. Anxiousness, in the sense that the sister Antigone is persistent  to express her will and is determined to commit to her actions even if it means certain death.  She proposed an argument for her reasoning, however she seem to put emphasis on the fact that she will do it by herself. I wonder what her intentions are truly and is she doing it for solely respect for the dead, or is it something that satisfies her ego and almost her way of seeking glory. She also does not intend  in her actions to be done in silence but rather expressive and hoping she is recognized for them. The introduction  also had a lot of dialogue in regards to the death of almost all the sisters relative, this is a bit unsettling because it does create a image  for these two sisters and also allows the viewer or reader to feel a sense of sadness for them.

Antigone knew that burying her brother was against Creon’s law, but that didn’t mean anything to her. I believe, even if it were against the law of Zeus or Justice, that she would have done it anyway and gladly have accepted the consequence of death. Antigone doesn’t think she could have received any greater glory than burying her dead brother. And now that she has, she has no problem dying. It seems that Creon thinks of her as coming across as glib, or insensitive or unfeeling about the matter. He even accuses her of laughing about the situation. I think of her more as steadfast in her resolve. She wonders why he delays in having her killed. There is nothing more for her to live for, her greatest duty in life has been done. If I were in this very extreme situation, I myself can imagine having the calm focus and resolve to die if I had accomplished the one deed that meant the most to me in life. Especially if I was sick with mourning and my internal moral and just compass told me the ...

Antigone is one of those characters that you can't help but feel bad for. She is someone who cares about family yet nobody in her family seems to care about her. This is shown when she wants to help bury Polyneices but her own family goes against her even though it's their family as well. Even though Polyneices is a traitor in Creon's eyes and it is the absolute worst crime to be comitted and anyone who disagrees is a traitor themselves Antigone still goes through with her solo mission in order to give Polyneices a proper burial. In my eyes not giving a dead body a proper burial to their loved ones is a bit extreme and shows that Creon is a bit obsessed with his power.

Despite the important role of fate in the lives of the characters, Antigone are all driven at times, stubbornly, to pursue her goals. Antigone have a very traumatic family history, his brothers killed each other in a war fighting over their father’s throne. Creon, who is now taking over, insist Eteocles to be buried respectfully but Polyneices, to be left unburied and unmourned. Creon states that anyone who buries Polyneices will be killed. Antigone does ask Ismene to help but she refused. Antigone is willing to do it alone and would not mind dying in order to give Polyneices the proper burial. Antigone understand that doing so might be against Creon’s order but she felt like her actions were in line with her obligations to justice and the gods. To Antigone, family devotion is very big because she sacrifices her own life in the midst of it. She is so determined that her character becomes symbolic of family loyalty.

After the class discussion today, it made me more intrigued by IO story. She was just a beautiful girl, living with her dad, living her life peacefully. Until Zeus puts his eyes on her like she is this huge price, and that He will do anything in his power to sleep with her. Even on her dreams, He would send her messages driving her and her family to seek oracles help, (Lines 640 -685) and on top of that Zeus also threatened her father. As a consequence, she was turned to a cow, because Zeus wanted to hide her from Hera.  This tale gets worse and worse, and after the explanation in class that out of her will come many heroes and our world does not have monsters because of the children. Does it mean that Zeus actions are "okay," or justifiable? Since at the end this character will have a higher purpose in the world, and in the Greek mythology as a whole. I don't know.

Immediately when I read this story, I thought of Zeus in the same way I thought of Agamemnon- a ruler who doesn't understand that being cruel isn't the right way about getting trust from people. This is seen several times with Zeus, specifically when he turned Io into a cow and when he chained Prometheus to the mountain, all for his personal gain. Just like Agamemnon, Zeus is a powerful ruler, but constantly creates conflict with those that are supposed to be his friends or simply allies, and eventually doesn't gain anything as result of his cruelty. If Zeus wouldn't have been so cruel to Prometheus, he likely would've been informed of the possible marriage that would overthrow him if he hadn't been so cruel to Prometheus. Just like with Agamemnon, if they had both chosen to not go down the road of punishing those they should've valued, they would have both been much better off. This shows the negatives associated with ruling with fear, rather than ruling wi...

Based on my understanding of the beginning of this book is that Prometheus is being punished for stealing fire from the gods and giving it to the mortals. Prometheus wanted to protect the mortals while Zeus wants to get rid of them. Due to power, Hephaestus is basically forced to punish Prometheus. He apologizes for the misery he is about to inflict and made it clear that he does not like what he is doing. The gods are definitely not happy with Prometheus for stealing fire but the mortals are happy about it. When the Chorus of nymphs went to check up on Prometheus, they figured it was Zeus responsible for all this misery because apparently Zeus wants to destroy the Titans and Prometheus is a Titan. The Titans were in power before the Olympian gods took over. Prometheus knew exactly what he was doing but he just did not know how bad the punishment would be.

It is interesting getting some backstory into Zeus’ history with wanting to wipe out mankind. Prometheus speaks of the god’s desire to breed a new species of humankind around line 345. This section brings up the questions I had reading The Iliad about whether Zeus was trying to destroy all demi-gods because they might become too powerful and somehow threaten his reign. Prometheus Bound , feels like an ancient tale or at least one which exists in an alternate realm because of none of the characters being mortal. If Zeus wants to breed a new species of mankind, what does he ultimately want out of them? To not challenge the gods and only worship and obey? I am trying to imagine a situation in which they can create more humans that aren’t demi-gods because it seems their only way of making them is by sleeping with mortals. Or are they able to divinely create humans in other ways? It is also interesting how Prometheus says that humans used to see their own deaths! But then he gave them bl...

 I find  the main idea of choice a intresting idea that the philocetes presents and the approach individuals have to make. In our everyday life we are accustomed to everything moving in a type of order, we are creatures of habit. The Philocetetes shows how even through circumstances that may not be optimal we are still not willing to venture past  whether we are not comfortabe with it or complacent with what we have in the moment. Philocetetes show uncertainty regarding both these issues. The series of events that happened to lead to the situation at hand is also applicable to the real world, demonstrating events that seemingly are unrelated, but in fact have a part to play in the end or conclusion of some even whether it be bad or good.

Philoctetes is abandoned on the island of Lemnos, suffering in agony from a snake bite. The wound never healed and smelled horribly,  I was surprised that Philoctetes was able to survive by himself. Even though he was in tremendous pain, he still managed to aim at birds and shoot them down for food. His will to live was impressive.  I'm surprised that his mind could take that kind of pain for 10 years.  Realizing that they couldn't win the war without Philocetes and his bow, Odysseus and Neoptolemus turn around and head back to the island to retrieve the bow. Obeying Odysseus' orders, Neoptolemus successfully befriends Philoctetes. When he finally had the bow in his hand, he feels guilty and tells Philoctetes the whole story. Odysseus and Neoptolemus wanted him to come back with them so they could end the war. " Keep fresh my wounds, and double my misfortune.  This have th' Atreidae and Ulysses done,   And may the gods with equal woes repay them!" The wound th...

In the Greek Tragedies I, I was interested to hear somewhat the side of the enemy of Troy side of the story. I was a bit confused as to why the first opening line was the Watchman of Agamemnon. I was also surprised that Clytemnestra, Agamemnon’s wife was ruling in the absence of the king. The author states, “ To such end of a lady’s male strength of heart in its high confidence ordains” (line 10-11). I took this statement as the watchmen fearing that there is a women ruling Argos. It almost seems as though it was not true. Women roles in this period was to do as their husbands say. But this perspective shows the wife of the king taking control and governing the people in his absence. I found this section of Agamemnon to help a lot with character naming as well. I was not aware that Agamemnon was king of Argos and that Menelaus was king of Sparta. I thought they both ruled Sparta. Did anymore else find this sections helpful in understanding more of the story?