Antigone

Sophocles tackles many ideas in Antigone that resonate just as strongly with audiences today as they did with the people of Sophocles’ Athens.  One of the most important themes of the play and the downfall of the play's tragic heroes, Antigone and Creon, is hubris, which is excessive pride and arrogance.  At the opening of the play, Antigone decides to defy Creon’s decree to leave the body of Polyneices unburied.  When she is caught, she doesn’t try to hide what she has done.  On the contrary, Antigone is so proud of her defiance and her loyalty to her brother that she eagerly throws her defiance in Creon’s face and becomes enraged which Ismene tries to take partial credit for Polyneices’ burial.  Antigone’s pride leads to her being sentenced to death by Creon for violating his orders.

Hubris also leads to Creon’s eventual downfall and to the demise of several of his loved ones.  Creon believes that all of his people should unwaveringly follow all of his orders and be severely punished for disobedience.  As the play progresses, several people ask Creon to spare Antigone’s life, but Creon’s pride will not allow him to retract the death sentence he has issued for Antigone.  Not even Tereisias’ foreboding vision of evil and trouble for Thebes is enough to coerce Creon to change his policies.  Because of his unwavering hubris, Creon ultimately loses his son, Haemon, and his wife, Eurydice, to suicide.  The downfalls of Antigone and Creon serve as lessons for the reader that, as the Chorus notes, the more arrogance a person has, the greater the revenge of God.

The Classic of Poetry

The Classic of Poetry was one of my favorite pieces that we have read so far in this class.  Like Gilgamesh and Ramayana, the Classic of Poetry discusses many issues that people commonly deal with at various points in their life.  Unlike Gilgamesh and Ramayana, which are epic tales, the Classic of Poetry is a collection of lyric poetry written from the viewpoints of many different people from various stations in life.  What I find so great about this collection of poetry is that it uses fairly simple vernacular and direct statements to make some very profound comments about life and how to deal with its various challenges.  In “Plums Are Falling,”  a women laments that just as the plum trees produce less and less fruit as time passes, she, too, loses her ability to bear children as more time passes without finding a husband to marry.   In “Quince,” the poet examines the disparity between the beautiful gems that he bestows upon his lover and the meager fruit that she gives to him.  He justifies this inequality by noting that he receives her lasting love in return.  In “Chung-tzu, Please,” the poet examines the issue of proper courtship in the eyes of society.  She obviously cares for Chung-tzu and doesn’t mind him courting her, but she wants him to properly court her so as not to upset her family or cause the neighbors to talk poorly of her.  The entire collection of poetry eloquently addresses a myriad of life events, joyous, mundane, and terrifying alike, in a way that allows the reader to examine them in the context of what is socially and morally acceptable.  The reader can rely upon the poems for guidance when faced with similar events in their own lives.

Ramayana...part two

Like many stories in various cultures, the Ramayana deals with many dilemmas that the human race constantly tries to cope with.  A central theme of the Ramayana is that of the struggle between good and evil.  For Hindus, following one’s dharma is good, and not following one’s dharma is evil.  If you are good, you are rewarded, but if you are evil, you will be punished.  When the story begins, the reader may struggle to understand why Rama, who has always lived his life in accordance with his dharma, would be forced into exile by his father instead of being crowned king as was planned.  For many people, if something bad like this happened, they would become angry and upset because of the unjust action and may stray from the righteous path.  Rama, however, does not do this.  He accepts his exile with grace and dignity.  Another terrible misfortune befalls Rama when Sita is stolen away by the evil Ravana.  Through this difficult situation, Rama lives in accordance with his dharma as he works to find Sita and rescue her from Ravana.  In the end, Rama is rewarded for always following his dharma when he eventually frees Sita and comes back home to rule as king.  Ravana, who has acted against his dharma by splitting up Sita and Rama, is ultimately punished by death at Rama’s hand.  At its core, the Ramayana is a moral lesson that reminds the reader to always strive to do good, not evil, and, if successful, one will be rewarded.    

The Ramayana

The Ramayana, with its various themes, was a fascinating epic poem that I really enjoyed reading.   Perhaps the most interesting theme of the text was that of dharma and its various meanings for each individual.  At the beginning of the poem, Rama, who is supposed to become the crowned prince of Ayodhya, has no qualms with leaving for the forest and living there in exile for fourteen years when his mother (who is not biologically related to him) explains to him that his father, the king, commands it so.  Rama says, “…I am devoted to the truth.  Even if father had not commanded me, and you had asked me to go the forest I would have done so!”  When his biological mother, Kausalya, commands him to stay in the city, Rama cites his unwavering devotion to dharma and says, “…I cannot swerve from the path of dharma which demands that I should implicitly obey our father.”  Distressed by her son’s imminent, unplanned departure, Kausalya declares that she will accompany him during his exile.  Rama, however, opposes this idea by citing his mother’s obligation to adhere to her own dharma.  “It is not right for you, mother, to abandon father and follow me to the forest, as if you are a widow.”

                                 When Sita, Rama’s wife, learns of his banishment, she pleads to come with him.  Knowing of Rama’s dedication to dharma, she reminds him of her own duty as his wife.  “…the wife alone shares the life of her husband … in fact you have often declared that a righteous wife will not be able to live separated from her husband.”  As the story continues, Sita continues to prove her commitment to her own dharma by remaining virtuous and pious and then proving her purity to Rama before he will take her back to Ayodhya.