The Gods Vs Man Essay Research Paper

The Gods Vs. Man Essay, Research Paper

The Gods vs. Man

God. That one word has a lot of weight to it, doesn’t it? It had even more

significance to the Greeks. It was something they feared and respected. Throughout

history men have always wanted to be like the gods. It is something that is seen over and

over, man’s universal struggle to be like the gods. Is it man’s fault that he wants to be

like the gods? Or is it the gods’ fault? The story Oedipus Rex by Sophocles shows that

man’s arrogance and fallible personality is the cause of this struggle for superiority. The

Greeks dealt the most with gods, melding their daily lives with religion.

The Greeks have had multiple Gods over much of their history. The Greeks had

one of the most complex and extensive systems of religion and polytheism in the history

of man. They also had a very extensive hierarchy of Gods. Its origin begins with the

Chaos and a number of other Gods. There were 19 of them and they were called the

Titans. They were the creators and first rulers of the world. The Titans later went to war

with the Olympians and lost and were imprisoned in the center of the earth. There were

also lesser Gods and noble characters. There were 32 lesser Gods that were various

offshoots of the major twelve Olympians. They were given all types of minor jobs and

responsibilities in helping to keep the world organized and running. There were also

noble characters in mythology, who were classified into heroes and creatures. There

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were fourteen heroes who completed many legendary tasks. Many were well known such

as Hercules, Perseus, Jason, Odysseus and many others. There were also fourteen

creatures that had many various roles, from killing people and animals to helping the

Gods. Most were also well known like Medusa, Cyclops, Sirens, and others.

More recently, during the time period of Sophocles, the Greeks believed in and

listened to the Olympians. There were twelve of these major Gods. These Gods directly

influenced the lives of the people of this time. They ruled all parts of people’s lives and

were the gods that the people prayed to and listened to. The following passage explains

the position of the gods:

Gaea created life, but that was life, which was reigned by a brute force. There was no prize for honesty, nor punishment for crime. Guided by their natural aspiration towards the order and ordered society wise men created immortal gods, who governed people’s lives, seeing and hearing everything, and enforcing the laws? The fear of such mighty gods forced the people to place them as far as possible, but also in beautiful settings in order to please them. So, the gods were placed at Mount Olympus and organized as a hierarchical society in which the “jet-set” consisted of twelve Olympian gods: Zeus, the supreme god, Hera, his lawful wife, Poseidon, Hades, Hestia, Aphrodite, Hermes, Athena, Hephaestus, Ares, Artemis and Apollo. Mount Olympus is placed on the borders of Macedonia and Thessaly. In the central place at Olympus there was Zeus’s palace with palaces of other great gods in the vicinity, and palaces of the less important gods further away. The gates of this city of gods were opening in the dawn and closing in the dusk. 1.

In Oedipus Rex there are three of these main gods, that figure in the story. The

first was Apollo, the son of Zeus and Leto. He was the god of music, playing a golden

lyre. He was the god of the archer, far shooting with a silver bow and the god of healing

who taught man medicine. He was the god of light and truth, who can not speak a lie.

One of Apollo’s more important daily tasks was to harness his chariot with four horses

and drive the Sun across the sky. He was famous for his oracle at Delphi. People traveled

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to it from all over the Greek world to divine the future. Apollo was probably the most

important god in this play as he does the most to help Oedipus. In the beginning it is he

who tells Oedipus how to rid the city of Thebes of the plague, and he also tries to warn

both Oedipus and Laios of their fates, both of whom do not listen. The second god is

Athena, the daughter of Zeus. She was fierce and brave in battle but only fights to

protect the state and home from outside enemies. She was the goddess of the city,

handicrafts, and agriculture. She invented the bridle, which permitted man to tame horses,

the trumpet, the flute, the pot, the rake, the plow, the yoke, the ship, and the chariot. She

was the embodiment of wisdom, reason, and purity. Her favorite city was Athens and she

was a virgin goddess. It was to her that Oedipus prayed for the wisdom to do what is

right and to help him solve the puzzles. The third main god in the play was Artemis,

the daughter of Zeus and Leto. She was also the twin sister of Apollo. She was the

lady of the wild things. She was the huntsman of the gods. She was the protector of the

young. Like Apollo, she hunted with silver arrows. She became associated with the

moon. She was a virgin goddess, and the goddess of chastity. She also presided over

childbirth, which may seem odd for a virgin, but goes back to causing Leto no pain when

she was born. 2. She was the god that helped Oedipus hunt down the clues to the

mysteries that plagued him and his city.

These gods ruled people’s lives. Many actions that people did were centered

around the gods. The people lived their lives by the gods’ laws first and then by man’s

law for fear of upsetting the Gods. Although people didn’t have much physical contact

with the gods, their lives revolved around them. They had temples that they went to

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every day to pray at, also each god had his or her own temple. Some demanded

sacrifices, others like Hestia, had a fire that was never allowed to go out. Either way, the

gods made their presence well known to the people, as seen in one example from Oedipus

Rex. The story opens with the city suffering a plague because the gods Athena and

Apollo were angry with the killer of King La?os. It was this direct interaction of the gods

with the people that made them so central to the people’s daily lives 3.

These gods played a direct role in just about every story written in this time

period. The authors of this time – Homer, Vergil, Hesiod, Euripides and others –

almost always mentioned some of the gods. This was to be expected seeing how the gods

were so central to everyday life. Sophocles was no exception to this rule, and the

influence of the gods is very clear in his story, Oedipus Rex. In this story alone, there are

three main gods with many more mentioned. This was done to help the audiences

connect with the play, to give the people something that they could relate to. It gave the

“common folk” a chance to go and enjoy these plays just like the educated class.

Sophocles lived from about 496 BC to 406 BC. He was born into a rich family at

Colonus near Athens. He lived during the golden age of Athens, during the flourishing

of the arts, philosophy, and architecture. He was elected as one of the military

commanders, a very prestigious position in Athens. He died during the Peloponneseian

war with Sparta. He wrote 123 plays, but only seven have survived. These seven are:

Ajax, Antigone, Oedipus Rex, Electra, Trachinian Women, Philocetes and Oedipus at

Colonus. He also won the drama competition in Athens over twenty times, beating out

his rivals. One of his major innovations was to complicate the conflict with three main

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characters. Also he added three main gods into his work. Oedipus Rex was one of