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Greeks
The narrator is coy about whether or not he views Alexander as Great. He makes a lot of jokes about people want to be great and starts off the lecture with a bit about Kim Kardashian -- but it's not really a fair comparison in my estimation. Fame does not equate to greatness and one can be famous for being rich, pretty and making a sex tape (and having a PR team at one's fingertips). But that is not greatness. Greatness should be defined more appropriately: it has to do with values, ability, achievement, impact. Alexander's brilliance and power were shown at an early age when he tamed the wild horse Bucephalus. His teacher was Aristotle. His father was a king. He had an army at his command. He had character. He loved learning. These are all indicators of greatness. Comparing him to KK and asking what is greatness should receive the response: Alexander was great, KK made a sex tape. So while his empire did not last in one piece following his death, he still more closely united the region he conquered -- which is more than anyone else had ever done in the same territories. Thus, Alexander had a major impact on the direction of history and the course of events following his death. Hopefully, this is more than can be said of KK.
The narrator does give a lot of good reasons why Alexander should be considered great: his military achievements (good at conquering, bad at empire building); his legacy (military giants have all studied him); his introduction of the Persian idea of absolute monarchy to the Greco-Roman world; his founding of Alexandria in Egypt (which became home to a great library and was the center of learning for a while); his spread of the
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Part II
I would invite the playwright Euripides to dinner because I enjoy his tragedies the most. Aristotle stated that Sophocles wrote the perfect tragedy with Oedipus Rex because it features the four points that are needed for a perfect tragedy -- a hero who is good, larger than life, true to life, and consistent. Aristotle also says that tragedies are supposed to be said -- and in this respect Euripides excels beyond any other because his characters suffer a tremendous amount; yet, Euripides does not adhere to the formula that Aristotle recommends as being properly tragic. That aside, I am mostly intrigued by Euripides because he is doing something unique in theater and drama and really focusing on the element of suffering. I find this to be fascinating.
For instance, in his drama Medea, the title character is jilted by her husband Jason who has decided to run after another woman. Medea is a foreigner, now left in a strange land -- her husband having abandoned her -- and the Greeks do not want her there because they fear she might do something sinister to them. She…
Oedipus Rex Sophocles' "Oedipus Rex" is the most famous of his tragedies in which Greek dramatic irony reaches an apex (Sophocles1 pp). Aristotle was a great admirer of Sophocles, and considered Oedipus Rex to be the perfect example of tragedy (Outline pp). According to Aristotle, tragedy is an imitation of action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude, in which language is embellished with each kind of artistic ornament
Thus, his thirst for knowledge prompts the tragedy to a certain degree. His wife and mother at the same time attempts to dissuade him from the further pursuit of truth, hinting in a very interesting phrase that such 'fantasies' as the wedlock to one's mother is a constant appearance in dreams and should simply be ignored: "This wedlock with thy mother fear not thou. / How oft it chances
In shaping his dramatic theory, Aristotle surveyed the drama of his time and developed certain concepts regarding the nature of the tragic hero. The tragic hero must be an important person with a character flaw that causes him to make a great mistake leading to tremendous suffering and a fall from his high status. The tragedy derives from the fact that none of what occurs is the tragic hero's
Oedipus's Tragic Flaws Oedipus Rex is the classic story of Oedipus, King of Thebes, a tragic hero whose fate was in the hands of supernatural forces and who was doomed to murder his father and marry his mother. In the play, Oedipus has many characteristics that allow him to be labeled a tragic hero. The philosopher Aristotle states that a tragic hero is an influential person that because of an error
Tragedy of Oedipus Rex Many people understand Sophocles' play, Oedipus Rex, is a tragedy but what they may not know is that Aristotle established the notion of the tragic drama and Oedipus Rex fits it perfectly. The ancient drama serves as an excellent example of what a tragic play looks like. According to Aristotle, the hero of a dramatic play can must be noble or of royalty. Because he is noble,
Fighting Against Destiny Oedipus Rex is a Greek tragedy in which Oedipus and Thebes are punished for the sins committed by Oedipus' father, Laius. Written by Sophocles and first performed in 429 BCE, it is the second play produced in Sophocles' Theban plays but comes first in the chronology. In the play, it appears as though much of the issues plaguing Thebes have been precipitated by Oedipus' ascension to the throne.