From Vasily's position as king, he acts to rob his son of his right to the throne, from his position as a father, he treats him is a way that Sigismund believes "denied me my humanity." (Calderon de la Barca, 118). In this way, Vasily violates his legal obligation to his son, as well as his patriarchal responsibilities to him. This second responsibility is immoral from a seventeenth century point-of-view in Europe, since a Christian father must raise his children with compassion and understanding; the first is illegal. Unlike Agamemnon, Vasily behaves in such a way in the hopes of avoiding the fulfillment of prophesy -- Agamemnon felt that he had to fulfill it. As a result, Vasily sacrifices his son's well-being to preserve his position. Additionally, the death of Sigismund's mother in childbirth is her symbolic sacrifice to fulfill the prophecy for her son. Vasily's choice of his own well-being over that of his son, however, is precisely what threatens to bring about his downfall. Certainly, it is a personal sacrifice as well: he expects that he will never know his son, and that his lineage will end.

The prophesy illustrates the central role of astrology within the lives of many in the seventeenth century. Unlike the oracle in Greek tragedy, Vasily's visions are accurate; his mistake is that he misjudges the cause. Sigismund points out this error when he says, "If anyone were told, 'One day you will be killed by an inhuman beast,' would it be a good solution to wake one up while it was sleeping?" (Calderon de la Barca, 150)....

Just because one may be able to see into the future does not mean that they can influence it. This is the human error that Vasily makes and it is what makes his sacrifices evident with respect to his son.
The sacrifice that Sethe makes is another terrible act of violence from a purely objective position. Essentially, she kills her young daughter in order to prevent her from suffering life as a slave. The outcome of this action is somewhat reminiscent of Iphigeneia at Aulis, because this supposed act of love ultimately is misguided. Sethe, and all of her children, were on the verge of being freed by the emancipation proclamation; yet, with the limited information that Sethe had at the time of her act, it seemed to be an act of mercy. Accordingly, the moral framework working around Beloved is just as disjointed as human beings actually think. Sethe explains her reasoning to the ghost of her child, "I have felt what [slavery] felt like and nobody walking or stretched out is going to make you feel it too. Not you, not none of mine, and when I tell you mine, I also mean I'm yours. I wouldn't draw breath without my children." (Morrison, 203). Put differently, Sethe believes that it is her duty as a mother to ensure the happiness of her children, and from the choices she perceived herself to have, death was the most attractive option. Importantly, Morrison is concerned with her characters' actions and their values, regarding sacrifice, and does not attempt to fit them nicely into broad morality. Slavery, to Sethe and those like her, was worse than death; this sentiment is just as significant if a person feels it only one moment during their lives or throughout them.

Sacrifice, in all of these stories is performed with insufficient information and not wholly from a rational point-of-view. However, all three authors tend to suggest that judgments of right or wrong are inconsequential. All that matters are the emotions people feel pulling them in one direction or another.

Works Cited

Calderon de la Barca, Pedro. Life's a Dream. Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2004.

Euripides. Iphigeneia at Aulis. New York: Oxford University Press, 1978.

Morrison, Toni. Beloved. New York: Plume Publishing, 1998.