Oedipus Rex Vs Beowulf Analysis

You won’t get a medal of honor, or a movie deal, or a political career out of¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬ it but you still might save innocent lives===. Hero’s start off in most cases slightly selfish. They then begin to blossom into a selfless person. Beowulf was a prince who sailed across an ocean to help a king. Achilles is a soldier who was thought to be invulnerable and the greatest warrior in the world.

Grendel has brought a lot of death to the world, because of that Beowulf promised to himself that he will kill

Beowulf took on both Grendel and his mother with the intentions of saving the Danes, whether he survived or

" Beowulf then defeats Grendel. Just as the audience begins to think the problem is resolved we see a reoccurring theme, of a stronger monster that Beowulf must take on. The reader also watches Beowulf take on the stronger demon Grendel's Mom, destroying her almost at the cost of his life. Finally, after Beowulf had sailed to his homeland, the persona meets the beast who will finally bring the downfall of Beowulf and his people. On page 181, line 2690-2693 we see the utter downfall of Beowulf because of the final outside evil source, "in a rush of flame and clamped sharp fangs into his neck.

During the fight, Beowulf’s sword is no match for the dragon. This is when Wiglaf, the bravest of his men comes to help Beowulf kill the dragon. The duel between Beowulf and the dragon is his third and final battle that eventually ends his life. “So every man should act, be at hand when needed; but now, for the king, this would be the last of his many labors and triumphs in the world” (183). This fight is similar to the other fights in the sense that Beowulf is willing to risk his life for the greater good of the people.

Beowulf is an epic poem that set around the ninth century that describes the battles that a Geat warrior faced during his lifetime. After hearing of the troubles that King Hrothgar was having in Daines, Beowulf feels obligated to come assist the old warrior since Hrothgar once helped his father in battle. Grendel, a monster, is the first obstacle that Beowulf encountered. Grendel attacks Heorot Hall to kill some Danish citizens while Beowulf is there. The Geat warrior fought the demon in a man-to-man battle, with Beowulf ripping Grendel’s arm off.

The ending of Oedipus conveys the message that one cannot escape his fate and the free will he exhibits will in the end be worthless because everyone has an assigned fate. Oedipus himself is a great example of this when he saw the oracle it “flashed before my eyes a future great with pain, terror, disaster”(Sophocles, 870). This was when Oedipus first found out about his fated future and upon hearing that he was deeply saddened so he tried to escape his fate which only lead him to fulfill it. At the end after he realizes that the oracle was right,, Oedipus says, “I stand revealed at last -- cursed in my birth, cursed in marriage, cursed in the lives I cut down with these hands!” (Sophocles, 1310), this was the moment that Oedipus realized that all of his precautions of leaving Corinth to escape his fate just led him right to it.

Meanwhile, Hamlet and Grendel’s lack of interactions with others leaves them to grow bitter and contemplate death less positively. Beowulf’s maturity and acceptance of death are displayed when he says, “Wise sir, do not grieve… When a warrior is gone, that will be his best and only bulwark” (Heaney, l384-1389). Additionally, his mindset allows him to battle evil without the fear of death, making him even more powerful. Once the time for Beowulf’s battle with the dragon occurs, he knows it is fate that he will die. “Now the people’s pride and love, the lord of the Geats, is laid on his deathbed brought down by the dragon’s attack” (Heaney, lines 2900-2902) is solemnly stated by Wiglar, representing the safety and value that Beowulf brought to his land.

After Oedipus realizes that he fulfilled his fate of killing his father and marrying his mother, Oedipus declares,”I have been saved for something great and terrible, something strange. Well let destiny come and take me on its way”(323). Then Oedipus gouges out his own eyes so that he cannot look upon his parents in the underworld, his children, or the city he once ruled. He then asks Creon to return him to the place he should have died as a young child, the mountain. The statement reveals that Oedipus fulfilled his fate and that Oedipus truly believes destiny set him on the path of destruction.

'Fate is not only present in Beowulf, but also in real life. Many aspects of our lives have already been pre-determined and we experience them every day. Although you can argue that we are the ones that ultimately decide our future; free will is correct instead of fate. Fate is still the main factor in our lives and is what drives most people including Beowulf. It is what fuels us in our journey that we call

He is a man from Higlac, a follower and the strongest of the Geats, greater and stronger than anyone in the world. Beowulf represents the salvation that Hrothgar’s kingdom needs to stop the suffering under the hands of Grendel that has been affecting them for twelves winters. Beowulf believes that without his help they wont be able to win the battle against evil, and that the king shouldnt refuse his help. The courage and experience that he has fighting monsters dont let him dout he will win the battle against the monster. Beowulf belives that it is his duty to kill Grendel to save Hrothgar’s people, in addition it would help with his reputation of being the greatest fighter of them all.

Fate plays a crucial role in both William Shakespeare’s Othello and Sophocles's Oedipus Rex. Othello the Moor and Oedipus the King both heavily experience a catharsis, or downfall, due to fate. Fate is not only a prevalent theme in both works, but a basis of plot as well. Both Shakespeare and Sophocles strategically use fate as a major theme in their plays to provide a thrilling plot and keep the audience thoroughly intrigued. Overall, fate is a major theme for both works and is a key element in each play used to enrich the plot and offer an entertaining and ever-changing storyline.

Human beings have been baffled by existential questions and conflicts throughout history, and we humans attempt to answer these questions and reconcile these conflicts through various cultural depictions of gods and goddesses, religion, and spirituality. Homer’s The Odyssey and Sophocles’ Oedipus the King provide two interesting examples of how Ancient Greeks sought to define meaning in life, establish and enforce morality, justify social hierarchies, explain powerful forces, and especially to explore the age-old question of whether our lives are tied to fate or whether we exercise free will. In The Odyssey, Homer writes of numerous gods and goddesses, intimately known by his hero Odysseus and his Ancient Greek audience. The gods and goddesses

The destiny that Oedipus was attempting to avoid, was the destiny that he was also fulfilling. Fate is defined as a destined outcome; nothing can alter that no matter what is tried. Anyway, it was too late for Oedipus to do anything about it, for the many factors that contributed to his death were irreversible and dormant until the very ironically tragic end. Oedipus tried to master fate and it ultimately mastered him.

Since the earliest of times, there has always been debate over the concepts of fate and free will. The most frequent dispute is whether or not man truly has free will, or if fate is the ultimate determinant of how one's life will turn out. One play that depicts this concept is Sophocles' Oedipus Rex. In this tragedy, Oedipus receives a prophecy that he would bed his mother and murder his father. After learning of this prophecy, Oedipus attempts to undo fate and utilize his free will to escape what would be his destiny.