Themes, Essay Example

Introduction

The Iliad, Medea, and Oedipus are well-known for their profound literary and philosophical implications. The glory of war, the value of heritage, and the significance of prophecy are the common thematic threads characteristic of all ancient literary creations. However, no other theme is as significant and typical of the ancient literature as the theme of self-sacrifice. Characters can sacrifice their families for the sake of military heroism or their own stability for the sake of revenge, but self-sacrifice stands out as the distinctive feature of daily routine in ancient literature. It would be fair to assume that self-sacrifice is the central thematic element of The Iliad, Medea, and Oedipus and is an indispensable component of the characters’ pursuit for the personal and social ideals.

The Iliad constantly weighs the value of the family bonds against the value and significance of the military glory. The Iliad emphasizes the need for the characters to sacrifice their family stability for the sake of their military achievements: “Hold your peace, my friend, as I bid you. It is not amiss that Agamemnon should urge the Achaeans forward, for the glory will be his if we take the city and his shame if we are vanquished” (Homer). Military glory and achievements are always one step ahead of the family life, and nothing in this world can make an ancient warrior change his attitudes toward war: “Dear Husband, your valour will bring you to destruction; think on your infant son, and on my hapless self who ere long shall be your widow” (Homer). Andromache pleads Hector to stay with the family, but Hector, like other characters of The Iliad, is willing to sacrifice his marital status for the sake of the military glory, which will make his fame immortal.

Yet, men are not always the central figures of self-sacrifice: more often than not, women choose to sacrifice their bodies and souls to pursue their personal ideals and goals.  Antigone and Jocasta in Oedipus are the two brightest representations of the female self-sacrifice: the former sacrifices herself to give her brother an honorable burial, while Jocasta sacrifices her life to escape the responsibility for her actions. Such self-sacrifice has nothing to do with wars and military heroism similar to that in The Iliad, but is justified by the characters’ reliance on prophecy and their striving to live as if there is no tomorrow: “Fear? What should a man fear? It’s all chance, chance rules our lives. Not a man on earth can see a day ahead, groping through the dark. Better to live at random, best we can” (Sophocles 53). Because there is no tomorrow and because the human fate is laid and predetermined beforehand, self-sacrifice becomes an indispensable component of one’s routine existence. That is why the characters of Oedipus do not hesitate to choose the most appropriate self-sacrificing decision.

Euripides’s Medea continues the thematic thread of self-sacrifice, which is also common for The Iliad and Oedipus. It would be fair to say that the theme of self-sacrifice in Medea, The Iliad and Oedipus reveals several notable commonalities: first, like in Oedipus, the woman is the central decision-making figure and the person who chooses self-sacrifice to pursue her goals. Second, like in The Iliad, marital life in Medea is the object and, simultaneously, the basic reason of self-sacrifice. Medea cannot reconcile with the fact that her husband Jason abandoned her to remarry with Glauce, Creon’s daughter: “Ah, I have suffered/ What should be wept for bitterly. I hate you,/ Children of a hateful mother. I curse you / And your father. Let the whole house crash” (Euripides 5). However, while self-sacrifice in The Iliad and Oedipus is associated with the pursuit of the higher ideals, self-sacrifice for Medea is just a convenient tool of revenge. Medea represents the opposite side of the literary self-sacrifice and is an effective literary antipode to the heroes of The Iliad and Oedipus, who apply to self-sacrifice to pave the way to their spiritual immortality.

Conclusion

The theme of self-sacrifice is the common thread for The Iliad, Medea, and Oedipus. The characters of the ancient literature choose self-sacrifice to pursue their goals and ideals. Warriors sacrifice their marital life for the sake of the military heroism. Women sacrifice their bodies and souls to preserve and protect their honor and dignity. Some women, like Medea, view self-sacrifice as an effective instrument of revenge. Despite these differences, all three stories confirm self-sacrifice as the indispensable component of daily routine in the ancient world.

Works Cited

Euripides. Medea. Translated by Rex Warner. Courier Dover Publications. 1993.

Homer. “The Iliad.” Translated by Samuel Butler. The Internet Classics Archive, n.d. Web. 21 April 2010.

Sophocles. Oedipus Rex: Oedipus the King. E.H. Plumptre, 2005.