Saturday, October 19, 2019
Cosmic Horror
So, I had a question: where and is a sense of helplessness felt strongest in both Medea and Oedipus Rex? I want to draw a comparison between H.P. Lovecraft (well known author and RAVING racist [like, total xenophobe]) and these two Greek tragedies in terms of their usage of "fear of the unknown" or fear of being helpless. More specifically the former, because a major theme in Lovecraft's works is the scary lack of control the characters feel. The "gods" in Lovecraft's works aren't so much interested in and controlling humans' lives behind the scenes, but the general idea is that humanity is totally worthless in comparison to them. Much like with the Greek gods, humans generally are the lesser beings, and they may determine a person's fate entirely. The parallel may break when considering the characters feelings towards or reactions to being controlled or helpless. In Oedipus one could say that the audience (specifically Greek polytheistic audience) and other characters all understand Oedipus's fate, and part of what makes Oedipus fall so hard is the fact that he can't accept his own lack of free will. Therefore the lack of free will is part of the status-quo. In contrast, pretty much any character in H.P. Lovecraft's works that seems to accept their lack of control and worships the "Great Old Ones" is shown as being insane. What are some examples of this, or contradictions to it? cthulhu bad
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I think the strongest sense of helplessness in Oedipus is definitely the scene where Oedipus discovers he fulfilled the prophecy when he killed Laius and married Jacosta. In this scene, Oedipus is so disgusted with himself that he wishes death upon himself. He knows there is no one able to save him from this nightmare, not even himself. Solitude and exile are two things he will have to grow comfortable with, but doesn’t truly know how either of them feel yet. His life has been prosperous and successful up until this point, however that made his fall from grace that much harder for him to survive. He is completely helpless.
In Medea, I think the strongest sense of helplessness comes from her agonizing pain in the beginning of the play. The heartbreak she feels torments her constantly and the only thing she can think that will save her is death. Her life had been dedicated to helping Jason, and after he left her, she felt as though there was nothing else to live for. She felt completely helpless; she didn’t think anything or anyone could save her.
The main difference, I think, between Oedipus and Medea is that Medea learned how to save herself, which didn’t make her completely hopeless, like Oedipus.
Post a Comment