Saturday, October 20, 2018
Greek Religion, Oedipus, and our Summer Books
One thing that stood out to me about Greek religion was the focus on spirit's of ancestors and the family hearth, which was thought to embody the family's past, present, and future. These rituals for the dead often revolved around being on good terms and avoiding vengeful hauntings; the dead didn't want to be forgotten. Also, they buried the dead with items that they could use in the afterlife, and there were even times when it was thought these spirits could roam our world. They still had significant influence on the world and weren't really gone, they were just no longer physically here. These concepts remind me of our summer reading books; in both, the importance of remembering one's past and the idea that history's influence is ever-present are highlighted. The Greeks' importance placed on family also made me realize that Oedipus's deeds must have shaken the audience not only for the obvious reasons, but also because it hit on a focal point of their daily rituals, and because in addition to these deeds, Oedipus wanted to replace the gods in his subject's eyes. He thus disrespected the Greek religion that was interwoven in so many parts of their daily lives and activities. (Even the play itself was to honor a god!) Maybe part of the point of the play was to show that the word of the gods/set fate can't be evaded even if someone thinks themselves to be higher than the gods.
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3 comments:
Thank you, Natalia, for showing the connections between the presentation to not only Oedipus but also our summer books. I think that Oedipus is clearly trying to establish a legacy (to be remembered like the gods) through his heroic acts such as solving the Sphinx riddle. In addition, he wants to be remembered as a benevolent leader rather than an egotistic and short-tempered man (indicated through his diolauge with Tiresias and Creon). Instead, it remains to be seen if he will either be forgotten altogether or remembered for his error in judgement by killing King Lauis and causing a devastating plague. I wonder if Oedipus would prefer the former or the latter.
This is quite an interesting connection you made here. It's funny how we keep coming back to our summer books like this. With One Hundred Years of Solitude we saw how important identity is for a person by remembering one's familial history and being able associate oneself with that history. Sing, Unburied, Sing told a similar message by showing how important it is to remember the past and how it can affect us in the present. The faith of the citizens in Ancient Greece truly takes things like this into account. I did a little more research on this and family relationships were so important to the Greeks if someone did something dishonorable in the family, it puts the whole family to shame. It was also believed that going against your family was a sin frowned about by the Gods. Every member was important and no one was to be ignored. One was supposed to protect their family members in both life and death no matter how dangerous it was. No wonder we see a plethora of Greek Literature having familial themes. One such is Oedipus Rex itself. Also according to my research, Euripides' Medea as well as Sophocles' Antigone have such themes as well.
I love that you pointed out this connection - I wouldn't have drawn those comparisons though I definitely see your point. It makes me recognize the stark difference between common beliefs in ancient Greece and what's considered possible now in modern day society. What is considered magical realism to us and complete fiction may have been interpreted as a recounting of events for the Greeks. They believed in the concepts of the dead roaming the Earth and influencing present events. On those terms, they may have thought Richie from Sing, Unburied, Sing lacked peace due to a lack of ritualistic practices among the household! Whereas we refer to the presence of the dead as a symbolic matter, it was a very real and active element of life among the Greeks.
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