Oedipus Rex, A Symbol Of Fate - 1517 Words

The most famous scene in Sophocles’, Oedipus Rex, is when Oedipus gouges out his eyes. But that’s not the only example of sight and blindness in this play. In Sophocles world, eyes play a big part in society, as the theme of vision invites the audience to look at the action with a double perspective, through own eyes and through the eyes of those on stage ( Mastronarde pp. 179-182). Considering eyes as an essential piece, it places them as a motif of the play. Within Greek literature, scholars focus on many aspects of the play such as the guilt or innocence of Oedipus, while others evaluate the theme of the myth which question self-knowledge. Defending the importance of their stance, scholars, Lazlo Versenyi, Thomas Huey, Marjorie Champlain, and Michael Parsons analyze the theme from different perspectives. Versenyi says the play was â€Å"of human knowing†, but Hoey calls Oedipus â€Å"a symbol of fate.† Champlain explains the pervading theme of Oedipus is â€Å"The problem of knowledge† and Parson’s detection, that the play was a particular theme of â€Å"internal conflicts†. Questions that may arise are quite informative after reading the full text, Oedipus Rex. Granted proving whether Oedipus is guilty or innocent and other features which are indispensable for an understanding, what was Sophocles true intent behind the story? In concurrence with the evaluations of the scholars, I would like to attach my own analysis of Sophocles’ intent to convey such message as the pursuit ofShow MoreRelatedArchetypes In Charlotte Brontes Jane Eyre And Oedipus Rex913 Words   |  4 PagesArchetype Essay An Archetype is a universal symbol with reoccurring representations in human culture. Archetypes are portrayed through symbols, themes, or characters that rise out of a universal pattern. The novel Jane Eyre and the play Oedipus Rex use the symbol of nature to give the reader a further understanding of the characters and the story. In Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte uses the archetypical symbol of nature in order to indirectly convey the feelings and future of Jane Eyre; similarly, thisRead MoreOedipus Trilogy Analysis1214 Words   |  5 PagesAnalysis of The Oedipus Trilogy Oedipus Rex, or Oedipus Tyrannus as it is in Latin, could be what we call today a Freudian work of literature. The Oedipus Trilogy was originally written by Sophocles and is meant to be told in a story-telling fashion. But this Grecian tragedy was revised and translated into English by Paul Roche and put into a novel form. The Oedipus Trilogy is a novel that deals with destiny and fate. The reader is shown a series of events plotted out from which Oedipus cannot escapeRead MoreOedipus Rex Literary Synthesis1483 Words   |  6 Pages2012 The Tragic Destiny of Oedipus Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex is one of the most well- known tragic plays in existence. Oedipus, the King of Thebes, is the victim of a curse in which he must suffer the tragedy of his own unchangeable fate. The tragic heroism of Oedipus befalls him because of his heroic qualities and his loyalty to his Thebans and to himself. His unchangeable destiny affects so many others throughout the play. These others’ subsequent suffering that Oedipus brings upon them helps contributeRead MoreComparison Between Oedipus Rex and Street Car Named Desire1268 Words   |  6 Pages‘Oedipus Rex’ and ‘Streetcar’       | Similarities | Contrasts | Clever Points | Actions / Events | ï‚ ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Both ‘Oedipus Rex’ and ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ have scenes where a character’s past is revealed, whether it is to other characters or to the audience (e.g. Oedipus’ parentage or Blanche’s past). This shows an underlying tone that they cannot fully escape their past, whether it is an eventual surfacing (in A Streetcar Named Desire) or an abrupt revelation (in Oedipus Rex). This is linkedRead MoreOedipus: Aristotelian or Formalist Theory772 Words   |  4 PagesTeiresias’s speech at the end of scene one of Sophocles’ play Oedipus Rex is fairly short but it is in this encounter between Oedipus and Teiresias where the main conflict of the story begins to unfold. This is a pivotal speech in the play as it helps to develop some of the major themes in the play as well as begin to build up the tragic irony at the center of the story. When this speech is analyzed using either Aristotelian or Formalist theory key elements can be found that are effective inRead MoreTheme Of Madness In Oedipus Rex879 Words   |  4 PagesFurthermore, Oedipus Rex is another piece of work that demonstrates how madness plays the role of influencing characters in destructive decision making, however, it differs from, The Dark Knight because the characters are driven to madness by themselves, not by an external force like The Joker. To begin, both Jocasta and Oedipus display madness when they deny that their pre-determined fate will occur and disregard any evidence that proves their false conclusions. The madness that they display isRead MoreThe Precursor Of Psychoanalysis And Dr. Josef Breuer1124 Words   |  5 PagesThe manifest content is thus the disguised desires of the unconscious mind. Specifically, these disguises are expressed by symbols, such as long, weapon-like symbols to personify males and hollow, box-like symbols to personify females. Whereas, the latent content is the unfeigned significance of the dream actually fulfilling these forbidden desires. Each dream and its symbols are specific to the individual, further pressing Freud’s rejection of The Interpretation of Dreams to be a universal referenceRead MoreLight And Darkness In Oedipus Rex1467 Words   |  6 Pagessight is a major theme in Oedipus Rex, the Greek tragedy written by the legendary Sophocles, a Greek playwright so skilled that he won the Festival of Dionysus approximately twenty times with his masterfully crafted tragedies (Buller). Oedipus Rex is a tragic journey of self-discovery as King Oedipus uncovers his origins and how he unwittingly fulfilled the oracle that he will marry his mother Jocasta and kill his father Laius in his own desperate attempt to escape the cruel fate Apollo cursed him withRead MoreThe Tragic Tragedy Of Oedipus Oedipus The King 1742 Words   |  7 PagesNoble yet naive, Oedipus eagerly seeks to discover if the oracle stating t hat he will murder his father and marry his mother is true. Although the beginning of Sophocles’ play â€Å"Oedipus The King† emphasizes Oedipus’ character as heroic, Oedipus eventually encounters an ironic turn of events once the truth brings knowledge of his past and present, and alters his attitude. The play’s powerful symbolic use of eyes and crossroads paired with the pattern of blindness towards truth foreshadows the downfallRead More The Search for Truth in Anton Chekhovs The Cherry Orchard and Sophocles Oedipus Rex1281 Words   |  6 Pagesand Sophocles deal with the idea of this sinful pride that leads to ignorance in their respective works, The Cherry Orchard and Oedipus Rex. In each drama, certain characters are slapped in the face with the truth; the light is revealed. However, these characters make the connection when it is too late. Their destruction is already destined to become a reality, a horrid fate that could have been prevented. Both Chekhov and Sophocles present the universal theme that an open mind, constantly in search

Prohibition Of The National Minimum Drinking Age Act

Prohibition was a time in American history where any type of alcohol consumption, production, and distribution was banned. The thirteen year, dry period finally came to an end because of the temptation and social urges alcohol pursues. Throughout these thirteen years, people corruptly consumed, produced, and distributed alcohol as if the regulations instituted by the government were suggestions. After the Prohibition laws were lifted in 1993, the drinking age was set at twenty one but was later lowered to eighteen because of the passage of the 26th amendment which lowered the voting age to eighteen. In order to combat drunk driving, The National Minimum Drinking Age Act was passed and stated that states must raise their drinking age to†¦show more content†¦John McCardell’s view on the topic questions Why don t we trust these young adults to make the same kind of responsible decisions about alcohol that we believe them capable of making in the voting booth, in the jur y box, on the battlefield? Young kids would stop drinking underage because there would no longer be the rush of rebellion they felt before. To fix the problems with drunken driving that America has experienced before, applications such as â€Å"Uber† and â€Å"Lyft† have been developed to taxi around people for cheap prices and avoid them getting behind the wheel under the influence. These easily accessible applications have lowered the drinking and driving by about 6% in most cities. Lowering the drinking age would lower the rate of underage drinking. Like during Prohibition, 80% of college students under the age of 21 use the drinking age law as more of a suggestion than a regulation. Because of the high drinking age, fake identification has become popular in the young demographic and has allowed underage kids to drink 11% of the total alcohol consumed in the United States. The high drinking age is encouraging young adults to drink in extreme quantities. By binge dr inking, playing drinking games, and â€Å"pre-gaming† (drinking large amounts of alcohol before going in public to avoid drinking in public and being stopped by lawShow MoreRelatedThe Legal Drinking Age Of The United States Essay1500 Words   |  6 PagesThe legal drinking age in the United States was ruled to be 21 in 1984, setting the country apart from almost all other western nations. These past 30 years have contained as much problems regarding the consumption of alcohol as one of the country’s biggest failures ever, the 18th amendment, otherwise known as prohibition. Also, the legal drinking age in the United States can be considered violation of states liberties, as the national government, albeit with good intentions, has intervened and onlyRead MoreThe Legal Drinking Age Should Be Abolished1634 Words   |  7 PagesLegality and Liquor: A Balancing Act Laws surrounding alcohol use and consumption in the United States all stem from one major root: the Prohibition Era of the 1920s. The Prohibition Era lasted almost thirteen years and banned the production, the distribution, and the sale of alcohol. In 1933, the Prohibition Act was repealed and states designated their own legal drinking age. In 1984 the National Minimum Drinking Age act was passed and raised the drinking age in the United States to twenty-one.Read MoreThe Legal Drinking Age Should Be Lowered1732 Words   |  7 PagesThe definition of the word adult is: â€Å"a person who has attained the age of maturity as specified by law†(Dictionary.com). If this is so, then why is it that in the United States 18 year olds are legally considered adults in our society, but they can’t legally buy or consume alcohol? Yet at this age they are able to vote in an election, get married, serve on a jury, live on their own, purchase cigarettes, adopt a child, and defend our co untry. These are not easy tasks for one to take on, yet our governmentRead MoreNational Minimum Drinking Age Act Essay719 Words   |  3 PagesIn 1984 the United States Government approved the National Minimum Drinking Age Act that required that â€Å"the States prohibit persons under 21 years of age from purchasing or publicly possessing alcoholic beverages as a condition of receiving State highway funds.† Even though this bill was nowhere near the magnitude of the prohibition act that was passed less than a century before it, the act still damaged the relationship between individuals, firms, and the United States government. Although theRead MoreThe Repeal Of The National Minimum Drinking Age927 Words   |  4 PagesThe repeal of prohibition by the twenty-first Amendment in December of 1933 allowed for each state to set its own alcohol consumption age. After the passage of the twenty-sixth Amendment, which lowered the national drinking age to eighteen, thirty states had lowered the minimum drinking age to eighteen, nineteen, or twenty (â€Å"Prohibition†). In 1984, the enactment of the National Minimum Drinking Age Act prompted states to raise the legal age for purchase of public possession of alcohol to twenty-oneRead MoreMinimum Legal Drinking Age ( Tietjen )1700 Words   |  7 PagesMinimum Legal Drinking Age On July 17 of 1984 President Ronald Reagan signed to make the National Minimum Drinking Age Act a law. This law required all states to have a minimum drinking age of 21, if a state did not comply with this law they could face up to a 10% cut in funding for their federal highways (Tietjen). Since this act became a law there has been two distinct sides arguing whether they agree with the minimum drinking age, or whether they disagree. One side believes having a minimum drinkingRead MoreAlcohol Consumption And Underage Drinking1561 Words   |  7 PagesAlcohol consumption and underage drinking has been a major social problem and public health concern for centuries. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), â€Å"Alcohol is the most commonly used and abused drug among youth in the United States, more than tobacco and illicit drugs, and is responsible for more than 4,300 annual deaths among underage youth (Fact Sheets - Underage Drinking). Alcohol has always been part of our c ulture as well as a debatable topic in our society and the controversyRead MoreEssay on Federal Highway Policy714 Words   |  3 PagesHighway Policy: Minimum Legal Drinking Age Ashley Miller American National Government Mark Ladd February 17, 2014 The Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) laws were created in the US after the Prohibition in 1933. AT this time, many states set the MLDA at 21. When the voting age was lowered to 18 in 1971, many states also lowered their drinking age to 18 or 19 (Fell, 2009). After the lowering, the amount of alcohol related accidents involving young adults age 18 to 20 had dramaticallyRead MoreProhibition During The Era Of 1920-1933 Essay814 Words   |  4 PagesProhibition Essay: By: Savannah Crawford During the era of 1920-1933 could best be characterized as the path to a sober nation. This time of history consisted of the eighteenth amendment which was passed on October 28th 1919; Volstead Act. The Volstead act was created to carry out the movement of prohibition. In addition, Prohibition is the legal prohibiting of the manufacture and sale of alcoholic drinks for common consumption according to dictionary.com. Furthermore, this amendment concurs thatRead MoreKeeping The Minimum Drinking Age864 Words   |  4 Pages Keeping the Minimum Drinking Age In 1984, the United States’ federal government passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act. Under this act, the federal government gives highway funds to States that forbid people under the age of twenty-one years old from â€Å"purchasing or publicly possessing alcoholic beverages†(23 U.S.C.  § 158). The incentive created a sense of a standardized minimum drinking age when legally there cannot be a federal minimum drinking age. Even though this Act has been in effect

Courbet Stonebreakers Free Essays

Courbet’s Stonebreakers Courbet’s stonebreakers is a painting drawn by Gustave Courbet and have been seen by two different art historians who write about their opinions about Courbet’s meaning behind his painting. Courbet’s painting can either be interpreted as a painting that shows in detail hardship and emotion of manual labor, or a painting that just a â€Å"metaphor as an act of painting†, but the understanding of it as hardship and emotion of manual labor is more sufficient because by the looks of the two men it reminds me of times where back in the day everything was done manually. Linda Nochlin is one of the art historians who argues about how some people don’t really understand the meaning of Courbet’s painting. We will write a custom essay sample on Courbet Stonebreakers or any similar topic only for you Order Now She tries to explain how in his painting he shows us how manual labor really is. He expressed how real it use to be and how difficult it was for those at the time of 1849. She believes that many people just see his painting as two workers just breaking stones with lack of aerial perspective. Michael Fried another art historian argues that no one will ever know what Courbet was really trying to say. Fried believes that it â€Å"remains an open question†, that the poses, their clothes, how far they stand from each other can mean different things. He chooses to believe that Courbet just painted that because he like the scene of two men working in a environment with a lot of dirt. He thinks that Courbet’s painting can be interpreted as a an act of painting or an image of labor. Each author use the painting as evidence, but Fried seems to use some sort of story that was written about how Courbet was influenced to paint â€Å"The Stonebreakers†. Nochlin’s just gives us her opinion. Which even though their wasn’t a story she had a good point. Even though Fried had facts and showed us that the painting can be seen as in either way I still have to agree with Nochlin’s opinion. I’m sure there are many ways to see the painting but I believe the painting comes more to life when you think of it as Courbet showing us how low class society in the mid 1800’s manual labor use to be. It reminds me how difficult things use to be back then and how now we have it way easier. Nochlin’s just seemed to grab my attention and convinced me more than Frieds point of view. Michelle Cavazos April 19, 2010 How to cite Courbet Stonebreakers, Papers

Assessment of Fred Khosravi’s career and record as a medical device entrepreneur free essay sample

Fred has gradually built a reputable name for himself as a medical device entrepreneur. In order to do this, he has been found to deliver on the major requirements that venture capitalists and private investors look for before they invest. These can be seen below.   He has repeatedly delivered cutting edge, best-in-class commercial medical devices that have been able to capture a sizeable part of the market. He has successfully founded seven start-up companies in this field because of his understanding of providing value propositions and of raising money to support these ventures.  Two years after Boston Scientific bought Fred Khosravi’s fifth start up (EPI), the EPI filter generated $65 million in revenue and captured an impressive 70% market share. AccessClosure’s Matrix was expected to capture 20% of the closure market and Finale, 50-60% within ten years of launch.He has been able to deliver increasingly attractive returns to shareholders of his firms.   He started with Focal, which overall earned investors a nominal return on their investment. By the time his fifth company Embolic Protection Inc. (EPI) was sold to Boston Scientific, investors of series-A shares got over 18 times return on their investment.   He has also been able to establish a good rapport with the VC community, thereby making it easy to get funding for his projects.  Initially, Fred Khosravi had been wary of the Venture Capital community. However, he had gradually built a name in that community, starting with Mark Levin, partner Mayfield Fund, in his first start up, Focal Therapeutics. Levin ended up also playing a mentoring role to Fred. At Endotex, his second startup, he conceded the CEO role to someone else because he felt that he would bring the required discipline to the company. This showed a commitment to the success of the company. At this time, investors even stuck around while the company was going through some hurdles. Later on, he secured repeated investment from ONSET Ventures and got funding from other VCs and private investors.  He has formed good relationships with other entrepreneurs and with co-workers thereby giving him credibility during the due diligence process that venture capitalists go through before they offer funding.  He developed a strong relationship with co-founder (Prof. Ulrich Sigwart) during the setup of Endotex, when he helped Sigwart negotiate the terms of the licensing agreement. Khosravi had a lot of credibility with senior management at Boston Scientific.  He has formed good relationships licensing authorities.  Khosravi’s good rapport with the FDA is a great plus for him as an entrepreneur. Regulatory bodies are a serious threat to companies and can restrict entry into the industry. He has been able to show that he is transparent and this has made him trustworthy and has sped up his requests for licensing from the authority.  Rules or generalizations about medical device startups based on Khosravi’s experiences.  Based on Khosravi’s experiences I can derive that some of the rules about medical device startups include: a) Constant improvement must be the order of the day. This is because this is a highly innovative industry with a high risk of obsolescence. You can see Khosravi do this at Endotex when they had to restart so that they could out-do the competition. b) The company must ensure that it develops credibility with the FDA. This is a heavily regulated industry because of the risk to human health. Developing credibility is essentially a sales job. The company must be transparent, open and honest with the FDA. For example, AccessClosure’s Matrix was able to get speedy FDA approval because the company made it clear that it had nothing to hide. It filed in November 2004 and got approved by May 2005. c)The entrepreneur must be ready for buyouts. This is because this industry has a high level of merger and acquisitions. Khosravi was always ready for the possibility of a buyout and if it came, he moved on to develop the next medical device. d)Liquidity is not the ultimate test of success It is more important to develop technology that would meet the needs of the customer base. Khosravi’s test for this was that if after interviewing the physicians, they only found it ‘interesting’ and did not say it met their needs, it was not good enough. Assessment of AccessClosure Incorporated. Criticism of how the company has been managed. Opinion about how it has been financed. Management I believe that AccessClosure is a well-managed company.  Team members from the earlier Khosravi start-ups manage it so there is an understanding of the culture.  The company’s policy is to look out for staff with passion and enthusiasm, a good track record and sound judgment and then cultivate them for leadership positions. For example, the VP, Advanced Technology at AccessClosure worked with Khosravi at EPI. Funding AccessClosure has had an incredibly easy time with regards with financing. It has not met with the hurdles that a lot of entrepreneurs meet with.  A venture capital firm (ONSET Ventures) that has had a positive long-standing relationship with the founder is one of the sources of seed funding for AccessClosure. This is a plus for the organization in case it needs to round up more funds. It will help in raising funds quicker and will make the process quicker because the due diligence process is already established. AccessClosure is also got seed funds from some private investors in 2002. In July 2004, it raised an additional $10 million from a group of investors including ONSET and Three Arch Partners. At the very beginning, Khosravi realized that a startup has to both create value propositions and raise money. Unlike a number of startup companies, AccessClosure has never run out of money. This is a testament to the sound finance minds (especially Khosravi) that run this organization.