The Aeneid and Oedipus

[LieInTheSnow]

Hello everyone. I was wondering if anyone could give me any ideas on a paper I am writing. It has to do with free will and fate, as it relates to the stories of The Aeneid and Oedipus.

Now, on this paper, I am taking the stance that characters only think they have free will (their free will isn't real), and that they are actually fated.

They paper has to be fairly long, so I would like to highlight four major points, or events, with each story that best demonstrate how the characters are fated and how they don't actually have free will.

The only problem is that I'm not really sure what to use as examples. And I'm not really sure how to elaborate on the examples. I'm having trouble getting into more depth than, "they were fated, and that's it."

Any help would be appreciated.

[Darren Loyden]

Oedipus collonus or Oedipus Tyrannus (REX) ? i studied both in second year university and so am quite confident on both. However, each takes, in my opinion, a different stance on the question you ask...

im happy to help, but feel this is important :D

PS: if it is both...then there are endless examples :D

[LieInTheSnow]

Oedipus collonus or Oedipus Tyrannus (REX) ? i studied both in second year university and so am quite confident on both. However, each takes, in my opinion, a different stance on the question you ask...

im happy to help, but feel this is important :D

PS: if it is both...then there are endless examples :D




Oh, sorry. It is Oedipus Rex.

[LieInTheSnow]

Oh, sorry. It is Oedipus Rex.





If we were to make a list of examples in Oedipus Rex concerning fate vs. free will, how many do you think you could come up with?


For example this is sort of what I mean.


Free Will: he escaped from Corinth, tried to stop the plague, cursed Laius murderer (he didn't know he was the murderer (fate). etc.



Fate: he killed his father, married his mother, etc.


There has got to be a lot more stuff, right? Some bigger and better and not so obvious stuff?

[myrna22]

The only problem is that I'm not really sure what to use as examples. And I'm not really sure how to elaborate on the examples. I'm having trouble getting into more depth than, "they were fated, and that's it."

Any help would be appreciated.


Clarify for yourself precisely what your thesis is, what you want to prove. Carefully re-read both works and find four examples in each which illustrate that point. In order to get a sense of how one who writes literary criticism uses examples, find some respectable literary criticism on the net or in the library and read it, observing how the writer incorporates examples into his/her discourse. Essentially, introduce a point; introduce a textual example that supports that point; discuss your example and why/how it illustrates your point.

There are no shortcuts. If you want to do a good job and understand what you are doing, you need to do the legwork.