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Achilles And Oedipus: A Tragic Hero

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We all encounter some type of heroism throughout our lives. Whether it be on a personal or a professional level. What would our lives be without heroism? Heroism doesn 't necessarily mean death to a person before that person can be considered a hero. In today 's world heroes are celebrated daily. In history, we celebrate heroism after the person has died. There is a saying that "all heroes die", but in today 's world, we live among heroes. The smallest of action gets a heroic recognition whether it be great or small. Achilles and Oedipus were both heroes that were loyal to their people.
There are many definitions of what defines a hero. A hero is someone who is brave, strong and courageous. There are also different types of heroes that don …show more content…

Oedipus was blind to a lot of things around him and would not acknowledge anything without proof even with the information put before him. He wanted to know exactly the date place and time of what took place before he acknowledges anything. (Mack 333).Tiresias told Oedipus he was the killer of Laius yet he refused to believe what the high priest has said. The high priest was said to speak the truth at all times. The refusal of Oedipus to believe he was the killer made him a tragic hero.
Achilles was a brave, strong and fearless warrior. He was respected by all the soldiers in Achaians. There was no other soldier like Achilles. He did not fear anyone including king Agamemnon. He believed in loyalty as well as honesty and he fought for what was right in his eyes. Achilles mother was a Goddess, this is where he got his God-like fearlessness from. Achilles mother told him he would either have a long uneventful life or a short life which be bitter among all men. Achilles chose to be great as he wishes to be remembered throughout the ages. …show more content…

Achilles a soldier of the Achaians fought with Agamemnon at Thebe and won. Agamemnon took away Achilles prize which was Briseis his war prize. This angered Achilles which led to the conflict between Achilles and Agamemnon. Even though Achilles was strong and might and was never defeated by anyone he did not fight with Agamemnon on, instead he went to his mother and wept. Achilles loved his people and was loyal to them. The weeping of Achilles showed that he has a human side which is softness. This also showed that he respected Agamemnon to a certain

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Agamemnon’s taking of Briseis enrages Achilles and spurs him to remove himself from the war, leading to a massive death toll in the Achaean forces. In stealing Briseis from Achilles, he is not only robbing of him of a material prize, but also a symbol of honor, his geras, in Greek culture. In retaliation, Achilles removes himself from the war and prays to his mother, Thetis, that she will ask Zeus to damage the Achaean forces. Achilles’ only goal is that “even mighty Atrides can see how mad he was to disgrace Achilles” (1.488-490). Despite having no true grievance against the Achaean army as a whole, Achilles’ rage blinds him from the potential harm that may befall his troops.

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