Grendel: Evil? Or Misunderstood? Does being an outcast in society make a person evil? That is one of the questions that is constantly addressed in the epic poem, Beowulf. In the epic poem, the great hero Beowulf sets out to kill the supposed demon Grendel, who everyone widely views as one of the most evil beings to walk the Earth.
Poseidon’s destruction of the wall was justifiable since the king of Troy breached his agreement to compensate Poseidon and Apollo with vines of gold for the year of strenuous labor. The king of Troy’s actions was an outrage, especially towards a god who frequently received praise and offerings for this blessings upon humans. When a mortal breaks a promise to a god, it could result in the utmost punishment, death. Poseidon showed mercy to the kind of Troy by sparing his life, but destroying the wall. “When the king of Crete requested a gift from Poseidon, a fine bull to sacrifice, Poseidon generously sent him the very finest from his herd, so fine in fact that King Minos decided to keep it himself instead of sacrificing it.
Through the first cantos, Dante shows how each level of his hell is an expression of human weakness and a loss of hope. Hell is the deepest and farthest place from God himself, which is why fire is the best and only symbol to represent the center of Hell. To begin with fire and destruction go hand and hand. In Dante’s Inferno fire is utilized to punish sinners by engulfing them in flames. Fires destructive nature is the reason why those that aren’t seen fit to be in Heaven, are caste into the lake of Fire.
At the end, Dante comes to the final circle of hell to see Satan’s three heads perpetually chewing on Brutus, Cassius, and Judas, the three great traitors. The relevance of Dante’s Inferno to society can be seen in the first Canto. “Midway in our life’s journey, I went astray from the straight road and woke to find myself alone in a dark wood” (Alighieri, 194). This represents those who go astray in life, who have fallen into temptation, committed sin, and cannot seem to bring them self back to God. Dante describes the dark wood: “Its very memory gives a shape to fear” (Alighieri, 194).
The bride of Loki was more than a wife. She was a mother. Angrboda had given birth to three hideous offspring of which Loki was the father. The eldest child was the Fenrir Wolf, the second was Jormungand the Serpent, and the youngest was Hel.² Loki the Trickster saw the birth of these monsters as the ultimate defacement of his god status. Loki’s fear of the knowledge of these brutes was stemmed from several reasons; the most significant reason being Odin All-Father’s response to the marriage and births.
Violence is the most awful way in which someone could die. No one deserves to die in pain, no matter of the acts made in the past. In the case of “The Lottery”, Mrs. Hutchinson says, “It isn’t fair, it isn’t right, she screamed, and they went upon her”. (Jackson’s 324). On the other hand, in “The Jewbird” the author tells in
It was even done by the great god Zeus! The ancient Greeks thought that Odysseus was right in killing all the suitors because they ate his food, exceeded their limits, didn’t leave when they were told, misbehaved with his wife when he was gone, and even raped the maids. Back then, it was unquestionably correct to kill the
We can easily observe a serious competition between the gods in the creation of human beings. There were also big violence and conflicts, like when Marduck destroyed the primeval Goddess Tiamat and created the heavens and earth from her body. Similarly to the nature, Mesopotamian gods were unpredictable. People considered the unpredictable river floods and weather changes as punishments from the gods. Because of these pessimistic beliefs, people believed that there is no life after death and human beings were created to serve Gods.
Sometimes the tragic hero suffers from hubris, like know-it-all Oedipus. The goddess Nemesis waits until just the proper moment to tap his arrogance, blind him to the reality around him, and thereby lead him to his own destruction. But note: What separates the tragic hero from the arrogant fool who suffers the same fate is the sheer magnitude of his gifts, and thus the depth of the abyss into which he falls, and the spirit with which he
The Cyclops would let the sheep out every morning and they left with them. Next, Poseidon curses Odysseus and his man. Poseidon was mad at Odysseus for numerous reasons. Poseidon supported the Trojans in the Trojans war and Odysseus was a member of the Greek army that beat the Trojans. The goddess Athena was the main patron of Odysseus and she was a rival to Poseidon, by beating him in the patron deity of Athens.