Comparison of Sophocles' and Euripides' portrayal of humanity. Sophocles' is said to have portrayed men as they ought to be, while Euripides is said to have portrayed men "as they are"

The vast poet Aristotle once said that Sophocles ?portrayed realitypower as they ought to be while Euripides portrayed men as they genuinely are.? It can be argued that Sophocles did not portray an idealized variation of man because his works did welcome both an antagonist and a protagonist, but even the antagonists in Sophocles? plays were scrupulous. Furthermore, the manner in which Euripides portrays the characters in his plays adheres to a level of psychology unprecedented in his time, olibanum portraying men ?as they really are.?For example, during the recognition archetype in Euripides? play Electra, the recognition scene in Aeschylus? indication of the myth is parodied as Euripides uses Electra to voice the incredibility of the ?signs? used in the Libation Bearers, which is much more natural of what some integrity in Electra?s position would do. kind of, she recognizes Orestes when the old man points out a colewort on his head. Here Euripides uses realism whic h is very typical of his bm throughout many of his works. Sophocles on the other hand portrays the characters in his plays as men of principle. For instance in Oedipus the King, Oedipus is portrayed as a sympathetic ruler and a doer of coarse deeds. However, Oedipus ultimately turns out to be a sinner and the physical composition of the plague in Thebes. other example of the high clean-cut standards of Sophocles? characters is Oedipus? insistence on having the old man speak in front of everyone instead of ?keeping quiet? as he wanted (Oedpius Rex 1372) and this is lay outative of the concept that noble men cleanup nothing and keep everything out in the open. When he distinguish his sins were the source of the plague in Thebes, Oedipus gouged his own eyes; a more vivid Oedipus would have simply left the urban center in exile, but Sophocles? ideal tragic cuneus essential rise above and beyond what the common man would do. Another example of Eurpides? realism is in his play the Phrygian Slave, when Orestes went ! from becoming the enwrapped to the captor, and was in withstand of the slave?s fate. Instead of treating him kindly, Orestes behaved in a cruel manner to contendd the slave, threatening to tear him. This is typical psychology of one who was once helplessly in the control of others and suddenly finds himself in control of the fate of another(prenominal) person. sophisticated psychologists call this phenomenon ? intention coke psychology? and the opinion it has on each person is different depending on how they track the new grasped power. Sophocles also subjects one of the main characters of his play to this role reversal effect, but as expected, the results differ greatly from what Euripides has shown in his play. Oedipus at Colonus is a continuation of the story of the house of Oedipus in which Oedipus seeks safe in Athens, and both of his sons seek his support to seduce the war for control of Thebes.

Although Oedipus rejects both of his sons out of anger, he does it because the Thebans as a whole have outcasted him. Also, when he complains to Polyneices of all that he has been make to suffer because of his exile, he ends his list of complaints by tell ?I may not weep, I must couch up with it? (Oedipus at Colonus 1554), thus portraying Oedipus as a worshipful man who has accepted the will of the gods. Furthermore, Creon kidnaps the daughters of Oedipus in an feat to burden him to help Eteocles win. However, a real human being, one who feels anger, would have sided with Polyneices to help bring about the downfall of the Thebans as avenge for outcasting him as well as for kidnapp ing his daughters. thus the men portrayed in Sophocl! es? plays are not ones who manner of walking among us, but are of a mythical sort to be told in plays and other such tales, whereas Euripides takes what he sees in twenty-four hours to day life and uses his characters as a tool to represent this realistic portrait of humanity. Although Sophocles? characters aren?t completely unrealistic, their ability to be extra-considerate of those or so them is an exaggeration typical of his dramas, especially when contrasted with the reel realism of Euripides? characters. flora Cited:http://psychology.wikia.com/wiki/Role_reversal If you want to get a wax essay, shape it on our website: OrderCustomPaper.com

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