Trace Character vs. Fate Theme - Essay Example

Trace character vs. fate theme The place of the man in the universe has been always an urgent question. The sense of being and existence has puzzled a number of generations. As man could not explain the phenomena and laws of nature he had endowed it with superpowers: he created god and created his own system of mystic views which could give the least satisfaction explaining basics of being. From the very beginning man understood that he played a miserable role in the world around him, that he was helpless in front of nature powers. It's a well known fact that a person is afraid of unknown, so were the ancient people. The belief in fate, in predestination and in powers of magic dominated the minds of ancient people, as the primary culture didn't have enough knowledge and experience to explain the nature of universe. Nevertheless ancient civilizations of Europe: Greece and Rome had presented new outlooks, new philosophies and ethics which were based on humanism and materialism. Ancient Greek philosophers and dramaturges had presented a new, liberal and unique idea of human's place in the universe. It was a human-centered philosophy, based on ration, sensualism and freedom of thought. Plato's Allegory of the Cave has become classical example which presents the world we live in: "Behold! Human beings living in an underground cave, which has a mouth open towards the light and reaching all along the cave; here they have been from their childhood, and have their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move, and can only see before them, being prevented by the chains from turning round their heads. Above and behind them a fire is blazing at a distance, and between the fire and the prisoners there is a raised way; and you will see, if you look, a low wall built along the way, like the screen which marionette players have in front of them, over which they show the puppets." (Plato, 2000, p.297) Allegory of the Cave is a symbolic name as it implies that human's world is not a world of darkness, where there is no way out, where everything is preplanned and where everyone has his own fate. The word "cave" means that there exists a way out, and this way is will power, confidence and knowledge based on rationalism of enquiring mind. There exists a sun at the end of cave, and sun of knowledge and reason shines for everyone and creates harmony, confidence and promotes social progress. The freedom-loving and democratic spirit of Plato's works and of Allegory of the Cave in particular case witnesses about original and new philosophy of human-centered universe, where the fate meant nothing but a cave or prison, as it was only a "prison" of human's will and mind. Plato stated that: "the man who truly worships the stars does not need to enquire what fate they weave for him, he is lifted above the reach of fate in his communion. By becoming one with the stars, he becomes one with his own fate." (Plato, 2000,p.194) Plato continues his discourses about human will, human nature, feelings and reason in his another work The Symposium which is written in the form of dialogue (like "the allegory") of several prominent citizens of Athens: dramaturges and philosophers. The theme of conversation is love, a very contradictory theme and very subjective. Nevertheless The Symposium remains to be a classical reference for study of this theme. As every participant in the dialogue presents his own point of view, presents his arguments, myths and discourses about love, we see the diverse ethic atmosphere in Ancient Greece, such triumph of human reason and ethical thought. Through logical and exhaustive discourses about love in the dialogue of famous Greeks we observe the power of subjective thinking and power of speech through arguments. It's a dialogue of people who are confident in their ethical principles and are confident that they are able to change something in the surrounding word. Their speeches do not contain elements of mysticism in the volume we can find in works of earlier authors such as Homer for example, their arguments are based on experience and logical reasoning: "the love] gives birth to many gloriously beautiful ideas and theories, in unstinting love of wisdom."(206c). Plato's participants of the dialogue touch a number of ethical and psychological questions which are not only limited to the theme of love and sexual relations, as they try to rationally explain the secrets of human's behavior and sensual perception: Socrates: " right opinion without being able to give reason is neither to understand nor is it ignorance. Right opinion is no doubt something between knowledge and ignoranceI certainly can not refuse to speak on the only subject of which I profess to have any knowledge [love], and Agathon and Pausanias will surely assent; and there can be no doubt of Aristophanes, who is always in the company of Dionysus and Aphrodite; nor will anyone disagree of those whom I see around me" Agathon: ""For all the gods are happy . . and love is the happiest of them all being the most beautiful and best . . the youngest of gods" As it was mentioned above The Symposium is nearly the only literary piece which is so liberal and exhaustive about theme of love, covering different sides of love based on free will of a person: physical desire and the most elevated feelings: "love will make men dare to die for their beloved--love alone; and women as well as menSo love as a whole has great and mighty power, or in a word, omnipotencefor bodily health and disease are by common consent different things and unlike, and what is unlike desires and loves things unlike." According to Plato's The Symposium love is of the manifestations of free will, as it outlines the uniqueness of human based on sensual freedom. Unlike the philosophical works of Plato, tragedy of Sophocles named Oedipus shows the power of the fate over human's will and ambitions. Predestination is the central theme of Oedipus, as horrible prophecy of oracle appears to be true and causes a personal tragedy of the main character. The terrible fate of Oedipus was known before he was even born, as his father the king of Thebes was told that he would be murdered by his son who then would marry his wife. In order to avoid terrible prophecy Oedipus was sent out of Thebes and was raised in a different family. Later being a young man he heard the same prophecy from the same oracle and decided to escape from his home city order to avoid misfortune. But as he entered Thebes he met his real father, the king and had a fight with him which culminated with the death of the king. Oedipus became the king and married his mother (according to the old tradition of Greeks). So the prophecy came true. From this point we can see that the protest against predetermined fate is absurd: all the attempts will fail anyway. Understandably, Oedipus could not resist the fate, in fact he did everything possible as well as his father did. The moral degradation of Oedipus was preplanned as well, so to say that he simply gave up would be absurd. He tried to resist the fate, but moral sufferings ruined him from the inside, horrible irony of fate destroyed his life, his ideals and beliefs. He could not be a good king, as he degraded, he was immoral and his family life was full of vice and sin: Fear What should a man fear It's all chance, chance rules our lives. Not a man on earth can see a day ahead, groping through the dark. Better to live at random, best we can. And as for this marriage with your mother-have no fear. Many a man before you, in his dreams, has shared his mother's bed. Take such things for shadows, nothing at all- Live, Oedipus, as if there's no tomorrow! (Oedipus the King, 1068-1078) To my point of view the demonstration of fate, mysticism and power of gods was not the primary aim of Sophocles; the author of Oedipus, as the real purpose was a demonstration of personal degradation based on belief in impunity and all-might. Pride is a quality one has to posse, but pride should not be the dominant one, otherwise the balance of virtues will be violated. Oedipus did not pass the test by glory and pride. His rise was the start of his future fall and personal tragedy: People of Thebes, my countrymen, look on Oedipus. He solved the famous riddle with his brilliance, he rose to power, a man beyond all power. Who could behold his greatness without envy Now what a black sea of terror has overwhelmed him. Now as we keep our watch and wait the final day, count no man happy till he dies, free of pain at last. (Oedipus the King, 1678-1684). Making a conclusion it's important to outline that the system of beliefs of ancient Greeks and modern time has much in common as the human's nature had not changed greatly. The belief in all-might of human preserved, but it was only supplemented by formidable postulate dictated by the universal laws of existence: free will functions until it doesn't violate the universal order and until it does not promote vices and evils. References: 1. Biffle, Christopher A Guided Tour of Five Works by Plato: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Phaedo (Death Scene), Allegory of the Cave McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages 2000 2. Allen, R. E. The Dialogues of Plato, Volume 2 : The Symposium (The Dialogues of Plato Series) Yale University Press,1993 3. Knox, Bernard Oedipus The King (Enriched Classics),Pocket 1994 Read More