Red Carpet of the Gods
Hollywood utilizes the red carpet to signify that those walking on it are the elite of society and worthy of the praise that they will receive for their accomplishments. God on the other hand is the only one worthy of praise. Elevating oneself to the level of God through earthly accomplishments is the height of hubris. That brings me to the big questions of Agamemnon.
What sins were so great that they warranted his murder?
1. Agamemnon sacrificed his own daughter for the sake of Greece's lust for war. The story of "Iphegenia" shows that he had no compassion for her until the very end when it was too late. Achilles was harmed in this as well, since Iphegenia was to marry him. That set a strain between two warriors that would carry over into "Illiad."
2. During the war, he was consistently greedy. He took what was rightfully Achilles' war prizes and this led to the death of countless Greeks when the demigod refused to fight.
3. He brought home a concubine showing that he had no qualms about being unfaithful to his wife during the war.
4. Finally, in lines 902- 965 Agamemnon allows Clytemnestra to persuade him to walk of the red carpet upon his return. The king knows that red is for the gods alone but still tramples it underfoot. In this, he sign his death warrant. The Gods would not be there to defend him now.
The Greek gods were a jealous lot. They constantly fought each other but one thing they stood united on was the fact of their deity. No one was allowed to enjoy their condition and Agamemnon's sin, though seemingly small, was a slap in the face of the gods he claim to follow; a death offense carried out by the vengeful plot of his wife.
All other offenses could have been forgiven. Yet, putting self in the position of God is one that has deadly consequences.
Stay humble my friends.
P.S. I will be commenting on Will and Zelda's posts.
Any character who is self-obsessed has little room for sympathy from the audience. Honestly, it's the characters who are the most conceited that are more unlikable than the characters who are just plain villainous. At least with a good villain you can understand where they come from and why they do what they do. With a self-obsessed person, you can only see a basic level of immaturity that has consumed them to the core.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this completely, and I add on to the fact that the kings in these times. were exactly the same way. They did exactly what they wanted whenever they wanted to and the only thing that they really cared for was the glory that they received from raping cities.
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