A Comparative Study Of The Point Of
Position In The Epic Poem And In The Play As Used By Homer And Sopho Essay, Research Paper
The two plants, The Odyssey and Oedipus Rex both exhibit
different manners of authorship ; the first being an heroic poem verse form and the 2nd being a
tragic drama. These manners are obviously both instead different, nevertheless they both
look to be instead effectual as those plants have withstood the depredations of clip.
It is hence the end of this paper to analyze the manners of each work in
bend, in a comparative manner, and detect the failings and strengths of
each and besides to find the consequence that these manners generate on the reader.
Although it must ever be known that the transcripts of these plants are simply
interlingual renditions, a certain sum of freedom must be granted if anything is to be
accomplished. In the first work, The Odyssey, the narrative point of position is that of
3rd individual all-knowing as we are presented the narrative through the eyes of some
other all-knowing and of all time present being who so relates the narrative to us. For
illustration, & # 8220 ; She was afraid that the pigman would acknowledge him if he saw him
undisguised, & # 8230 ; . & # 8221 ; ( Pg. 257 ) . In the predating extract from The Odyssey,
the feelings of the & # 8220 ; she & # 8221 ; referred to are revealed in a mode that would be
impossible without the 3rd individual all-knowing point of position. We see farther
grounds of this throughout the book as the point of position of the narrative springs from
one topographic point to another ; watching foremost one character and so another. For
case, Book 1 in The Odyssey describes Telemachus and his feats, it
leaps subsequently on to Odysseus in Book 5. The effects of this narrative manner are myriad upon the reader. First of, one
of the most noteworthy effects is that the reader is influenced easy by the prejudice
or sentiment of the writer ; as the reader & # 8217 ; s position, is in all ways that
affair, that of the writer sing the flowering of the narrative. This can be both
good and bad ; for while this sort of method can be used as a manner to learn right
and incorrect or some other such end, it may besides forestall free idea and a truly
indifferent scrutiny of the events in a peculiar narrative. For case, the
writer frequently refers to people as being & # 8220 ; wise & # 8221 ; ( Telemachus ) or & # 8220 ; bright-eyed & # 8221 ;
( Athene ) in a manner that does so act upon the reader as to their feelings
toward the character in inquiry. Besides, another consequence that this method of
narrative point of position has on the reader is to inform them of things that they
would non otherwise know ; such as, in the old quotation mark, that person is
& # 8220 ; afraid & # 8221 ; or experiencing some other emotion. This allows the reader to go more
confidant with the characters, giving them a sense of familiarity with a being that
is simply a set of words upon a sheet of paper. This can add volumes of deepness to
a narrative, although there are other ways to make this. One unfortunate result of
this, nevertheless, is the inclination to trust simply on the storyteller and non on the
duologue between the characters to larn about what is go oning and about the
characters themselves. This is non needfully a disadvantage, as the
conversations of characters may look slightly fiddling or non fulfilling plenty
to bring forth disclosure, nevertheless it can besides intend the absence of a whole new locale
of point of position, which will now be examined via Oedipus Rex. As has already been alluded to, the point of position in Oedipus Rex is
really different from that in The Odyssey ; in fact, it is almos
t the exact
antonym of that in The Odyssey, doing it the perfect complement to that
work for the intent of this scrutiny. In fact, while The Odyssey is
pullulating with a kind of point of position similar to some kind of narrator,
Oedipus Rex is written in the manner of a drama and seems to hold no
narrative point of position at all. For case, alternatively of simply stating what is
go oning like in The Odyssey, Sophocles reveals the events transpirating
through usage of the duologue between the characters and besides by utilizing the Chorus,
which serves at times the function of an ad-lib storyteller ( Internet Explorer. & # 8220 ; Sons and girls
of Thebes, behold: this was Oedipus, Greatest of Men ; & # 8230 ; & # 8230 ; . His felicity down
to the grave in peace. & # 8221 ; ; last paragraph of the drama ) . Like the first usage of narrative point of position, this case has many effects
upon the reader First of wholly, it allows the reader to pull his ain decisions
with much more freedom so in the old illustration when much of what was said
was said with the contamination of the writer & # 8217 ; s prejudice. Again, this can be good or bad,
depending on the wants of the writer. On the one manus, it does go forth the
reading more up to the illusion of the writer, nevertheless it does do it
slightly harder for a clear subject to be discovered within the work in inquiry.
Besides, it does do the reader follow the narrative with a somewhat higher sum of
attending, as the action is non presented in every bit straightforward a manner as
that of the 3rd individual point of position ; something that may do it more
hard to follow for some, or more enjoyable a read for others. As a
opposite number to the familiarity developed by the disclosure of emotion through the
3rd individual, this method of point of position creates another signifier of familiarity ; one
created in the uterus of acquaintance, as in dramas such as Oedipus Rex there
is no middleman storyteller between the reader and the characters, which may help in
the apprehension of those same characters on a more personal degree. Despite the
fact that the narrative seemingly has no storyteller, there is still a storyteller of
kind hidden within the confines of the narrative ; a storyteller already alluded to: the
chorus. The consequence of the chorus is slightly fantastic in the drama as it allows
the freedom and advantages of a non-narrator / 3rd individual point of position narrative,
but still allows the input of some of the positions of the writer and besides allows
the narrative to continue without the demand to unwrap all the necessary inside informations
through medium of inter-character discourse. For case, the writer is able to
infix some 3rd individual manner information through the chorus, while keeping
the neutrality of a slightly transparent point of position. Throughout this paper, we have taken a expression at the different point of position
and narrative techniques that Sophocles and Homer used in their great plants
Oedipus Rex and The Odyssey. By analyzing these two plants and their
ying-yang manner techniques, we have come to detect that illustriousness in
literature may be achieved through many different roads and waies ; and that
assortment is so a extremely valued resource. We saw how the techniques of the
heroic poem verse form and the technique involved in the tragic drama both created a positive
and negative consequence on the reader and besides that they both served, in their ain
peculiar manner, to make plants of literature that lasted through the ages and
withstood the depredations of clip.
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