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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