Oedipus has repressed the disturbing memories of killing his father into that part of his psyche, which is his unconscious mind. ... Oedipus, the protagonist of the play, is the birth son of King Laius and Queen Jocasta of Thebes. ... According to Freud, the Oedipus Complex is the desire of a boy to possess his mother and supplant his father. ... She, as widowed wife to King Laius, recalls the story of the visit from an oracle to Laius that told him how his own son would be the one to cause his death, and how in the fear of this fate, Laius bound his three-day-old son's ankles and dispose...

• Word Count: 1933
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Telemachus, Odysseus" son, also benefits from the hospitality of others as he struggles to maintain order in his father's household while still conducting himself as an honorable leader in Ithaca. ... Numerous themes in The Odyssey are conveyed through the character of Telemachus, however, Odysseus" son especially represents the cultural importance of hospitality. In Odysseus" absence, Telemachos courageously travels on a journey of his own, hoping to inquire any news of is father's location. ... Although the generosity that Telemachos receives from others exemplifies the cultural im...

• Word Count: 1626
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The story of Oedipus begins with Laius, King of Thebes, who learns from the oracle that his son will kill him and marry his wife Jocasta. When a son is finally born, the king orders his infant to be abandoned, with its feet pierced, on a mountaintop. ... As Oedipus grows up, he learns from an oracle that he will kill his father and marry his mother. Fearing he might kill Polybus, Oedipus sets out towards Thebes where he runs into a man, Laius, whom he kills due to a quarrel, ignorant of the fact that Laius is his father. ... Eventually, Oedipus accepts his fate, admitting that he was the m...

• Word Count: 696
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

That is why this stage was dragged on until Perseus changed his mind after encountering a fire-belching monster, which tried to kill his villagers including his son; and being informed that his father was captured and betrayed by Ares and Hades. ... The movie's turning points can hardly surprise its audiences even with the sudden betrayal of Ares towards his own father. ... This hero puts his family first, he might have refused to stand besides Zeus at Olympus but he respects his father and is willing to go through the deathly Tartarus to rescue him. ... In fact, the set of virtues in W...

• Word Count: 1814
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Most generally it was that it was prophesied that Laios and Jocasta, king and queen of Thebes, would give birth to a child who would grow up to murder his father and marry his mother. And, fearing the dreadful prophecy, that the parents nailed their first son's feet together (thus the name Oedipus, which means "swollen-foot-) and left him to die on a lonely moun-tainside outside the city. Moreover, that he was found by a wandering shepherd who took him to the nearby city of Corinth where he was adopted by the childless King Polybos and Queen Merope who raised him as a son and prince in t...

• Word Count: 545
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Icarus was the son of Daedalus, a most skilled artificer who built the labyrinth for King Minos of Crete where he kept the Minotaur. One day, the king heard that Daedalus had done some work for one of the king's enemies and he ordered Daedalus and his son imprisoned. Daedalus and his son Icarus were locked in the labyrinth, but since Daedalus had built the labyrinth he knew how to escape. ... Icarus was following his father but flew higher and higher. Icarus was too high to hear his father calling him. ...

• Word Count: 1400
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

On the other hand, Fontenrose (107) is asserting that, since the family has been reduced to father and children, the taboo against the killing of one's own mother is avoided. According to Fontenrose, the imagery of the animal single parent means that the father is the head of the family and the mother is technically placed outside the family. The father takes up a nurturing role and cares deeply about the welfare of the children. ... Cilissa strongly contend to the fact that Orestes is her son and not the son of Clytemnestra. ... This gives Orestes the room to revenge the death of his fat...

• Word Count: 1671
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

For this reason, Virgil has drawn comparisons to his patron's success with that of his protagonist, Aeneas, who has been portrayed to be an excellent warrior and fatherly figure, as the consistent use of the stock epithet "Father Aeneas" attests to. According to Roman mythology, Augustus Caesar was a descendant of Aeneas, from the stock of the sky-father Jupiter himself. ... His son, Pallas, is the "only source of joy" for the old man. ... Even the dictator Mezentius is shown to be heartbroken at the loss of his son Lausus and Virgil makes it quite clear that he is imp...

• Word Count: 2231
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Each is the son of a goddess and a mortal man, a king, who happens to be far away from the action in the epic. ... Achilles as the son of Thetis has a special relationship which allows him to communicate with the gods by way of Thetis's favor in the eyes of Zeus (Il. 1.490) Both characters are headstrong warriors; the epics do relate their preeminence in battle. ... On the other hand, Patroclus comes to Phthia with his father Menoetius after accidentally killing a friend in a game of dice in order to find refuge and escape persecution (Il. 23.100). ...

• Word Count: 4256
• Approx Pages: 17
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Concerned about the drunken man's statement that Oedipus is not his father's son (1017), he goes to Apollo for truth. ... He withstands this huge sacrifice and believes his personal loss can prevent himself from killing his father and marrying his mother. ...

• Word Count: 1352
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate