Free Oedipus the King Essays: The Worst Enemy of Oedipus :: Oedipus the King Oedipus Rex

The Worst Enemy in Oedipus the King In the Greek tragety Oedipus the King Tiresias speaks the truth when he tells Oedipus, "you are your own worst enemy." He is too determined to find out who he is, that shouldn't be so important to himself. He also, is too proud to listen to the gods. He thinks he can get out of following through on his fate. So, it is he that dooms himself. First of all, Oedipus is determined to discover who he is. He can not accept things as they are and by stubbornly investigating his past, he is his own worst enemy by destroying his relationships and himself. When he was a young man he heard gossip that his father was not his real birth father. He was bothered to learn the truth from the oracle. He truly believed that his adopted parents were his real parents so he moved to Thebes so he wouldn't fulfill the oracle. When he finally realized that he killed a man that was old enough to be his father, he considered the fact that it could have been his father that he killed. That means that he married his mother. Oedipus drives his mother to kill herself. "Storm, then, let it burst! Born from nothing though I be proved, let me find that nothing out...My fealty to that family makes me move true to myself. My family I shall prove" (Oedipus page 60). Oedipus was a very proud man. I believe that his pride was his biggest character flaw and because of his pride, the conclusion of the play was tragic. He feels that he has to take responsibility for his actions even though he had no control over them. He doesn't want to live anymore because he married his mother and killed his father and so the oracle had come true. "Lost! Ah lost! At last it's blazing clear. Light of my days, go dark. I want to gaze no more. My birth all sprung revealed from those it never should, myself entwined with those I never could. And I the killer of those I never would." (Oedipus page 67). Oedipus did not listen to the Gods. His circumstances determined his fate, but could have been broken if he had not killed anyone, researched his parents before leaving Corinth, or not been so anxious to punish himself or find the murderer.

Media/Medical and Science Ethics

The rapid advancement in technology made humans so fearsome about the dangers it brings them—most especially of the danger that will cause their extinction. It is not mere computer or cellular phone that advances. Today, genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics (GNR) make that constant fear to knock on the feet of human race more frequent than ever. Dr. Ralph Merkle, in his essay entitled Nanotechnology: It’s a Small, Small, Small, Small World (2000), pleasantly drew a future that is happily gains from the various benefits of nanotechnology in almost all areas from which life greatly depends. He said that nanotechnology is being pushed through towards an objective. That is to â€Å"make almost every manufactured product faster, lighter, stronger, smarter, safer, and cleaner.† He even enumerated benefits that nanotechnology may provide humanity especially on transportation, atom computers, military applications, solar energy, and medical uses. Dr. Merkle has laid down very good arguments. He will surely make good impressions to whoever reads his essay. Dr. Merkle, who became scientific in describing when and in what manner humans will use nanotechnology, is indeed an ethical engineer and inventor. He became solely after to whatever nanotechnology can give humans to improve their everyday living. But all the benefits he said in his essay are also the weaknesses of his arguments and he was not able to draw more sentences to defend them. Though Dr. Merkle missed to include in his essay the dangers at par with the benefits of nanotechnology, Dr. Bill Joy provided them is his essay. Dr. Joy, in his essay The Future Doesn’t Need Us (2000), materialized and defined that fear. In lieu with the fast-paced technological advancement, he overshadowed a future dominated either by elites that uses GNR as a machinery to eliminate the masses or by egoistic individuals who work hard to aim vested interests or by the robots themselves with the powerful wit as much as that of a human being. Dr. Joy constructed such plausible reality in a logical structure, discussing how and what did technological advancements play in human community for the past centuries. Indeed, he showed how dangers go in parallel with the advantages and benefits of technology. He, however, like any other individual, has all the reason to be fearsome about the technological advancements vis-à  -vis GNR. History tells the world how did the arrangement of atoms forming a huge atomic bomb become so destructive—removes geographical and topographical places and killed thousands of people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This is just one of the grave mass deaths and destructions that shook the whole world until now. History also tells us how technological advancements on medicines permitted the rise of new medicines aimed to secure individuals from the former medicines. It is, Dr. Joy points out, in the hands of the â€Å"wrong people† that such potential dangers are permitted to happen and may do â€Å"mishandling, abuse, and accidents† to recur over and over again. Each of the two essays could be said as complement to the other; however, this accompaniment discloses another significant issue: Which of the two needs more importance, the duties or consequences of technology? The abovementioned question now asks further question, who among the two makes a better point? Dr. Merkle is pushing through the duties technology provides humans—the duty of improving everyday life through manufactured products that were equipped with more efficiency, while Dr. Joy stresses on the consequences that make technology endanger life—the pros and the cons of technology and how it contributes to human’s extinction in the near future. For instance, the medical application of nanotechnology will lead to a better medical treatment of illness, Dr. Merkle said. The assurance, however, that it will lead to a better, and perhaps safer, treatment is blurry. The creation of anti-antibiotics will testify to such inadequacy. Another example would be the military uses of nanotechnology to create better and more effective weapons. A country which has strong weapons to use during wars will, of course, able to claim the victory. Nanotechnology will be of great help in creating such weapons. However, if the opportunity to use nanotechnology– to arrange atoms in a way creating weapons—were given and used for mass destructions by, to what Dr. Joy pertains, â€Å"bad people,† we will witness on this part the disadvantage. Whether the phenomenon is an unseen/unpredicted occurrence or a willfully-done event, the raison d'à ªtre remains: to every duty of technology there is a parallel consequence. Too bad that when the consequence is bad and/or destructive, it cost us million lives and million-worth assets to vanished in split seconds, or it costs our daily living to be gradually ruined everyday. Whether duty or consequence deserves more regard, some would still think if we are to coexist with technology harmoniously or end up victims of it, like Dr. Joy thought of. But still, like what Dr. Merkle tells us, â€Å"a lot would depend on when we start.† As technology and knowledge rapidly changes, man has become wiser than ever. But the question to both Dr. Merkle and Dr. Joy also bothers even ordinary individuals, where are we headed as human race given that we are placed in now highly technological world? Dr. Joy tells that many things greatly depends on humans—that is if we will still be driven by societal transformation, progress, and well-being. If not, â€Å"progress will be somewhat bittersweet.† True enough, humans coexists in a one world. To clearly define the duties technology should and at the same time eliminating, or the least expense, minimizing, the dangers it may give us, molecular manufacturing (as part of the nanotechnology) â€Å"requires the coordinated efforts of many people in many years,† as what Dr. Merkle said. At the end of the day, the challenge to us is more likely to be as particular as how to protect life; improving it is perhaps a higher task that awaits us.      

A Glimmer Of Hope By William Shakespeare - 1818 Words

Allen Chen Ms. Fill European Literature / Period 5 26 September 16 A Glimmer of Hope It is customary for a work of literature that accounts for a variety of customs and values of a society to also address religion as a quintessential part of the society. However, texts that have ancient origins and are passed down orally such as Beowulf can be unclear regarding the interpretation of religious themes. As Stevick points out, â€Å"interpretations [of Beowulf] ... sort themselves ... into opposing views†, consisting of â€Å"regarding the poem as dominantly Christian† or viewing the poem as one of â€Å"Germanic orientation† or pagan (Stevick 79). In fact, Beowulf may not purely one or the other; instead, it could have been set at a time where â€Å"Christian and pagan values blend† (Ruth 154), or as Stevick puts it: â€Å"mediating these opposing views† as a â€Å"‘transitional’ period† (Stevick 79). Conversion of faith is not instantaneous and thus the transitional period is far from brief. Although Beowulf is not iceably centered around this period, it leans toward the time when the Anglo-Saxons were still new to the Christian faith. Contrary to the belief that religious references prove that Beowulf depicts an ancient society that successfully integrated the Christian faith into its culture, the text actually represents the initial failure of the Anglo-Saxon society to adopt Christianity during the transitional period. While the text does reveal countless obscure Christian references, they areShow MoreRelatedThe Cask Of Amontillado : William Shakespeare1450 Words   |  6 PagesMelanie Bottini Ruiz-Velasco English 221 Final Paper 17 December 2014 The Cask of Amontillado: Shakespeare in American Literature There are a few names in literature which represent the ability to captivate an audience with suspense and gloom. Though masters of different genres, Edgar Allen Poe and William Shakespeare both embody this unique ability. 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