Symbolism The Epic Of Gilgamesh, And The Odyssey

When it comes to texts such as The Epic of Gilgamesh, the Hebrew Bible, and The Odyssey, symbolism plays a major role in understanding a piece of literature’s true intentions. This would explain the abundance of distinct character features, exaggerated scenarios, and countless approaches to new, bigger problems in these tales. But one of the most favored approaches to symbolism and interpretations seems to be through the way of dreams. Due to their unpredictable nature, dreams allow authors to take complete, creative control over what to convey. Consequently, dreams are prominent in regards to explanations and insights. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh suffers through several nightmares in which Enkidu insists are nothing bad. Later, Enkidu also succumbs to terrible nightmares after falling ill. He dreams about the underworld and its appalling, evil essence. This, in turn, makes Gilgamesh uneasy and actually provokes him to obtain immortality in the first place. On the oth er hand, in the Hebrew Bible, Jacob - grandson of Abraham and son of Isaac and Rebecca - dreams that the Lord’s messengers were ascending and descending a stairway between Heaven and Earth. In this dream, the Lord approaches Jacob and tells him that the land in which he is standing will be his and his offspring’s. After being told that the Lord will be with him as he travels back home, Jacob woke up and named the land in which he slept Bethel. Jacob vowed to acknowledge the Lord as his own God as longShow MoreRelatedThe Epic Of Gilgamesh And The Odyssey1487 Words   |  6 Pagesliterary pieces. In both the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Odyssey, water is used as a symbol that represents complex ideas, and it plays a significant role throughout both literary pieces. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, water is mainly used to symbolize life and death as well as rebirth or baptism. In several of Gilgamesh’s dreams water is used as a symbol that represents life. An example of this is when Gilgamesh and Enkidu journey into the forest to kill Humbaba. In one dream Gilgamesh dreams that Enkidu andRead MoreThe Symbolism of Water1381 Words   |  6 PagesThe Symbolism of Water Many works of literature use symbols to represent abstract ideas. One symbol that is commonly used is water. Water is a viable symbol because it is versatile. It can be used to represent many different ideals because water in itself is ever changing. Water is used in many works to represent such ideals as death, life, love, betrayal, purity, holiness, and so on. Giglamesh, the Old Testament, Egyptian Poetry, and The Odyssey all have symbolized water to represent an ideaRead MoreCharles Baudelaire And Victor Hugo976 Words   |  4 Pagesthe loss of some entity. The modern era had the freedom to elaborate the same escape through speculative fiction and other genres, accompanied by the two massive world mars, literature changed drastically in various fields. In poetry and drama, symbolism came out to be the literal tool of diplomatic announcement of the problems that surrounded the masses. After the world wars, literature had become a very powerful tool of exclaiming emotional relevance and many attributes of life to the whole worldRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book Lien 2038 Words   |  9 Pagesvillage’s name: â€Å"Lien.† This word is Vietnamese for â€Å"lotus,† which is a water flower similar to a water lily. This refers to the country of the Lotus-Eaters, which was a stop the hero Odysseus made along his journey back to his homeland in the epic poem, The Odyssey. In the original story, Odysseus’s voyage is hindered when he stops in the country of the Lotus-Eaters and some of his crewmen are nearly trapped, for â€Å"any of them who ate the honey-sweet fruit of the lotus was unwilling to take any messageRead MoreLet Majorship English4572 Words   |  19 Pagesfeeling is expressed in this line â€Å"My heart leaps up when I behold a rainbow in the sky†? A. Surprise C. Fear B. Happiness D. Anger 3. What is Chekhov’s most recognizable achievement in his short stories? A. His cryptic use of symbolism B. His attention to the inner lives of his characters C. His references to biblical scriptures D. His use of allegory 4. In the Iliad, whose death brought Achilles much sorrow and grief? A. Patroclus C. Nestor B. Thesthor

The Vietnam War On South Vietnam - 1496 Words

The Vietnam War started on the first day of November in 1955. The main opponents were the United States and South Vietnam against North Vietnam and the Vietcong. The Americans wanted to contain communism in fear of it spreading to other countries while the North Vietnamese wanted to unite both parts of Vietnam. At first, the Americans only trained South Vietnamese troops to do all of the fighting while the North Vietnamese employed the Vietcong to help their military take over South Vietnam. Despite having a successful military campaign, the United States lost the Vietnam War politically. According to Young (1995), the American anti-war movement helped cause the United States to lose the Vietnam War. Young (1995) also supports this by stating that â€Å"America lost because of its democracy.† A main reason behind the war’s unpopularity is that it was the first uncensored war and was covered by the media. At first the American public was split over the war, but eventuall y shifted to disapproval. The media showed violent images and the use of napalm which was not liked at all. The Pentagon Papers were also used by the media to prove that the government was lying to the public about the war. Trust in the government decreased even more when Nixon resigned due to the Watergate Scandal and according to Young (1995), Nixon’s resignation assured the North Vietnamese that they would win the Vietnam War. Another cause of the American anti-war movement was that it took much longer thanShow MoreRelatedThe Vietnam War Was An Expensive And Fatal Conflict Between The North And South Vietnam1432 Words   |  6 PagesThe Vietnam War was an expensive and fatal conflict between the North and South Vietnam regions. The communist government from the north and their southern allies, the Viet Cong, were heavily against South Vietnam and their benevolent allies, the United States. The main purpose of the Vietnam War was to reassemble the country of Vietnam under the rule of communism. From the perspective of the Viet Cong, the conflict against the South and United States seemed as a colonial strife. During this timeRead MoreThe Civil Rights Movement, Woodstock, Vietnam War, And South Africa853 Words   |  4 PagesWho knew how powerful the 1960’s would be? You had the civil rights movement, Woodstock, Vietnam War, and an explosion in rock and roll, as well as soul? Exactly, and that’s just in America. In Africa, countries were gaining freedom and independence. By 1980 the British, French, Italians, Spanish, Portuguese, and Dutch were being conquered and most of Africa had claimed independence as countries, all the while apartheid was still going on. Even with the riots between warring states, weren’t enoughRead MoreU.s. Military And Political Relations With Vietnam1573 Words   |  7 Pagesrelations with Vietnam today help think about why the U.S supported South Vietnam and participated in the Vietnam War and how the relationship turned into the way it is today. The Vietnam War started on November 1, 1955 and lasted until April 30, 1975. This war involved many significant leaders such as Richard Nixon, Lyndon B Johnson, John F Kennedy, Ho Chi Minh and many others. North Vietnam leaders had a great impact on the war by organizing many guerrillas and offensives while the South Vietnam leadersRead MoreVietnam And The Vietnam War848 Words   |  4 Pageseverything. The Vietnam War changed a lot of people all around the world. The Vietnam War was between North Vietnam and South Vietnam. The Vietnam War was a very bloody and violent war. The war was a long and costly-armed conflict. This war changed Vietnam and its citizens forever. During the Vietnam War, North Vietnam and South Vietnam both had received help from other countries. South Vietnam worked with the United States, South Korea, Thailand, Australia, and New Zealand. North Vietnam worked withRead MoreGeorge HerringS Article The Legacy Of Vietnam Talks1669 Words   |  7 PagesGeorge Herring s article The legacy of Vietnam talks about the military clash between the communist North Vietnam, backed by its allies and the government of South Vietnam, backed by the United States and other countries that are anti-communist that happened in Vietnam during Richard Nixon s presidency. The Vietnam War was a terrible war, especially for Vietnamese because a millions of them died during the war. The author not just describes the war itself; he also analyzes the killing and theRead MoreThe Vietnam War Was A Significant Moment For Canada921 Words   |  4 Pages The Vietnam War was a historically significant moment for Canada which followed the First and Second Wo rld War. This was due to Canada’s large involvement in helping the South of Vietnam in their war efforts. Canada plays a large roll in this war costs and their manufacturing for war materials. One must first know how the war began before understanding how Canada contributed. Although the start of the Vietnam War had nothing to do with Canada, later events in the war were related to CanadaRead More Vietnamization (real Version) Essay979 Words   |  4 Pages Vietnam Controversy nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;It’s January 27th, 1973 and the Vietnam War is over. Peace agreements were signed in Paris by the South Vietnam Communist forces, North Vietnam, South Vietnam and the United States. The meeting lasted for several hours and in that time they agreed on many objectives, including: that U.S. troops would gradually withdraw from Vietnam and all prisoners of war would be released, South Vietnam had the right to choose their own future (whether or notRead MoreThe Battle Of Dien Bien Phu1256 Words   |  6 PagesBien Phu To Vietnam War â€Å"It will be a war between an elephant and a tiger. If the tiger stand still, the elephant will crush him. But the tiger will never stand still. It will leap upon the elephant’s back, ripping out huge chunks of flesh and then will disappear back again into the dark jungle and slowly the elephant will blead to death† (PeriscopeFilm, 1962). After World War II, the world experiences one of the longest wars that have ever occurred in the twentieth century, Vietnam War which lastedRead MoreThe American Role During The Vietnam War Still Sparks Much Debate Today1390 Words   |  6 Pagesthe Vietnam War still sparks much debate today. There is a sharp focus on the Americans role in the Vietnam War because of the tragic end for the South Vietnamese. The United States faced much criticism world wide through literature during the war that continued after the war ended in 1975. The American governments reasoning for getting involved was to prevent the spread of communism in South Vietnam and to essentially prevent the domino effect. South Vietnam had no hope of winning a civil war againstRead MoreThe Vietnam War Of Vietnam952 Words   |  4 Pageswords that describe the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War had 240 days of combat in one year. World War II had forty days of combat in four years(Interesting Facts). That statistic shows h ow rough the Vietnam War was. The fighting was constant between the two sides. This war was fought over politics and had many gruesome battles. Before the Vietnam war, Vietnam was in a revolution because they did not want to be ruled by France. Vietnam wanted to be independent right after World War II ended in 1945. Japan

Aesthetics and cultural theory Free Essays

Introduction Subjectivity is the starting point of Hegel’s statement. His lectures on aesthetics give the significance of art within his philosophy while the German period of romanticism is being explained and critiqued. Recent theorists such as Theodor Adorno, Paul Guyer and Arthur Danto based their views on aesthetics from Hegel’s outlook on art. We will write a custom essay sample on Aesthetics and cultural theory or any similar topic only for you Order Now All support that Hegelian idealism was introduced with a poor consequence of personal subjectivity. The idealistic philosophers argued that only our conscience has real status and that the physical world is only a product of consciousness. The idealism (or utopianism) is closely linked to the religion either directly or indirectly and all philosophies based on this term are supporting the existence of a superior power that can not be interlinked with human’s capability. The most effective way of understanding the whole concept of idealism is to study directly the forefather of all theorists. Plato in his book, ‘The Republic’, gives an allegory (the ‘cave’) to represent idealism in it’s simpler form. He describes men sitting in a dark cave who are chained in such a way that they can look in only one direction. Few meters behind them, light comes out of a fire which casts their shadows towards a wall they cannot see. Plato asks us to imagine those men in that specific position for their entire life. Having no experience of anything else, these men understand what they have experienced before reality is being represented to them. The philosopher continues with his metaphor and asks us to visualise that those prisoners got unchained and faced the existence of the fire and the shadows. They begin to have a sense of the environment they lived in. The allegory ends, with Plato explaining that those men in the cave are us. As a consequence, we experience the world with our only five senses, but as a matter of fact ‘our world’ is made with images and three-dimensional shadows. He claims that our mind has absoluteness perfection (‘absolute mind’). As we look into sun and turn away for protecting our eyes, thats how we turn back into the cave, in our safe place of sense perception. Now, modern idealism puts forward a cognitive human activity and attributes to a self-determined reality, such as the ‘absolute truth’ and creativity. Two German recent idealism theorists, J. G. Fichte and Friedrich von Schelling, which came to a climax in an absolute idealism of Hegel, started giving their explanation with a refutation of the uncertain thing-in-itself. However, Hegel formulated a complete structure of thought about art and the world. Most importantly, he hold up that reality should be logical, so that it’s eventual framework will be shown by our own thoughts. He did not think that symbolic, so by extension, conceptual art, has the ability to surpass the high nature of classical Greek art and its representational/imitative abilities. This is because, as he explains, since symbolisms, depend on the knowledge of man of the earth and society, and because, we can never know everything about the human psyche, trying to represent it with symbolisms, is just not enough. Hence, imitative art, which is what classical Greek sculptures, are of a much higher regard to Hegel, than symbolic art. He describes it as ‘the sensuous presentation of ideas’. It is in the communication of ideas excluding the connection between our reason and our sensory faculty and is distinctive successful. Modern aesthetic theorists turn first and f oremost to Kant, an 18th century German philosopher, and the historical convention of German romanticism to utilize the role of ‘pessimistic’ art. Hegelian view comes to support that art does more than sabotage the non?aesthetic. Thus, modern art can preferable take in contemporary artistic practices. Both theorists connect that art is superior to the external world, both opposed to appetite and enjoyment. Hegel gives his philosophy on art that is, as a whole, his main philosophical system. For us, to comprehend his philosophy of art we must understand his philosophy as a whole. Similar with Aristotle’s way of thinking, Hegel believes that the investigation of logic could lead to a key system of reality. Thus, logic is being characterised as dialectical. Poetry for Hegel seem not to have something physical as a sculpture. In that way, music according to him is the least spiritual form of art. On the other hand, Kant stated as an important matter that a generic explanation of the world could lead to an opposite observation. But Hegel explained that those two notions could be integrated by a move to a different way of thinking. Consequently, our mind moves from thesis, to antithesis, to synthesis[4]. This could be seen in history, nature and cultural progress. All the thinking consists by the idea (thesis), which antithesis is nature, while combining (synthesis) the two it forms t he spirit. This could also be named as the ‘absolute’ itself and is examined in more detail in Hegel’s ‘Phenomenology of Spirit’ as a transformation from subjective to objective to the absolute spirit. He is examining the organised structures in humanity giving absolute freedom and self determination to be essential. Those vitals principles include the practice of right, having a family and being part of a civil society (state). The most developed and sufficient perception of spirit is achieved by philosophy. It provides a conceptual understanding of the nature of reason while it describes why reason must take the form of time, space, life, matter and self-conscious spirit. In Christianity, however, the procedure which the ‘idea’ or ‘reason’ turns into self-conscious spirit is symbolised with metaphors and images as the procedure where God turns into spirit lies within humans. This is the process we place our belief and faith rather our notion of understanding. Hegel supports that humans cannot live with just the hypothesis of things but also need to trust the truth. He asserts that ‘is in religion that a nation defines what is considers to be trueà ¢â‚¬â„¢. According to Hegel, art is different from religion or philosophy and it’s purpose is the formation of beautiful objects in which aesthetically pleasing indication is coming through. Therefore, the main target of art is not impersonate nature but to give us the opportunity to look at images being made by non-materialistic freedom. In other words, art exists not just for the purpose of having ‘art’ but for beauty. This union of freedom and beauty from Hegel shows his obligation to two other theorists, Schiller and Kant. Kant goes further to analyse that our understanding of beauty is a form of freedom. He explains, by judging an object or a piece of art as beautiful, we are discernmenting about a thing. By this we are declaring that the ‘thing’ or object has an effect on us, thus everyone will have the same effect. This results to a comprehension and vision in ‘free play’ with each other, and it is this delight that comes from the ‘free play’ that guides us to our judgment if something is nice or not. Schiller comes in contrast with Kant which explains beauty as a belonging of the object itself. He stress that freedom is independent from our mind (Kant describes as ‘noumena’). ‘Freedom in appearance, autonomy in appearance [†¦] that the object appears as free, not that it really is so’’ However, in Hegel’s view on beauty, is being described as the complete manifestation of freedom. It can be seen or sound like a sensory expression. Hegel moves a step further to explain that beauty can be created by nature but as he calls a ‘sensuous’ beauty’ it can only be found through art which can be produced by people. For him, beauty has symmetrical qualities. It has elements that are not organised in a framework but are joined organically. We were told, as he explains, that the Greek outline is beautiful, because the nose is flawless under the forehead while the Roman human profile has more sharper angles between them. Nevertheless, beauty’s importance is not only the shape but also the content. Modern art-theorists disagree with Hegel’s theory of beauty and art. They claim that art can include any content. This content is described in religion as God, then a beautiful art could be seen as angelic. Nonetheless, Hegel insists that Godly art is through a humankind form as freedom. He understands that piece of art could consists of nature such as plants or animals but he thinks that art is responsible to show the angelic form, as mentioned before. Only a human can represent reason and spirit through colors and sounds. Art, in Hegel’s eyes, is metaphorical. Not because it always comes to copy what is in nature, but the main motivation of art is to communicate and represent what he explained as a ‘free spirit’. It can mostly be attained throughout humans and images. Particular, art exist to remind our mind that us, as human beings, have freedom and try not to forget the truth within ourselves. It is the only way the ‘freedom of spirit’ could be seen in it’s simplest form. The contradiction with art is that it links truth all through romanticised images made by someone. As mentioned before, according to Hegel, this spirit and beauty could be found through ancient Greek sculptures (Aeschylus, Praxiteles, Phidias and Sophocles). The German philosopher explains that are a lot of things we can be named as ‘art’, such as the Greek sculptures mentioned before, Shakespearian plays, but not everything is entitled to be called like that. This is because not everything represent what ‘true’ art really is. He sets some standards that a piece of work has to meet in order to be beautiful art. References BBC magazine, A Point of View: Why are museums so uninspiring(London, BBC, 2011) [accessed 11 mar 2011] Hegel G. W. F., Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit, (Oxford: University Press, 1977) Hegel G. W. F., Hegel’s Aesthetics: Lectures on fine art, Know, vol.1 (Oxford: University Press, 2010) Hegel G. W. F., Hegel: Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion: Volume II: Determinate Religion: Determinate Religion v. 2 (Oxford: University Press, 2007) Immanuel Kant, ‘Kant: Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason: And Other Writings’ (Cambridge, University Press, 2004) Jason M, Miller, ‘Research Proposal’ (unpublished doctoral thesis, University of Notre Dame, 2004), p.2 Robin, Waterfield, ‘Plato’s Republic’ (Oxford: University Press, 2008) Stephen, Houlgate, ‘Hegel’s aesthetics’, (The Stanford Encyclopedia of philosophy, 2009) [accessed 15 Mar 2011] Schiller, Friedrich, ‘Kallias or Concerning Beauty: Letters to Gottfried Korner†, in Classical and Romantic German Aesthetics’, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003) How to cite Aesthetics and cultural theory, Essay examples