Using Book 11 as evidence, what is the poem's definition of justice?
The poem’s definition of justice is based upon divinity. When a person is punished, it is not the wrong they committed that is weighted so much as to what extent they tried to act like a god. Tityos is lain in a field, having vultures tear at his innards; it is not the committed act of rape, it is his stab at divinity, having raped the mistress of Zeus (590). Odysseus also observes Tantalos as he relives the joke he tried to play on the Gods; now he is to spend eternity being taunted with ripened fruit and fresh water (605), unattainable perfection supplied by the divine. The gods mock him through punishment. The experience Odysseus has in Hades along with his own life concurs. He lives in a realm monopolized by the gods. They are both power hungry and demand submission. A staggering hierarchy exists in the realm of humans. No aspirations of anything better are tolerated by the gods.
No comments:
Post a Comment