The Greeks/Romans and Anglo Saxons shared and conflicted in beliefs. The Anglo Saxons and Greeks/Romans were especially different when it came to literature. Often times, the Greeks/Romans held tragic plays that depicted the downfall of a great warrior. The Anglo Saxons however, portrayed their heroes as magnificent and they often died in glory or while in battle. In Beowulf, Beowulf is depicted as a mighty warrior with “awesome strength.” He “battled and bound five beasts” and raided a troll-nest.” He dies a magnificent death after successfully slaying a dragon. The Anglo Saxons emphasized the strength and abilities of a hero and their literature often brags about their dangerous but mighty deeds. This shows that the Anglo Saxons truly revered their warriors and were optimistic about their skill and strength. The Greeks/Romans often portrayed their warriors as strong but possessing an emotional weakness. In Oedipus, Oedipus’ weakness is his short temper and his frequency to jump to conclusions. His traits are emphasized at the end of the play in which is he gauges his eyes out with a brooch and is banished from his own kingdom. The Greeks and Romans were pessimistic about their warriors and kings and often sought to find human weaknesses in them whereas the Anglo Saxons glorified their soldiers and emphasized their combat skills and massive strength.
Aashrita Mangu, Christine Yi, Elaine Hong, Tiffany Show
Your answer to this synthesis question is a bit under the 250 + or - 10 words, but the content of your response to the question presented is concise and contains the information necessary to convey your ideas. You make good points on the difference between Greek/Roman and Anglo-Saxon heroes in literature, but your claim that Oedipus’ act of “gaug[ing] his eyes out with a brooch” and being “banished from his own kingdom” are indicative of his “short temper and his frequency to jump to conclusions” is somewhat misguided. Though Oedipus could have been considered short-tempered and one to jump to conclusions, his reason for gauging his eyes out was because he was reacting to the truth he had learned about marrying his mother and killing his father. Gauging his eyes out was a self-inflicted punishment, and being banished from his kingdom was an extension of that self-punishment, but neither was a result of his short-temperedness and both occurred after he had learned the truth about his actions, not because he had jumped to conclusions about those actions. So, we disagree with you on this point, and suggest that traits that led to Oedipus’ downfall could be brashness and pride, which led him to try to defy fate early in the play and also led to his self-infliction of blindness as dictated by the very prophecies he was trying to escape. Besides this, however, your synthesis answer is a solid one, and you clearly display understanding of one of the main differences between Greek/Roman and Anglo-Saxon writings- the heroes.
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