Oedipus Rex The Oedipus Complex Essays - Greek Mythology

Oedipus Rex: The Oedipus Complex Thousands of years after Sophocles wrote the story of Oedipus Rex; psychologists named a complex after the behavioral characteristics of Oedipus. For many years psychologists have called a son having a sexual attraction toward his mother the Oedipus Complex. It is common belief that Oedipus Rex did not actually suffer from the Oedipus Complex. The basic support for this theory can be found through Oedipus inherent fear of the prophecy placed upon him, by the Oracle, actually coming true. Oedipus is told, by a member of the royal court, of the prophecy of the Oracle. The love for his mother and father, and the mere thought of the prophecy drives Oedipus into retreat. He fears that if he stays in Corinth, that the prophecy may come true. This is clearly one sign that Oedipus did not suffer from the Oedipus complex. The thought alone of doing such a thing as having sexual relations with his own mother drives Oedipus from Corinth, away from royalty, and the only life he has ever known. If Oedipus really did suffer from the complex, he would not have run away from his life, subconsciously he would want to stay, and probably would have. Oedipus not only fears the prophecy as a younger man, but also as king of Thebes when the prophecy returns to haunt him. Oedipus sends Creon to the Oracle to find out the true killer of the former king of Thebes. When Creon returns and tells Oedipus what the Oricle has told him, him ignites. Oedipus flies into a furious rage accusing Creon of scheming to over through Oedipus. Oedipus refuses to believe that a prophecy such as that could ever come true and that Creon was either lying or has bribed the Oracle into giving a false prophecy. Oedipus immediately demands the retrieval of the Oracle to the palace. This shows an undying relentlessness toward proving the prophecy wrong. Oedipus plainly does not want to come to the reality that would ever do anything along the lines of what the prophecy states, and he truly believes that it must be incorrect because he knows he would never consciously do anything like that. After the Oracles prophecy is brought to Oedipus, the kings denial only increases. The Oracles future visions scare Oedipus into fury. Enraged he claims that the Oracle clearly has no real pow ers, and denies any truth out of his prophecy. Oedipus has entered the point of anger at this point. He refuses to believe it clearly because the mere thought of it sickens him. If he were to truly have the complex, he could not fight the facts for as long as he did. Not even after finding out the truth did he collapse into the acceptance that he wanted to do it. As soon as the reality of the prophecy sits in, the queen commits suicide. Oedipus takes it upon himself to carryout self-inflicted punishment for the sins he finally realizes he has committed. If Oedipus had truly wanted to have sexual relations with his mother, then he would not have committed such a horrendous act of mutilation upon himself? To commit suicide would not be out of the question if he had been suffering from the complex. Loss of his adoration could be a justified motive. Yet he pierced his own eyes out because he was ashamed to look at his parents in the afterlife. This level of humility would not be present if Oedipus knew that Jocasta was really his mother. If Oedipus were to truly have the complex, then he probably would never have arrived in Thebes in the first place. If Oedipus Rex was suffering from the Oedipus Complex then he would have probably stayed in Corinth where he believed his true mother resided. He would not have known Jocasta of Thebes in a sexual manner if he had acquired an attraction to what he thought was his birth mother, Marope. If Oedipus Rex had suffered from the Oedipus complex, then we might have never heard the story of Oedipus the way we did, and his situation, in turn, would probably have never been called the Oedipus Complex. Bibliography Sophocles, Oedipus the King. Literature: An

Spain and the New Laws of 1542

Spain and the New Laws of 1542 The â€Å"New Laws† of 1542 were a series of laws and regulations approved by the King of Spain in November of 1542 to regulate the Spaniards who were enslaving the natives in the Americas, particularly in Peru. The laws were extremely unpopular in the New World and directly led to a civil war in Peru. The furor was so great that eventually King Charles, fearing that he would lose his new colonies entirely, was forced to suspend many of the more unpopular aspects of the new legislation. Conquest of the New World The Americas had been discovered in 1492 by Christopher Columbus: a papal bull in 1493 divided the newly-discovered lands between Spain and Portugal. Settlers, explorers, and conquistadors of all sorts immediately began heading to the colonies, where they tortured and killed the natives by the thousands to take their lands and wealth. In 1519, Hernan Cortes conquered the Aztec Empire in Mexico: about fifteen years later Francisco Pizarro defeated the Inca Empire in Peru. These native empires had much gold and silver and the men who participated became very wealthy. This, in turn, inspired more and more adventurers to come to the Americas in the hopes of joining the next expedition that would conquer and loot a native kingdom. The Encomienda System With the major native empires in Mexico and Peru in ruins, the Spanish had to put a new system of government in place. The successful conquistadors and colonial officials used the encomienda system. Under the system, an individual or family was given lands, which generally had natives living on them already. A sort of deal was implied: the new owner was responsible for the natives: he would see to their instruction in Christianity, their education and their safety. In return, the natives would supply food, gold, minerals, wood or whatever valuable commodity could be extracted from the land. The encomienda lands would pass from one generation to the next, allowing the families of the conquistadors to set themselves up like local nobility. In reality, the encomienda system was little more than slavery by another name: the natives were forced to work in fields and mines, often until they literally dropped dead. Las Casas and the Reformers Some opposed the ghastly abuses of the native population. As early as 1511 in Santo Domingo, a friar named Antonio de Montesinos asked the Spanish by what right had they invaded, enslaved, raped and robbed a people who had done them no harm. Bartolomà © de Las Casas, a Dominican priest, began asking the same questions. Las Casas, an influential man, had the ear of the king, and he told of the needless deaths of millions of Indians- who were, after all, Spanish subjects. Las Casas was quite persuasive and King Charles of Spain finally decided to do something about the murders and torture being carried out in his name. The New Laws The â€Å"New Laws,† as the legislation came to be known, provided for sweeping changes in Spain’s colonies. The natives were to be considered free, and the owners of the encomiendas could no longer demand free labor or services from them. They did need to pay a certain amount of tribute, but any extra work was to be paid for. Natives were to be treated fairly and given expanded rights. Encomiendas granted to members of the colonial bureaucracy or the clergy were to be returned to the crown immediately. The clauses of the New Laws most disturbing to the Spanish colonists were the ones that declared forfeiture of encomiendas or native laborers by those who had participated in civil wars (which was nearly all of the Spaniards in Peru) and a provision that made encomiendas not hereditary: all encomiendas would revert to the crown upon the death of the current holder. Revolt and Repeal Reaction to the New Laws was swift and drastic: all over the Spanish Americas, conquistadors and settlers were enraged. Blasco Nuà ±ez Vela, the Spanish Viceroy, arrived in the New World in early 1544 and announced that he intended to enforce the New Laws. In Peru, where the former conquistadors had the most to lose, the settlers rallied behind Gonzalo Pizarro, last of the Pizarro brothers (Hernando Pizarro was still alive but in prison in Spain). Pizarro raised an army, declaring that he would defend the rights that he and so many others had fought so hard for. At the battle of Aà ±aquito in January of 1546, Pizarro defeated Viceroy Nà ºÃƒ ±ez Vela, who died in battle. Later, an army under Pedro de la Gasca defeated Pizarro in April of 1548: Pizarro was executed. Pizarro’s revolution was put down, but the revolt had shown the King of Spain that the Spaniards in the New World (and Peru in particular) were serious about protecting their interests. Although the king felt that morally, the New Laws were the right thing to do, he feared that Peru would declare itself an independent kingdom (many of Pizarro’s followers had urged him to do just that). Charles listened to his advisors, who told him that he had better seriously tone down the New Laws or he risked losing parts of his new empire. The New Laws were suspended and a watered-down version was passed in 1552. Legacy The Spanish had a mixed record in the Americas as a colonial power. The most horrendous abuses occurred in the colonies: natives were enslaved, murdered, tortured and raped in the conquest and early part of the colonial period and later they were disenfranchised and excluded from power. Individual acts of cruelty are too numerous and dreadful to list here. Conquistadors like Pedro de Alvarado and Ambrosius Ehinger reached levels of cruelty that are nearly inconceivable to modern sentiments. As horrible as the Spanish were, there were a few enlightened souls among them, such as Bartolomà © de Las Casas and Antonio de Montesinos. These men fought diligently for native rights in Spain. Las Casas produced books on the subjects of Spanish abuses and was not shy about denouncing powerful men in the colonies. King Charles I of Spain, like Ferdinand and Isabela before him and Philip II after him, had his heart in the right place: all of these Spanish rulers demanded that the natives be treated fairly. In practice, however, the goodwill of the king was difficult to enforce. There was also an inherent conflict: the King wanted his native subjects to be happy, but the Spanish crown grew ever more dependent on the steady flow of gold and silver from the colonies, much of which was produced by slave labor in the mines. As for the New Laws, they marked an important shift in Spanish policy. The age of conquest was over: bureaucrats, not conquistadors, would hold power in the Americas. Stripping the conquistadors of their encomiendas meant nipping the burgeoning noble class in the bud. Although King Charles suspended the New Laws, he had other means of weakening the powerful New World elite and within a generation or two most of the encomiendas had reverted to the crown anyway.

Electrical engineering Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Electrical engineering - Essay Example This was not difficult as I was in love with and excelled in mathematics and physics; I was not very strong in the arts so I opted to major mostly in technical fields. After I graduated from high school, I secured a place in college where I was advised that if I hope to become an electrical engineer, I should minor in chemistry or a management subject. I am hoping to graduate in with a GPA high enough to get me into any of the many great universities in the United States; preferably, I would like to go to MIT or Stanford. As such, I am working diligently as I cannot afford a dismal GPA since this would make it impossible for me to get into my field of choice, which is electrical engineering, and I would be forced to settle for something less important. Therefore, in order to improve my chances, I intend to spend as much time as possible with my professors through participating research, as a student it will be very useful and invaluable later as I work on my final year project. Throu gh research work I will be able to make contacts and connections and these will come in handy when I become a professional in the field since I will need as much advice and guidance as I can get. I hope that after graduating at somewhere close to the top of the class, I would then join the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers so I can increase my options and enhance my credibility as an engineer. As an engineer I am aware that I will be in one of the most highly paid careers, today electrical engineers are ranked among the highest paid engineers with an entrance at graduate level making around $50,000 per month. My job description at this point will mostly involve working with installing and manipulating electrical systems, I am going to require skills in computing and communication, which will help me to be more effective both as a technician and as a manager. After this, I will not stop my education, as soon as I am employed I will begin to save or/and organize with m y employers for study time if possible, these will assist me to fund and create time for my MS programs. For this, I will need to specialize in one specific field where I intend to major in electronic devices censors, technology and signal processing. Bearing in mind that an MS is an advanced degree in the field will require a considerable amount of coursework; the minimum requirements include at least 30 units of technical areas such as mathematics. I may undertake more than one master’s degree, at this point, I should be mid-level in my career, and making around $80, 000 per month, I will then start my PHD in electrical engineering. This is because I aspire at some point in the future to teach, and as PHD holder it will be easy for me to acquire a teaching position besides ,I have always loved to immerse myself in research. This is a big part of the process of getting a PHD, as a professor I will be able to impart my expertise to students, and inspire them so they may compe tent engineers in the future. Besides, I can have more time to research and use my skills in developing my knowledge and the field of engineering as a whole so that all my education I have accumulated be fully exploited and progressively regenerated. Apart from teaching, I will still practice engineering but as a consultant, so that I may I will be doing it to keep in touch with the real world so to retain objectivity in my research and teaching. Ultimately, my dream is to become,