OEDIPUS AND BEOWULF: THEIR SHARES IN CURSES

Shayla Sharmin  Snigdha

doi:10.53808/KUS.2010.10.1and2.0901-A

Authors

Shayla Sharmin Snigdha English Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna 9208, Bangladesh

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53808/KUS.2010.10.1and2.0901-A

Keywords:

Fate, sapientia, fortitudo, curse, temperance

Abstract

King Oedipus by Sophocles and Beowulf by an anonymous author are two great legendary tales that tell of two tragic heroes of pre - Christian era. The former one is derived from the Greek mythological story where gods and goddesses play an active role in the phenomena of human life where the worthy and noble king Oedipus suffers the unhappiest events a man can have in life. The latter one is derived from the oral formulaic tales of ancient Scandinavia where the mighty, warrior king Beowulf meets the tragic end after a life full of heroic events. Both of them reign in pagan period when man is bound to surrender to the whims of fate. Yet man is a free will agent by nature and it determines him against allowing fate to settle everything of his life. This paper shows that though both of the heroes finally succumb to their nemesis, knowingly or unknowingly they have shares in the curses they are under.

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