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Running Head: RELATIONSHIP DYNAMICS
Relationship Dynamics in Greek Mythology
Aryaman A. Akolkar
Purdue University
SCLA 101-173 LEC
9/26/2022
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RELATIONSHIP DYNAMICS
Abstract
This paper deals with the concept of relationships between people in Greek Mythology and how
authors like Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides have represented the various relationships between the
characters in their plays. Since all the plays are tragedies, the paper will cover the strained and fractured
nature of the relationships and the circumstances that led to their formation. The paper will also cover the
several types of relationship dynamics and how each of them relates to the tragedies. The paper concludes
by discussing the importance of studying the different types of relations between characters in a play.
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Outline
Introduction:
1. Introduce the concept of relational dynamics and transition to the topics that will be covered in the
paper.
Paragraph 1:
1. Introduce the enmity between Prometheus and Zeus and discuss the circumstances that led to the
enmity
2. Explain in detail the type of relationship dynamic between them.
Paragraph 2:
1. Transition to the fractured relationship between Medea and Jason
2. Analyse her reasoning for the actions she committed.
Paragraph 3:
1. Talk about Oedipus’s healthy relationship dynamic with his parents and how fate ruined his life.
Paragraph 4:
1. Discuss the several types of relationship dynamics seen in today’s world.
2.
Elaborate how each type of dynamic relates to the plays.
Conclusion:
1. Conclude the paper with the importance of analysing relationship dynamics.
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RELATIONSHIP DYNAMICS
Relationship Dynamics in Greek Mythology
What can you say about the relations you have formed with the people who surround you? Are they
good or bad? What led to these relations being good or bad? What would you say about the relations among
the characters in Prometheus Bound, Medea and Oedipus Rex? Can you come up with a few ways to fix a
troubled relationship? Relationship dynamics deals with the ways people interact and communicate with one
another in a relationship. Since all the plays mentioned in the paper are tragedies, the story usually involves
dark and fractured relationships among the characters. This paper will talk about the different relationships
seen in Prometheus Bound, Medea and Oedipus Rex and their characteristics and differences.
In Prometheus Bound, the play opens with Prometheus being chained to the rocks by Haphaestus as
ordered by Zeus. Might and Violence, Zeus’s servants, are assigned the task of ensuring Prometheus is
chained. Before he is chained, Prometheus is informed of the reasons for his punishment. Might says, “Thy
flower, fount of the arts, the light of fire / He stole and gave to mortals. Such the sin / For which he must
make recompense to heaven” (Aeschylus, 2004, p.1). The subsequent conversation between Might and
Haphaestus provides us more information on the tyrannical nature of Zeus and the power he holds over other
peoples’ lives. Zeus believes Prometheus has betrayed him by giving humans the ability to manipulate. It
can be inferred that there is a clear difference in power between Prometheus and Zeus which enables Zeus to
carry out the punishment against Prometheus. An abusive relationship is the best example of this type of
dynamic since there is an imbalance in the power between the people involved. The abuser usually resorts to
physical violence and intimidation to exercise their control over another person. This is remarkably similar
to the case of Prometheus and Zeus, where Zeus uses everything in his power to punish Prometheus for all
the wrongs he has committed. Although they were on friendly terms at one point, Zeus’s desire to rule over
humans forced Prometheus to defy the Gods and choose humans over them. The enmity between them is
bred due to their conflicting goals and views on the future of humanity. This conflict could have been
avoided if it were not for Zeus’s pride and impulse for vengeance against humans.
In contrast to Aeschylus’s Prometheus Bound, Euripides’s Medea deals with the concept of passion
and love rather than conflict and power. Throughout the story, Medea’s emotions shift from sadness to rage.
Cursing her fate and her husband for abandoning her, Medea quotes:
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The things I suffer, though I made him promise,
My hateful husband. I pray that I may see him,
Him and his bride and all their palace shattered
For the wrong they dare to do to me without cause.
Oh, my father! Oh, my country! In what dishonour
I left you, killing my own brother for it. (Euripides, 2004, p. 180)
She justifies her rage by thinking about all the sacrifices she made when she chose to spend the rest of her
life alongside Jason. We learn of Medea’s past in the beginning of the play when the Nurse laments Medea’s
fate. Like Zeus, Medea feels betrayed by Jason who has left her for another woman even though he claims
he had done it for a reason. However, the power dynamic in this play is dissimilar to the previous one as the
characters in this play have equal power and control over their lives. However, it is the strong emotions
displayed by Medea that allowed her to execute her elaborate plan to exact revenge on Jason and his new
wife. The blame for the whole incident lies on both Jason and Medea, as both have committed wrong deeds
and eventually suffer the consequences of their own actions. This play deals with the emotional dynamic in
relationships, and the play is an extreme example of a character losing their ability to think rationally. This
type of emotional dynamic, although not as intense and popular as the power dynamic, can be used to write
a good tragedy provided it delves deep into the emotions of the characters.
Sophocles’s Oedipus Rex has a completely different dynamic than the previous two plays. The play
deals with the concept of fate and how pointless it is trying to escape our destiny. However, the play also
covers the relationship between child and family. Upon learning of the prophecy, Oedipus leaves his
adoptive parents in an effort to prevent the prophecy from becoming real. Towards the end of the play, we
learn that all of Oedipus’s efforts have failed, and he inadvertently fulfilled the prophecy when he killed the
old man and became the king of Thebes. Oedipus woefully quotes:
Woe! Woe! It is all plain, indeed! O Light,
This be the last time I shall gaze on thee,
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Who am revealed to have been born of those
Of whom I ought not – to have wedded whom
I ought not – and slain whom I might not slay! (Sophocles, 2004, p. 98)
The fact that Oedipus stayed away from his adoptive parents and wanted to prevent the prophecy from being
fulfilled tells us how much he cared for his parents. After learning of his crimes, Oedipus is overwhelmed
with guilt and punishes himself. This scene proves that Oedipus was a rational person and a man of morals
who had been wronged by fate. He loved his family so much that the idea of causing their deaths with his
own hands made him lose his sanity. Compared to the previous two plays, this play has a conventional
familial dynamic that is usually seen between parents and their children. This play differs from the rest in
that it introduces an external factor of fate that controls the characters’ actions, and that the inevitability of
fate is the source of tragedy.
There are several types of unhealthy relationship dynamics. The first type of dynamic deals with the
superiority of one person over another. Everyone involved in this type of dynamic is constantly fighting
each other for supremacy over the others. The second type of dynamic involves one person having most of
the power and using it to control, manipulate or dominate others involved in the relationship. This type of
dynamic is seen in Prometheus Bound as we notice Zeus using his power against his enemy who has
betrayed him. The third and final type of dynamic is the active/passive relationship where one person is in
charge of the relationship and puts in all the effort while the rest do nothing. Euripides’s Medea presents a
good example of this dynamic during the scene when Medea argues with Jason after being given a single
day to plan her leave. In the argument, Medea implies that she is the only active member in the relationship
as she had to sacrifice her own family to stay with Jason. Jason, on the other hand, is going against Medea’s
statements and explains that he is marrying the princess in Medea’s and their children’s best interest. This
conflict between them infuriates Medea and makes her feel Jason took her for granted; as a result, she
hatches a plan to punish Jason. The story of Oedipus is considered to be an even greater tragedy than the
previous two since the play does not involve any enmity or conflict between the characters. The tragic
scenes of the play are not caused due to one character’s actions; instead, the author relies on the concept of
fate to make the story tragic.
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Although all the plays are tragedies, each of them has a different approach to how the plot evolves into
a tragedy. This difference in approach can be attributed to the different natures of characters in the play as
well as the relation between them. This is where relationship dynamics comes in. Analysing relationship
dynamics in stories can provide more depth to them and possibly teach us something about managing and
improving our emotional intelligence and forming better relationships with other people.
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References
Sophocles, Euripides, & Aeschylus. (2004). Five Great Greek Tragedies. New York: Dover Publications.
(Original work published in 479 BC, 429 BC and 431 BC)
Taibbi, R. (2019, May 4). There are 5 types of relationships. Which one is yours? Psychology Today.
Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/fixing-families/201905/there-are-5-typesrelationships-which-one-is-yours