Man's Quest For Immortality Presentation

IMMORTALITY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfTqXL0d9Ls

5 Steps to prolonging life, leading to immortality
1) Eat a healthy diet.
2) Be active everyday.
3) Take supplements such as vitamins or iron supplements, anything to keep your body's needs in check and balanced
4) Take good care of your body's parts that could be susceptible to early deterioration and your entire body in general. Don't over exert yourself very often, don't get too lazy though. Keep that healthy balance between the two.
5) Cyronics: This is the use of technology to either live longer, forever, or even bring back the dead. Freezing yourself is thought to be a possible way to be able to do these things. (freezing is done by injecting a solution into your system that will preserve your insides; a little like formaldehyde)

I've discovered that some people believe immortality to really happen someday, maybe even within the next 10,000 years, due to advanced technology and newly found knowledge. However, there are some who think that immortality will never be obtainable to any of us. The people who strive for this goal may have a fear of death or maybe they are just driven to do something that has, for years, been considered impossible.

Presentation

"Mad, perhaps insane, he tried to bring Enkidu back to life to end his bitterness, his fear of death. His life became a quest to find the secret of eternal life which he might carry back to give his friend" (Mason, pg. 55).
The quote above describes Gilgamesh's objective or reason for desiring immortality. Today people desire immortality for almost the same reasons as Gilgamesh does. There are three main reasons why people seek immortality: a fear of death, time, and to do what has always been said to be impossible. The biggest common element is fear of death, which ties right into Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh is afraid of dying and being forgotten. The same goes for people today. The fear is caused by the thought that one day you will simply stop breathing, you will no longer exist, at least not in life. Although we don't know when we will die, we plan on having a long time before we die. This still isn't reassuring, though, because people know that time will run out eventually. People want to have endless time; time to waste, time to do countless things they've always wanted to do. With a time limit on our life span, we begin to feel rushed, pressured to do the things we want before our time runs out. Another reason people want immortality is because it is said to be impossible. To achieve what is thought to be impossible would be a great accomplishment, a tremendous achievement for people. People desire this success.

1) fear of death
2) running out of time
3) attain the impossible

Themes in the Theban Plays

Proper burial of the dead: Antigone goes against the law to “properly bury” her brother because she feels she has the right to bury a loved one. He didn’t die doing a necessarily “honorable” thing, (attacking Thebes to gain control of it) but he is family and he cannot be replaced because his parents are dead. This is why she wants to give him a proper burial.
“It was by this service to your dear body, Polynices, I earned the punishment which now I suffer, though all good people know it was for your honour. O but I would not have done the forbidden thing for any husband or for any son. For why? I could have had another husband and by him other sons, if one were lost; But, father and mother lost, where would I get another brother?” –Antigone (pg. 150)
Individual vs. State: Antigone against the law; all of Antigone is a good example of this. Antigone defies the law to give her brother, Polynices a proper burial.
“Gods of our fathers, my city, my home, rulers of Thebes! Time stays no longer. Last daughter of your royal house go I, his prisoner, because I honoured those things to which honour truly belongs.” –Antigone (pg. 151)
“You cannot mean…to bury him? Against the order?” –Ismene (pg. 127)
Hubris: Creon rules Thebes with a great amount of pride. He seems to think that the state is a “one man state” in which only his rulings matter.
“The people of Thebes! Since when do I take my orders from the people of Thebes!” –Creon (pg. 146)
“Why, doesn’t every state belong to its ruler?” –Creon (pg. 146)
Purpose of Prophecy: The purpose of prophecy in the Theban plays is that it tells people of their fates. In Oedipus the King, Oedipus hears from a prophet that his fate is to kill his father and marry his mother. However, he could not keep his prophecy from coming true. His fate was pre-determined and his actions through the story only ensured his fate rather than change the course of it.
Theban Legend “…for Apollo’s oracle had nothing but ill to foretell of him: he was destined one day to kill his father, and to become his own mother’s husband. Could any mortal device be proof against the god’s prediction? Could any mortal be so presumptuous as to try to thwart it it?” Theban Legend (pg. 23)
The Blind See: The only one who seems to ever really know what’s going on is the one who cannot see. The prophet, Tiresias, sees things more clearly than everyone in the plays without the use of his eyes.
“You are pleased to mock my blindness. Have you eyes, and do not see your own damnation? Eyes, and cannot see what company you keep? Whose son are you? I tell you, you have sinned-and do not know it-against your own on earth and in the grave. A swift and two-edged sword, your mother’s and your father’s curse, shall sweep you out of this land. Those now clear-seeing eyes shall then be darkened….” –Terisias (pg. 37)
Loyalty: Antigone is loyal to her brother, Polynices when she goes against the law to bury him honorably.
“Is he not my brother, and yours, whether you like it or not? I shall never desert him, never.” –Antigone (pg. 128)
Free will versus Fate: Oedipus believes that he can change the course of his prophecy and he believes that all the actions he makes will bring him to whatever fate he so chooses. He does not believe that the gods choose fates or that fate is a pre-determined thing for people.
“Cithaeron! Foster-mother! Did you shelter me for this? Could you not let me die that instant, instead of saving me to tell the world how I was got? Corinth, and Polybus, My seeming home and parent, did you think what foul corruption festered under the bloom of your adopted son’s young loveliness?-Now found all evil and of evil born.” –Oedipus (pg. 64)
Ritual: It is a ritual to bury the dead. Antigone performs a burial ritual to honor her brother.
“Go your own way; I will bury my brother; And if I die for it, what happiness! Convicted of reverence- I shall be content to lie beside a brother whom I love. We have only a little time to please the living, but all eternity to love the dead. There I shall lie forever. Live, if you will; live and defy the holiest laws of heaven.” –Antigone (pg. 128)
Integrity: Antigone is a person of integrity. This is because she stands by her morals. She is a girl of morals when she is willing to die for what she believes to be right. This is the opposite of her sister, Ismene. Ismene didn’t want to partake in burying Polynices, but still wanted the credit for it later on and wanted to die honorably with Antigone. But Antigone wouldn’t stand for it.
“Whose was the deed, Death and the dead are witness. I love no friend whose love is only words.” – Antigone (pg. 141)

Oedipus as the Tragic Man

1) A Belief in His Own Freedom- Oedipus believes that he is solely responsible for himself. He makes his own choices and accepts any outcomes of those choices. He doesn’t believe that he has a pre-determined fate by the gods, rather, that the choices he makes will eventually lead him to his fate by his own hand and none other than himself decides this. The biggest example of this is when he hears his prophecy that he is to murder his father and marry his mother. Oedipus doesn’t know that his supposed parents are adopted parents. So, in believing them to be his real parents and upon hearing his prophecy, Oedipus runs away to avoid this from happening when really his running away is what led him to destruction and proved the prophecy true. He did not succeed in changed the course of his “pre-determined” fate, rather he ensured it. However, Oedipus, upon learning of his big sin, accepts the outcome of the whole mess and does not try to deny anything.
2) Supreme Pride/Hubris- Oedipus demonstrates a supreme pride in the respect that he feels as though he is above everyone. He (thinks that) he escaped/avoided his prophecy. He solved the riddle of the Sphinx and saved Thebes. His life has been fairly happy and successful up to this point, and that’s one of the main reasons he doesn’t consider Thebes’ recession to be anywhere near his fault. He’s too “high and mighty” in his mind (although he doesn’t display this obnoxiously) to think he could possibly be the one responsible for Thebes’ bad fortunes.
“There was a riddle too deep for common wits; A seer should have answered it; but answer came there none from you; bird-lore and god-craft all were silent. Until I came-I, ignorant Oedipus, came-and stopped the riddler’s mouth, guessing the truth by mother-wit, not bird-lore.” –Oedipus (pg. 37)
3) Capacity for Suffering- Oedipus suffers most upon learning that his prophecy came true after all. He is then living with the knowledge that he killed his own father, married his mother, and they had children together. He is also having to endure the fact that he is the “sinful” or the one responsible for his town and people’s suffering. Oedipus justifies that his actions were all done through his ignorance, but he feels that he deserves severe punishment for those actions nonetheless. Oedipus endures the heavy burden that is placed on him and is strong enough to live with it.
4) A Sense of Commitment- First, Oedipus is committed to avoiding his prophecy, so he runs away from home and later ends up in Thebes. However, the choices he makes from the moment he leaves home up to the time Thebes begins to suffer all move him towards his fate or his “resolution.” So, really, his commitment to escape from his prophecy only ends up making the prophecy come true in the end. Secondly, Oedipus tells the citizens of Thebes that whoever killed King Laius will be banished from Thebes, nothing more, and that would be the “punishment” for the crime. Oedipus commits to this same punishment when the criminal who murdered Laius turns out to be none other than himself. He stands by what he told the people of Thebes the punishment would be and doesn’t try to change it or dismiss it merely because he is king and in charge. He banishes himself and gouges out his eyeballs in his despair which is like an added punishment that he administers to himself.
5) Vigorous Protest- Oedipus speaks with the prophet Tiresias who tells him (after a lot of pestering and egging on by Oedipus) that he, Oedipus is the one who is responsible for the suffering in Thebes. Oedipus is outraged at this and objects, thinking that there is no possible way that he, king of Thebes, is the cause for these hard times. Even upon his first learning that his prophecy came true, Oedipus objects and tries to justify his objection with the fact that he ran away from his parents long ago and hasn’t seen them since.
6) Transfiguration- When Oedipus learns the truth about his real parents and that he actually did kill his father and marry his mother, he suffers greatly from this knowledge. It is through this suffering that Oedipus’ character is transformed. He learns that in trying to avoid his prophecy, he only made it come true and that he couldn’t have possibly avoided it unless he had known who his real parents were, and they hadn’t even know he was alive anyway. With his painful knowledge, he goes from being a man who thought himself on a higher level than others to a man who has lived and who has suffered just as others do. He also sees though that although he could not/did not keep his prophecy from coming true, he still did good things, and he didn’t have to have the same power as the gods to do any of what he did.
7) Impact- The impact on the other characters in the book and what I got out of Oedipus’ story was this: Oedipus is only human. He's just a man. He unknowingly made mistakes in his life and upon recognizing his mistakes, he learns from them just as any person should do. We learn that in trying to be perfect or “god-like” we obtain nothing because we have nothing to learn from. If Oedipus had done everything correctly in his life and not made any major mistakes, what then, would be the point of the story? His actions through the book and at the end also affect his offspring, who are now "damned" without even having done anything merely because they came to be through sin.We learn from our experiences, good and bad, and try to accept when we do things wrong, accept the consequences and move on with our lives and try to do things better or differently the next time. We only have so much time to live before time runs out.

Despair

Question:

What is the meaning of "Despair" and how does this theme manifest itself in both plays?

Answer:

The literal meaning of despair is to lose hope, to be without hope. In Oedipus the King, Oedipus despairs because he finds out that he is the sole cause of his land’s suffering/recession. He also despairs because he learns that he has committed an enormous sin. He learns that he killed his real father and married his own mother for which the gods punish him by spoiling his lands and making the people of Thebes, including Oedipus, suffer. Now he understands that he has been the sole cause for all the suffering, and he has this burden to carry on his shoulders until he dies. He is to be banished from Thebes, which was his own original punishment before he found out the true villain was none other than himself. Oedipus has lost any hope he ever had that he had changed his pre-determined fate. He despairs because he has failed in trying to avoid his prophecy even though he tried very hard to change the course of it. After Jocasta hears of this, she despairs and kills herself. Oedipus then despairs because his wife/mother has killed herself and he gauges his eyes out with golden brooches from her dress. It is his despair that leads him to do this. Oedipus must leave Thebes, his own punishment, and Creon lets him say goodbye to his children/siblings. He despairs because he must leave his family, his home. By the end of Oedipus the King, Oedipus is a perfect example of a hopeless, deeply burdened man who can hardly bear being alive. In Antigone, despair plays a large role in Antigone’s life. She defies the law and buries her brother, Polynices. She despairs because she believes Polynices deserves an honorable burial; he is family, he is irreplaceable to Antigone. Antigone is also in despair about Creon. Creon rules Thebes as a “one man state” otherwise known as the king is always right merely because he is king. Antigone is really upset about this because she did what she believed to be an honorable and respectful thing by burying her brother. Creon views her actions as being unlawful, and that is it. He doesn’t really consider the reasons why she disobeyed the law, and he doesn’t consider the “laws of heaven.” He just thinks that she should be punished because she knowingly broke the law and Antigone is in despair over this. Haemon and Antigone are betrothed, and after Haemon finds out that Antigone will be killed for her “crime,” he gets mad at Creon. (his father) He says if she is to die, then so shall he. Antigone actually hangs herself in her tomb, and at the sight of this, Haemon kills himself. Creon witnesses this and is in much despair over having sentenced Antigone to her death and Haemon by association. Now his son is dead. When Creon’s wife finds out, she too, goes into the palace and kills herself. By this point, Creon is in so much pain and despair that he cries out for the gods to kill him, he prays to be killed, because he cannot bear the pain he feels inside. However, Creon lives and is merely lead away from his dead wife. There is a lot of despair there at the end of Antigone what with everyone killing themselves on account of Creon. It is all very tragic and dramatic, which is what makes the story even more interesting.
So despair really plays a huge part in both Oedipus the King and Antigone.
“I am nothing. I have no life. Lead me away…That have killed unwittingly my son, my wife. I know not where I should turn, where look for help. My hands have done amiss, my head is bowed with fate too heavy for me.” –Creon (pg. 161-162, Antigone)
“O dark intolerable inescapable night that has no day! Cloud that no air can take away! O and again that piercing pain, torture in the flesh and in the soul’s dark memory.” –Oedipus (pg.62, Oedipus the King)

Antigone - Conscientious Objection

Question:

What is "conscientious objection"?In what ways does Antigone demonstrate conscientious objection?In your opinion, did she do the right thing? Explain your view in terms of how 21st Century citizens might view her actions.

Answer:

Conscientious objection is going against the established law to better suit your personal beliefs/morals. Antigone defies the law by burying Polynices whom she believes deserves an honorable and proper burial. I think she did do the right thing in terms of her time period and in terms of today's society. She says that because her and her brother's parents are dead, her brother is someone she can never replace as you could a husband or wife. She uses this to justify her actions, that although her brother may not have been performing honorable acts (going against his brother Eteocles, fighting for Thebes/against Thebes) he was still family and still deserved to be buried properly/justly. The same goes for today's society. Even if one of my family members was considered not honorable or good, they are still family, and if they died, they would not be left unburied and forgotten. They would still receive some kind of burial or funeral, properly.

"It was by this service to your dear body, Polynices, I earned the punishment which now I suffer, though all good people know it was for your honour. O but I would not have done the forbidden thing for any husband or for any son. For why? I could have had another huband and by him other sons, if one were lost; But, father and moster lost, where would I get another brother?...." -Antigone (pg. 150, Antigone)

"What law of heaven have I transgressed? What god can save me now? What help or hope have I, in whom devotion is deemed sacrilege?" -Antigone (pg. 150, Antigone)

Ignorance vs. Guilt- GRADE THIS ONE.

Question: If a person does not know, is that person still guilty of grievous crime?

Consider the plight of Oedipus and a modern day example.What would you do if you were on the jury at the Oedipus trial? What would you do if you were on the jury in a modern day trial?What would cause you to vote one way or another? Values? Beliefs? Evidence? Society Norms? Other information?

Answer:

I don't think a person can truly be guilty of a crime if they are not aware that their actions are unlawful. How are you to avoid doing what's wrong if you are uninformed of its severity? However, if you are able to be knowledgeable and aware of the law and choose not to be, that's a completely different thing.
If I were on jury at Oedipus’ trial, I would first consider the fact that Oedipus was not ignorant of the law, but ignorant of his actions pertaining to the law. So, he knew the law existed, but did not know that he broke the law because he thought he had successfully avoided that route when he first ran away from “home.” Then I would wonder if there was any kind of way he could have known that his actions were unlawful. His real parents thought he was dead, therefore would never even think to expect his return. His adopted parents did not tell him they were not his real parents. So, really, if he had known that he was adopted, he most likely could have avoided his prophecy and avoided law breaking. However, since he was never informed of this, (which was not his fault) he ran away right after hearing his prophecy to avoid breaking the law. But through his ignorance of his true origin, he only ends up making the prophecy come true. I don’t think that he is truly a guilty man, because it was he who was not informed about his being adopted. How then, was he supposed to know that what he was doing was exactly what he shouldn’t be doing?
Regarding modern day situations, I would probably go through the same thought process as with Oedipus. I would rule that a person who could know the law, but chose not to and committed a crime would still be guilty. They were ignorant about the law, but there wasn’t anything keeping them from knowing it. So that would be the person’s own fault, and ignorance would not be an excuse in that case. However, just like in Oedipus’ case, if a person knows the law, but doesn’t know his actions are wrong due to some miscommunication or missing information, (like with Oedipus not knowing he was adopted) then I would say that person is not guilty.
So, basically, if a person knowingly commits a crime, they are guilty. If a person chooses to not know the law, although they easily could, and commits a crime, they are still guilty because they made the choice to not know the law. Ignorance would not be a valid excuse in this case. If a person knows the law, but breaks it unknowingly due to other key factors, they are not guilty. A person can be aware of the law, but not be aware of key information that could keep them out of trouble, and that is what lands them in a bad place, just as with Oedipus.
These are examples that I believe are valid in deciding if a person is guilty or not guilty. I wouldn’t necessarily base my decisions off of my own values or follow society’s example. I would base my decisions mostly on the key evidence of a case; what makes a person guilty of crime and what doesn’t. Of course, there is other information and evidence that play into a person’s case, but in Oedipus’ case, I believe that he is not truly guilty of his crime because although he did do it, he really was ignorant that his actions were in any way wrong.

"Had I any way to dam that channel too, I would not rest till I had prisoned up this body of shame in total blankness. For the mind to dwell beyond the reach of pain, were peace indeed."

-Oedipus (pg.64, Oedipus the King)

"Apollo, friends, Apollo has laid this agony upon me; not by his hand; I did it." -Oedipus (pg. 62, Oedipus the King)

From the Theban Legend: "But by chance he came to hear, again from the mouth of Apollo's ministers, the terrible prediction concerning him. Again, as his parents had done, he sought to give the lie to the oracle. He fled from Corinth, resolved never again to set eyes on his supposed father and mother as long as they lived...." -Theban Legend (pg. 24)

"There passed some fifteen years of seeming prosperity. But beneath the deceptive surface a hideous depth of shame and infamy lay concealed...." Theban Legend (pg. 24)

Antigone

Antigone

Eteocles and Polynices, Antigone and Ismene’s brothers, killed each other in fighting for ownership of the land of Thebes. Eteocles is put to rest via a proper burial, whereas Polynices is to go unburied as a form of punishment. Antigone is determined to bury her brother, Polynices, as she believes he should be buried honorably as Eteocles was. However, her sister, Ismene, tells Antigone that this action will not go unpunished. Ismene tells Antigone that if she indeed buries Polynices, the punishment is death. Antigone doesn’t care, and says she will bury him anyway, as it is the right thing to do; she asks Ismene to help her in the act, but Ismene refuses saying that she will have no part in this scheme, she will not choose death like Antigone so chooses.
Eteocles died defending Thebes from Polynices, who fought against the city and nearly brought about its destruction. This is why Eteocles was given a proper burial upon his death whereas Polynices was left to rot above the earth and not below it. Creon decides that this is the just route to take.
A sentry brings a message to Creon that is urgent, but he is afraid to relate the news because he doesn’t know how the king will react to it. He finally tells Creon that an unknown person has properly buried Polynices. The Chorus suggests that the gods may have done this on their own, but Creon disagrees with this saying that the gods would never do such a thing for a traitor like Polynices. Creon grows suspicious that one of the sentries watching over the burial grounds took a bribe to defy the law/rule of Creon,and illegally buried Polynices. He begins to suspect the current sentry of this crime and threatens him saying that if the real criminal is not found out, he will put the sentry to death. The sentry, in his innocence, is totally freaked out by this and leaves.
The chorus sings about men and their powers, but how men should not always make choices of their own accord, but rather listen to the gods who are the real powers in the world and abide by the laws and rules of their lands.
The sentry returns with Antigone. The sentry tells Creon that he and the other sentries dug up Polynices and left him to lie there. They were then caught up in a storm, but when the storm passed they saw Antigone bent over Polynices, attempting to rebury him. The sentries caught her and asked her if she was the one who originally buried Polynices, and she said she was; she denied nothing they accused her of. And again, when Creon asks her if she committed this crime, she replies that she did, and denies no accusation cast upon her. Creon lets the sentry go, free of all charges and suspicions, and asks Antigone if she was aware of his strict rule that none shall bury Polynices. Antigone replies that she was well aware of this rule, but doesn’t believe she did any wrong by the gods. She says she only broke the rule of Creon, who she believes to be unjust anyway. Creon calls up Ismene and then sentences both sisters to death. Antigone says that her burying Polynices was an honorable act and therefore, she will gladly die for it. She says that most of the town has taken her side against the king’s on the issue, they are just too afraid to confront the king about it. Creon asks Antigone if she thought that burying Polynices was an insult to her other brother Eteocles because they were enemies, and she replies that both brothers, despite their motives, deserve proper burials. She does not want to hold any grudges, but to love. Ismene then says that she will share her sister’s punishment although she had to no part in the rule breaking. Antigone, however, tells Ismene not to do this and that she is a coward for not helping until now and still wanting to die in glory. Ismene still tries to save Antigone by appealing to Creon’s softer side and bringing his son into play because Haemon and Antigone are promised to one another for marriage. Creon, however, does not soften under her words, and orders that the two sisters be tied up and taken away.
The chorus sings a song about how Oedipus’ house is now again full of sadness, death, and deception.
Haemon learns of Antigone’s arrest, and Creon speaks to him about it. Haemon says that he would abide by his father over any woman, and that he is loyal to his father. Haemon also says that the town does not want Antigone to be punished for a deed that is seemingly honorable in most aspects. Creon gets mad at this, that his own people be questioning his ruling/decisions. Haemon then tells Creon that he is shallow and too proud which only infuriates Creon further. Creon then begins to insult Haemon, and the two begin to argue. In doing this, Haemon hints that Creon’s killing Antigone could bring about the death of another person. Creon, enraged, asks for Antigone to be brought out and murdered right infront of Haemon’s eyes, but Haemon gets out of there fast. Creon then decides that Ismene should not have to die, but Antigone will die slowly, locked inside of a tomb alive.
The Chorus sings about love and its powers and how it cannot be overthrown by weapons or warfare and can drive people to insanity. The chorus regards Antigone’s “nobility” as sheer pride as she walks to her tomb.
On the way to her tomb, Antigone declares that she would not have broken Creon’s rule if the person that was not to be buried was her husband or her child because both of those can be replaced. However, a brother whose parents are dead could not be replaced, and that is her justification of the whole situation. She is put into the tomb, and the Chorus sings about other figures in myth who have been put in tombs alive to die, just like Antigone is now.
Tiresias, the blind prophet, is led in by a boy who describes to him everything he sees. The boy is eyes for the both of them. Creon asks for Tiresias’ advice, and Tiresias tells him that his actions towards Polynices’ burial and death punishment for Antigone will make the gods send a “curse” down on Thebes and all who inhabit it. Creon gets angry at this and says that accuses Tiresias of being a blind fool who gives poor advice. Tiresias tells Creon that the gods are to take care of the dead, whether they are honorable or dishonorable; the gods are to decide that. People are limited to rule only within the world’s boundaries. Tiresias, insulted by Creon, asks the boy to lead him away from there. However, Tiresias’ prophecy has shaken up the Chorus and Creon also admits to being a little weary of what is to come. Creon decides he will do what the people of Thebes think he should do. The people tell him to free Antigone of her sad fate, and Creon goes off to do so. The Chorus begins to pray for the protection of Thebes because he is scared about that Tiresias’ prophecy will come true.
A messenger enters and tells the Chorus that Haemon has killed himself. Eurydice, wife to Creon, mother to Haemon, overhears part of the messenger’s news and asks to hear it all, and she says she can bear it no matter how grieving the news may be. The messenger relays the news of her now deceased son who had been heard wailing and crying at the sight of Antigone, who had hung herself in her tomb. Haemon was heard wailing by Creon who had been reburying Polynices, and Creon had gone done to the tomb to see what the sound was. Haemon had then taken a sword and made a plunge for Creon, but Creon ran away. Haemon then plunged the sword into his own self. After hearing this news, Eurydice walks silently back into the palace.
Creon enters the palace, holding Haemon’s body and blaming himself for his death. The messenger then tells Creon that Eurydice has committed suicide due to her extreme grief of her son’s death. The messenger tells Creon that Eurydice blamed Creon for all the death and destruction that had take place due to his extreme pride; this she did just before she stabbed herself in the heart. Creon, overwhelmed by grief, prays and begs for death.
The Chorus sings a song about how the gods are not especially appreciative of the proud and hold no rewards for such persons.