Criticism
Like many of Euripides' tragedies, Herakles consists of two parts. Having been raised to the height of triumph when he kills Lycus, Herakles is then driven to the depths of despair by Madness. There is no real connection between the two parts, and for this reason, the play is often criticized for lack of unity.
Courage, endurance and nobility are the themes of this play. Megara in the first half of the play and Herakles in the second are innocent victims of powerful, authoritative forces they cannot defeat. The spiteful, irrational nature of Hera's jealous plot against Herakles can be seen to mirror Euripides' notion of an indifferent world ruled by chance. Herakles' reactions also carry a message for men to rely on themselves, not on the hope of divine authority and wisdom—that the concept of moral goodness operates in humanity alone. Herakles must learn to recognise and live with the fact that violence and madness are part of his nature and only he has the right to forgive what he has done.
Read more about this topic: Herakles (Euripides)
Famous quotes containing the word criticism:
“In criticism I will be bold, and as sternly, absolutely just with friend and foe. From this purpose nothing shall turn me.”
—Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1845)
“When you overpay small people you frighten them. They know that their merits or activities entitle them to no such sums as they are receiving. As a result their boss soars out of economic into magic significance. He becomes a source of blessings rather than wages. Criticism is sacrilege, doubt is heresy.”
—Ben Hecht (1893–1964)
“...I wasn’t at all prepared for the avalanche of criticism that overwhelmed me. You would have thought I had murdered someone, and perhaps I had, but only to give her successor a chance to live. It was a very sad business indeed to be made to feel that my success depended solely, or at least in large part, on a head of hair.”
—Mary Pickford (1893–1979)