gods and ethics

gods and ethics

Introduction

Ethics refers to what is considered right or wrong in society. In different religions, certain people do not agree with the ethical codes of their gods and thus oppose their ideas and dwell on their ideologies instead. Ajax is an example of a rebel who doesn’t conform to his gods’ ideologies after Oddyseus defeated him in a contest to possess Archilles’ invisible armor. This annoyed him, and he decided to rebel that idea and sort out to kill Odysseus to reclaim the armor.

Ajax does not want to give in and repent because he strongly feels that Athena, the goddess of war and wisdom, and also the soldiers that voted Odysseus went against him. This is because he was considered as the heir to Archille’s armor since he was the second-best warrior after him. (Sophocles,2017, 65-66).  He thought this was an injustice against him from the gods since he was better in battle than Odysseus, who was considered good in diplomatic ways and also a coward. He refuses to apologize because he says that the gods do not need his services anymore and henceforth that there is no need to live with humiliations of having slaughtered a flock of animals, thinking he was killing his enemies. He understands the power of the gods, but he is not ready to give in since the gods were confusing him and torturing him, yet all he wanted was revenge and get his rightful armor.

Ajax is looked at as an inspiration in the modern world. Therefore, many people have decided to name things after him. His story demonstrates strength not to submit to the gods if their ideas are wrong, it brought him pain, and despite the suffering he went through, he didn’t submit to them. His story acts as an inspiration to people in modern culture and inspires them not to submit to a defeat.

Odysseus doesn’t get happiness from knowing that Ajax was suffering as a result of the defiance of the gods’ will (Sophocles,2017, 159-163). This makes him think that even he will not be spared if at all, he chooses to go against the gods. This means that the gods were in control, and the people were here to fulfill the wishes of the gods. This does not make him happy because he knew that even him, was at the mercies of the gods.

Athena tells Oddyseus that his fate is the same as that of Ajax if he chooses to defy the will of the gods(Sophocles,2017, 160-170). This was as a result of Athena calling Ajax to come out of his hut so that Odysseus could see him and hear of what he had done. Odysseus did not know that Ajax was looking out for him and wanted to kill him until Athena, the goddess, intervened and confused him. This made Ajax humiliated and left in pain. Ajax deserved to be given the armor because when Athena asked Oddyseus if there was another warrior who could outdo Ajax, he said there was none. Therefore he knew that the gods spared him and were being unfair to Ajax.

Odysseus is afraid of Ajax as he tells Athena not to call him out of his hut since he knew that Ajax dislikes him and would not hesitate to kill him. Furthermore, Odysseus was convinced that the gods wanted man to do their will, and he knew that if he dared to oppose Athena, he would go down the same fate as Odysseus. He describes his life and that of other people as insubstantial shadows and phantoms.

Zainab believes in Justice that comes from Allah. She believes that Allah will humiliate those people who commit injustices to other people. Through her speech, she advocated that Allah was not responsible for the death of her brother Hussein who was killed in a battle in Karbala amongst the other thirty thousand men. She says that Allah gives time to people who don’t believe in Him, and its only a matter of time, and they shall be destroyed. She goes further to say that through the death of those soldiers at Karbala, Allah is to be praised since he is the giver of life, and he takes it away at his own designated time.

Zainab tells Yazid that he should not rejoice in the killing of those men since his downfall awaits him. She finishes her speech by telling him that his actions have eternal consequences.(Safa,2016,4:23)

Zainab sought Justice that comes from Allah, whereas Ajax sought Justice by himself. This brings the major difference whereby Zainab follows the instructions from Allah in Islamic religion while Ajax shows total defiance by refusing to submit to the will of Athena. Ajax sought out Justice by killing Odysseus, which does not happen since the gods protect him. (Wikipedia, 2018)

Ajax is more defiant as he does not submit to the wishes of the gods even at the time of his death. This is because he knew that the ultimate payback for disobeying the gods was death and he was not afraid and chose to be defiant until he took his own life. Zainab, on the other hand, chose to obey the will of Allah and allow Justice to prevail according to how her religion. She does not seek Justice through revenge but rather chooses to wait for Allah to put to shame the murderous.

References

Safa, A. (2016). YouTube [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/DfqyYPdYdj4

Sophocles. (2017). Sophocles, Ajax (English text). Retrieved from http://johnstoniatexts.x10host.com/sophocles/ajaxhtml.html

Wikipedia. (2018). Sermon of Zaynab bint Ali in the court of Yazid. Retrieved from (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sermon_of_Zaynab_bint_Ali_in_the_court_of_Yazid)