Okay, so, I was in Greek class tonight and we are currently translating a pretty good chunk of Sophocles' Ajax. Tonight, we made it to the Ajax's final speech, where toward the end, Ajax discusses a circular pattern of things - about how (okay, this is a really loose translation) snow-heavy winters yield to a fruitful spring; and the dreary cycle of the night stands out of the way for the brightly lit day, and finally, that an enemy is to be hated only to become a friend again. So what my mind did was immediately jump to 100 Years of Solitude - solely because of all the cyclical references we are seeing throughout the book - and I actually ended thinking about the Buendia family's relationship with the Moscote's.
Similar to Ajax's thoughts about the cycle of enemies and friends, Jose Acaradio Buendia begins with a dislike to the Moscote family because of his interference in Macondo. As time passes, the Buendia family sets asides its differences as Aureliano and Remedios marry and even Aureliano maintains his relationship with Don Apolinar Moscote after Remedios's death. But, Aureliano soon makes himself an enemy to Moscote when war breaks out on opposite sides. Thus, the cycle continues.
Although it is just a smaller circle in the midst of many, I thought this was a pretty nifty (and unexpected) connection to two very different works.
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This is really interesting. I'm not familiar with Ajax, but I know that that there are a lot of similarities between 100 Years and Oedipus Rex. Also, you may find it interesting to look into the relationship between Apolinar Moscote and Apollo. You may find Neitzche's interpretation of Apollo vs. Dionysus paricularly interesting.
Sorry about the clumsy spelling. This is a phone comment.
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