Guðrún agitates her sons, Hamðir and Sörli, to avenge their sister. Hamdir, Sörli and Erp (ice Erpr were three brothers in Norse mythology, who have a historic basis in the history of the Goths. Hamdir, Sörli and Erp (ice Erpr were three brothers in Norse mythology, who have a historic basis in the history of the Goths.

Revenge (also vengeance, retribution, or vendetta amongst others) consists primarily of retaliation against a person or group in response to a perceived wrongdoing. Although many aspects of revenge resemble or echo the concept of justice, revenge usually has a more injurious than harmonious goal. JUSTICE is a Human rights and law reform organisation based in the United Kingdom. The goal of revenge usually consists of forcing the perceived wrongdoer to suffer the same pain that was originally inflicted.

Function in society

In some societies, it is believed that the punishment in revenge should be more than the original injury, as a punitive measure. The Old Testament philosophy of "an eye for an eye" (cf. In Western Christianity, the Old Testament refers to the books that form the first of the two-part Christian Biblical canon. The phrase " an eye for an eye " ( עין תחת עין) is a quotation from in which a person who has taken the eye of another in a fight is instructed to give Exodus 21:24) tried to moderate the allowed damage, in order to avoid a vendetta or series of violent acts that could spiral out of control—instead of 'tenfold' vengeance, there would be a simple 'equality of suffering'. Exodus ( Greek: έξοδος eksodos = "departure" is the second book of the Jewish Torah and of the Christian Old Testament. A feud (ˈfjuːd (referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud or vendetta) is a long-running argument or fight between parties&mdashoften through Guilt Detractors argue that revenge is a simple logical fallacy, of the same design as "two wrongs make a right. A fallacy is a component of an Argument which being demonstrably flawed in its Logic or form renders the argument invalid in whole Two wrongs make a right is a Logical fallacy that occurs when it is assumed that if one wrong is committed another wrong will cancel it out " Some Christians interpret Paul's "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord" (Romans 12:19, King James Version) to mean that only God has the moral right to exact revenge. Paul the apostle (שאול התרסי Šaʾul HaTarsi, meaning " Saul of Tarsus " Σαούλ Saul and Σαῦλος Saulos and The Epistle of St Paul the Apostle to the Romans is one of the letters of the New Testament canon of the Christian Bible. God is the principal or sole Deity in Religions and other belief systems that worship one deity. Indeed, every major religious system contains some method for the mediation of disputes and for the limitation of vengeance by imputing a sense of cosmic justice to replace the often faulty justice systems of the human world.

Of the psychological, moral, and cultural foundation for revenge, philosopher Martha Nussbaum has written: "The primitive sense of the just—remarkably constant from several ancient cultures to modern institutions…—starts from the notion that a human life…is a vulnerable thing, a thing that can be invaded, wounded, violated by another's act in many ways. Martha Nussbaum (born Martha Craven on May 6, 1947) is an American philosopher with a particular interest in ancient Greek and For this penetration, the only remedy that seems appropriate is a counter invasion, equally deliberate, equally grave. And to right the balance truly, the retribution must be exactly, strictly proportional to the original encroachment. Retributive justice is a Theory of Justice that considers that proportionate punishment is a morally acceptable response to Crime, with Retributive justice is a Theory of Justice that considers that proportionate punishment is a morally acceptable response to Crime, with It differs from the original act only in the sequence of time and in the fact that it is response rather than original act—a fact frequently obscured if there is a long sequence of acts and counteracts" ^[1].

History of revenge

In ancient societies, in particular those with weak central justice systems, the method for deterring murder was to allow the victim's family to avenge the killing. However, if the families of the killer and victim disagreed in their moral assessment of the killing, they would most likely disagree as well in their assessment of any revenge actions which were taken, and a blood feud might ensue. A feud (ˈfjuːd (referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud or vendetta) is a long-running argument or fight between parties&mdashoften through Guilt

Vendettas or "blood feuds" are sequences of acts and counter-acts motivated by revenge and carried out over long period of time by familial or tribal groups in a quest for justice or retaliation; they were an important part of many pre-industrial societies, especially in the Mediterranean region, and still persist in some areas. Pre-industrial society refers to specific social attributes and forms of political and cultural organization that were prevalent before the advent of the Industrial Revolution During the Middle Ages, most would not regard an insult or injury as settled until it was avenged, or, at the least, paid for — hence, the extensive Anglo-Saxon system of "wergild" (literally, "man-price") payments, which placed a certain monetary value upon certain acts of violence in an attempt to limit the spiral of revenge by codifying the responsibility of a malefactor. Weregeld (alternative spellings wergild, wergeld, weregeld, etc The story of Wimund the Bishop illustrates the typical implacability of the time: Its hero, though blinded and imprisoned, would avenge himself against his enemies "if he had even but the eye of a sparrow". Wimund was a Bishop who became a sea-faring war-lord adventurer in the years after 1147

In Japan's feudal past, the Samurai class upheld the honor of their family, clan, or their lord through the practice of revenge killings, or "katakiuchi". is the term for the military nobility of Pre-industrial Japan. These killings could also involve the relatives of an offender. Today, katakiuchi is most often pursued by peaceful means, but revenge remains an important part of Japanese culture.

The goal of some legal systems is limited to "just" revenge — in the fashion of the contrapasso punishments awaiting those consigned to Dante's Inferno, some have attempted to turn the crime against the criminal, in clever and often gruesome ways. Contrapasso is the process by which souls serve penance in Dante's Inferno according to the nature of their sins in life The Divine Comedy

Modern Western legal systems usually state as their goal the reform or re-education of a convicted criminal. Even in these systems, however, society is conceived of as the victim of a criminal's actions, and the notion of vengeance for such acts is an important part of the concept of justice — a criminal "pays his debt to society" evinced by countries such as the United States continuing the practice of capital punishment.

Interestingly, psychologists have found that the thwarted psychological expectation of revenge may lead to issues of victimhood.

The first written appearance of the proverb "revenge is a dish best served cold" is often credited to the 18th century novel Les liaisons dangereuses, but since it doesn't actually appear in the original French language text, the validity of this attribution is unclear. Les Liaisons dangereuses ( Dangerous Liaisons) is a French The English version of this phrase in that exact wording, and arguably the most famous account of this, can be attributed to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan is the second feature film based on the Star Trek Science fiction Television series, following However the phrase appeared in the 1949 film Kind Hearts and Coronets as "revenge is a dish which people of taste prefer to eat cold"^[2]. Kind Hearts and Coronets is a 1949 British Black comedy film produced by Ealing Studios. The more well-known wording of this quote is also featured in the title sequence of the Quentin Tarantino film Kill Bill: Vol 1, accredited as an "Old Klingon Proverb", referencing the phrase's usage in Star Trek II, where it is similarly cited as such. Quentin Jerome Tarantino (born March 27, 1963) is an Academy Award - BAFTA Award - and Palme d'Or -winning Emmy - and Kill Bill is the fourth film by Writer - director Quentin Tarantino. Klingons ( Klingon: tlhIngan; Pronunciation /ˈt͡ɬɪŋɑn/ are a warrior race in the fictional Star Trek universe It means that to be successful, revenge should be a considered and planned response enacted when the time is right, rather than a hasty and 'hot-blooded' action which will increase the chances of failure.

Revenge in art and culture

Revenge has been a popular theme for art and culture throughout history. Examples from the classics include: The Oresteia, The Revenger's Tragedy, Hamlet, Don Giovanni, "The Cask of Amontillado", La Forza del Destino, Moby-Dick, Othello, Macbeth, Titus Andronicus, and The Count of Monte Cristo. This article is about the play For the film see Revengers Tragedy. Hamlet is a Tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601 Don Giovanni ( K527; complete title Il dissoluto punito ossia il Don Giovanni, literally "The Rake Punish'd or Don Giovanni " The Cask of Amontillado " (sometimes spelled " The Casque of Amontillado " is a Short story, written by Edgar Allan Poe and first published La forza del destino ( The Force of Destiny) is an Italian Opera by Giuseppe Verdi. Moby-Dick is an 1851 Novel by Herman Melville. The story tells the adventures of the wandering sailor Ishmael and his voyage on the whaleship Macbeth is among the best-known of William Shakespeare 's plays, and is his shortest tragedy, believed to have been written some time between Titus Andronicus may be Shakespeare's earliest Tragedy; it is believed to have been written sometime between 1584 and the early 1590s The Count of Monte Cristo ( Le Comte de Monte-Cristo) is an Adventure novel by Alexandre Dumas père. Revenge is also a prevalent theme in hardboiled fiction; e. Hardboiled Crime fiction is a literary style pioneered by Carroll John Daly in the mid-1920s popularized by Dashiell Hammett over the course of the g. , Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett, The Hunter by Richard Stark, several works by Mickey Spillane. This article deals with the Dashiell Hammett novel called Red Harvest Samuel Dashiell Hammett ( May 27, 1894 — January 10, 1961) was an American Author of Hardboiled detective The Hunter (1962 is a crime thriller novel written by Donald E Donald Edwin Westlake (born July 12, 1933, in Brooklyn New York) is a prolific American Novelist, with over a hundred books Frank Morrison Spillane ( March 9 1918 – July 17 2006) better known as Mickey Spillane, was an American author of

Revenge is also a prominent theme in contemporary motion pictures; e. g. , Revenge, The Punisher, V for Vendetta, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Kill Bill, or Park Chan-wook's Vengeance trilogy are archetypal artistic portrayals of revenge. Revenge is a 1990 crime - drama - thriller starring Kevin Costner, Anthony Quinn, Madeleine Stowe The Punisher ( Frank Castle) is a fictional Antihero that appears in the Comic books published by Marvel Comics. V for Vendetta is a ten-issue Comic book Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a 2007 musical thriller and the Film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim and Kill Bill is the fourth film by Writer - director Quentin Tarantino. Park Chan-wook (born August 23, 1963 in the Tanyan area of Jecheon) is a South Korean Filmmaker and Screenwriter. The Vengeance Trilogy ( Korean title 복수 삼부작) is a term used to describe three films directed by South Korean film director Park An archetype ( pronounced: /ˈɑːkɪtaɪp/ (Brit or /ˈɑrkɪtaɪp/ (Amer Revenge is also portrayed in the motion picture, Prom Night where a sadistic killer gets vengeance for his sister's murder.

Other movies deal with this concept in a more fantastic or futuristic setting, such as Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, where Khan's hatred of Kirk and his desire for revenge would became so intense that Khan would lose everything, even his own life in his efforts for revenge. Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan is the second feature film based on the Star Trek Science fiction Television series, following This intense desire to obtain revenge above all else can be witnessed in Khan's dialogue:

"He tasks me! He tasks me! And I shall have him. I'll chase him round the moons of Nibia and round the Antares maelstrom and round perdition's flames before I give him up!"^[3]

See also

• Retributive justice
• Culture of honor
• Nemesis (mythology)
• Lawsuit

References