What are some reasons that Mordred hated his father King Arthur?

Question

Mordred ends up injuring his father, King Arthur to his death but why does he hate him so much? what did arthur do to him?

Answer 1

The reasons depend on the story you are reading.



The medieval tales give no reason. In the early tales Mordred is made regent of Britain when Arthur goes overseas to fight the Romans, and later is informed that his nephew Mordred has usurped the throne, taken Arthur’s queen Guenevere as his wife, and made an allegiance with the Saxons.



No reasons are given for this.



Mordred seldom appears in the verse Arthurian romances. But where he does appears, as in “Claris and Laris”, he is a cruel and vicious knight. In “Claris and Laris” he is a would-be rapist.



In the “Prose Lancelot” and later prose romances, Mordred is nephew to Arthur, but at the same time Arthur's illegitimate son, begotten by Arthur unknowingly on his half-sister, King Lot’s wife. Mordred is informed of this for the first time by a hermit, whom he immediately kills. Mordred is generally pictured as a vicious and cruel knight, a killer and a rapist. One wonders why Arthur would be so stupid as to put such a person in charge of his kingdom. One also wonders why so many continued to go along with Mordred, after they learned that Arthur was still alive. The only answer provided is that Mordred had given out great gifts, almost emptying Arthur’s hoards of treasure, and that there was much good in Mordred, though we don’t see it.



In Boece's Scottish history, Gawain and Mordred are cousins to Arthur rather than nephews, and Mordred may be the elder. Their father King Lot had fought against Arthur early in Arthur's reign and had made peace on the terms that if Arthur had no children, then Lot or a son of Lot would be heirs to the kingdom. When Arthur, late in his reign, names Constantine as his heir, Mordred is enraged and that is the motive for his rebellion. In this version Mordred can be said to have right on his side.



Modern novelists tend to delve into this more deeply than the medieval tales, and sometimes show far more sympathy towards Mordred. Sometimes the main reason for the final battle is just a difference of opinion between Arthur and Mordred, Mordred having taken over the kingdom honestly believing that Arthur was dead. Sometimes Mordred rebels because he knows that he is Arthur's nearest living kin, and therefore thinks he should be heir. In some tales the cause is dated back to Uther Pendragon wrongly begetting Arthur on the wife of Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall. The descendants of Gorlois tend to be hostile toward Arthur, and Mordred is portrayed as taking up the cause.

Answer 2

The details about the Arthurian tales come much later than the time when Arthur lived, if there ever was one such person. It is likely that the Arthurian tales are accumulations of stories about several real, and imaginary personages and this story was told beautifully by



I believe that Arthur and Mordred (Medraut) were mentioned as having died at the battle of Camlann (now re-enacted in Cornwall annually). So it is hard to be sure who was Mordred and whether he was against Arthur or fighting on the same side, or even if he changed sides midway through the battle. Little written information survives from the so-called Dark Ages at the end of the Roman Empire in the West.



Mordred was seen in some stories as Arthur's son by his half sister, who hated Arthur as her own father had been killed by Arthur's father. She then brought Mordred up to hate even kill his father, which theme comes from other older tales, including Oedipus. The idea of a father to be trying to kill the baby before that child could grow up to be his murderer is common in the ancient world. Perhaps it came from the idea that a king could be challenged and displaced by a younger champion fighter. So even his own son could be a threat to an ageing king.

Answer 3

It depends which version of the legend you read. The first mention of Medraut/Medrawd/Medrod comes in the Annels Cambriae of the 10th Century, which simply states that for the year 537: "The battle of Camlann, in which Arthur and Medraut fell: and there was plague in Britain and Ireland." That's it. Doesn't say that one killed the other, or their relationship, just that they 'fell'. (Interestingly, there's no mention of him the the 9th Century Historia Brittonum).



In the earliest traditions he's supposedly Arthur's nephew and not son, being the son of Arthur's sister, Anna. (The confusion of him being Arthur's son is that he was supposedly fostered by him for a while). In Welsh tradition Arthur is supposed to have kill his son Amr, but no one knows why. (In Welsh tradition Arthur has a number of sons, as well as three mistresses).



Whilst some Welsh stories say that it was Gwenhwyfar's sister Gwenhwyfach (Medraut's wife) who stirred things up between them and caused the battle of Camlann, most medieval Welsh poetry extolls the virtues of Medraut. In late medieval Scottish texts, Mordred was the legitimate heir to the throne of Britain. So he wasn't always the bad guy.



Geoffrey of Monmouth's version, which says Mordred (Medraut) was Arthur's evil son and took Arthur's kingdom whilst he was away fighting in Gaul, purely because of greed, is where it started it all. The rest has been covered by other answers here.

Answer 4

One version has it that he grow to be Arthur’s son. Supposedly he tried to kill Mordred whilst he grow to be slightly one to sidestep the prophecy, that may account for slightly bit chagrin on Mordred’s section. Supposedly they kill one yet another. Wikipedia has rather a stable get right of entry to in this.

Answer 5

The story begins with Mordred and Agravaine, both discontent. Mordred hates his father, King Arthur, and Agravaine hates Sir Lancelot. Their views are not shared by Gawaine, Gareth, or Gaheris. The relationship of Lancelot and Guinevere has gone on for some time and everyone in the court knows of it. No one, however, publicly speaks of it as law would require Lancelot to be killed and Guinevere to be burned at stake. In order to wreak their revenge, Mordred and Agravaine decide to go to the king and officially charge the Queen with adultry. Troubled by this, King Arthur agrees to leave on a hunting trip to give the knights a chance to catch the Queen with Lancelot, although he does say that if they are caught, he hopes that Lancelot will be able to kill all witnesses and adds that if the two fail in backing their claims, he will see to it that they are pursued by the law themselves. At the same time, he confesses to Guinevere and Lancelot a terrible secret: When Mordred was born, Arthur had been told by many people that the child would be evil, as a result of the incest. Pressured, the king commanded all babies born on the day Mordred was born to be placed on a boat which was then sunk. Mordred managed to survive this however, and Arthur lived with the guilt of causing the death of the other babies.



When the king leaves for his hunting party, Lancelot prepares to sneak over to Guinevere's room. Before he can leave, Gareth visits him and warns him of Mordred and Agravaine's plot. Lancelot receives him warmly, but does not take the threat seriously as he does not believe that Arthur would entertain such an idea. He leaves for the Queen's room without weapons or armor, assuring Gareth that they would all laugh together about this when the king returned. In Guinevere's room, Lancelot laughingly tells her of Gareth's warning. Unlike him however, the queen takes the threat seriously and tries to convince the knight to leave before they are caught. Too late however, they find a group of knights attempting to break into Guinevere's room. Lancelot manages to kill one of them (later revealed to be Agravaine) and takes his weapon and armor to defeat the rest. Mordred, however, escapes to tell Arthur of the Queen's faithlessness. Lancelot is forced to flee Camelot, however promises to return to rescue Guinevere.



Though unwilling to kill his wife, Arthur is forced to obey his own laws and prepares for her execution. Mordred faces scorn and anger from his brothers, who are furious with him for turning in the queen and accuse him of being a coward for running away from his fight with Lancelot. Arthur later explains to them that Mordred survived because Lancelot was unwilling to kill Arthur's son. When Mordred learns that Lancelot will return to prevent Guinevere's execution, he demands that Arthur put more guards in the town. While Gawaine refuses to take part in the events, Gareth and Gaheris are stationed as additional guards. Just as Guinevere is about to be burned, Lancelot rides in and rescues her. Much to Gawaine's horror however, it is discovered that in his haste to reach the queen, Lancelot murdered Gareth and Gaheris before he could recognize them. Guinevere and Lancelot flee to France, however they request forgiveness from the Pope. It is granted and Guinevere is permitted to return to Camelot. Lancelot remains in France, where Arthur is forced to fight him for honor. During the siege, Gawaine receives a blow to the head that gravely injures him. In Camelot, Mordred is left to rule in Arthur's stead. He corners Guinevere and tells her that he intends to overthrow Arthur's rule and take her as his wife (as revenge for Arthur sleeping with Mordred's mother). Guinevere manages to send a message to Arthur and upon hearing the news, Gawaine dies. sǝıɹʎʞןɐʌ