...In Homer’s The Odyssey, the author tells us of a magnificent story of lust, deceit, greed, and heroism. The Odyssey is a display of a journey of determination, willpower, patience, and virtue. The author tells the tale of Odysseus, on his voyage home to Ithaka. This is happening after the end of the Trojan War. Odysseus, the main character, goes through a series of many unforeseen trials and tribulations in this exemplary journey. This exemplifies his character and displays him as a hero in the eyes of the audience. During these different happenings, Odysseus makes decisions that do not correspond to his character. Odysseus is displayed as not only a hero but also as a good leader to his men. Throughout all their trials such as the Sirens, Polyphemus (the cyclops), and the enchantress Circe, Odysseus is displayed as clever, patient, cunning, and fearless. Odysseus made decisions not only for himself but also for his men as well. For example, he did not leave his men on the island of the Lotus Eaters when they clearly had no desire to go back to Ithaca; he knotted them onto the boat and left the island. He was determined to get home with as many of his men as he possibly could, though they repeatedly disobeyed him. Odysseus is one of history's greatest leaders and this is a vital part of what makes him such an epic hero Another characteristic that stand out and makes Odysseus a hero is his ability to overcome his obstacles in order to reach his goal. Odysseus is faced by many...
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...“Her immortal loom, her enchanted web” (237). Here, Homer talks about weaving life and weaving tapestry all in one sentence. He distinctly points out the beauty and “enchantment” of weaving. Additionally, Homer emphasizes the importance of weaving throughout his epic. In The Odyssey, Homer relates the key motif of weaving to it’s importance in Greek culture and life, to wisdom and planning, and to kleos and reputation. Homer makes the value of weaving in Greek culture very clear. On page 183, Homer describes Phaeacia as a place where the women are skilled at weaving and the men are master sailors. For these reasons, their people are highly regarded. Additionally, this skill puts them in close regard with Athena, making their status even more elevated because they are close to a goddess herself. Arete is even compared to Athena and seen as being very similar. On page 432, Odysseus tells his serving women to go back to their quarters and weave. Weaving was clearly a usual thing for women to do and was a everyday activity....
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...oldest answers, comes from the ancient Greek poet Homer. Homer’s epic the Odyssey relates to the magnitude that choices play in our lives and how he thought choices should be made. The Odyssey revolves around the hero Odysseus and the choices he and his crew make on their decade long journey home at the end of the Trojan War. Sometimes the characters make good choices and sometimes they make bad choices, more often than not these good choices are made by using good judgement and consulting those who are wise....
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... a hero is a man or a woman of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his or her brave deeds and noble qualities. The stories of “The Epic of Gilgamesh” and “The Odyssey” are tales of two different heroes from two different periods. Gilgamesh and Odysseus are both considered heroes, but they have different abilities and accomplishments. Gilgamesh was the king of Uruk in Babylonia, on the river Euphrates in what we know today as Iraq. He lived about 2700B.C. Gilgamesh was considered a hero because of his amazing physical strength and fighting ability. The author describes Gilgamesh as “superior to other kings, a warrior lord of great stature…” (The Epic of Gilgamesh Page 32 Tablet 1 Line 27). Gilgamesh used his strength and stature to defeat powerful beings. One example would be his victory over Humbaba, the monster who guards the Cedar Forest. He fought this beast to build a reputation on his quest for immortality. Another example is his triumph over the Bull of Heaven that Ishtar sends to destroy the city after being mocked by Gilgamesh. He was also considered a hero by the way he protected his men. The author compares Gilgamesh to a “strong net, the protection of his men” (The Epic of Gilgamesh Page 32 Tablet 1 Line 31). He took care...
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...Ashley N. Arvie English 2315-02 Dr. Emily E. Stelzer 15 September 18 Learnings from the Great Wanderings, Book 10: Circe Instinct, united with courage, obedience and wisdom, rooted in a reverence for the supernatural gods (polytheistic or The Greek Pantheon) or God (monotheistic), is an assured formula for victory and triumph when faced with destitution and crisis in life. This ideology rings true for ancient Greeks as well as modern day Christians and humans alike. Throughout the exploit on the Aeaean Island, the home of Circe, hero, Odysseus and his men were forced to utilize both innate and acquired tactics to advance to the next episode in their journey home. The reader is inescapably presented with examples of the king and his crew displaying the powerful characteristics of instinct, courage, obedience and wisdom as god-fearing men. Odysseus shows his fear of the gods most consistently through trust, though it is many times accompanied with disturbing obstacles. HEROIC CHARACTERISTICS AND LESSONS LEARNED After two days and two nights of a restless breather in their journey, upon sunrise, Odysseus immediately and instinctively sought a sign of human industry. (Odyssey 10.161) The irrefutable necessity of food and rest presented itself, though coupled with uncertainty of who or what may be encountered, brave Odysseus presses onward. The noble warrior and his countrymen are obligated to exude faith in the gods and themselves while diving into the unknown, yet again...
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...Throughout Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey and Frazier’s novel Cold Mountain, many similarities are displayed. A few similarities exemplified are the character traits shared between the protagonists, the destination of the journeys, and the motivations for the character’s adventures. Similar character traits are shared between Odysseus and Inman. Odysseus, the protagonist of The Odyssey, is the leader of the Greeks in the Trojan war. Inman, the protagonist of Cold Mountain, is a Confederate soldier during the Civil War. Both Odysseus and Inman share the quality of partaking in a war of some time period. When traveling through their journeys, both of the characters are required to think intelligently when encountering conflicts of supernatural...
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...Women in Greek culture during Homer’s time were considered; to be subservient and docile while the men were considered to be strong and powerful. However, the role and personality of Athena, the goddess of wisdom, in the epic The Odyssey is not the image of a weak woman. Athena is just as strong and as powerful as men in protecting and guiding Odysseus and Telemachus throughout the epic. The paragon of the Greek woman back in Homer’s time was someone who was weak willed, subservient, and overtly emotional. Penelope, the wife of Odysseus is a suitable example as she is docile and a damsel in distress type figure. During the long absence of her husband, Penelope is trapped with the suitors, forever chasing after her. While she despises the suitors in her house, she has no control over her...
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...Although “The Odyssey” by the Greek poet Homer is considerably an epic quest of a Odysseus’s lionhearted adventure, Penelope played an incredibly large role in Odysseus’ success demonstrated in her motherly ways, faith, and wit. Motherly figures are consistent throughout “The Odyssey,” and are essentially viewed as pitiful beings, full of melancholy, rather than true “supporters" of their sons and husbands in long periods of absence, due to military needs or personal quests. In some illustrations, mothers are depicted as weak without a steady male figure to guide them. However, this role is broken through the perceived character of Penelope. Due to the fact that Telemachos was incredibly young when Odysseus was drafted, he is doubtful that...
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...“You know the truth, and the truth is this: some Negroes lie, some Negroes are immoral; some Negro men are not to be trusted around women – black or white. But this is a truth that applies to the human race and to no particular race of men. There is not a person in this courtroom who has never told a lie, who has never done an immoral thing, and there is no man living who has never looked upon a woman without desire"(Shmoop). This quote is from the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. In this literary piece, the search for truth in a judicial setting is the main focus. There are pieces of evidence, moral, and ethical aspects that are revealed in the book. They were used in the search for the truth. Truth is the state of mind of being real or fact. Through the ways of knowing, truth can be found. There are different ways of depicting truth. Through the arts, an artist can express him or herself and show truth through their expression. One form of art is Literature. Literature is a way of reaching truth but is not necessarily the best at “telling the truth”. Truth can also be represented in historical fiction in great literature works such as in To Kill a Mockingbird. Literature is the way that a writer can express him or herself through written language. Some might believe that literature is a more reliable way to find truth. However, there are others who might raise the questions such as “What is literature?” and “Who decides what literature is?” If questions like these...
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...There are many journey stories that portray a character with ambition and intelligence. The Odyssey is an archetypal journey story that has been replicated in various ways by writers. Lewis Carroll’s book, Alice in Wonderland, and Mary Shelley’s book, Frankenstein incorporate nature in their stories. The ability to adapt to the force of nature gives the main character control over their life. In Lewis Carroll’s book, Alice in Wonderland, though Alice needed help from the mouse, Alice was rude to the mouse. And though she did said to not acknowledge the cat anymore, she kept on saying it. This portrays the idea disrespect is useless. But as the...
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...Through The Odyssey, the theme of hospitality is extremely important. In Grecian culture, being is a good host is highly valued and expected by guests. Hospitality was one of Zeus’s ground rules of ancient society. It is a crime against Zeus to commit an offense against a host or guest. Hospitality is an honorable characteristic. It was believed that not being hospitable would result in punishment from the gods. Throughout the Odyssey, three distinct events show the importance of hospitality during the Homer era. The first is Odysseus and the Phaeacian’s who are honorable hosts. The next is the suitors occupying Odysseus’s house, who are shown as horrible guests. Lastly, Odysseus is the guest of Polyphemus, who is an awful host. By comparing and contrasting these three events, one can show the importance of hospitality. The fear of Zeus compels the characters...
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...Both the Odyssey and the Aeneid describe the journeys of the two Greek heroes –Odysseus and Aeneas, as they struggle towards their goal through the crises and deadly situations caused by the wrath of the gods upon them. In the Odyssey, we see that Poseidon (god of the sea/earth shaker) has a grudge against Odysseus while Athena, god of wisdom, aids him throughout his journey. Similarly in the Aeneid, we see that goddess Juno dislikes Aeneas as he is destined to destroy the city of Carthage loved by Juno during his mission to find a new land- Rome, whereas Aeneas’ mother Venus aids him. In these epics, many points of similarity and differences arise such as the characters of the heroes, how their journeys are delayed by women obsessed with love, what they are destined for and how they achieve the final goal in the end of the epic. The very first similarity we see in both the epics is that Virgil starts his poem in the same way Homer does, that is they both refer to Muses to sing about the epic heroes of Greek mythology- Odysseus and Aeneas. Virgil again refers to Muses for the second time in book six of the Aeneid. Another similarity is the assembly of gods in Olympus described by both Virgil and Homer. As seen in the Odyssey, Odysseus’ character is clever and smart one. He is a learner and later becomes self controlling. His ‘never give up’ attitude shows that he can go through any situation to get what he wants. Also, his character is full of twists and turns. While in the Aeneid...
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...“The Odyssey” Paper The hero’s journey is an archetypical template for the majority of stories that was first identified by the American scholar Joseph Campbell. The hero’s journey is also frequently referred to as the monomyth. As it appears in the tales of so many cultures, the monomyth is significant because it helps to identify the values and beliefs of a society. Perhaps most often, the hero’s journey is found in ancient Greek myths and legends. One of the most notable examples of the monomyth in Greek literature is “The Odyssey”, which was written by Homer around the end of the eighth century BCE. In the epic poem “The Odyssey”, Telemachus matures into a brave adult capable of sitting next to his father as the Prince of Ithaca. Telemachus’ hero’s journey begins with his Call to Adventure...
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...either a motherly role or that of a seductress. They are weakened along with being lost without a guide and a support. An example would be Penelope, wife of Odysseus since she is a mother, but while Odysseus is gone, and when suitors come along, in a way she tempts them in terms of power (of the role of king) and as a woman, but she actually never gives in to any of the men. The purpose of women was mainly to lament the losses for their men and also persuading for their safety. Criticism- Homer had written the Odyssey with a bit of over-the-top reiteration, along with the missing component of a sense of unity. However, even when Odysseus wasn’t on a scene, the lines of the story still indicate that he is...
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...There are plenty of different ways in Homer’s The Odyssey that he portrays women in the epic. During this time period, women did not have many rights and everything was left to the men. In Homer’s poem, not only do women portray beauty, but they also portray power. Most women that are read about in this epic are usually a goddess that have great beauty or mystical powers. Homer also portrays them as smarter and wiser as men. Some of the women are evil but there are also some that are good. There are many women that portray power in this epic and the most powerful are Penelope, Athena, and Circe. One very important woman in the epic was Penelope. Not only was she Odysseus’s main goal to get back to, but she was also his motivation. Penelope was not...
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