...The Gods of Hospitality in Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey In Homer’s the Iliad and the Odyssey, much is made of hospitality as a recurring theme. In Ancient Greece the gods demand it. The nature and extent to which society today follows in that tradition has changed in form only, but not in substance. Food, shelter and protection of strangers from cultural norms of today, as the people of Ancient Greece were more inclined to take in strangers worn weary by travel. In the Iliad, the reader sees that in times of war, hospitality is provided to even the enemy. Housing strangers in one’s home was very common then, as many weary travelers trod by foot or sailed by boat to reach far-off destinations, making stops along the way. Moreover, since the Greeks believed the gods walked the earth amongst them, then turning down a travelers request, could mean rejecting a god masked from view. The Greeks took no chances in this regard; and with only a few exceptions, Homer’s literary characters comply with this religious doctrine and cultural norm. Hospitality in Ancient Greece, as portrayed by Homer, accounts, in part, for their longstanding world dominance and aligns itself in many ways with the Christianity enjoyed by many peace-loving nations of today. The guest-host relationship in both The Iliad and The Odyssey remain constant, the differences between the two dependent only on the differing circumstances posed by each tale (Biggs, Joseph, Schrodt & Dustan, n.d.) Today, America’s...
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...Comparison of The Odyssey and The Iliad I feel like I can really relate to Achilles and Odysseus in both of the tales. I feel like Odysseus that I am a good leader cares for others, intelligent and cunning. I might not be as strong as him, but that is not my point.. For Achilles he is considered to have one weakness in his body the rest is perfect and untouchable. The term Achilles heel is used because his weakness was his heel. I never quite understood why his mother didn’t just turn him on the heel after or dab some on to cover his heel. I feel like him because and relate to the fact that he has very few weaknesses. I don’t feel that I have many as well. I thought the relationship between Hector and Achilles was pretty. Obviously they did not like each other at all. That is a dead give away while reading. They both fought on separate sides during the Trojan War. I thought it was very rude of Achilles to continually drag Hector’s body around as if he was nothing and not a human. To me it felt like a kid dragging around a toy across the floor. Not a very pleasing sight. I found it interesting how the Gods protected his body either because they thought it was rude of Achilles or because they liked Hector. The fact that they do this seems interesting and very important. The Gods have a great powers so don’t they just smite Achilles for this crude act. Within this there is discussion between the Gods of what they should do about the body. Apollo believes the bod should be...
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...SUMMARY OF ILIAD In the tenth year of the Trojan War, tensions are running high among the Achaeans. First, the priest Chryses comes to ask their leader, King Agamemnon, to release his daughter, whom Agamemnon was holding captive. When Agamemnon refuses, the priest prays to the god Apollo to send a plague against the Achaeans. After nine days of plague, the Achaeans assemble again and demand that Agamemnon give the girl back. Agamemnon eventually agrees, but only if he gets to take Briseis, the girlfriend of Achilles, the greatest warrior of the Achaeans. Even though Achilles gives her up, he becomes so enraged that he refuses to fight any more. That and he prays to his mother, Thetis, who happens to be a goddess, to pull some strings with the other gods so that the Achaeans will start getting defeated in battle and realize how much they depend on him. Achilles’ mom definitely spoils him. She gets Zeus, the king of the gods, to agree to Achilles’ request. Sure enough, the next day the Trojans makes a successful counterattack, led by Hector, their greatest warrior. Several days of violent fighting follow, at the end of which the Trojans have the Achaeans pinned against the beach, and are threatening to burn their ships. At this point, Achilles’ best friend Patroclus asks for permission to go into battle in Achilles’ place. Achilles grants Patroclus request, and even lets him wear his armor. Patroclus gambit is successful – when the Trojans see him, they think he must be Achilles...
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...The Essential Role of Goddess in Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey Just as women were viewed as inferior to men during Homer’s era, a first glance at Homer’s epics The Iliad and The Odyssey portrays goddesses as inferiors to gods. Despite the era’s bias to men, the goddesses are of equal importance to the plot of his stories as the gods. The goddesses play vital roles as either helpers or nightmares to men by often determining the results of an action. Homer did not establish the goddesses in his epics merely as minor structures to blend in the background. Rather, he established dynamic goddesses who were both powerful and intelligent. In fact, in many ways the goddesses controlled the gods by having an influence in their decisions and actions through manipulation, persuasion and guidance. By influencing the gods, the goddesses also played a large role as shepherds for human fate. The goddess’s constant intervention in the mortals’ lives was driven by favoritism, love or sexual desires, and their pity for the weak. Although the goddesses are often restricted from doing as they wish by the gods, they have proven, in many occasions, to overpower the gods through manipulation. Goddesses were often told what to do by the gods. Tasks such as delivering messages from Zeus were often carried out by Athena. Just as Hector told his wife, “Go home, attend to your own handiwork at loom and spindle, and command the maids to busy themselves, too. As for war, that is for men, all we...
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...only speculate about the life of the man who composed the Iliad and the Odyssey. The details are few. We do not even know the century in which he lived, and it is difficult to say with absolute certainty that the same poet composed both works. The Greeks attributed both of the epics to the same man, and we have little hard evidence that would make us doubt the ancient authorities, but uncertainty is a constant feature of scholarly work dealing with Homer's era of Greek history. The Greeks hailed him as their greatest poet, as well as their first. Although the Greeks recognized other poets who composed in Greek before Homer, no texts from these earlier poets survived. Perhaps they were lost, or perhaps they were never written down‹Homer himself was probably on the cusp between the tradition of oral poetry and the new invention of written language. Texts of the Iliad and the Odyssey existed from at least the sixth century BC, and probably for a considerable span of time before that. These two great epic poems also had a life in performance: through the centuries, professional artists made their living by reciting Homer, performing the great epics for audiences that often know great parts of the poem by heart. It is impossible to pin down with any certainty when Homer lived. Eratosthenes gives the traditional date of 1184 BC for the end of the Trojan War, the semi-mythical event which forms the basis for the Iliad. The great Greek historian Herodotus put the date at 1250...
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...Homer of Greece was a blind bard known for a sensational memory and his ability to entertain an audience with the portrayal of his words. Two well known epic poems he told were The Odyssey and The Iliad. Both of these poems are very different from any story or poem written in ancient Greece. The structure, development, and the art of how each epic was told is the reason why each work is different and why each is called an epic. Especially the Odyssey it is the pentacle of an epic poem and contains everything needed to be considered so. The Odyssey is the great story of Odysseus and the sequel to Homer’s other epic the Iliad. The main character Odysseus is put through a lengthy journey on his return home to Ithaca from the battlefield of Troy. Over the span of 24 detailed books Homer tells Odysseus’ path and what he must face to get home. From the raging seas created by Poseidon, Odysseus’ lengthy stay with calypso, and his travels through the underworld. These and other conflicts that Odysseus faces are part of the elements to which make the odyssey and epic poem. In the first book of the Odyssey, Homer introduces a very important element of his Epic poems, the Muse. According to Aaron J. Atsma of the Theoi project, during the ancient time muses were the goddesses of music song and dance. In the odyssey when Homer is referring to the muse in the first book, saying “Sing to me of the man, Muse…” The muse he is referring to is known as Kalliope, the muse of epic poetry. This is important...
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...The Odyssey is an epic poem written by Homer telling the story of the King of Ithaca. Odysseus displays the traits of a true hero; strength, nobility, confidence, courage, and the love of glory. He gains fame through his journeys, victories and skill. As with all Homer created heroes, Odysseus possesses pride which causes him to do very unwise things. The Iliad is another epic poem written by Homer entertaining us with a story about Achilles. Achilles was the greatest warrior in the Achaean army. The most significant flaw of Achilles is his excessive pride. He is willing to subvert the good of the whole army and to endanger the lives of those who are closest to him to achieve emotional blackmail. The plot of the Odyssey is Odysseus’ 10 year struggle to return home after the Trojan War. While Odysseus battles mythical creatures and faces the wrath of the gods, his wife Penelope and his son Telemachus fight off suitors or fakers trying to steal Penelope's hand from Odysseus and Ithaca's throne long enough for Odysseus to return. The Odyssey ends with Odysseus winning a contest to prove his identity, killing the suitors, and retaking the throne of Ithaca for himself. The plot of the Iliad is about the final year of the Trojan War, a conflict in which Greek warriors sailed the Aegean (Turkey) and surrounded the fortress of Troy for ten years, three millennia ago. The plot also includes the greek hero...
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....Homer’s life is a shadow in the mists of ancient history. All that we know for certain about him is that he composed two of the greatest epics in world literature, The Iliad and The Odyssey, as well as several hymns to the gods. The content, ideals, and style of his epics formed the basis of Greek education in the classical age of Socrates, Plato, Sophocles, and Aristotle and influenced the course of western literature for centuries to come. .......The Iliad and The Odyssey stand as two of the greatest works ever composed. They have influenced writers throughout the ages for the beauty and power of their imagery, for their character development, for the universality of their themes, and for their extraordinary stories. They take their place alongside the Bible, Sophocles’ Oedipus the Rex, Dante’s The Divine Comedy, Cervantes’ Don Quixote, Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and Tolstoy’s War and Peace as among the most popular and most highly praised literary works in history. Remarkably, Homer had no authors to imitate, no prototypical literature to guide him, for literature—indeed, civilization itself—was still in its infancy when he composed his works. He was the world's first great writer, a model for others to imitate. .......Scholars conjecture from scraps of evidence that Homer was a blind poet who may have been born on the island of Chios (also spelled in English as Khios) in the Aegean Sea; in Smyrna, a seaport in western Turkey; in Colophon, near Ephesus, Turkey; on Rhodes, an...
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...In this essay, we will argue on the important difference of the Iliad and Odyssey against the Aeneid for the citizen readers. Here, we found that the value of empathy is crucial in one’s life because it shapes us to become more rational and mindful citizen. Within our argument, we will justify the significance of both Homer’s Odyssey and Iliad as well as Virgil’s Aeneid for the citizen readers to create a supportive community. Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey exemplify the lack of empathy in the protagonists’ attribute which is different to Virgil’s hero that show more mercy in making decision. Many Trojans in Iliad died in Achilles hand with no mercy even being given advice on not to do so by his own mother (9.423-28,21.123-29). Even after killing Hector, he abuses the corpse by fastening it to the back of his chariot, and drags him around Patroklos's burial mound (24.17-20). On top of that, in Odyssey, Odysseus also illustrates the behavior of lack of empathy during the bloodshed happens in the hall where he killed the suitors mercilessly. Odysseus killed Antinous, who is the leader of the suitors by firing up an arrow straight to his throat (22.437). Even though Eurymachus already offered Odysseus to...
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...Several themes can be established from both The Iliad and The Odyssey. The theme of predator and prey is seen in both texts. When a fight occurs between a God or Beast against a human, it is characterized by the contrast of the strong and the weak. In the Odyssey, when the Cyclops is eating the men it states, “Dashed their heads against the floor as though they had been puppies.” (Odyssey ¶ 10). The way the cyclops handles the men portrays them as weak and helpless, similar to puppies. Similarly in the Iliad it displays the chase between Hector and Achilles, “The fawn goes to the ground, hiding deep in the brush but the hound comes racing fast, nosing him out until he lands his kill,” (Iliad, ¶ 14). The way it depicts Hector as the fawn, displays...
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...The Iliad has been a very important book in Greek literature. It had carved the way for literature and culture for thousands of years to come. The Iliad is based on the Trojan War. It is written by the Greek poet Homer, and it’s the story about the struggles of the gods and people to bring the Trojan War to an end. The story is very interesting, and it has many books. The big war starts when Zeus sends Paris, (the prince of Troy) to choose between three goddesses. He has to choose the “fairest” of the three, to entrust the apple of discord to one of them. Out of the three goddesses Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite, he chose Aphrodite. In return for the apple he got the hand of the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen. Unfortunately for Paris,...
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...Odyssey The Iliad and the Odyssey are two of the world masterpieces that have survived the times . Admired through the ages as the ultimate epics Homer 's Iliad and the Odyssey , was venerated by the ancient Greeks themselves as the cornerstone of their civilization (Nagy , Online . The two epics are the portrayal of early Greek civilization with the spotlight focused on heroism and the heroes ' struggles and triumph Early Greece likewise was depicted in the two epics as a people who believed in the power of the immortals which was clearly shown in how br the gods and goddesses ran the lives of the characters The Iliad and Odyssey are both colorful and dramatic . Not only was Homer able to use vivid s of the different war episodes but he was also successful in portraying supernatural beings that Odysseus met during his journey back home . These styles of Homer likewise characterized the people during the time that the epics were written A very diverse Greek culture was shown in the Iliad and the Odyssey Just like what was previously mentioned , people in ancient Greece revered their heroes . The people then consider men or women who were endowed with superhuman abilities which were believed to have come from the gods and the goddess as their heroes . These heroes likewise embodied the character of the Greek people as a whole . Homer used the different characters in the two epic to give a picture of how society and the people was during the earlier times Achilles was regarded...
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...the Odyssey, the Iliad, and the Mahabharata is to compare how these exiles were brought upon the heroes and the consequences when the hero returns to society. The difference between the Mahabharata and the other three epics, is that the exile of the Kuravas was imposed on them by others. Though Yudhisthira is technically the only one in the family who brought it upon himself by playing the crooked dice game. For the most part, the exile of the Kuravas is not self-imposed. This is very different to the exiles seen in the western epics. In the Iliad, Achilles exiles himself for feeling shamed by Agamemnon, he chooses not to fight and instead have hundreds of his countrymen die. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh chooses to abandon his kingdom for an unplanned amount of time on a search for immortality somewhere in nature because of Enkidu’s death. Both Achilles and Gilgamesh exile themselves because of strong feelings they get. The exile of Odysseus is about brought on by himself, by making Poseidon extra mad, not leaving Calypso’s Island, among other transgressions against the gods....
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...can only speculate about the life of the man who composed the Iliad and the Odyssey. The details are few. We do not even know the century in which he lived, and it is difficult to say with absolute certainty that the same poet composed both works. The Greeks attributed both of the epics to the same man, and we have little hard evidence that would make us doubt the ancient authorities, but uncertainty is a constant feature of scholarly work dealing with Homer's era of Greek history. The Greeks hailed him as their greatest poet, as well as their first. Although the Greeks recognized other poets who composed in Greek before Homer, no texts from these earlier poets survived. Perhaps they were lost, or perhaps they were never written down‹Homer himself was probably on the cusp between the tradition of oral poetry and the new invention of written language. Texts of the Iliad and the Odyssey existed from at least the sixth century BC, and probably for a considerable span of time before that. These two great epic poems also had a life in performance: through the centuries, professional artists made their living by reciting Homer, performing the great epics for audiences that often know great parts of the poem by heart. It is impossible to pin down with any certainty when Homer lived. Eratosthenes gives the traditional date of 1184 BC for the end of the Trojan War, the semi-mythical event which forms the basis for the Iliad. The great Greek historian Herodotus put the date at 1250 BC...
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...three epic poems read thus far in Classics 2220, Virgil’s Aeneid and Homer’s works: the Iliad and the Odyssey, the most important difference between Virgil and Homer is whether fate is treated as fact or can be affected by the choices of mortals. Homer’s works are more meaningful for citizen readers because they emphasize the importance of free will as illustrated in the shields and prophecies of the narratives. Aeneas faces a prophecy and acts believing it would come true regardless of his choices. Though Achilles and Odysseus face prophecies, both perceive the ability, however limited, to choose their own futures. Many feel trapped by what society has told them and feel they have no control, while in reality, just like Achilles and Odysseus, every person has the ability to affect their future for better or worse. In Virgil’s Aeneid, it is preordained that he will immigrate to Italy from Troy and found the city of Rome (1.1-19). In the very beginning,...
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