...How do you classify an admirable hero? Is it by his morals: selflessness, loyalty, and courage? Is it by his actions: putting others first, helping everyone, and standing up for their beliefs? The Odyssey, written by Homer, is about a man, named Odysseus, going on his many adventures while trying to travel home. Some believe he is an admirable hero for outsmarting his enemies and overcoming his trails. Though Odysseus may posses many heroic qualities, he is not a hero. To begin, Odysseus is very selfish; he puts his wants, such as his curiosity, over his crew members needs and even lives. When odysseus sees the cyclops's cave his men tell him to steal the valuables and go. However he, “wished to see the cavemen and what he had to offer,”...
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...The Inconsiderate Adventures of Odysseus Homer’s epic The Odyssey , translated by Robert Fitzgerald, is a vigorous 10 year journey that challengs the hero's mentally and physically, but not everything is done with morality and consideration. The main protagonist is the leader Odysseus, this epic follows him and his crew after the Trojan War, and their timely return back to their homeland ,Ithaca. In order to return home Odysseus and his crew go through stops and challenges His leadership and decisions affect the way the reader and his crew sees him. In this story the character Odysseus is not an admirable character, for his almost barbaric actions and unruly decisions make it hard to believe otherwise. One of Odysseus’ deplorable characteristics...
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...about Odysseus’s 10 year struggle to return home after the Trojan War. While Odysseus fights in the trojan war, Telemachus and Penelope have to deal with suitors who betrayed Odysseus. They betrayed him by trying to marry his wife. Odysseus was able to return home and kill the suitors and live happily with his wife, Penelope. Odysseus's character, actions, and legacy prove that he is an admirable hero. Another trait that Odysseus possesses is cunning. I feel that cunning is his most significant quality because it has salvaged him from numerous dangers along his journey. The most obvious case of Odysseus’s cunning is when he was dealing with Polyphemus. First, Odysseus gets Polyphemus drunk and then blinds him. He also makes him open the mouth of...
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...In Homer’s the Odyssey, a man named Odysseus spends years and years trying to get home to his family. On his long journey, he encounters a number of different situations that test his true character. The reader finds out who Odysseus really is based on the situations he is put in and how he chooses to handle these situations. From being stuck on an Island with Calypso, a nymph goddess, to almost being eaten by a vicious cyclops, to seeing his wife for the first time in 20 years, Odysseus stays true to his character. Throughout the epic, Odysseus shows constant signs of bravery, leadership, intelligence, cleverness, and wholehearted faithfulness, and these things are what makes him such an admirable character. Bravery and leadership go hand in hand because bravery is a trait that all good leaders have. Odysseus showed amazing bravery and leadership skills throughout the Odyssey. One place where Odysseus’s bravery and leadership are revealed the most is when Odysseus and his men encounter Poseidon’s Cyclops son, Polyphemus. Odysseus used his leadership skills and bravery to help his men escape the wrath of Polyphemus while...
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...Odysseus a hero or not In his epic poem, “The Odyssey”, Homer introduces a greek hero by the name of Odysseus who is tried many times throughout the series. Human nature is the sum of all human traits, this includes the flaws of life and humanity. Odysseus demonstrates these particular flaws throughout his adventures. When Odysseus is "stuck between Charybdis and Scylla," he chooses to tell his men nothing about the impending doom above, because the danger of his men becoming panicked and thus putting the ship in danger. Instead, he says nothing, hid himself below, and allowed 6 men to die at his hands. This proves him to be self centered and cowardly. Odysseus is constantly weighed down by nature's power over human life. Fear and lack of...
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...“The Odyssey Part I:” Odysseus’s Journey Home and the Eye-Stabbing Adventure In the Odyssey Part I, the story begins with Odysseus introducing himself as the son of Laertes, as admirable for his cunning skills both in times of peace and in times of war. On his journey back to Ithaca, Odysseus comes across many obstacles that make his journey a great struggle. His journey back home is delayed by the gods, as he is detained by Calypso for a long time, and later the unforgiving sea that drifts him off course, from the direct path to Ithaca. After nine days of fighting against the unforgiving sea, Odysseus and his men come across the Lotus Eaters Island and then to the Cyclops land. Out of curiosity, Odysseus decides to go to the Cyclops main...
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...have. Odysseus displayed how smart he is when he told Polyphemus, the Cyclops, that his name was “Nohbdy.” This was very smart of him because when Odysseus and his crew blinded Polyphemus, he kept screaming “Nohbdy’s tricked me, Nohbdy’s ruined me” (Homer 9, 317). When the other Cyclopes heard this, they thought that Polyphemus was talking nonsense because “nobody” was hurting him. This leads the other Cyclopes to leave Polyphemus alone without helping him. And because he was blinded, Odysseus and his men took advantage of it and devised another plan to escape. In addition to this, when the son of Laertes fathoms that the “honeyed plant, the Lotus” (Homer 44, 1112) somehow compelled his men and everyone else who ate it to stay on the island. This causes him to refuse the plant and drag his men back to the ship where he would proceed to tie them to their rowing benches....
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...ENG111 Online June 13, 2011 Commitment to Family or Freedom to Self The three literary pieces The Glass Menagerie, Barn Burning, and Ulysses all have something in common. A significant character from each work abandoned his family to seek out his own needs. As I read the three different literary works recently I reflected on what a one-of-a-kind thing a family is to each of us. Is it wrong to put our own needs above that of our parents, our brothers and sisters, or even our spouses or children? Even when raised by the by the same parents, in the same community we all grow into unique individuals with directions of our own, independent from the aspirations of our parents and siblings. As I read the three pieces of literature The Glass Menagerie, Barn Burning, and Ulysses it got me thinking about some of the ways in which I feel about my own family situation. I know I could never leave them, but I do know so many people who have set off away from their families. I sometimes desperately envy those with that freedom. In all three works, there is a balance to be found towards responsibility and commitment to family, and freedom and choice to self. For the purpose of this essay I will compare the roles of Tom from The Glass Menagerie, Sarty in Barn Burning, and Ulysses in the poem Ulysses. Although they each served a different role in the family as a brother, father, and a son, they in the end all made a decision to leave their families in each literary piece. ...
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...“None of the women and goddesses whom Odysseus encounters are a match for him” How far do you agree with this statement? “There is nothing more admirable than when two people who see eye to eye keep house as man and wife, confounding their enemies and delighting their friends.” Homer Women in Ancient Greece were considered inferior to men. Not only they had very few rights but also were treated like slaves, men were dominant in the ancient world. Yet in the Odyssey women played extremely significant roles. Women weren’t characterised as fragile powerless structures in the ancient social world, but as dominant and authoritative god like people. They delighted and deceived the men, virtually being the dominant sex of the tale. But was any woman or goddess a match for the lion-hearted Odysseys? In book 5, Odysseus encounters Calypso, Atlas’ daughter, when he is accidentally washed onto the shores of Ogygia. He spends 7 whole years on the island, where Calypso falls in love with him and disallows him to leave. Even when Zeus sends Hermes to command her to let Odysseus go she fights against it as the love for Odysseus is too strong. The protagonist is powerless against the Nymph and cannot leave without her agreement and her help. Although the stalwart Odysseus is immobilised on the island, he has Calypso under his arm. The Nymph tells Hermes that she will not help Odysseus but cannot resist that, she even offers him immortality in order for him to stay but the hero...
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...obstacles.” Throughout time, a hero has represented an individual who sacrifices himself for a cause greater than themselves. Odysseus the protagonist from The Odyssey faces many hardships for his country returning home from the Trojan War. Martin Luther King faces a similar struggle through his fight for the equal rights of African Americans. In addition to the evolution of society, the definition of a hero has evolved, valuing different characteristics. Despite the obstacles both men face, through comparing Dr. King and Odysseus, one can see that contemporary society values selflessness,...
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...Mandela faced the racism that took grip of Africa causing his rise to power to be a long and enduring journey. Even old heros of ancient times faced hardships making them the legends they are remembered as. In The Odyssey by Homer, the brave hero Odysseus, was loved by the people of ancient Greece. He goes through many hardships after winning the war at Troy....
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...Manage the spun words as you want.. First thing, Telemachus demonstrates his power whilst he converses with powerful kings and leaders at some stage in his quest to discover his father. This suggests that he isn't intimidated by using their fame or strength, and alternatively makes use of his intelligence and wit to navigate through hard conditions and acquire essential records. As a result, Telemachus' potential to hold his floor in conversations with these influential figures showcases his courage and backbone to find the facts about his father's whereabouts. Secondly, Telemachus goes to wonderful lengths to search for facts about his father, no matter the demanding situations and barriers that he faces along the way. This indicates that...
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...15 The Adventures of Odysseus The only authority for this story is the Odyssey, except for the account of Athena s agreement with Poseidon to destroy the Greek Fleet, which is not in the Odyssey and which I have taken from Euripides' Trojan Women. Part of the interest of the Odyssey, as distinguished from the Iliad, lies in the details, such as are given in the story of Nausicaii and the visit of Telemachus to Menelaus. They are used with admirable skill to enliven the story and make it seem real, never to hold it up or divert the readers attention from the main issue. When the victorious Greek Fleet put out to sea after the fall of Troy, many a captain, all unknowing, faced troubles as black as those he had brought down on the Trojans. Athena and Poseidon had been the Greeks' greatest allies among the gods, but when Troy fell all that had changed. They became their bitterest enemies. The Greeks went mad with victory the night they entered the city; they forgot what was due to the gods; and on their voyage home they were terribly punished. Cassandra, one of Priam's daughters, was a prophetess. Apollo had loved her and given her the power to foretell the future. Later he turned against her because she refused his love, and although he could not take back his gift-divine favors once bestowed might not be revoked—he made it of no account: no one ever believed her. She told the Trojans each time what would happen; they would never listen to her. She declared that Greeks...
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...Achilles tends to lose audience support after his continued refusal to swallow his pride and save his dying comrades. Achilles' pride, greed, sense of honor, and hard-hardheadedness, eventually leads to the death of many of his friends, among them Achilles “beloved” Patroclus, as well as numberless other Greeks. Although Achilles never lost his life and the Greeks did not lose the war, it is tragic nevertheless. Achilles has remarkably few traits that would be seen as admirable by people in the world today. Achilles is primarily motivated by greed, thirst for honor, and an outrageous sense of his own self-importance. Initially, Achilles does not seem like he is in the wrong for holding a grudge against Agamemnon. Agamemnon shamed him in front of all the Greeks by publicly ordering Achilles war-prize, Briseis, to be taken for Agamemnon's own use. It seems right that Achilles should be angry, and his refusal to participate in the war seems perfectly justified. Achilles' actually seems wise and admirable when, in his frustration, he begins to question the unjustifiable cause for even being at war and exclaims: Why do the Greeks have to fight the Trojans? Why did Agamemnon lead the army...
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...legend between truth and fiction A legend is a traditional tale popularly regarded as true but containing a mixture of fact and fiction. A legend is tale, usually told regionally and based in part in fact, usually to strengthen ones belief in his or her country or sitting lord. An example would be the Arthurian legends or the Iliad. Legends are sometimes distinguished from myths in that they concern human beings rather than gods, and sometimes in that they have some sort of historical basis whereas myths do not; but these distinctions are difficult to maintain consistently Legend vs Myth: Myths are generally referred to as traditional stories occuring in a timeless past. They may involve supernatural elements and are beyond the frontiers of logic. Myths may also give a religious explanation. Myths have their chronology of events and cannot be related to present timelines. They may also be imaginary things. Legends, however, are stories about real people who are famous for doing something brave or extraordinary. Legends may be told upon topics of historical importance. It is not an explanation of something nor a symbolic narrative, they're based on an event. Examples of myths and legends It is a Greek myth that Prometheus stole fire from Zeus, the chief god, and gave it to humans so that they could keep themselves warm. To punish him, Zeus chained Prometheus to a rock where his liver was eaten by an eagle every day but grew again every night. There is nothing to prove...
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