...Odysseus from Homer's The Odyssey is not a good role model. At times, Odysseus' curiosity can lead to some extreme situations and endanger the lives of his crew. Odysseus can also be very prideful of his clever work or achievements, causing unnecessary trouble later on. Furthermore, although Odysseus says that he misses his kingdom, wife, and son, and wishes to return to them dearly, he doesn't stay faithful to his wife. Book IX of The Odyssey provides an example of Odysseus' bad curiosity as it trapped him and his crew in the cyclops' cave. When Odysseus and his crew reach the island of the cyclops, they discover the cyclops, Polyphemus' cave. Odysseus, curious to see what the beast looks like, waits with his crew in the cave. When...
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...For years, heros have been thought to be superhuman- only strengths but no weaknesses. However, Homer’s Odyssey proves otherwise. Homer’s Odyssey is the epic poem about Odysseus's journey back to Ithaca after winning the war against Troy. The epic poem explains that to be human means to have weaknesses. Odysseus’s biggest flaws is that he is proud and curious. Homer uses characterization to show that humans have weaknesses. One of Odysseus’s main weakness is that he's proud. Throughout the books, he tries to prove that he is invincible, and no creature can outsmart him. Earlier in Book 9, when Odysseus and his men had just reached the Cyclops’s home, his men pleaded not to go to the Cyclops, he still wanted to “ find out what the mainland...
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...In The Odyssey and The Siren Song, both Homer and Margaret Atwood depict women as beautiful yet manipulative creatures. The Sirens are mythical beings that are half human half bird whom are defined as dangerous yet beautiful creatures that no man could resist, except for Odysseus. Odysseus and his men approach the island of the Sirens, and Odysseus, as instructed by Circe, plugs his men's ears with beeswax and has them bind him to the mast of the ship. Although Homer’s The Odyssey connotes the Sirens as vicious and eerie, Margaret Atwood’s Siren Song depicts the creatures as mysterious yet beautiful creatures, which is conveyed through each author’s use of figurative language and diction. In The Odyssey, the Sirens are characterized as irresistible yet evil creatures. No man can resist them, except for Odysseus. He was able to resist the temptation by tying himself down and putting beeswax in his shipmates’ ears, so that they can avoid the women as well. Homer proves how inevitable the Sirens voices are by...
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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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...In the epic poem The Odyssey, Homer changes Odysseus’ decisions to reveal that leaders must make rational decisions for the most successful outcome possible. The theme of leadership is represented through the protagonist, Odysseus, recovering some of his crew from their mistakes, constructing an optimal plan to overcome brute force, and making decisions that will later affect their destiny. Throughout the Odyssey, Odysseus makes rational decisions for himself and his crew to accomplish the goal of returning back home from his journey. After some of Odysseus’ crew members make the mistake of consuming the lotus flower on the Island of the Lotus Eaters, Homer shows that Odysseus’ changed decisions to protect his crew change and reveal the...
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...November 18, 2012 World Literature I Odysseus and the idealist Don Quixote What is a hero? To be a hero means winning honor through competitive combat in ancient Greece and the middle ages. In those historic eras warriors, knights, and kings were honored the most. A hero was someone with a smooth fighting technique and would face death at any moment. Heroes were the people who would lead their armies, fellow knights, and comrades into battle and earned tributes for their courage and great deeds performed during their combat. In other light, the cowards of ancient Greece and the middle ages were considered a burden and were affronted. Throughout many books authors have explained different aspects of what it means to be a hero. Homer, author of the Odyssey, and Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote, convey this characteristic frequently. In the Odyssey, Odysseus was a skillful fighter, but it was yet the proof Homer’s readers needed of his heroism. Odysseus also transpired characteristics of restraint and mercy. On the other hand, Cervantes’ character was not born a hero. He was fooled by chivalric ideas of heroism and sets out to reform the world along with his witty companion. Odysseus and Don Quixote are from two totally different eras, but both of them tried to conquer the world with their heroic acts. Not only their heroic acts made them well known, it’s also their imagination that makes them stand out. In comparison, imagination is what makes Quixote the hero, and imagination...
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...leader is one who is selfless, tactical, and charismatic. A leader like Odysseus lets his human flaws get the better of him. They have no control over their people and make everything worse rather than better. In, Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus is an inadequate leader of his men, as he leaves them to die and puts them in more danger than before. Odysseus’ trait of curiosity makes him an incompetent leader. When he raids the Cyclops’ food stash, he decides to stay against his better judgment: “Ah,\how sound that was! Yet I refused. I wished\ to see the cave man, what he had to offer-\ no pretty sight, it turned out for my friends.”(171-173). He dooms some of his friends by staying to see the Cyclops causing Odysseus to also to end...
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...an intriguing manner. One of the most compelling tales Hawthorne illustrates is Pandora’s Box. The story of Pandora’s intense curiosity leading to the unleashing all of the evils in the world is especially applicable to children. Pandora can’t help herself even when everything and everyone is attempting to convince her otherwise. In the end, the lesson is that curiosity can be dangerous. Children have and will always be curious and explore things they should not. But curiosity comes at a cost. There is a deeper message in the famous tale. There was something else in the box along with the disease and problems; it was Hope. The one thing needed to combat all of the horrors that were released is Hope. The story teaches that no matter how bad things get, there is always something to fight for, and that is a much more important...
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...right to choose his own path. While clearly present in The Odyssey, it is through Homer’s writing that we begin to see the underlying belief, in ancient Greek culture, of divine intervention and the gods’ power to control and shape man’s destiny. Their influence is evident in determining the outcome of every adventure and obstacle that the hero, Odysseus, faces during his lengthy, perilous journey home following the events of the Trojan War. Man’s free will is overshadowed throughout this epic poem by the use of prophecy or the direct influence of the gods to ultimately foretell and decide the outcome. The choices Odysseus makes may have direct consequences and influence on his life, gaining or denying him favor with the gods. He cannot; however, change his fate or escape their will. The influence of the gods is shown early on in The Odyssey during a meeting of the gods where they decide amongst themselves that the time for Odysseus to return to his home in Ithaca has come. At the time of the meeting, Odysseus is trapped in a suspended state of inactivity on the island Ogygia with the goddess Calypso. No matter the remarkable wit and cunning the hero is shown to possess, it is the decision of the gods at this meeting to send Hermes to pave the way for his release from the island. Zeus to Hermes: “Hermes, you’ve been our messenger before. / go tell that ringlet nymph it is my will / To let that patient man Odysseus go home. / Not with an escort, mind you, human or divine...
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...determines your reality.” In Star Wars IV and Homer’s The Odyssey, the heroes, Odysseus and Luke Skywalker, show themselves as focused,intelligent, men. Luke and Odysseus are both determined but Luke is more focused on his mission because of the situations, courageousness, and motivation. Unlike Odysseus, Luke is more focused on his mission because of the situations he was put in. An example of why Luke is more focused is because of the family troubles. His parents are unknown so he was forced into a family. He may feel like he has to be focused so that he can live up to his father's expectations. Odysseus has some key focusing points like when he had to figure...
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...CORC 1110 Paper # 1- Character Analysis of Odysseus’ Godlike/Human Status Homer’s The Odyssey may feature several heroes, but none are as prevalent as Odysseus. Odysseus has proved himself to be a magnificent hero in various ways. He has shown the heroic traits of courageousness, loyalty, and he saved thousands of innocent lives. However, Odysseus is not necessarily a godlike figure. He is in fact a role model, with a goal to reach his home through resisting temptation and using his intellect and physical strength. While he is brave, clever, and demonstrates self restraint the faults in Odysseus’ character bring him back to being a mortal man. Odysseus is godlike in both a physical and spiritual sense. Physically, he was created handsome as his creation is described: “Then Athena, born from Zeus, made him look taller and more muscled, and made his hair tumble down his head like hyacinth flowers…So Athena herself made Odysseus' head and shoulders shimmer with grace” (6.236-244). Aside from his godly physique, Odysseus is physically strong and capable as he overcomes the extreme dangers that occur throughout the journey and comes out alive after it all. Being able to face dangerous people and creatures is evident that he is a courageous man given that any mortal man wouldn’t have been able to survive a journey after so many challenges. From the spiritual aspect, Odysseus demonstrates godlike behavior by remaining faithful to his wife and family during the voyage. Remaining...
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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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...literary culture that is characterized for its epic stories and epic characters that follow along the definition of an epic hero. An epic hero is a brave and noble character in an epic poem, admired for great achievements or affected by grand events. Dante’s Aligheri’s Inferno and Homer’s The Odyssey respectively have two characters that fulfill what is like to be recognized as a brave and noble character. Throughout both poems, we can see how each character has unique qualities that make them outstand and set them up as a leader, but at the same time, they have the flaws of any human being. It is clear when a character overcomes the status of any human being and sets the lead as a hero. An important trait of an epic hero is the fact that starts a journey; it may be of a personal matter, such as Dante, or of societal matter, like Odysseus. In The Odyssey, Odysseus is a war hero travelling home after a period of twenty years. In this epic, Odysseus is brought out as a hero with superhuman courage. In most cases, he has been shown fighting with supernatural forces. One characteristic of this journey that is different from Dante is that the hero in this epic fights against external forces. Odysseus faces many challenges while traveling home. To begin with, he is cast on an island that is surrounded by waters. Some situations appear to have no immediate solution as one is surrounded by problems. Secondly, he is strongly opposed by the god Poseidon and the seas. The reason for this...
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...GREEK MYTHOLOGY Background to Homer’s Odyssey As you read each story, ask yourself: What is most enjoyable, predictable, or bizarre about this story? How would I have responded in this situation? What mysteries or features of the world might this story try to explain? What bit of moral or religious instructions (i.e. don’t disobey the gods) might be contained in this story? How does this story compare with Christian beliefs, or with the values of our culture today? Are there any other stories or fables I’ve heard that follow the same pattern as this story? The Creation Myths Part 1 Before there was anything, there was Chaos, a formless void. This void, this pure nothingness, gave birth to Gaea (the Earth itself), Tartarus (the underworld), Eros (love), Erebus (underground darkness) and Nyx (the darkness of night). The two kinds of darkness joined together and gave birth two kinds of light: the Light of the heavens and the Light of day. Nyx (night) also gave birth to the three Fates, who control the course of the universe and determine the length of each person’s life on their wheel of fortune. Of the fates, Clotho spins the threads of each person’s life, Lachesis measures the length of the thread, and Atropos cuts the thread. The Fates – Francisco Goya (one of the best painters ever!) 1823 – Note the scissors in the hand of Atropos and Lachesis measuring with a magnifying glass. Who’s...
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...MYTHOLOGY IN MODERN SOCIETY [pic] [pic] [pic] |Mythology is everywhere! Daily you run across instances of words, city names, companies, | |literary allusions - and even planets and constellations - that take their name or borrow | |their theme from myths. Because of your many requests, I've provided a couple of thousand | |excellent examples to help you get started in your research. Remember, you're surrounded | |by mythology in today's society, whether you realize it or not! | Mythological Influence on Modern... |[pic]Companies & Groups |[pic]Planets & Constellations | |[pic] Words & Expressions |[pic]Literary & Pop Culture | [pic]American Cities Named From Mythology [pic] COMPANIES & GROUPS |Mythology is everywhere! There are hundreds of companies, groups and corporations that take their name, logo or theme from ancient mythology. | |I've provided a variety of examples to help you in starting your research. Some are well-known international companies, others are of a more | |local nature. | |Aegis - Zeus and Athena's protective shield; modern group of insurance companies (The Aegis Group). | |Ajax - Greek warrior in the Trojan War, who "cleaned up" in...
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