...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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...Odysseus of Ithaca: Famed or Fraud? Homer’s Odyssey tells the tale of the Trojan War hero Odysseus’s return home to his land of origin, Ithaca. Homer describes Odysseus as being one of, or possibly the greatest hero in all of Greece’s history. He is characterized as being a fearless, heroic man, who, with divine assistance, bests even the greatest monsters, and overcomes the most troublesome and life-threatening situations that he encounters, or the gods throw at him. However, if not for the assistance given to him by Athena, or any other divine figure, Odysseus’s journey would most likely have not worked out in his favor as it did, and he most likely would have perished within the very first books of The Odyssey. If divine assistance is what gave Odysseus his spark, courage and abilities, then are his abilities really justified? Who is the real Odysseus of Ithaca? Throughout many instances of The Odyssey, Odysseus is seen as this “almighty figure of excellence,” that can “never be beat or conquered.” However, despite the recognition that Odysseus deserves for accomplishing most of his feats, most of the work and assistance given to him was crafted by the goddess Athena; who constantly monitors Odysseus’s every move and protects him throughout the course of the tale. For example, on page 175 of the text, when Odysseus confronts the Phaecian princess Nausicaa, Athena personally makes him appear less menacing and worn. By doing this, Athena guaranteed that Odysseus would...
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...social and cultural references throughout the world. Furthermore, Leeming explains that, “the monomyth itself is an expression of the journey of the hero figure, of our journey through physical and psychic life, and of the evolutionary path of humanity to full consciousness” (Leeming). Homer’s use of Joseph Campbell’s monomyth in the Odyssey seen with Odysseus, the hero and main character, provides a great structure throughout the epic in several ways. To begin, the monomyth in the Odyssey can be divided into 11 stages of the hero journey. The first stage that structures Homer’s epic is birth or the ordinary world. Odysseus is born to his father Laertes in Greece under no distinguished ancestry to boast of. Rasovsky stated, As Odysseus grew to be a young boy he showed signs of his talents which included archery (Rasovsky). Going further on with Rasovsky’s findings, Odysseus was intelligent, clever, and exhibited strength through his appearance (Rasovsky). In the Odyssey, Odysseus’s ordinary world is on the peaceful island of Ithaca. Odysseus is the well-loved and respected king of the island. He has a wife, Penelope, whom he is madly in love with. Homer creates the birth and ordinary world of Odysseus to establish a pedigree, meaning how special he is, in order to foreshadow his destiny later on in the epic. The next stage of the monomyth is the call to adventure. Joseph Campbell explained this stage to represent the character’s survival of childhood that cemented his destiny to...
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...Twelve of Homer’s The Odyssey are probably the most famous of the epic. This is because of the fact that this is where much of the action of Odysseus’s journey back to Ithaca is described. However, these books work greatly as a whole. The Odyssey’s Book Nine through Twelve contain many major themes that help develop the characters in the collective piece. These selected books from Homer’s The Odyssey have many themes and values that including the importance of loyalty. Odysseus is often portrayed as a very loyal person. The very point of his journey is to return to his home in Ithaca to his wife and son. Odysseus is also very loyal to his crew and goes to great lengths to ensure their safety, such as using wax to put in their ears so that they could not hear the songs of sirens. Loyalty is also important to many of the creatures that Odysseus and his crew...
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...virtue”). In Homer’s “The Odyssey”, Odysseus is the king of Ithaca, father of one son, and husband of a noble wife. After leaving Ithaca to fight in the Trojan War, Odysseus faces a short journey home, in which he makes bad decisions that cause him to take much longer to arrive back in Ithaca than he should have. Odysseus’s selfishness, disloyalty, and mercilessness eliminated any chances he had of being a hero. Some may argue that Odysseus was a hero because of his extreme cleverness or cunning ways. Yes, Odysseus was clever and cunning, but in most situations he did not apply those skills correctly. Therefore, Odysseus was most definitely not a hero. To begin with, Odysseus’s selfishness is made obvious during his encounter with Polyphemus. Everything he does is for the good of himself. Every action he takes is only taken to build onto his ego. If Odysseus had not decided to provide the Cyclops with all his information, his journey...
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...The opening sections of Homer’s epic, The Odyssey, reflects the important values of family and the importance of heroism in Greek society. Throughout the epic, Homer writes about all of the adventures and challenges Odysseus has faced in the time of his voyage. Towards the end, it tells that Odysseus must “struggle to reclaim his kingdom” (723) from his own people. His final quest that he must face isn’t a giant monster, but rather to be brave and reclaim his home. During his quest, Penelope has been home doing her best to hold up his kingdom, but the suitors have gained control and have invaded their home. Odysseus must gather his courage one last time to be able to finally be over his journey home. The epic also shows the important values...
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...independent definition for a hero, the following paragraphs reflect how Homer treats the theme in his great epic of the Odyssey via Odysseus as opposed to Marvel’s characterization of the seemingly novel hero Anthony “Tony” Stark in the Iron Man trilogy. The Odyssey follows the homeward bound protagonist and his men on their adventures after...
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...Loyalty in The Odyssey Many human cultures assign values as well as worthiness to the existence of loyalty. As a Classical culture known for its emphasis of loyalty at home as well as abroad, the faithfulness of ancient Greeks in their relationships is exemplified in many Classical texts, such as Homer’s The Odyssey. In both ancient Greece as well as in The Odyssey, loyalty was the social norm because of the egalitarian nature of the city-state as well as because of the typical ancient Greek family structure. Not only because of social expectations as well as traditions was loyalty expected, but there was also an added pressure by one’s religious conviction such that it was believed that if the guests were in any way or manner mistreated, then the ancient Greek deities would punish the offender(s). There are several passages in Homer’s Classical text The Odyssey which illustrate these aspects of ancient Greek loyalty. In illustration of the faithfulness between Odysseus as well as his crew, there is a passage that notes loyalty in the crew-leader relationship: He saw the town as well as learned the minds of many distant men, as well as weathered many bitter nights as well as days his deep heart at sea, while he fought only to save his life, to bring his shipmates home. But not by will or valor could he save them, for their own recklessness destroyed them all- children as well as fools they killed as well as feasted on the cattle of Lord Helios, the Sun… (651). It would initially...
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...Legend of Troy). In Homer’s the Iliad it takes place in the tenth year of the Trojan War....
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...“Where we love is home – home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts”. Oliver Wendell Holmes perfectly captures the essence of Odysseus’ journey home. In Homer’s The Odyssey, home is described not as a geographical location, but moreover, an emotional state of being. In order for Odysseus to truly get home, he must achieve two particular emotional states. One, where he is in an environment where he is welcomed, loved, and cherished by others, and, two, where he finds joy, peace, and fulfillment in his own heart. As far as a chronological setting is concern, Odysseus is home after killing the suitors, revealing himself to his father, and reconciling with the towns people. One may argue, however, that Odysseus is home simply when he reveals himself to Telêmakhos, prior to killing all the suitors. Additionally, the novel places the genuine joy of returning home above any other earthly pleasure, even the joy of warcraft, as was presented in The Iliad. The first emotional...
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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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...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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...Homer vs. The Old Testament: The Telephone Game In the beginning there were three great stories, the stories of Homer and the stories of then what would become the Old Testament. Homer is famous for his epic poems, The Iliad and The Odyssey. The Iliad is about a man named Achilles and his feud with Agamemnon. This epic poem recounts what events took place in this feud. Homer’s next great piece of work is The Odyssey, a story about Odysseus and a war against the Trojans, and his twenty-year excursion to return home. The Old Testament much like Homer’s tales is an epic poem. The Old Testament is a story about the beginning of creation, and how one figure created the world, a story about right and wrong, and the trials and tribulations of the people of faith. By comparing the characters and the themes of Homer’s epics and the works of The Old Testament one can see the similarities between the two and how word of mouth from one story could have possibly flowed into the...
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...Webster Dictionary defines an odyssey as a series of experiences that give knowledge or understanding to someone. Both O' Brother Where Art Thou?and Homer's Odyssey have characters who go on epic journeys in a search for their home. With help from their friends, both characters make the perilous journey home, but not without costs. Both heroes must face many villains and challenges along the way. Although Everett and Odysseus have their differences, both are just men who want to return to their families. Everett and Odysseus are trying to get back to their homes before their wives can remarry. Everett convinces Pete and Delmar to escape the chain gang with him in search for treasure, in order to get his wife Penny back. Even though there...
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...In the film, Odyssey, the directors utilize characterization, setting, and music to enhance the audience’s experience and portray the theme of Homer’s epic tale. Characterization is one of the most significant tools that the directors used. It compelled the audience to feel sympathy towards the characters and stressed the most prominent theme, vengeance. The directors used emotional scenes in which the characters appeared to the audience as relatable. In the film, the directors redid the part of the text where it said, “Then throwing his arms around this marvel of a father Telemachus began to weep. Salt tears rose from the wells of longing in both men”. Instead of using narration, the directors used indirect characterization to convey the...
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