...born child to fight in a vicious war. The Odyssey is a Greek epic which captures the boundless journey of Odysseus, as he strives to return to Ithaca after battling in the Trojan War. Homer had been a prominent writer who had expressed the vast legends and myths of Greek gods and goddesses and captured Odysseus’ endless adventure, the challenges and temptations he had experienced throughout his journey, and the reflection of his most exceptional and imperfect qualities. As Odysseus had embarked on an endless journey filled with misery and agony, to battle in the Trojan War, he had been greatly praised and celebrated by many Ithacans and his homeland. However, although Odysseus had been greatly praised and portrayed as an outstanding individual and king throughout Homer’s epic, his actions and desires had undoubtedly reflected the worst qualities and aspects of his character. As Odysseus had embarked on his vast and extensive journey from Ithaca, he had been disloyal and faithless to his wife Penelope, who had been sincere, waiting years for his arrival...
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...differing perspectives. Homer’s ‘The Odyssey’ was written almost 3000 years ago, and is considered to be part of canonical literature....
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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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...THE ODYSSEY Is a good leader classified as one who personally gains a lot or one who benefits his or her community at large? After fighting in the brutal Trojan War, Odysseus travels the sea in hopes of returning to Ithaca, his homeland, and his wife and son, Penelope and Telemachus. Homer’s The Odyssey reveals the struggles and obstacles Odysseus and his men face traveling home. As prophesized, twenty years later, Odysseus returns to a devastated Ithaca, alone, penniless and unrecognizable. Odysseus has hubris, a flaw that costs him, as well his men, excessive troubles. Odysseus does not learn from his and others’ past mistakes, again leading him into traps that could have easily been avoided. Odysseus constantly puts his men in harm’s way for selfish purposes. For these reasons, Odysseus is an incompetent leader, and therefore should be criticized. Odysseus has hubris. This excessive pride and arrogance leads Odysseus and his men into difficult situations that would not have otherwise arisen. Towards the beginning of Homer’s epic, Odysseus narrowly escapes from a Cyclops’ cave. In triumphant victory, Odysseus taunts the Cyclops, Polyphemus. His men advise him against further agitating Polyphemus after the Cyclops starts throwing massive boulders at their ship; however, Odysseus displays hubris and does not listen. ‘Godsake, Captain! Why bait the beast again? Let him alone!’ ‘Aye He’ll smash our timbers and our heads together!’ / I would not heed them...
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...The Odyssey Haleigh Pavy O’ Brother where art thou is a great representation of the Odyssey. It shows great representation of the characters and mood and also of each other. It turns a fiction epic to a real life story. The Odyssey is a epic about how this king named Odysseus went over seas to the Trojan War. He was there for ten years, on his journey back he got cursed by a cyclops, he got all his men killed and he got stuck on circes island for seven years. Then after twenty years of being gone he finally returns home to suitors, impersonators, and he returns disguised as a beggar. O’ Brother where art thou is about how three escaped prisoners go off to find “treasure”. Everette who represents Odysseus really just wants to get home with...
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...The Odyssey Some people believe in faith. When the strings of faith are tested, one can either stay strong or give in. Those who give in because it was the easier choice, are punished later on in life. Those who chose the more difficult path are rewarded in the end of his long and treturous journey. This same idea can be found in Robert Fitzgerald's translation of Homer's The Odyssey. This piece can be interpteted in two different ways. One from the time period of when it was written, and one in our current time period. Although Odysseus was offered to live with the beautiful and immortal goddess Calypso, he chooses to take the more challenging path. The more challenging path reveals itself as the rewarding path home to his wife Penelope, thus representing the idea that love can withstand many obstacles and hardships. After embarking on an unexpected 10 year journey, Odysseus meets a beautiful goddess named Calypso. Odysseus ends up staying on her island for 7 years because on her island, time moves slower. Odysseus realizes how long he has actually been on her island and informs her that he must leave, and return to his wife Penelope. Calypso offers for him to stay with her on her paradise island, and become immortal. Odysseus declines her invitation, but in a civilized matter. “My lady goddess, here is no cause for anger./ My quiet Penelope- how well I know-/ would seem a shade before your majesty,/ death and old age being unknown to you,/ while she must die./ Yet, it...
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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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...Penelope: The Strongest of All Although Homer’s The Odyssey portrays the brave adventures of Odysseus, his wife, Penelope is a brave and clever hero in her own patient and loyal ways. Like Odysseus, Penelope keeps her cool in scary situations, and uses her bravery and wits to find a way out of it. When the suitors invaded her own home during Odysseus’s disappearance, Penelope kept her bravery and outsmarted them multiple times. They all wanted to steal Odysseus's life in his kingdom along with his wife, but they didn't know that she was stronger than they thought. Penelope tricked them by promising them that she would choose one of them to marry once she had finished Odysseus's death shroud, but what they didn't know was that...
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...Throughout Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus meets many women along the path he takes to make it back home. The women in the Odyssey are all unique and serve a different purpose in Odysseus’ life. Their individual personalities introduce new experiences to better equip Odysseus for what is to come, but their main purpose is to serve as ‘landmarks’ or ‘checkpoints’ for Odysseus. For example, take Penelope, Circe, and Athena. Penelope represents the end, for she is what Odysseus is trying to come back to. Circe would represent the middle, in which most of Odysseus’ battles were fought. And Athena represents the falling actions, the actions that happen after the conclusion. Circe, the powerful witch that caused Odysseus and his great men to falter, is representative of the middle of a book, where the rising actions would occur. On Circe’s island, the men get lured into Circe’s home for they are tricked by Circe’s...
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...The epic poem, The Odyssey by Homer, shows how ancient Greeks relied on strangers and others to be well treated when visiting. Throughout The Odyssey, Odysseus had to travel to get home, but in doing so, they had to get help by others. Odysseus would arrive to get help and the host would show Xenia. Xenia is a translation of hospitality, where the host has to give food and something to drink, and it was not polite for the guest to be question before he/she is treated. The extreme value of Xenia to the ancient Greeks is a recurrent theme in The Odyssey, as shown through the examples of Telemachus with Mentes, Alcinous with Odysseus, and Penelope with the beggar. The first example is when Telemachus offers his home to Mentes. It shows how...
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...Without The Odyssey’s good and bad female characters, Athena, Calypso and Penelope, Homer’s epic tale would not have been as successful of a story because of their profound effect on the plot. The women not only play such vitals roles in the tale they also keep the readers interested enough to find out what will happen next. The women wielded their influence via womanly skills and goddess-like attributes: seduction, supernatural powers, intelligence, and beauty. The roll of the goddess is one of a supernatural being, but more importantly one in a position to pity and help mortals. Athena, the goddess of wisdom and battle, is the most prominent example of a goddess. In the very beginning of the story, Athena is pleading for Odysseus’ return home. She is pleading with her father, Zeus, for his release. This action shows Athena’s initiative and nerve. She is the driving force behind arranging Odysseus’ release from Calypso and making sure the princess, Nausicaa, found him on the shore of Skythera. Athena shows cleverness and ingenuity. Throughout the first half of the book Athena assists him in his journey:”When you cane here to my strong home, Odysseus, under my tall roof, headwinds were left behind you. Clear sailing shall you have now, homeward now...” (192) The next role is the role of the seductress. The seductress role is always perceived as dangerous and harmful to mankind. Calypso holds Odysseus captive as her lover and entices him with immortality. For the seven years...
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...The pain of parting is nothing like the satisfaction of meeting again. In Homer’s epic The Odyssey, Penelope waits twenty long years for the return of Odysseus as the suitors plague her home and struggle to marry her. By devising a contest, with a two-fold plan, she ensures the safety of her home and husband. With each challenge Penelope faces, she continues to demonstrate her mêtis. The emotional pain Penelope feels from being separated from her husband, and being plagued by suitors, forces her to use her mêtis. There are many ways Penelope is forced to rely on her mêtis in the absence of Odysseus. By using her mêtis and great weaving talents, Penelope tricks the suitors. Before Book One of The Odyssey, Penelope devises a plan to keep the...
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...issues. In the epic of the Odyssey, written by Greek author Homer, the main character Odysseus follows this core example of showing intellect over strength. These characteristics allow Odyssey to overcome near death experiences and return to his home island of Ithica. As for the gullible king, Macbeth, he doesn’t follow any case of Odysseus. The Tragedy of Macbeth,...
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...Cowardliness of Penelope In the epic tradition, as in the Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus is a Homeric leader who goes to the war and stay at an exotic land for twenty years. There is a woman behind him – Penelope, who is the loyal wife of Odysseus and the mother of Telemachus. She is a cunning, wise woman that undergoes the situations happen to her during the absence of Odysseus. In The Odyssey, Penelope has not seen her husband Odysseus for twenty years, and, mean while, she suffers the pressure from suitors who are trying to replace the position of Odysseus. In fact, Penelope is a woman with argumentative and complex characteristics – her wisdom and cowardliness. Her wisdom is illustrated when she delays those traitors while her husband is presumed death “It’s been three year no, almost four, since she’s been toying with our affections. She encourages each man, leading us on, sending messages. But her mind is set elsewhere” (Odyssey, p.345). Even though Penelope’ wisdom confirms her as a strong character, but her instinctive cowardliness has nevertheless compromised her wisdom. Since Odysseus has not returned from the war for so long time and presumed death, those suitors want to get her remarried and occupy Odysseus’s property. Penelope lacks the power and familial protections to help her driving those suitors away from her house, where her weakness was gradually shown out. The scene that Penelope feels very bad about the content of a song that Phemius, a bard, is singing...
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...surmount. Heroes are everywhere. Odysseus is the hero of the “Odyssey” by a blind poet, Homer. Odysseus fights in Trojan War for 10 years and it took him another decade for him to get home. He had to pass many hardships to get to his homeland Ithaca. The three main stages in Campbell’s “The Hero’s Journey” that exemplified in Homer’s The Odyssey are the crossing of the first threshold,the road of trials, and freedom to live. For example, Joseph Campbell describes that the crossing of the first threshold is the hero which is Odysseus who is accompanied by the guide which is Athena, the goddess of wisdom goes beyond the boundaries of his or his everyday, enter the wilderness, and has the first encounter with...
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