...Odysseus Of all literature works read thus far, the Odyssey full fills the hero’s journey in all aspects of the story. Throughout this story there are vivid examples of how the hero’s journey is outlined. From the beginning of “the hero’s journey”, which is the call to adventure Odysseus will begin his journey when he makes the choice of going into battle in the Trojan War. There will also be specific events in this epic story to display “the hero’s journey” even further. Eventually the end of the journey will be revealed when Odysseus regains his family, friends, and home. This part of hero’s journey is called the return. As stated earlier, the hero’s journey starts out in the Odyssey with the call to adventure. This is shown when Odysseus goes to Troy. He had the right to refuse but he goes anyway. He didn’t want to leave his wife and son, but he felt it to be his duty to show his son what a true man and soldier he was. There were plenty supernatural aids within this story. One would be Athena. Athena is a goddess who always helped Odysseus along his journey. One example of how she helps him is that she convinces Zeus to send Hermes to Calypso. Hermes gives instructions to Calypso to release Odysseus from her prison. If Athena never would have convinced Zeus Odysseus might not have ever left Calypso’s island which would have prevented him from returning home. Circe is also a supernatural aid in the Odyssey. She was a sorceress who turned Odysseus men into Swine...
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...Odyssey As defined in the Webster’s dictionary Odyssey means a series of adventurous journeys usually marked by many changes of fortune. Odyssey can be defined in various ways to others. This word originated from the Greek literature written by Homer called “The Odyssey”. The main summary of this Greek literature is when Odysseus who is the king of Ithaca goes through many obstacles to return to his own kingdom. In today’s society Odyssey would mean all the situations and adventures one goes through life. Many people go through situation that leaves them positive and negative marks. Many people today have their life planned out. They have all their goals set that they want to achieve in life. Along with these planned life goals, also come things that are unplanned. In my opinion an odyssey in today’s world would be someone who is fighting for their rights. An odyssey today would be a person that is fighting in the political world. I believe that it is someone that is fighting in the political world. This is because people today are not as scared to speak what they say or act on what they believe is true. For example today it would be an individual fighting for their rights In today’s society there not people fighting to be king, queen or to have a throne. A person today is hoping to get go back to their hometown and see their family. An odyssey today would be an illegal immigrant. It is an immigrant because an immigrant here is always wanting to be able to go back home and...
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...time. As readers and viewers, we are impacted by the depiction of “the journey” after reading The Odyssey and watching O Brother Where Art Thou? Several factors lead to the impaction that a reader may face or feel including, but not limited to the obstacles they face, the characters’ goals, and the setting. To start off with, the characters’ actions is a reason that a literary journey can influence a reader. From The Odyssey, we can see that Odysseus’ main obstacle was the cyclops. What this means is that the cyclops impacted his journey because he had to defeat him. Additionally, from O Brother Where Art Thou? we can also see that they faced a major obstacle as well which was the law. To explain further this means that there were multiple times that their plan could have failed when...
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...In Homer’s The Odyssey, the author tells us of a magnificent story of lust, deceit, greed, and heroism. The Odyssey is a display of a journey of determination, willpower, patience, and virtue. The author tells the tale of Odysseus, on his voyage home to Ithaka. This is happening after the end of the Trojan War. Odysseus, the main character, goes through a series of many unforeseen trials and tribulations in this exemplary journey. This exemplifies his character and displays him as a hero in the eyes of the audience. During these different happenings, Odysseus makes decisions that do not correspond to his character. Odysseus is displayed as not only a hero but also as a good leader to his men. Throughout all their trials such as the Sirens, Polyphemus (the cyclops), and the enchantress Circe, Odysseus is displayed as clever, patient, cunning, and fearless. Odysseus made decisions not only for himself but also for his men as well. For example, he did not leave his men on the island of the Lotus Eaters when they clearly had no desire to go back to Ithaca; he knotted them onto the boat and left the island. He was determined to get home with as many of his men as he possibly could, though they repeatedly disobeyed him. Odysseus is one of history's greatest leaders and this is a vital part of what makes him such an epic hero Another characteristic that stand out and makes Odysseus a hero is his ability to overcome his obstacles in order to reach his goal. Odysseus is faced by many...
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...To me there is nothing better than someone who battles everything to get back to his wife. In the story, The Odyssey, Odysseus goes on a 10 year quest to get back to his wife, Penelope, and his son Telemachus. On this quest he has to battle sirens who sing men to their death, cyclops who eat people, circe, who turns men into animals and most importantly has to sail on the ocean, which the only god that hates Odysseus, Poseidon. Odysseus had to conquer monsters in order to get back to his wife and his son. Therefore this is why I think that in the book The Odyssey, the main character Odysseus was a good hero. One reason why I think that Odysseus was a great hero was because he tried to save everyone he could. “ Odysseus urges his exhausted crew by Thrinacia, the island of the sun god, Helios. But the men insist on landing. Odysseus makes them swear not to touch the god’s cattle”(Homer 922). This shows that he is a good leader because he warns them so that they won’t die so they want to go back to...
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...Magical creatures in magical lands offer a story like no other. The epic poem The Odyssey by Homer and the film The Wizard of Oz by Victor Fleming, both focus on a heroic main character struggling to get home. The Wizard of Oz presents Dorothy Gale as the savior for her new friends and local residents of Oz. The Odyssey does the same, illustrating Odysseus as the savior for his crew, as well as his family in Ithaca. Dorothy and Odysseus share many different character traits that depict heroism, however, they have many different approaches to achieving their goal of going home. Dorothy and Odysseus share some similarities of heroism. For example, they both are depicted as brave, loyal, and determined. Dorothy is brave because she stands up...
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...Because she ate the food of the Underworld, she must stay there for a period of time with Hades. While Persephone is away, Demeter mourns, so Earth experiences winter. When Persephone returns, it is spring. Tiresias is a blind prophet whose spirit Odysseus visits in the Underworld. In The Odyssey, Tiresias foretells Odysseus’ fate- that he will return home, reclaim his wife and palace from the wretched suitors, and then make another trip to a distant land to appease Poseidon. Sirens are creatures, part man and part bird, whose songs lure sailors to their death. In The Odyssey, Odysseus pours wax in the ears of his crew so they will not be affected by the Sirens voices. Then, he makes his crew tie him to the mast so he can hear the Sirens but not be lured to his death. Scylla is a six-headed monster who devours sailors. Charybdis is a dangerous whirlpool personified as a female monster. In The Odyssey, Scylla and Charybdis pose as obstacles in Odysseus’ path home. Language Situational irony is an outcome that turns out to be very different from what was expected; the difference between what is expected to happen and what actually does. An example of situational irony in The Odyssey is when Odysseus's wife tells him she will make his bed for him outside of her room and when she coldly and skeptically welcomes him after he reveals his identity. It is an unexpected event/ occurrence because you would guess she would be excited to see him after twenty...
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...Everett from “O Brother Where Art Thou” and Odysseus from “The Odyssey” are alike because they share a similar journey. Everett and Odysseus just want to get home to their families. Although they come from different backgrounds, Everett as an escaped convict, and Odysseus as a war hero, they share the same enthusiasm to get home. For example, in “O Brother Where Art Thou” a quote states, “Everett and Penny walk arm in arm, the seven Wharvey gals behind,” this quote shows that Everett did finally get home to his family after all. In “The Odyssey”, another instance would be, “What I want and all my days I pine for is to go back to my house and see my day of homecoming,” this quote shows Odysseus longing for his home. Obviously both of these quotes show that these two characters would like to go home or have successfully gotten home. Everett and Odysseus encounter a one-eyed man/monster who has a desire to either hurt them or kill them. For example, in “The Odyssey,” a quote would be, “ Two he seized and dashed to the ground like whelps, and their brains ran out and stained the Earth,” this quote is appropriate for this topic because it says that the Cyclops basically wanted to kill...
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...Odysseus is the main character of the Odyssey. Throughout all of the Odyssey, Odysseus figures himself out. The mastermind goes through many conflicts both inner and outer. He is described as a leader of his crew of men. Odysseus is not the epic hero he is supposed to be. Odysseus depends on his crew. If he was alone on Kyklopes’ island he would have probably died at first. This is because the Kyklopes picked up one of his crew members and devoured him instantly. Odysseus is always deemed as the hero, the leader, and the mastermind. But, the mastermind of war could not have gone so far without men helping him paddle his boat. An example is in the citation above, “I chopped out a six foot section of this poe and set it down before my men….”...
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...Heroes are defined as people who help and save people. It could also be defined as someone who goes on a dangerous adventure with many obstacles that the person has to 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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...The Accepting the Rejecting and the Giant - Chris Haas Per:1 “The friendly and generous reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers”. That is the very definition of my odyssey topic;Hospitality. Hospitality at the time of ancient Greece was a very big subject in the odyssey because to the people of ancient Greece, guests were thought of as if they were god-sent. Hospitality was among one the thing in ancient Greek history that you were kind of supposed to uphold and just do, as if it were a common rule, which in a way it was. There were times when hospitality is greatly shown to the main character Odysseus, and also times when an antagonist would greatly disapprove of accepting Odysseus into their house or living state. As...
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...Jade Zayas Intro to World Mythology Final Paper 05/07/2012 O Brother, Where Art Thou? vs. The Odyssey When it comes to entertainment and box office hit movie making, it is not uncommon to come across films adapted from popular literature. Taking a story that is popular and well-known is a formula for a successful film, as long as it is done the right way. The Coen Brothers, famous for successful films such as “Fargo” and “The Big Lebowski,” made a movie together entitled “O Brother, Where Art Thou.” This film, while unique in its setting and a little bit different in the plot, is clearly an adaptation of the ancient classic poem “The Odyssey” by the poet Homer. Even a review by the renowned film critic Roger Ebert states: “O Brother, Where Art Thou? is a Homeric journey through Mississippi during the Depression (Ebert, Roger 2000).” The film itself depicts the obstacles and fate of a man during the Great Depression who escapes from jail and whose only goal is to make it back home. The struggles he and his fellow escapees meet along the way are strikingly similar to the perils that face Odysseus and his men on their mission to get back to Ithaca. Also, the character references in the film that parallel the characters in the epic poem are abundant. The film is almost a modern homage to the ancient poem in all the different ways it emulates “The Odyssey.” To fully understand all of the different ways the film relates to the poem, it is important to establish the character...
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...Moat men who have been away from family – want to return to them. When a person travels long distances they happen to come upon obstacles. Pride is the most important thing that keeps men going. In the book “The Odyssey” and the film “O Brother Where Art Thou?”, we can compare three basic subjects: characters, events, and the journey. Even though the characters in the book and film have some things in common; they are very different. In “The Odyssey” by Homer, Odysseus lied to his men for the sake of keeping them safe. While in “O Brother Where Art Thou?” Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, Everett lied to Pete and Delmar so he could stop his wife from remarrying. Hence forth, Odysseus gives more of an honorable standing in the sense of loyalty to friends and family equally. While Everett seems more focused on his family. As the plots of the compared unfold, there are events that are alike. Odysseus dressed as an elderly beggar man to fool the suitors – so he could see his wife. Everett on the other hand, dresses as an elderly hobo – who is a part of a singing group to fool Homer and the suitor; so he could see his wife. Both of the men used elderly disguises to fool people in...
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...Love comes in many different shapes and sizes. Their is no doubt that a good story like The Odyssey by Homer includes the major emotional theme of love. The idea of love is emphasized throughout The Odyssey in a variety of different ways: Romantic love, familial love, and love within a helping hand of someone. These types of love all come together in perfect harmony to make The Odyssey the amazing story that it is. In life we often look and search for someone to share the love and journey with. Odysseus and Penelope’s strong and powerful relationship was no different when it came to a pure representation of love. Their relationship stayed strong throughout all the hardships they both faced. Odysseus was gone on a journey for over two decades,...
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...In Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, Odysseus demonstrates many heroic traits, and he shares some of those traits with heroes in the modern real world. Odysseus is the main protagonist in The Odyssey. He faces many obstacles on his journey back to his home island of Ithaca, a place he holds dear to his heart. The aforementioned obstacles include beasts, monsters, temptation, an insatiable whirlpool, and betrayal. Of the many sour encounters, by far the most grueling was the one of the Cyclops. Odysseus’s actions in ‘The Cyclops” demonstrate that he is clever, which is a trait he has in common with Harriet Tubman. Odysseus and his American counterpart both share the trait of cleverness. In the episode of The Cyclops, Odysseus’s wit beyond measure...
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