...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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...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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...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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...THE ODYSSEY The Odyssey opens in the tenth year after the fall of Troy, 20 years after Odysseus left Ithaca. Odysseus, owing to the wrath of the sea-god Poseidon, has not been allowed to return home; Odysseus had blinded Poseidon’s son Polyphemus, a Cyclops. At the moment Odysseus is living with the sea-nymph Calypso on her violet-fragrant island in the Ionian Sea. But at last Athena, his constant friend among the gods, persuades Zeus, the king of the gods, to allow him to escape. A Telemachus Seeks News Athena goes in disguise to Ithaca, where Penelope and her son Telemachus are being harassed by a horde of 108 suitors who want to compel the queen to marry one of them. The suitors presume that Odysseus is dead, though Penelope still has hope that he will return. Athena emboldens the young Telemachus and persuades him to set out on a journey to seek news of his father. He sails for Pylos, capital of the kingdom of Nestor, in the western Peloponnesus. Nestor welcomes Telemachus, tells him about the experiences of some of the Greek leaders after their departure from Troy, and entertains him for the night. Next day Telemachus goes to Sparta, the kingdom of Menelaus and Helen. (The Trojan War started with the capture of Helen by Paris, a Trojan prince.) They receive him sumptuously and recount some further adventures of the Greek princes, including the exploit of the wooden horse (Odysseus’s invention by which Troy was captured) and the encounter of Menelaus with the shape-shifting...
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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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...Kendra Perkins Matt Fox Eng 112 14 December 2011 The Odyssey: Comparison of Genders in Greek Mythology The Odyssey by Homer may be seen by many as a heroic story of a man on his journey home; however, there is an underlying story of the trials in the roles of men and women and the relationships between them. Men and women are portrayed differently in Greece, as in other societies. Men are considered to be the more powerful of the two and are responsible for the protection of their home. Women, on the other hand, are thought to care for the children and are also responsible for the supervision of both the interior and exterior of the home while the men are away. As a man, Odysseus showed great leadership in the war at Troy and was considered the hero at the Trojan War. His wife Penelope, on the other hand, exemplified the role of a woman and leadership in her daily duties of caring for the home and all of their possessions within. In her attempts to do so, she was overcome by suitors and was unable to stop them from partaking of all of their meat and drinks. This essay will explain the underlying roles of men and women in ancient Greece as well as modern day. The beginning of the novel takes place in Ithaka at the home of Odysseus. Suitors have overrun his home in the pursuit of marrying his “widow” Penelope. Telemakhos, son of Odysseus, felt it was a shame that these men would come into their home and eat and drink their house empty. Athena, daughter of Zeus, came to Telemakhos...
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...A Modern Hero’s Journey: A Short Play due dates: brainstorming due 4/7 Dr. Harrison cover letter, map, setting, character list due 4/11 English 1h formal essay, inc. WC page due 4/16 Spring 2014 You, or you and one partner, are Hollywood screenwriters who have a brilliant idea for a movie about a modern hero’s journey, modeled on Odysseus’s journey, and given a structure by Joseph Campbell: in other words, you will be showing your hero’s origin and his separation (you’ll have to create your own back story since we don’t observe Odysseus’s origin in The Odyssey), and his initiation and return to his homeland. Your job is to make the story your own by creating your own character names, setting, and back story, and then modeling your journey on the specific encounters Odysseus has, as he makes his way home. You will pitch your story to me (I’m really a famous Hollywood director—my stage name is dr.h--traveling incognito as a San Jose high school English teacher): For me to consider your story and launch you to stardom, your pitch, uploaded to your website(s) must accomplish all of the following: Cover letter: please find a template for cover letters, or create your own, to address me and give me a brief one-paragraph pitch: what is your story and why should I want to read on? Brainstorming: During class time, you will create a googledoc in which you (or you and your partner) brainstorm each of the following. Upload this googledoc to your website(s)...
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...The Odyssey In his epic poem The Odyssey, Homer uses the monomythic cycle and the motif of weaponry and bloodshed to gain better insight into Odysseus’s thoughts and feelings as he descends in to Hades’ realm. For example, once Odysseus enters Hades’ realm where he begins his search for knowledge and truth, going as far as to question the dead in shock of who he finds, “How is this Elpệnor, how could you journey to the western gloom swifter afoot than I in the blood lugger? (Homer 60-63). Odysseus’s extensive questioning help convey his need to acquire information. This also shows that at times he doubted his ability to survive. The motif of weapons and bloodshed is present throughout the epic, even in the calm yet uneasy atmosphere of Hades’ realm there is mention of weaponry “I spaded up the votive pit, and poured libations to the unnumbered dead…”(Homer 27-28). This helps capture how even in times of peace in Odysseus’ life he is surrounded by violence attributed to his past. The way he is also described as drawing his sword even in a place with no seeming threat also helps view his growing caution and worry. Literary Technique | Quotation | Identification of theme | Diction that helps create an idea of how great the Cyclops strength was. | “… and whisked away his great door slab to let his sheep go through- but he, behind, reset the stone as one would cap a quiver...” (Homer 338-340). | The brute strength the diction describes also portrays the idea that Odysseus...
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...Critical Analysis: The Odyssey | One of the major themes in this epic The Odyssey is loyalty and perseverance. King Odysseus has been away from his land of Ithaca, wife Penelope and son Telemachus for twenty years. Ten of those years were spent with his faithful crew fighting in the Trojan War and the other ten years was spent trying to return home. Penelope didn’t lose faith in her husband after a rowdy and disrespectful crowd of suitors came and uprooted the palace. Penelope has a cunning that indicates she is a good mate for her wily husband. Antinous complains of it at the assembly in Book 2. The queen has a clever tactic as she worked on a weaving for three years, a shroud for the eventual funeral of her father in law in. Clearly buys her times to fool the young suitors. Her tactics eventually fail her after her malicious servants tell the suitors what the queen has been doing. I have to commend Odysseus for his perseverance on trying to get home to Ithaca and to his family. During Books nine thru twelve is where he did most of his wandering at sea thanks to Poseidon. In these books elapsed a little over seven years of his journey. I believe those year was the longest test of Odysseus loyalty and perseverance to return home to Penelope. Odysseus has to have two affairs just to continue his journey to Penelope. While thinking about his family constantly, he still remains very loyal to his men when the goddess- enchantress Circe turns them into animals....
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...Everyone likes to throw the word “hero around”, but I dont think everyone actually realizes what a hero is, everyone has a different perception of what makes someone a hero. To some, a hero can range from someone with supernatural abilities that dedicate their whole lives to keeping the world safe from any threat to just someone with no special super power, it’s just people to admire or look up to. With the word having such a wide spectrum, it seems fairly easy to fall into the hero category. That range leaves no doubt why Odysseus and Dante are epic heroes; with what they went through, traveling through sea and passing straight through hell, they have also earned the title of being respectable heroes. According to The Odyssey, it is shown that a hero has a quality of being a risk taker; a trait Odysseus demonstrates throughout his journey. When Odysseus stabbed the Cyclopes in the eye, it is considered a huge, bold risk “Straight forward they sprinted, lifting it, and rammed it deep in his crater eye” (book IX. 380-381). Odysseus knew if he didn’t act quick, him and his men would live out their last days waiting to be lunch for the Cyclops. However, Odysseus is considered a god among men because of his quick thinking, he knew he had to succeed in order to avoid that fate. Not only were they inspired by the fact that they had to act on the situation to save their lives, but it also seems like they had some external motivation. As Odysseus’ men stood around him, “some god...
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...Ky Truong. English 1A November 4, 2014 The Odyssey The Odyssey, a great epic, told us the story of Odysseus and his adventures. Its characters , their problems, obstacles and their morals weave their way into our live as well. The morals and beliefs of the Greeks represent to us through stories and incorporate themselves into our mind. I believe the Odyssey to be an allegory, meaning it has two parts of interpretation to it. The obstacles, problems and goals relate to our modern day lives. It symbolizes the events that occur in our life and how we react to them just shown in the Odyssey. Odysseus and his trails put a representation of obstacles that ourselves face in our present day life. The journey to the Land of the Dead where the dead receive reciprocity was not so much a test for Odysseus as it is an epiphany. His mortality is put in context as he watches shades of warriors, comrades, legendary figures, and even his own mother. To followed instruction, he must speak to Tiresias, the blind seer from Thebes, before he can allow his mother or any other to approach. Then, he drank the blood to temporarily revitalize the deads , so they can communicated with Odysseus to speak the only truth. First, Tiresias warn him when...
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...punished. As pointed out by the suitors, Antinoos was the ring leader of the suitors and did deserve to be punished. But, to only kill Antinoos would not be enough revenge for the shame all the suitors inflicted on Odysseus, so he was justified in slaying the evil suitors. As Odysseus said to Eurykleia after killing the suitors, “they were destroyed by the doom of the gods and their own hard actions” (332). There are many qualities a person must possess to be a Homeric hero. First, they must by vengeful. They must also be physically strong, and have a slightly overblown ego. However, they must also be wise, smart, and intelligent. Lastly, they are required to be very affluent. Odysseus fulfilled all of these qualities, in the book The Odyssey. Odysseus’ successful journey of returning home and getting revenge on the suitors that wronged him specifically bring out some of the qualities of the Homeric hero. Odysseus also showed vengeance when he had to fight off many an enemy to save those he was fighting with. Odysseus avenged the death of his crew with "taunts" and blinding action of wounding the Cyclops, which almost get him killed. This event seems to be a snapshot of Odysseus’ role as the Homeric hero; he gets revenge for his fallen comrades using his strength and wit, and he shows his large ego by taunting the Cyclops and almost pays the price for it. The relationship the storyteller has with...
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...Joseph Banks Dr. Harl English 201 December 15, 2012 The Ramayana and The Odyssey The Ramayana and The Odyssey have been huge pieces of literature worldwide for many years. The Odyssey and The Ramayana are two different stories that are very similar in ways people may not realize. Odysseus and Rama are both great heroic men that have love for their wives. These heroes had set voyages that had obstacles they had to conquer. The historical contexts of these two tales are similar as well. Both of these stories being so old were started by oral traditions. They were passed on from generation to generation through the oral traditions used back then. Oral traditions used to be the only way that the common people could communicate their stories. Culturally both stories came from the same background to an extent. They each were from places ruled under monarchies where kings ruled over all the people. One difference is that The Ramayana was at a state of peace whereas The Odyssey tells its story when they are not at peace they are at war. Rama is exiled into the Dandaka Forest and Odysseus has been at war and has had trouble getting back for nearly twenty years. Each one is having a hard time getting what they desire and the obstacles along the way do not help. Rama, his wife Sita, and his younger brother Lakshmana are exiled in the forest.” I cannot live without my Sita.”(Ramayana) This is when the ten-headed king of Lanka abducts Sita while Rama is away. Odysseus...
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...In the story, here are some examples where good hospitably are shown: when Athene goes to Telemachus or when Telemachus goes to Nestor and Menelaus; or when Odysseus goes to Eumaios or Phaiakians. Social status was very important because wealth and values were immediately seen as soon as the guest entered the house. There were even incidents were the host would exchange goods with their guests. Another example of hospitality presented in this writing is when Odysseus is in Polyphemus’ cave. Even when death is staring Odysseus in the face, he still expected good hospitality. When people of the Odyssey time period show hospitality, it included providing gifts, a feast along with shelter and comfort as well as a listening ear. Before a host inquires about anything regarding their guest’s life or business, their main priority was the comfort of that guest. Just like in the Odyssey, when Odysseus is with the Phaecians, he would not let him leave without first giving him...
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...In The Odyssey, Homer tells a tale about the main character Odysseus as goes through many trials and tribulations on his journey home. Homer’s tales shows many important things about the Greeks and their views about life. One of things he shows through his story are the qualities of leadership. The Odyssey shows many important qualities of leadership, three of the most important qualities of leadership are determination, courage and intelligence. The Odyssey shows that one of the most important qualities of leadership is the ability to be determine and not let the bumps in the road stop you from reaching your goal. In book 5, although Odysseus has been stuck on a beautiful island with a beautiful women he still longs to go home. “Yet it is true, each day I long for home, long for the sight of home,” replied Odysseus to Calypso. Calypso tried her best to try and convince Odysseus to neglect his goal, but Odysseus stayed strong and kept his goal in sight. This is an important quality for a leader to have, because a leader must be able to keep his men strong and help them remember why they are still working. A leader has to be able to stand firm even if his men begin to give up hope. The Odyssey show what a determined leader looks like through the character of Odysseus....
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