...say evils come from us, but it is they, rather, who by their own recklessness win sorrow beyond what is given.”(Odyssey 1. 32-34) These words are spoken by Zeus at the beginning of Homer’s The Odyssey as he explains that it is not the gods who are responsible for the suffering of mankind, but that these hardships come from one’s own choices and character flaws. Homer begins The Odyssey with this dialog to inform the reader that the fate of Odysseus, his ten year long journey home, is the result of his own choices and flaws rather than portraying him as a victim of the gods. Although Odysseus is certainly a great hero, Homer makes it clear from the beginning, through that quote from Zeus, that...
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...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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...Andrew Forero Ms. Kaye English 1, Section 6 1/6/14 Odyssey Book and Movie Comparison In life today many movies are based off of books and vise versa. In fact more people tend to watch movies and read books that are based off each other. The Odyssey by Homer, is a famous piece of literature that depicts a hero’s way home from a war. It is arguably one of the greatest pieces of literature ever written, so there is obviously a movie that bases itself off of this book. There are many similarities between the book and movie due to the fact that the movie wants to stay true to the book. Furthermore, there are also many differences between the book and movie due to many factors that take place when making a movie. The book and movie The Odyssey are very similar and alike, but they do share their differences as no movie and book can be a hundred percent the same. To begin with, The Odyssey book and movie have many similarities. Since the movie is copy of the book, many of the plot points and events are the same. For example Odysseus and his men go on the same journey. The movie includes most of the important places the go to. These places include the land of the Cyclops, island of Aeaea (Circe), the land of the Dead, and the area of the Sirens and Charybdis. Another example is the characters. Both the book and movie include the same charcters such as Odysseus, Telemachus, Penelope, Antinous, etc. The last example is the same plot ending. They both end with Odysseus killing...
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...Philosophies (Women)- Women play either a motherly role or that of a seductress. They are weakened along with being lost without a guide and a support. An example would be Penelope, wife of Odysseus since she is a mother, but while Odysseus is gone, and when suitors come along, in a way she tempts them in terms of power (of the role of king) and as a woman, but she actually never gives in to any of the men. The purpose of women was mainly to lament the losses for their men and also persuading for their safety. Criticism- Homer had written the Odyssey with a bit of over-the-top reiteration, along with the missing component of a sense of unity. However, even when Odysseus wasn’t on a scene, the lines of the story still indicate that he is...
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...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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...Tom Rath says, “You cannot be anything you want to be - but you can be a whole lot more of who you already are.” Rath is the creator of Strengthsfinder, a program helps people find and understand their strengths. For example, my strengths include: Competition, Significance, Achiever, Futuristic, and Focus. Throughout our study of Greek culture, especially in The Odyssey, these are very common traits. These are traits commonly seen in athletes, warriors, and leaders such as Odysseus. My vase includes images such as those, along with images that connect to The Odyssey and my own life. Focus: Lens & Penelope While creating my vase, I incorporated both Greek culture and some modern-day styles. For example, I chose to incorporate a camera lens...
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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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...Alma Morales Professor Derbyshire English 391 March 9, 2016 The Odyssey: The Power of Gods The epic of Homer The Odyssey is about Odysseus and his 10 year struggle to return home Ithaca where his wife Penelope and his son Telemachus are struggling with the suitors who are waiting to take Penelope’s hand and Ithaca’s throne while they await for Odysseus return. However, Odysseus struggled to return Ithaca for the reason that Poseidon one of the gods that appear during the epic prevent him to return to his homeland. The theme that I considered interesting about the epic The Odyssey is the Power of Gods. Gods were considered ‘supreme’to humans. This was because humans plead to the Gods whenever they need to achieve something, and the gods decided to please or not to please humans according to human’s effort in obtain their help. Through the epic The Odyssey from Homer, in numerous occasions gods interact with humans for example, in Book II ,Athena one of the goddesses interact with Telemachus as Mentor and she advises him to embark in a journey to go to look for his father Odysseus “the journey you have your heart set on won’t be delayed. I myself, your father’s old comrade, will equip a fast ship and sail along with you” (II.309-311). It seems that the power of gods in this epic is a very important part of human’s life. In addition, another aspect of the relationship between the gods and humans is that since humans believe gods have all the power over them, humans...
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...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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...The Odyssey Essay Topics We will begin work on the essays once we’ve completed the reading. Between now and then you need to consider the following topics and choose one for your paper. Read over each topic; as we continue to read, listen for lines that will fit with your topic (that you can use in your paper!). You will commit to a topic later. 1. On at least three occasions in the Odyssey, good advice is offered and not taken, and disaster and suffering result. Discuss three such examples. 2. In Part 2 of the Odyssey, Penelope shows that she is a strong woman, and therefore a good match for Odysseus, because she is clever. Discuss three times when Penelope was clever. 3. What is the role of females in the Odyssey? Taking into consideration such characters as Penelope, Circe, Athena, the Sirens, and Anticlea (Odysseus’ mother), discuss how women are portrayed. 4. What is the importance of the father/son relationships in the Odyssey? Thinking about what the story presents about the relationships between Odysseus and Laertes, Odysseus and Telemachus, and Polyphemus and Poseidon, describe what characteristics of this relationship the Greeks valued. 5. The Odyssey contains some very graphic violence, some of which is done in anger and some of which is not. Select examples of each, and explain the purpose of each violent scene. 6. Hospitality, the concept of welcoming visitors and treating them well, was important to the Ancient Greeks. Find examples in the...
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...hero has been interpreted in many ways throughout the ages an Odysseus is one literary hero that stands the test of time. There are many heroic traits that makes Odysseus in The Odyssey a hero even in today's world. The first trait that makes him a hero is Odysseus is hubristic which is one of his flaws. The next trait is he is stro In the Odyssey Odysseus portrays many traits that make him a hero such as his flaws. In multiple books he shows how hubristic or pride he is especially in book nine at the cyclops island. When Odysseus and his crew first arrived on the island Odysseus picks out a dozen of his best fighters to scope out the island. They find one of the cyclops caves and de themselves at home and “built a fire, set...
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...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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...Through The Odyssey, the theme of hospitality is extremely important. In Grecian culture, being is a good host is highly valued and expected by guests. Hospitality was one of Zeus’s ground rules of ancient society. It is a crime against Zeus to commit an offense against a host or guest. Hospitality is an honorable characteristic. It was believed that not being hospitable would result in punishment from the gods. Throughout the Odyssey, three distinct events show the importance of hospitality during the Homer era. The first is Odysseus and the Phaeacian’s who are honorable hosts. The next is the suitors occupying Odysseus’s house, who are shown as horrible guests. Lastly, Odysseus is the guest of Polyphemus, who is an awful host. By comparing and contrasting these three events, one can show the importance of hospitality. The fear of Zeus compels the characters...
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...The Odyssey has been a major part of English Literature. Therefore, there have been several adaptations made to it, including multiple movies. There are two major movies that represent the Odyssey luminously. Ulysses (1954) and The Odyssey (1997) are two of the most major adaptation to the remarkable Odyssey by Homer. Ulysses (1954) was directed by Mario Camerini, and the Odyssey (1997) was directed by Andrey Konchalovskiy. INCLUDE THESIS The Odyssey )1997) starts off with Odysseus running to the birth of Telemachus, while Agamemnon and Menelaus visit him. They visit him to tell him about the kidnapping of Helen, which leads to the Trojan War. When Odysseus is leaving there are two major things that happen first, of all his mother makes him...
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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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