...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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...significant role in the Odyssey ensuring that Odysseus and his family are aware of their surroundings before they experience them and also making sure they are safe when being threatened. Athena takes a great liking to Odysseus because she sees the same cunning characteristics in him that she also sees in herself, and she takes it upon herself to ensure that he is safe on his return home to Ithaca. To give Odysseus greater happiness on his journey home after being away for 20 years, she makes sure that his family is safe and that he has the opportunity to take control back of his kingdom. Athena safeguards Odysseus’ family not only by giving Telemachos and Penelope both comfort and advice in decision-making, but also through direct involvement in the battle between Odysseus and the suitors to ensure his victory. Early in the Odyssey, Athena makes her presence and intentions known by encouraging Telemachos to go on a journey to Plyos and Sparta to try to find information on the whereabouts of his father. Athena not only instructs Telemachos what to do but she gets a crew of the best men of Ithaca together to ensure that he is safe. While visiting Nestor on his journey, Telemachos is intimidated by him and does not feel confident in asking Nestor questions about his father. Athena gives him the confidence to talk to Nestor and ask the important questions, telling him: “this is why you sailed the open sea, to find news of your father, what soil covers him, what fate he has met with...
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...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 often fear the gods and therefore they honor them or offer...
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...created many problems with the Greek gods. Towards the beginning of the poem, Odysseus has just defeated the trojans and plundered the city of Troy. As any person, you would be pretty happy, but Odysseus thinks that he's more than just a man. Odysseus calls to Muse, the goddess of poetry to boast about the plundering of Troy as well as the stealing from the gods. “Sing to me, Muse and through me tell a story… destroyed them all children and fools, they killed and feasted on the cattle of Lord Helios” (Homer 1, 11-13). Early in the film, Odysseus tells Poseidon that he himself only defeated Troy without...
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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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...Exposition The Odyssey begins ten years after the end of the ten-year Trojan War, and Odysseus has still not returned home from the war. Odysseus' son Telemachus is about 20 years old and is sharing his absent father’s house on the island of Ithaca with his mother Penelope and a crowd of 108 boisterous young men, "the Suitors", whose aim is to persuade Penelope to marry one of them, all the while enjoying the hospitality of Odysseus' household and eating up his wealth. Odysseus’ protectress, the goddess Athena, discusses his fate with Zeus, king of the gods, at a moment when Odysseus' enemy, the god of the sea Poseidon, is absent from Mount Olympus. Then, disguised as a Taphian chieftain named Mentes (otherwise known as “Mentor”), she visits Telemachus to urge him to search for news of his father. He offers her hospitality; they observe the Suitors dining rowdily while the bard Phemius performs a narrative poem for them. Penelope objects to Phemius' theme, the "Return from Troy"[5] because it reminds her of her missing husband, but Telemachus rebuts her objections. That night Athena, disguised as Telemachus, finds a ship and crew for the true Telemachus. The next morning, Telemachus calls an assembly of citizens of Ithaca to discuss what should be done with the suitors. Accompanied by Athena (still disguised as Mentor), he departs for the Greek mainland and the household of Nestor, most venerable of the Greek warriors at Troy, now at home in Pylos. From there, Telemachus rides...
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...Odysseus set for home as soon as he finished his courageous battle in Troy. Filled with pride he accidentally angered the god Poseidon. He claimed that “He Odysseus had beaten the Trojans without the help of the gods,” but he had forgotten he got help from Poseidon in order for his plan to work. Poseidon enraged had cursed Odysseus to never return to Ithaca, as long as he sailed in Poseidon’s ocean. This leads him to go on a ten year journey to get home to his faithful wife and his child. Odysseus faced many obstacles on his journey home to Ithaca. His first obstacle was when they were trapped inside the Cyclops’ cave. Of course Odysseus showed off his leadership skills by initiating a great plan to get out of the cave. If the plan had failed his entire crew would have been eaten by the great beast. Another intelligent idea he had was not telling the Cyclops his name at first so that when he called for help he yelled “Nobody has blinded me”. No other cyclops came to help because they all thought he was fine. Odysseus was determined to go home and no matter the obstacle he was going to overcome it....
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...of Ithaca, headed home from the long war with Troy. Odysseus, now considered a war hero, had the task of getting himself and all of his men back safe to Ithaca. The only problem was that he faced many difficult challenges along the way. A cyclopes, giants, and a beautiful sorceress were some examples of these. Although Odysseus had some shining moments, he also made some bad ones. Odysseus was strategic in navigating obstacles, however, his arrogance clouded his judgement, leading to his crew’s demise. Odysseus had many great strategies while navigating back home to Ithaca. His arguably best strategy was praying to Athena early in his journey. When Odysseus...
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...Odysseus from “The Odyssey” is referred to as a true Greek Hero by many and is studied by English Classes around the world. What The Odyssey is about is the hero, Odysseus, who is trying to get home to Ithaca after winning the Trojan War. The war took him ten years and the voyage home is taking him ten meaning Odysseus has been gone for a total of twenty years. Odysseus is in fact a true hero, yet he does have flaws through either fulfilling, or failing to fulfill the following, arête, eudaimonia, and hubris. A perfect example of Odysseus not fulfilling arête is when they see Elpenor in The Kingdom of the Dead and he says the following: “Don’t sail off / and desert me, left behind unwept, unburied, don’t, / or my curse may draw god’s fury on your head” (Book XI 79-81). Elpenor was part of Odysseus’s crew and he died when he fell off of a building and broke his neck. Odysseus and his men did not have time to bury Elpenor because they had to leave to visit Hades. This is a perfect example of Odysseus violating arête. Even though they had a place to be they could’ve easily buried Elpenor, it is in a way hospitality. Zeus, who is the god of hospitality, would not be pleased with Odysseus, especially since he always shows hospitality with whom he encounters. Elpenor even said that the gods will draw...
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...Odysseus’ Journey: A Path to Redemption In Homer's The Odyssey, the protagonist Odysseus sets off on a 10 year journey to reclaim his throne as king of Ithaca after the Trojan War. Throughout his journey, Odysseus constantly struggles with temptation. Odysseus faces the challenge of overcoming his weaknesses to obtain redemption from the gods. Odysseus' chances of returning home are compromised by his flaws and those of his crew; however, Odysseus possesses the necessary virtues and qualities needed to reclaim his throne. One flaw that dooms Odysseus is hubris. When Odysseus and his crew become trapped in the Cyclops’s cave, Odysseus uses his intelligence and cleverness to escape. After the escape, Odysseus brags and reveals his real name to Polyphemus, yelling from his ship “…if any man…should ask you who blinded you, shamed you so—say Odysseus…he gouged out your eye” (Homer 9.558). Polyphemus is enraged and curses Odysseus' name to Poseidon, praying that his father will delay Odysseus’ return. Poseidon curses Odysseus and his men by causing storms and winds to prevent him and his crew from returning home. If Odysseus didn’t let his pride influence him in this instance, he may have returned to Ithaca earlier and saved the lives of many of his men. Another example of Odysseus’ pride compromising the success of the journey was when the crew was facing the Sirens. The Sirens are dangerous sea enchantresses that lead sailors to their deaths through song. Instead of putting...
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...about what a hero really is? In Homer’s timeless epic The Odyssey,Odysseus of Ithaca is the hero. A hero is someone who is loyal to his country, family and gods. Odysseus, king of Ithaca because he is loyal to his country, family, and gods. “Odysseus leaves the ship and rushes to Circe’s hall. The god Hermes stops him to give him a plant that will act like as an antidote to Circe’s power” (page 7580).This shows loyalty to his country because Odysseus is willing to eat something that might kill him to save his men. “I sent out two picked men and a runner to learn what race of men that land sustained.They fell in, soon enough, with lotus eater, who showed no will to do us harm, only offering the sweet lotus to...
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...threatened or abused by the gods, while those with good reputations are loved and rewarded by the gods. A character’s reputation determined how one is treated, and if one was favored by the gods. In the epic, Odysseus earns kleos and therefore he is treated like a god when he travels to other places. During his journey, Odysseus encountered many people who welcomed him into their homes. In Book 10, Aeolus “hosted [Odysseus] for one entire month” (10. 17) and “he denied me [Odysseus] nothing” (10. 21) after “he pressed me [Odysseus] for news of Troy and...
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...Setting 13: Ithaca Ithaca, as it is near Phaeacia, is quite far from Troy; the story shows Odysseus is at the gates, then in the palace, and also his bedroom. The one thing all these setting have in common are that they are at sea, which is controlled by Poseidon. This is significant because the whole journey is about Odysseus’s travels at sea, which were basically caused by Poseidon. The reason for Poseidon making him go through a long journey is that he was angered that Odysseus didn’t give him any credit in terms of assistance when invading Troy. And since he is the god of the sea, horses, and earthquakes, he has the power to keep Odysseus away from his home for a long time. Quote, cite, and explain the use & effect of three literary techniques (See questions and quotes in textbook or resources): Speaker says, “Quote” (Author line #). Define the literary technique, tell how it is used, and what it...
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...of Troy, he left for his home in Ithaca, a journey which should have taken only a few weeks. It was to take ten years. 2. Ismara - After Odysseus and his men depart from Troy, they are greeted by friendly and calm waters. The crew made for Ismaros in the land of the Cicones. Odysseus and his men looted the city and robbed it of all its goods. Odysseus wisely told his men to board the ships quickly but they refused and fell asleep on the beach. The next morning, the Cicones returned with their fierce kinsmen from the mountains. Odysseus and his men fled to the ships as fast as they could but they lost many men still. On leaving Ismarus, Odysseus and his twelve ships were...
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...transportation and protection. Gods might also disguise themselves into human beings to test the hospitality of a host. Xenia is an essential and highly expected quality for both guests and hosts according to Homer. In The Odyssey, he provides several examples: the suitors and Polyphemus (the Cyclops), Telemachus, Nestor, and Menelaus, as well as Calypso and Circe....
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