...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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...heros, monsters, creatures, and gods. This poem is about a journey taken by Odysseus. On his way home he faces many obstacles making his journey home much more complicated. While he is facing obstacles he is faced by 4 gods Athena, Zeus, Helios, and Poseidon. These gods help him throughout his journey home. Athena, the most powerful god, helps Odysseus make his journey home by providing him with guidance and beauty. Athena is the goddess of wisdom, warfare, crafts, and is one of the most powerful of the 12 olympian gods. Athena created the potter's wheel, vase, horse bridle, the chariot and the ship....
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...In various parts of The Odyssey, the goddess, Athena, disguises herself to look mortal, in order to insinuate courage into the characters so they can go on their journey. To inspire Odysseus’ son, Telemachus, to find his father and get rid of his mother’s suitors, Athena disguises herself as a close family friend and gives him the advice he needs. In book one, Athena says to Telemachus, “…reach down deep in your heart and soul/for a way to kill those suitors in your house,/by stealth or in open combat./You must not cling to your boyhood any longer-/it’s time you were a man…” (Homer 1.338-342). Athena disguises herself, instead of presenting her true form, so that Telemachus understands her words, learns, and develops like he needs to. If Athena...
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...Rudy Gabriel Ms. Z Early Civilizations 19 May 2014 The Trojan War The Trojan War is an important turning point in history for all of Greece. The Greeks fought at Troy of Anatolia against the Trojans during a later period of the Bronze Age. Paris’ judgement of the most beautiful goddesses was the beginning of the war because of the bribe that Aphrodite offered Paris. Paris is the son of King Priam of Troy and the brother of Hector, the noblest of all fighters during the Trojan War. The main cause of the war was that Helen was taken from the Spartan king, Menelaus, brother of Agamemnon, by Paris because of the Judgement. Helen was the wife of Menelaus, the king of Sparta and she herself was the bribe that Aphrodite had offered to Paris. Many great soldiers fought and died in combat for their city-state. The strategies used by the Greek army were impressive and productive. The war has gone down in history just as Achilles had wanted. The Trojan War was a very eventful battle, fought by many soldiers, at the city of Troy. The Greek army had some of the finest warriors and leaders of the ancient times. Menelaus was the king who united the Greek armies in which Achilles was not fond of. Menelaus was brother of Agamemnon who was the Achaean King and the leader of the combined armies. The Greek army was considerably large because they had conquered so many city-states and forced them to join or be enslaved. Achilles was the greatest of all the soldiers during the war. Achilles...
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...Virgil’s Aeneid and Homer’s works: the Iliad and the Odyssey, the most important difference between Virgil and Homer is whether fate is treated as fact or can be affected by the choices of mortals. Homer’s works are more meaningful for citizen readers because they emphasize the importance of free will as illustrated in the shields and prophecies of the narratives. Aeneas faces a prophecy and acts believing it would come true regardless of his choices. Though Achilles and Odysseus face prophecies, both perceive the ability, however limited, to choose their own futures. Many feel trapped by what society has told them and feel they have no control, while in reality, just like Achilles and Odysseus, every person has the ability to affect their future for better or worse. In Virgil’s Aeneid, it is preordained that he will immigrate to Italy from Troy and found the city of Rome (1.1-19). In the very beginning,...
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...Homer’s epic poem the Odyssey recounts the leading character Odysseus’s 10-year journey back home after the Trojan war. With the help of his companions, the poem mentions a series of trials structured by the god’s Odysseus must execute. One excerpt from the Odyssey, “Visit to Circe’s Island” describes Odysseus’s encounter with the “enchantress” (Willis 160), witch Circe who he must defeat in order to save his comrades. Many mythological tales referencing the great hero’s and gods of Greece are displayed using cups, vases, and many other forms of canvases. The featured vase and vase drawing shows a visual depletion of the excerpt. The full vase view shows various human looking figures with boar-like tails, forelegs, and heads representing Odysseus’s comrades who were poisoned, tricked and captured by Circe then turned into the “shape of swine” (Homer 11). Eurylochus was the only comrade who stayed behind...
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...Loyalty is like a shadow it’s something that’s with you all of the time, but sometimes it’s hidden. Most people don’t show their loyalty hidden, but loyalty is something that’s not supposed to be hidden .To me loyalty is when someone is there for someone else. Loyalty is a characteristic many people should strive to have; it earns the trust and respect of many. A loyal person would never be able to fail someone because they are trustable. Loyalty is everywhere and there are many different kinds of loyalty. Loyalty to strangers is one of the many different kinds of loyalty. We have all showed loyalty to strangers at least once. When people follow rules somewhere either at school, work etc. This shows loyalty. Loyalty doesn’t only earn the respect of someone, but being loyal to a stranger show that you respect them even if you don’t know them. When we follow rules at some place it shows we are staying honest to the rules and the rule makers. Our honesty shows loyalty. Another type of loyalty is to friends. We all have friends, but there are many components to being loyal to your friends. When your friends tells you something and they expect you to keep it a secret, keeping this a secret shows loyalty. Not keeping the matter a secret will show disloyalty. Disloyalty will lose a friend’s trust and it will be really hard to regain a friend’s trust when it’s been lost. When a secret, which is supposed to be kept, gets out the friendship itself is in danger of breaking. Helping...
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...audience finally witnesses the fatal revenge Odysseus carries out upon the suitors, rekindling his love with Penelope, and the return to his rightful place as king of Ithaka. There are many crucial topics within the climax of the epic that will be addressed further through analysis. The first topic that is evident in book 23 is revenge, as Odysseus reclaims the home that was taken from him by the disrespectful suitors. Throughout the course of the epic, Odysseus’ arrival to Ithaka has been anticipated, along with his anger and rage towards the suitors who not only dishonoured his home, but his people and wife as well. A quote taken from the epic states, “You took my house to plunder, twisted my maids to serve your beds. You dared bid my wife while I was still alive. Contempt was all you had for the gods who rule wide heaven, contempt for what men say of you hereafter. Your last hour has come. You die in blood.” (Fitzgerald, 410) The suitors’ retribution was clear as they brought death upon themselves by their shameful actions in Odysseus’ household. The next clear idea that is presented in the epic is the topic of corrupt hospitality. The suitors are brought to their downfall with the food they have...
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...In Homer’s the Odyssey, a man named Odysseus spends years and years trying to get home to his family. On his long journey, he encounters a number of different situations that test his true character. The reader finds out who Odysseus really is based on the situations he is put in and how he chooses to handle these situations. From being stuck on an Island with Calypso, a nymph goddess, to almost being eaten by a vicious cyclops, to seeing his wife for the first time in 20 years, Odysseus stays true to his character. Throughout the epic, Odysseus shows constant signs of bravery, leadership, intelligence, cleverness, and wholehearted faithfulness, and these things are what makes him such an admirable character. Bravery and leadership go hand in hand because bravery is a trait that all good leaders have. Odysseus showed amazing bravery and leadership skills throughout the Odyssey. One place where Odysseus’s bravery and leadership are revealed the most is when Odysseus and his men encounter Poseidon’s Cyclops son, Polyphemus. Odysseus used his leadership skills and bravery to help his men escape the wrath of Polyphemus while...
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...white againts the brown and dry valley (Roberts, Zweig 350).The white hills that contrast with brown and dry barren valley represent the choice between life and death. Jig either has to keep the baby, life, or the abort the baby, death. When jig walks to other the end of the station, the author descibes the fields of grain and trees along the Ebro river (Roberts, Zweig 352). This symbolizes the life in her belly. The fertile landscape at the end of the station reminds jig she is pregnant, and she the possibility of keeping her child and having a happy life. In addition to setting, the author uses symbolism to communicate main ideas through description. Jig describes the white hills as elephants. A white elephant is an symbol for a valuable but burdensome possession of which its owner cannot...
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...The Flower-Fed Buffaloes Explore how either The Flower-Fed Buffaloes (by Vachel Lindsay) or Report to Wordsworth (by Boey Kim Cheng) powerfully conveys feelings about human destruction ? Uses: - Symbols - contrasting visual imagery. - tone In the poem called “The Flower – Fed Buffaloes” written by Vachel Lindsay. The poet uses literally techniques such as visual images, tone and symbols, in order for her to convey a strong image about the human destruction of the natural world. The poet uses visual imagery that opposes one and another, in order for her to create this image of destruction of nature by mankind. At the beginning of the poem, before humans intervened, the countryside was “blooming, tossing” and the “flowers lie low’. These words make nature have an ambiance of calmness, zen, peacefulness and harmony as nature is not disturbed by anything. But this visual image will soon change, as suddenly everything is “swept away by wheat’, meaning that this peacefully countryside is intervened by human activity. This creates an image of nature suddenly being attacked and confronted with mankind and its intentions. The changing of fields into wheat plantation is an example of one of many mankind’s’ intention (this being colonization and industry). The author also uses contracting tone in order for her to convey feelings about human destruction. Like with the visual imagery, the tone of poem is very happy and serene, as nature is free to do whatever it...
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...“A Man” by Ernest Buckler Prithika Sritharan In the short story, “A Man” by Ernest Buckler, he uses the symbolism of the garden to demonstrate Joseph and Mark’s relationship which evolves from their formal and mutual respect to the acknowledgment of their true feelings. The garden symbolizes the state of which their relationship stands and how it changes as the plot progresses. In the beginning of the story Joseph and Mark’s relationship was a little distant; they were really formal to one another because they didn’t have the faith in each other. This is shown when Mark comes up to Joseph and tells him about how he’s going to plant orange seeds and let them grow, Mark said, “They won’t grow here.” Mark and Joseph didn’t have that normal father and son relationship. “In a neighbour’s house of a Sunday afternoon Mark might stand nearer to him than to anyone else; but he never got onto his lap like the other kids got onto their fathers laps.” This formal relationship definitely reflected on Mark’s garden because towards the ending it didn’t even grow because he didn’t have the right support that he should’ve got from the beginning. The formal respect that they had to one another did turn to mutual right after Mark’s accident with the horses. After that horrible accident Joseph started to express his feelings out to his son mutually. Joseph made sure his son had extra care and that no harm was done to him, “Joseph would be the one who’d quietly put the extra leaves...
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...easily things can be misconceived, all depending on how you think about it. This is evident upon examining the use of heart disease, springtime, and the open window. We are exposed to the fact that Mrs. Mallard has heart disease, and a family friend tells her of a train wreck, in which her husband is killed. She is remorseful at first, then realizes the freedom that she has just inherited. She thinks about how she has been repressed, but now she is free to pursue a new path in life. In the beginning of the story, we discover Mrs. Mallard is ill with heart disease. Mr. Richards, a close friend of her husband, and her sister, Josephine, are concerned how she will take the news of Mr. Mallard dying. For the reader, her heart disease serves as a symbol of her repressed life, and her marriage to a man who controls her will. During her time alone, her will and outlook on life seem to become more vibrant as she thinks about how she has a new lease on life due to her husband’s death. She starts to feel as if she has the entire world at her fingertips. The author describes the springtime, “the tops of trees that were aquiver with new spring life… countless sparrows twittering in the eaves,” symbolizing renewal or a new start of her life. When the story began, it was raining and it seemed depressive, as if there was no hope or change. Then, as her thoughts become realized, it changes to demonstrate how things change and are reborn. She starts to think of all the possibilities laid out before...
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...language being presented as symbols and his rejections of signs. I will then conclude and provide a short summary before moving on to views for and against his ideas, before stating my own thoughts. Paul Tillich was a German- American theologian who believed that it is possible to speak meaningfully about metaphysical concepts and from this he came up with the theory that religious language, because it is symbolic in nature, has an overwhelming effect upon humans. Tillich argued that religious language is symbolic. This means that religious symbols communicate the most significant values and beliefs of human beings. Tillich initially had to start his theory by making a distinction between signs and symbols. Tillich suggested that signs do not participate in what they symbolise. By this he means that signs only point to a statement and have no additional effect. For example a sign may point the way to a town centre, but that’s all it does. It doesn’t fill you with peace, hope, excitement or any other emotion. Tillich believed that symbols on the other hand are powerful as they actually take part in the power and meaning of what they symbolise. This means that symbols have more effect on a person and give meaning of the object. For example a cross symbolises Jesus’ sacrifice and the belief about God and his plan for salvation. Therefore, a symbol communicates more effectively with us. Tillich then tried to argue that religious language operates as a symbol, in the sense that the language...
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...Pleasantville In Pleasantville, color represents passion, love, art, and risk. In the scene at Lover’s Lane, Bud describes the color as loud, scary, and dangerous. Fear of the unknown is the main conflict in the movie. Many in the movie, such as the Mayor and Whitey are threaten and fearful of the color. The Mayor describes Pleasantville as a traditional town, a “pleasant” town. He uses the towns traditional ways and values to create a code of conduct. The code of conduct attempts to suppress and outlaw activities that cause or bring additional color to the town. The Mayor imprisons Bud and tries to prosecute him for breaking the code of conduct. Whitey and his gang use violence, harassment and aggression to intimidate the people of color. So the “pleasant” citizens use violence and power in an attempt to discourage the activities they believe to be causing the colors to appear in their town. All of this is symbolism to historical racial conflict, Whitey and his gang symbolize the America’s KKK. The mayor and his code of conduct symbolizes the Nazi’s and their racial hatred toward those that are different then the arian race. One scene in the movie we see a sign in the window of a town store that says “No Colors,” this is symbolism for America’s ugly segregation past. The movie challenges the viewer to recognize that those with differences in society may cause volatility and push us outside of our comfort zones, but embracing the differences can make society better...
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