Odysseus was the leader of his men on the ship returning home. During their encounter with Polyphemus, he warned the crew to not steal and directed some to stay off shore. On the Isle of the Sun, he tried to stay awake after warning his crew members to not slaughter the cows, to keep an eye on them, and even prayed for their safety. He was not a perfect leader, however. Sometimes, he would keep secrets or misinform his crew, resulting in catastrophe.…
Odysseus starts his plan of outwitting the Cyclopes, after the Cyclopes making it clear he was not going to release Odysseus and his men and he was going to eat them. Odysseus observes the Cyclopes schedule and routines. This value can be related to the creating a war strategy. The next phase of him outwitting the cyclopes is when Odysseus lies about his name to the cyclopes say his name is “nobody”. The final stage is the escape and it is like a mini battle this phase entitles a battle strategy and out smarting the opponent for the safety of their ship.…
The Archetypal Pattern in Stars Wars: Episode 4 In many novels, there are archetypal patterns, this is shown prominently in The Odyssey. The Odyssey’s archetypal pattern consists of a returning wanderer, a waiting women, and a parent-less child. This archetypal model is reflected in Star Wars: Episode 4.…
Hero or Villain? A hero is someone who stands up to evil, somebody who has courage, intelligence, and never backs down. In Homer’s “The Odyssey,” Odysseus shows these qualities throughout his journey to return home to his wife and son in Ithaca. Forced to participate in the Trojan War, Odysseus finds a successful plan to defeat his enemies.…
Odysseus and The Cyclops In Homer’s epic novel, The Odyssey, Odysseus and his men stumble upon an island full of man eating cyclops, and immediately are shown how the cyclops do not respect the gods, nor their rules of xenia when a cyclops named Polyphemus grabs two of Odysseus's men, kills them, and eats them like nothing. When Odysseus and his crew first arrive at the cyclops’ island they are confused by the way the cyclops acts and tells him that he should “respect the gods” and follow the rules of xenia (9.303). The cyclops laughs in a derisive way at Odysseus’ request and assumes that Odysseus must be a “fool, stranger, or come from nowhere” (9.307). Polyphemus explains that he does not fear nor avoid the gods wrath.…
Imagine earthquakes as a result of a giant man shaking the Earth. Crazy right? It's hard to believe, but centuries ago, this was the explanation of natural phenomenons. In The Odyssey, a king must travel across Europe in order to return to his kingdom and family.…
In Homer's Odyssey, there are a multitude of epic conventions, motifs, and/or archetypes. These are things the author uses to establish a recurring pattern. Three examples of this would be supernaturalism, Disguise and Deception, and Hubris. Recurring patterns like this are common in Greek Mythology.…
Homer described the female characters in The Odyssey differently compare to other epic poems. Before, the society were dominant by male and female’s roles were basically limited to only childbirth and household duties. The idea of the woman cannot accomplish anything without the help of man is common. Female characters in The Odyssey is rather distinctive. Female characters in The Odyssey are strong, influential and smart.…
A journey story is typically portraying a hero traveling from one place to another trying to reach their goal, either mentally or physically, or perhaps both. The theme became well known by the publication of The Odyssey, by Homer. Many authors are influenced by the archetypes from Homer’s work and often have a different interpretation of a journey based story. One of the most crucial archetypes is the protagonist need to have a major flaw. Mary Shelley, who is the author of Frankenstein uses the serious and tragic tone of Homer and developed a character that is clouded by his ambition, and lack self-actualization.…
A cyclops, in Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, was a member of a primordial race of giants, each with a single eye in the center of his forehead(Wikipedia.com). The word "cyclops" literally means "round-eyed" or "circle-eyed". Do Cyclops really exist? A recent National Geographic article stated that the dated tusk, several teeth, and some bones of a Deinotherium giganteum, which, loosely translated means really huge terrible beast, have been found on the Greek island Crete. A distant relative to today's elephants, the giant mammal stood 15 feet (4.6 meters) tall at the shoulder, and had tusks that were 4.5 feet (1.3 meters) long.…
Many of the monsters and villains that Odysseus and his men face on their journey to Ithaca are fairly one dimensional in their presentation. For understandable reasons, many of the original storytellers would not have had the time or inclination to explain the motivations of every antagonist, particularly those that appeared for a single chapter. However, many legends regarding these characters exist outside of the main storyline. Some of these tales may have existed before the advent of The Odyssey as we know it, while others were most certainly created afterwards. The Laestrygonians, the Lotus-Eaters, Penelope’s suitors are primarily confined to The Odyssey, but few characters have incredibly detailed lives outside of the main storyline.…
Furthermore, Athena also provides Odysseus with tremendous support throughout his voyage. You can see during the war in troy, he was with Clypso, and only her asking her father to send Hermes to deliver him and then when Odysseus landed in the island of the Phaecians; Athena makes him look attractive, this way Nausicaa, a Phaeacian princess, would love him and be willing to help him back home. Athena also disguises herself so many times to assist Odysseus. For example, in Book 7, Athena disguises herself as a young girl, and helps Odysseys find the Phaeacians palace. Here you'll find our princess dear to the gods....…
Allison Craig Advanced English 10 Compare and Contrast essay 6/30/15 Captivating Audiences Have you ever wondered how film writers came up with all of the ideas to make fantastic blockbusters? Many of these movies are adapted from their original books, including The Odyssey, which was written by Homer. This novel is believed to be composed near the end of the eighth century. However, the Odyssey became modified by the film writer Andrei Konchalovsky, into a famous movie.…
The Greek desire for kleos, or glory, is a central part of the Odyssey’s narrative. Kleos is an important value of Greek society; it is valued higher than life itself, as many great warrior’s sacrifices have proven. In a universe where our own beings are fragile and transitory, the only way to achieve immortal fame is to have one’s great deeds sung and talked about after death. If a soldier's memory is fondly brought up long after their death one achieves the closest a mortal could get to immortality. To the average citizen, immortality is a distant and elusive concept, reserved for the gods, and antithetical to human existence.…
The female characters in the Odyssey is very different from traditional view of women in ancient times. The works of Homer – Odyssey described the role of women in the Dark Age, it is a time where woman held an inferior position in compare to man and their role are basically limited to only childbirth and household duties. The Dark Age society portray woman as man’s servants and the idea of woman cannot accomplish anything without the help of man is common. But in the Odyssey, female character is rather distinctive. Female characters in the Odyssey are strong, influential and smart.…