In The Iliad some central values of early Greek society are anger, honor, and love. The way The Iliad begins, with the "wrath of Achilles” sets the direction which the epic takes. Achilles anger is based of pride and honor.
In The Odyssey some of the central values of early Greek society are honor, hospitality, faithfulness, and revenge. Honor continues to be an important element in epics as it is the most detrimental thing to strip from a man. As Odysseus voyages in attempt to reach Ithaca he is taken in by many foreigners he meets along the way, he doesn’t always remain consistent with his tasks and unfortunately allows a lot of time to pass during some of the hospitality he enjoys. Faithfulness is another central value that can be seen indefinitely in The Odyssey especially from queen Penelope that remains faithful to Odysseus throughout his absence. By the same token, Odysseus seeks revenge against the suitors and reclaims his land and his wife making revenge a prominent value in early Greek society.
In The Iliad the major conflict begins between Prince Paris and the Achaean king Menelaus over Helen. During the war that arises from the attempt to bring back Helen the Achaeans reside in a city nearby and hold captive several women. Chryses asks
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A modern religious parallel of The Odyssey is that it mirrors how Odysseus relays on specific Gods and Goddesses for direction throughout the epic with modern human behavior for the search of answers through religion. Likewise, In the modern world it is common in human behavior to worship certain deities in hopes for prosperity in all aspects of life. Although, Odysseus’s major mistake was not recognizing and appreciating Poseidon for his assistance early on he still calls upon Athena and other deities for guidance throughout his
The Odyssey has a lot of god’s but Odysseus gets the wrath of Poseidon because he punctures Poseidon’s son’s eye. After that day Odysseus’ life is ruined for 20 years trying to get back to his homeland of Ithaca. “(Zeus:) “For his sake Poseidon, shaker of the earth, although he does not kill Odysseus, yet drives him back from the land of his fathers. But come, let all of us who are here work out his homecoming
The ancient Greeks have brought upon numerous ideas, inventions, and stories to the world. Greek mythology influences modern day literature and life. The Odyssey is an epic poem written by Homer, which tells the story of Odysseus's journey home after the Trojan War. Odysseus does not achieve his goal of reaching home so easily; monsters and gods come in his way and hinder him. The Odyssey expresses Greek values of hospitality from the customs of Ithaca, humility from Odysseus’s reform, and loyalty from Odysseus’s family.
Honor or having an honor culture is a hallmark trait of many cultures both ancient and modern. While many would go to Homer’s The Iliad for clear indications of honor culture within Ancient Greek culture, The Odyssey also provides clear indications of an honor culture. Before honor culture within The Odyssey can be explored, honor and honor culture must first be defined. The most common and relatable explanation for honor culture in our modern day world is a prevailing culture in the southern United States of America especially within the Appalachian communities. This culture and the Ancient Greek culture share simple hallmarks. Honor culture is about neither committing transgressions against another, nor tolerating them when they are done to you. It is about the value of your “good name” and reputation for being honorable. This means that slights not only against you but against your name are taken very seriously. These things are generally held throughout all cultures of honor. Some of the specifics of honor are defined by each individual culture; these specifics along with the general state of an honor culture are shown in three events within The Odyssey. The culture of honor is shown in through Odysseus in his encounter with the Cyclops, the exchange with the Phaeacian man at the games, and in the slaughter of the suitors.
The first line of the Iliad describes a human emotion that leads to doom and destruction in Homer's poetic tale of the Trojan War. Achilles' rage is a major catalyst in the action in the Iliad. It is his rage that makes him both withdraw from and, later, rejoin the war with a fury. Why is Achilles enraged? Is his rage ignited solely by his human adversaries or do the gods destine him to the experience? Achilles' rage has many facets. His rage is a personal choice and, at times, is created by the gods.
Throughout the Iliad, Homer portraits the extent to which honor plays a role in the lives of Greeks and the manner in which they are willing to sacrifice in order to reach their goals. The Iliad is set during the Trojan War, a particularly long and bloody war, fought not over boundary disagreements, and not over political conflicts, and not to protect the nation. Rather, it was a war fought to defend the personal honor. The possession of women was important to a man’s standing and honor. Paris’ theft of Helen struck a huge blow to the honor of Menelaus and becomes the initial cause of the Trojan War. Consequently, Menelaus, the Spartan ruler, called upon his brother Agamemnon to gather the Greek forces to launch the war against Paris demanding the return of Helen and reinstating the honor for the king. The war lasted for ten years and cost innumerable Greeks’ lives and brought incurable pain upon their families. To Greek heroes, honor is more important than their life as much as that life would be meaningless without it, and they even willingly sacrifice their lives in order...
Achilles anger was a predominant theme in the Iliad. It led to Patrokolos, death, Hektor’s death and a great many other Trojan deaths. Achilles was a very powerful Greek warrior, he had many faults but one of his most prominent was his uncontrollable anger. Multiple times throughout the Iliad his anger had for reaching effects on the war and people around him. These effects were not usually favorable to anyone. There are three main occurrences that led Achilles’ anger down devastating paths. The first was when Agamemnon took Achilles’ girlfriend. When this happened, Achilles felt robbed because Brisies, his girlfriend, represented his might and the glory of his conquests. In the Greek culture, glory and honor were highly esteemed. This is why
Odysseus portrays his selfishness right as the book begins and this shows how truly incompetent of an individual he is. One form of selfishness Odysseys shows is adultery. He is unfaithful to Penelope many times throughout the book. He reveals this trait specifically when he is with Kalypso on Ogygia and with Kirke on Aiaia. Odysseus shows his selfishness when he steps foot on Kalypso’s island because he chooses to stay with her for seven years. He did not care about the crew’s feelings on the matter, since all’s he cared about was himself. By the time the seven years were up, the crew members finally realized they had to make Odysseus leave. These actions also make a liar out of Odysseus because he said he wanted to return home more than anything, yet he did not even make the slightest attempt to leave. On Aiaia, Odysseus was forced to sleep with Kirke to save his men from staying swine, but he still committed adultery. No matter what the reason, adultery is a choice that can be controlled. An additional negative quality Odysseus obtains is being self absorbed. This trait is seen when Odysseus traveled to the Land of the Dead. He shows his selfish qualities in this example because he travels there initially for his own benefit. Odysseus also has attendances to t...
Homer’s The Odyssey is not just a tale of a man’s struggle on his journey home from the Trojan War, but of his struggle from the consequences of revenge. The Odyssey weaves in different characters’ tales of revenge from the gods and what impact revenge actually had on those characters. Revenge is an important underlying theme in The Odyssey because, in essence, it explains why Odysseus’ journey was so prolonged and treacherous. A few examples of revenge in the poem include Orestes’ revenge on Aegisthus, Zeus’ revenge on Odysseus and his men, and Poseidon’s revenge on Odysseus. These different examples of revenge in The Odyssey show the importance of the gods’ revenge in the epic journey of Odysseus.
The ethical values reflected in the Iliad should be taken seriously because they are not only plausible, but also congruent with the time and place. Homer is narrating tales of a society where men expect to fight and likely die in battle, where courage is demanded of all men, and where honor and glory are seen as steps toward achieving excellence. What makes the Iliad a masterpiece of Western civilization is not just the stirring story, but most of all Homer’s even-handed portrayal of the Homeric world, for the Trojans are never depicted as being less than the Greeks. The Greeks, even their greatest military heroes, are seen as flawed human beings. In conclusion, what Homer presents in the Iliad is a worldview rather than the local perspective of a distant war. In the end, Homer seems to be saying that all men may aspire to virtue.
_The Odyssey_ is believed to have been written by Homer and is infused with loyalty throughout the entire epic story. Odysseus is the most faithful, loving, and loyal husband, to Penelope, that any woman could dream of. Odysseus, in the beginning of his description of the trials and tribulations that he has endured, pledged his eternal loyalty to his ever-faithful wife Penelope. ?We are mortal weary and sick at heart/? [if only] now may I see once more/ my hall, my lands, my people before I die!? (Homer 7:233-240). Thought Odysseus did lie with the goddess his loyalty to Penelope held true. The ?Enchantress in her beauty? (Homer 7:274) enslaved the grand Odysseus to her will; yet Odysseus ?in [his] heart [he] never gave consent.? (Homer 7:276) The goddess offered Odysseus a choice, the ?promise [that he] should be/ immortal, [and] youthful, all the days to come? (Homer 7:275-276) or to continue his long continuous voyage to his queen Penelope. Because Odysseus chose to return to his devoted Penelope instead of gaining immortal life he has provided...
Homer’s literature served as a moral messenger to the people of ancient Greece. The Odyssey by Homer demonstrates the character development of Odysseus, the epic hero, and his journey of self-discovery. Odysseus was a great, wise, noble, and well respected war hero to his people. Odysseus had one tragic flaw that was demonstrated by his actions throughout the book. The author Homer continued to strip Odysseus of his arrogance throughout the story, by throwing challenges his way, making him pay for his mistakes, and allowing him to continue to overcome obstacles. The main purpose of Odysseus journey also to reach his home a more humble man. Reading Odysseus’ journey also served as a way to look at morals. The
Throughout the story The Odyssey there are many themes that represent major parts of the story. The main theme that stood out to me is love which includes loyalty. “Love is a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person; a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend; or a sexual passion or desire” (dictionary.com). “Loyalty is defined in the Webster's dictionary as faithfulness or devotion to a person, a cause or a duty” (Webster’s dictionary). Through these definitions, it can be expressed that loyalty and love are major themes in Homer's epic, "The Odyssey". Love and loyalty shows relationships that are between two people. The few relationships that represents love and loyalty is between husband and wife Odysseus and Penelope and also between father and son Odysseus and Telemachus. These relationships shows more than just love and loyalty though, their relationships also shows compassion, sympathy and the need to be in each one another’s lives.
Revenge in The Iliad it the main theme and drives men to do things that they would not normally do. The main example of this is Achilles wanting revenge on Agamemnon. The first book of the Iliad explains that Achilles wants revenge because Agamemnon is forced to return Chryseis, his war bride, to her father, and he decides to take Achilles war bride from him. According to “Some Thoughts about the Origins of ‘Greek Ethics’”, by Nicholas D. Smith, “Agamemnon’s unjust affront to Achilles leads to and extraordinarily deadly retaliation, the ultimate outcome of which is that multitudes of these men’s innocent allies are killed unnecessarily”(smith 10). This is out of character for Achilles, who would normally be the first man into battle, not sitting one out. By “rejecting even the most earnest and impressive entreaties Agamemnon offers, and increasingly making decisions which are rationally indefensible”, he shows how much his wanting of revenge has turned him into a madman (smith 10). His only desire is to get revenge for his loss. It takes the death of Patroclus, his dear friend, to bring him back to the war, which he has left.
The presence of God in our belief system is something that many cultures have taken for granted. In Odyssey book, this presence of God or Goddess is even tangible because in this epic, mortals have the abilities to talk them, to see them and to feel their presences around them. Since the beginning of the epic, Odysseus has always been helped by Athena (goddess) who is Zeus’ daughter and Zeus who admired the man’s faith, courage, strategy and intellect.
Religion was deeply intertwined with the culture of the ancient Greeks. In their stories, they prayed to the gods to satisfy their needs and offer assistance in their endeavors, and the gods would occasionally appear to select Greeks to give counsel, gifts, or other forms of aid. Alternatively, if the desires or endeavors of a mortal or mortals displeased one or more of the gods, they would also interfere with the fulfillment of their goals. In Homer’s Odyssey, the gods appear to or interfere with both Telemachus and Odysseus, either to help or hinder them in their journeys. Although the gods are responsible for the difficulty Odysseus faces returning from Troy, they are equally responsible for motivating and assisting Odysseus and Telemachus in their respective travels.