Guidance, Fate, and Loyalty in The Odyssey
The Odyssey is an epic poem about a journey. After the Trojan War is won Odysseus leaves Troy for his home in Ithaca. However, the gods decide to test his courage and resolve and send him on a twenty-year odyssey. Odysseus' courage is constantly tested as he struggles with the many obstacles the gods place before him. Although Homer depicted The Odyssey as a self-reliant journey, in reality the gods and other mortals guide Odysseus. It is his loyalty to and his love for his family that keeps him going. The Odyssey depicts Odysseus as he overcomes each obstacle through guidance, fate, and loyalty to his family.
To Odysseus loyalty is the most important quality. He expects his family and friends to be loyal. He especially expects loyalty from his wife Penelope. Odysseus talks to Penelope disguised as an old man, "and as the snow melts on the lofty mountains, when Eurus melts what Zephryrus has scattered, and at its melting flowing rivers fill; so did her fair cheeks melt with flowing tears, as she bewailed the husband who was seated by her side" (187). Odysseus doesn't reveal himself even though he pities his sobbing wife because he knows she wouldn't be able to conceal her love for him in front of all her suitors. This touch of dramatic irony helps the reader sympathize with the struggles of Odysseus' wife.
Odysseus demonstrates his loyal to Penelope during his stay with the Phaeacians. Even with Nausicaa by Odysseus' side because she likes him, he still stays loyal to Penelope. As the Phaeacian woman watch Odysseus as he starts to bathe he says, "Women, stand here aside, while by myself I wash the salt from off my back...
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... in the sunlight he is. Odysseus is guided by the Phaeacians as he sleeps and due to his sleep misses important elements. Since Odysseus is asleep a sense of dramatic irony is shown because the reader knows something that the Odysseus doesn't.
Homer's epic poem The Odyssey tells the tales of Odysseus, a man who has an epic journey through life. He overcomes the struggles and conflicts of life through three main elements: loyalty to and from his family, fate, and guidance. Loyalty to his family and from his family helps him long to make it home. The gods determine his fate and by overcoming the struggles and conflicts of life he is able to fulfill his fate. Lastly guidance by the immortals and mortals helped Odysseus eventually make it home to Ithaca. Odysseus' tale is one that covers only a portion of his life, but seems like a lifetime.
The “Whitewater” scandal was a real estate scheme by the White Water Development Corp. Both President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary Clinton were involved in the scandal to make a land deal. Many people were involved in the scheme, which was held in the 1980s in Arkansas. Bill Clinton and his wife maintained their funds by the support of the Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan, which represented the Clintons in the overthrow of their Whitewater shares. The Clintons were being investigated when there were improper campaign contributions, political and financial favors, and tax benefits.
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Not only was Clinton’s act immoral as he was married at the time, he also lied under oath, which questioned his character and had an affair in the White House itself, which may seem to the public that Clinton was not being a responsible president. Clinton’s impeachment in the case was justified as he lied to the public while being under oath at the same time. Although, one could argue that the scandal occupied the headlines for long than necessary which hindered necessary policies from being debated or discussed and driving away quality talk (unit 7, From the
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.
"Odysseus often hesitates before acting, because he uses his reason and gift to evaluate things. This patience is one of his most important additional attributes"(library.thinkquest.org/19300/data/Odyssey/odysseus.html). It saved him and his men many times. "When the poem opens, it is the tenth year since the fall of Troy, and Odysseus has not yet returned to his home in the island of Ithaca, but is detained in Ogygia, an island in the west, by the nymph Calypso" (bartleby.com/22/1001.html
On Saturday December 19, 1998, then-House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt (D-MO) was preparing to speak before the U.S. House of Representatives in advance of the vote on four articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton. Clinton had been charged with perjury, obstruction of justice, and most notably, an abuse of power; he had attempted to conceal an affair with Monica Lewinsky both when she was a White House intern and when she became a paid employee. Through his speech, Gephardt attempted to persuade the House to vote for a resolution of censure rather than impeachment; overall, however, he advocated for a significant shift in the behavior of politicians in Washington, where any mistake, past or present, was fair game and often used
The Odyssey, written by Homer, is an epic of the great adventures of Odysseus. It tells of the challenging travels form leaving his home to serve in the Trojan War, to his well-deserved return to Ithaca. Odysseus known as “the man of many wiles” endured many challenging tasks as he traveled in search of his once home. Leaving behind his wife Penelope and son Telemachus, he was forced to leave. Around the sixteenth year Odysseus was gone, many believed that their once great leader was left for dead on an unknown country or was never to return to the land of Ithaca once again. Soon the suitors of over a hundred filled the halls of Odysseus’s palace, trying to marry his beautiful wife Penelope. When the suitors arrived in Odysseus’s home, hectic times became twice or even triple times worse. The suitors walked over everyone as if they had now ruled the town of Ithaca. They did not care who they hurt, as long as they got what they wanted when they wanted it. They broke almost every law of the gods; soon they realized they would have to may for dearly. As Odysseus desperately tried to fight his way back to his homeland. However, every time he got close it seems that the power of the gods was holding him back. The gods affected almost every aspect of Odysseus return and travels. They pushed him away, gave him heartache, destroyed his crew, and demolished his ship, they almost got him killed on several occasions and saved him from death. The actions that Odysseus once faced shaped his return home, because of his own choices he was able to return home but it is also what caused him to remain lost for ten years.
He had committed this perjury in his Paula Jones testimony and he persuaded Monica Lewinsky to lie under oath about their sexual affairs. Lewinsky admitted the affair after a promise of immunity to a grand jury. The Judiciary COmmittee forwarded four articles of impeachment to the House of Representatives. However, Clinton wasn’t convicted because the public felt that the president’s actions didn’t meet the Constitution’s “high crimes and misdemeanors” standard removal from office. Voters appeared willing to tolerate his personal flaws and they saw him as a target of Republican
A monster and curse made for himself to fight when he grows up, to be big enough to wipe out the whole village full of danes. Where has, if he didn't sleep with Grendel's mother and killed her like he was supposed too, there wouldn't be a problem to be worrying about and guilt to live with. In the movie, Beowulf is home with his queen and the little girl he's been sleeping with, one of the danes has brung the Golden horn. The golden horn Beowulf says that it has been lost when he went to kill Grendel's mother, which he didn't but she wanted the horn so he gave it to
While the relationship between Odysseus and Telemakhos is a blind love, the relationship between Odysseus and Penelope is a love between two people who just want to be together. Odysseus shows his love towards Penelope throughout the Odyssey. In spite of the fact that Odysseus has been gone for twenty years, he never forgets his wife back in Ithaca. One example of how much he wanted to go home was when he went to the island of the Lotus-Eaters. He could have stayed on the island of the Lotus-Eaters where everything he ever wanted was there, but the thing he wanted the most was to be with his wife. Penelope likewise displays this kind of love towards Odysseus.
The epic poem called The Odyssey, which was written by the poet Homer, is one of the many classical stories from Ancient Greek culture. It tells the story of Odysseus, King of Ithaca, and his journey back home from the war with Troy, which had occurred in Homer’s other epic Greek poem, The Illiad. Odysseus faces many trials and quests in his journey home and to take back his kingdom from the suitors, such as meeting the witch Circe, blinding a Cyclops named Polyphemus, dealing with Poseidon, and staying with the goddess Calypso. The poem has many themes that are relevant to it. One such theme is the factor of redemption. Redemption is usually a typical subject in any kind of religion, like the Greek religion and Christian religion. The story of Odysseus has an underlying message of him receiving redemption from the Greek gods. The Odyssey is a tale of redemption because it deals with Odysseus being forgiven by the gods after having to go through many trials and wrongs to rightfully claim back his wife and the throne of Ithaca.
The epic poem The Odyssey, written by Homer, centers around the main protagonist Odysseus and his long journey back home. Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, returns home after defeating the Trojans in a ten year war. On his way back, he angers Poseidon, god of the sea, by blinding his son, Polyphemus the Cyclops. Due to Odysseus’ actions, Poseidon refuses to let Odysseus reach home, and Odysseus and his crew are forced to go through a series of obstacles throughout the epic. Through this adversity, Odysseus must show his heroic attributions in order to survive. Homer portrays Odysseus as a hero by giving him characteristics such as: craftiness, loyalty, and bravery.
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
Often times in life we search for a companion, someone to share our love and life with. Odysseus and Penelope's lasting relationship is an obvious representation of love in the Odyssey. Although Odysseus is gone for twenty years he never forgets his faithful wife in Ithaca. This love helps him persevere through the many hardships that he encounters on his journey home. Penelope also exemplifies this same kind of love for Odysseus. At home in Ithaca, she stays loyal to Odysseus by unraveling his shroud and delaying her marriage to the suitors that are courting her. She always keeps the hope that her love, Odysseus, will return. Odysseus and Penelope's marriage clearly illustrates the theme of love.
After the news broke of Clinton’s extramarital affair with Monica Lewinsky, Clinton was asked to testify about the case. Clinton lied about his affair under oath, and he ultimately paid the consequences. He was impeached on counts of “perjury, obstruction of justice, witness-tampering, and abuse of power”, but he was never removed from office (“President Clinton Impeached”). Clinton was the first president to face impeachment since Andrew Johnson in 1868 and he was the second president ever to face impeachment, so the issue was not taken lightly. The president was ultimately acquitted of his charges, but the Senate’s votes were split on the charge of obstruction of justice. By impeaching the president for obstructing justice, Congress demonstrated that nobody, including the President of the United States, is above the