Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
The raven edgar allan poe analysis
Weaving symbolism in the odyssey
The raven edgar allan poe analysis
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: The raven edgar allan poe analysis
The famous writer Edgar Allan Poe once said, “Sleep, those little slices of death, how I loathe them.” In the book The Odyssey by Homer sleep leads to bad consequences and a few good. The motif of sleep symbolises many things throughout the book.
The story of the Cattle of Helios symbolises doubt from the crew. The crew is faced with a dilemma, they are out of food on the ship and they have resorted to hunting for food not yet killing the forbidden cattle. However Odysseus wanders off and the gods lull him into a slumber, Eurylocos responds with a speech, “ … the most pitiful death is to starve. Let us [kill] the best of the cattle and sacrifice them to the immortal gods.” Because of Odysseus’ slumber the crew had doubt that they would
…show more content…
Odysseus is given a bag to be used to create a small amount of winds at one time. Odysseus fell asleep on the trip and the crew opened the bag because they thought there was gold and silver inside. The men began to say that, “... there must be gold and silver in that bag” (120c). If Odysseus was still awake he could have defended the bag from the crew.
The story of retelling to the Phaeacians symbolizes willpower from Odysseus. When Odysseus is halfway through telling the king and queen of Phaeacia his story he asks to sleep. The king and queen urge him to keep going. Odysseus replies with, “... there is a time for long stories, and there is a time for sleep; but if you wish to hear [I will keep telling]...”(142d). Odysseus obviously wants to sleep, however for the sake of the king and queen he keeps telling. This shows willpower, without it he would have refused their pleas and slept.
The story of the Battle in the Hall symbolizes ignorance from Penelope. Throughout the entire fight Penelope had been sleeping. She had not yet seen her husband that was missing for 20 years. When the old nanny came up to wake her Penelope replied with, “... the gods have made you mad… why do you mock me with this crazy tale…”(282c) and similar remarks. If she had not been asleep her ignorance of the situation would be gone and she would have already been
In The Odyssey, Odysseus portrays an important trait to the story, perseverance. His perseverance really stands out as something that he has and always will have. On his long journey home, he never gives up and just stays where he is, no matter how tempting. He always manages to push through and keep getting closer to his goal of returning home. An example of when he does this is when he is faced with the challenge of getting past Skylla and Kharybdis. He knows that either path will kill at least some of his men and possibly him, but he knows he has to keep going. "And all this time,/ in travail, sobbing, gaining on the current,/ we rowed into the strait---Skylla to port/ and on our starboard beam Kharybdis, dire/ gorge of the salt sea tide." (Homer, 12. 301-305). In O Brother, Where Art Thou, Everett also showed his perseverance. While trying to get back to his wife, he also faces many obstacles that he must get through. There were many people and things keeping him from where he was going, but he pushed through and got there anyway. His greatest obstacle to get through was when he came upon the sirens. He went down to the river and the sirens got the men drunk enough to fall asleep. While asleep, Pete was turned in by the sirens, but the other men hadn't been turned in yet. They woke up and were forced to get out of there as fast as they could with a frog they thought was Pete. Delmar wanted to stay and try to change Pete back but Everett told him they needed to persevere and keep going, and they did. Another trait that both of these men show in their stories is their cleverness. Odysseus show...
This is the main difference between the songs of the Bards and Odysseus telling his story: the emotional component. Odysseus can add depth, as well as breadth to the tale of "The Great Odysseus", through his own firsthand account of events. Odysseus is sharing his thoughts, emotions, and fallacies with the Phaeacians. While Odysseus does compound upon his story further than the Bards can, they do share one similarity: persuasion and account of the audience. There is certainly some tweaking of the misfortunes that Odysseus suffers. Not denying the difficulties of the voyage, the emphasis on the hardships works in Odysseus's favor as it draws sympathy from the Phaeacians, thus compelling them further to aide him on a swift return to Ithaca. Odysseus probably plays "the sympathy card" because he knows that once the Phaeacians learn of Poseidon's dislike of him, the Phaeacians may be less inclined to lend him their aid. This understanding of his audience's higher loyalties, and the art of persuasion influences Odysseus in portraying himself in a sympathetic manner. Odysseus purposefully casts himself as the unfortunate victim of the wrath of a God, and as a devoted, suffering husband who yearns to return
This shows that Odysseus’ self-serving nature extends beyond material greed into the equally sinful realm of pride. In a classic display of hubris, Odysseus taunts the Cyclopes fulfilling the sole purpose of stroking Odysseus’s ego. At first it appears that our hero is lacking foresight, but Odysseus tells Polyphemus his name in hopes that tales of his cunning will spread throughout Greece: a very selfish goal, directly resulting in the endangerment of the lives of both him and his men throughout the remainder of their travels.
This was a major step in the hero’s journey because it helped Odysseus discover and meet new friends, mentors, enemies, challenges, skills and new knowledge. This self-knowledge began with Odysseus not having any friends who trust him whatsoever. The main reason to do so is, in book nine, Odysseus doesn’t make any new friends considering the fact that he has a problem with letting his hubris get into the way of letting him believe someone is actually good enough to be friends with him. Here, it is clearly articulated that he was too boastful for him depend on anyone. This is major because not only does he avoid dependence, but he also avoids trust put on him. If he is too selfish, no one will believe his word, as they will think it’s all for himself and not any for them. The part of the epic which identifies this is when Odysseus gives specific instructions to his crew to not open the bag which was given by Aeolus. Only Odysseus knew that the bag contained powerful winds which could help them reach Ithaca, but this is hidden from the crew. They had already identified Odysseus as selfish, so they expected the bag to be full of treasure, and how mankind is, they wanted some too. To the readers’ surprise, this all changes the minute he enters Ithaca. He is welcomed by his dog, Argos, and was helped a kind shepherd who filled in Odysseus
Throughout the Odyssey there are many themes that Homer uses to portray different people and events. To name a few, there are the themes of Betrayal and Revenge,Greed and Glutony, Hospitality, Role of the Gods and Wealth (the amount of money one had determined the status he held in the greek society, and this explains Odysseus's love for plunder).
This tale coincides with the times in Greece. This was a time that art and Philosophy were extremely important and respected by the people. Odysseus was a new type of hero that didn’t win by overpowering his opponents, but by using his mind to outwit them. Manners also seemed to play an important role to Odysseus, as he was learned to be polite and generous to strangers and in the end punished those who weren’t.
Penelope makes each individual suitor feel special and makes him believe that she would pick him as her new husband. This action implies not only that she allowed the suitors to remain in her household, but more importantly that she wanted the suitors to stay. Therefore, Penelope’s speech and actions toward the suitors justified their remaining in the home.
I said that after going through much hardship and losing all his men he should come home again in the twentieth year and that no one would know him; and now all this is coming true” (14). This shows how the gods did interfere and would tell the people on earth with symbols. The gods knew from the beginning the fate of Odysseus because they predestined it. The gods are those who gave Odysseus misfortune, and they are also the ones who fated him the way he did. Through these examples of hospitality, pride and fate, one can learn many important Greek principles.
The Odyssey, an epic poem written by Homer and translated by Robert Fitzgerald, is about the war hero Odysseus' ten year adventure to return home after the Trojan War. At one point in the epic poem, Odysseus is retelling his adventure at the land of the Kyklopês, in which he and his crew go to an island filled with these creatures. Through Odysseus, Homer uses contrasting connotation when speaking of the crew and the Kyklopês to convey that mankind is better than the Kyklopês using two different domains domains of society.
In there travels, Odysseus and his men land on the island of Aeolia. Here Odysseus is given a gift from the wind god Aeolus. Aeolus gathers all the stormy and evil winds and places them into a bag for Odysseus voyage. Odysseus heads back to the boat and gives specific instructions to his men not to open the bag, but he doesn't tell them what is in it. His men are curious go against their kings order. "But during the voyage, the suspicious and curious sailor's open the bag, thinking it contains treasure, and the evil winds roar up into hurricanes that threaten the luckless Odysseus again."(Page 911). If his men used self discipline they would not have been delayed even more and arrive at Ithaca earlier.
Death, humanity’s worst fear. Humans do everything they can to avoid it, yet it is inevitable. If one believes, as the Ancient Greeks did, that there is some sort of life after death that can be reached by the living, then one would be able to theoretically speak to one’s dead acquaintances. Most people believe that one grows wiser as one grows older; however one can wonder whether the dead are wiser than even the oldest of the living. Death, death occurs to many men in the Odyssey, but one can wonder at the amount of death in this epic poem. Epic poems were supposed to teach listeners on how to be good Greek citizens and they were supposed to teach life lessons, similar to fables in today’s time. This leads one to question why Homer, the author,
In conclusion, the “Odyssey” is one of the greatest literary works ever known and this literary analysis should help the reader to understand the important components of the novel such as theme, characters, relationships, symbols, motifs, literary devices, and tone.
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.
Dreams play a major role in the story, and, throughout the history of literature, sleep has often been consid...
Odysseus’ story has been re-told, passed on, and admired for generations on end. This story not only shows a story of doing what you think is right, but it also show the story of one of the worlds most known hero. Odysseus is a strong hero, showing strength, courage, and weakness, which are all traits of many other heroes. Not only does he have these traits, but he is able to understand what is right for the whole group. He makes sacrifices that may be saddening and cause a loss, but help in the long run. But most memorable is the amount of cunning and wit he showed throughout the story, a reminder of all the epic things he did.