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Defining life with death
The role of religion in the lives of ancient Greeks
Defining life with death
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The Odyssey details Odysseus’ arduous return to his homeland. Ten years have passed since the end of the Trojan war and Odysseus, the “most cursed man alive”, has been missing and presumed dead by many. (10.79). Throughout the novel, gods play a significant role in the fate of Odysseus and other characters. The extent of the gods’ role though is not unqualified, contrary to Telemachus’ suggestion that, “Zeus is to blame./He deals to each and every/ laborer on this earth whatever doom he pleases” (1.401-403). While Zeus does have this power, his description of how humans meet their fate is more accurately depicted throughout the novel. As he aptly points out, “from us alone, the say, come all their miseries, yes,/ but they themselves, with their own reckless ways,/ compound their pain beyond their proper share” (1.38-52). While the gods do doom certain mortals, many of these mortals exacerbate their ill fate by making rash decisions and ignoring the gods’ warnings. The gods are also not always disrupting mortals lives; they often aid mortals in need. In fact, mortals who effectively court the favor of the gods often benefit greatly. While the gods’ powers are unquestionable, no one god’s power is insurmountable. Gods can be outsmarted and their wrath escaped. The Odyssey, in congruence with Zeus’ statement, ultimately, portrays human freedom as existent, but limited.
While mortals do not unjustly complain about their fates, they fail to acknowledge that they are also responsible for their ill fate, as mortals themselves, possess a sizable degree of control. There is little doubt that Odysseus and his crew are unlucky, but had it not been for their brash decisions they would have reached Ithaca much sooner. After Od...
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...st have some level of freedom, even if it is limited.
Telemachus is valid in complaining of how Zeus dooms mortals. Zeus, unequivocally, causes many mortals pain and suffering. Zeus, though, aptly points out that mortals magnify their own pain and suffering. Zeus’ ability to acknowledge that gods are the root of mortals’ pain strengthens his credibility. Mortals’ abilities to successfully navigate their circumstances will lead to an easier life. If mortals are able to avoid the ill will of the gods, by securing the favor of the gods and making intelligent decisions, they will not “compound their pain beyond their proper share” (1.52). The final position of The Odyssey supports Zeus’ belief in regard to mortals’ misery, since he acknowledges his own role in their suffering, which is clearly evident, while also recognizing how mortals increase their own pain.
Every day people make decisions. Some are more important than others, but all decisions have consequences, no matter how small. The decisions that you make, and the decisions others make could affect your life. They may have positive effects, but they may also have negatives effects like in The Odyssey by Homer. In general, Odysseus and his men made some decisions that lead to some very negative effects.
In The Odyssey the ancient Greeks had a sense of explorations, independence and love life. They were skillful and wise men and women. They are depicted as courageous and adventurous heroes and warriors. Under all those beautiful characteristic illustrated in The Odyssey, under that shell that it portrayed, the ancient Greeks had many fears. They feared the sea, Cyclops, scared of scandals, death and people with different cultures. Ancient Greeks had all these fear because it turns out that they fear everything that could take their life. Life is a big deal for ancient Greeks, they love and appreciate their life and would do anything to protect it. Even though everything that could cause death was terrifying for the ancient Greeks, the scariest thing was the meddlesome of the gods.
“(Zeus): 'Oh for shame, how the mortals put the blame on us gods, for they say evils come from us, but it is they, rather, who by their own recklessness win sorrow beyond what is given […].' (1.32-34)” This quote proves that the people of the Odyssey are in some control over their lives because their actions decide what will happen to them in the future. So, when the humans in the Odyssey mess up, the gods see it as their job to punish them.
In The Odyssey of Homer by Allen Mandelbaum, Odysseus, king of Ithaca, is struggling to return home after fighting in the Trojan War. On his way home, Odysseus faces with a series of challenges, assisted by goddess Athena throughout the journey, before he can return to his wife and son. This epic develops the theme that the choices a man makes through free will, do not directly determine his fate because ultimately only the gods determine it, whose opinions are influenced by mans’ choices in free will.
In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus spends ten years trying to return to his home Ithaca after the end of the Trojan War and must overcome a multitude of obstacles while abroad and after his return home. While some of his trials are surmountable with effort and focus, others are beyond his control such as the will of the gods; an element featured almost consistently throughout entirety of his ten-year journey. The interference of the gods both helps and hinders Odysseus, but he is ultimately at the mercy of their will, as the gods are not acting solely in his interests. Rather, the gods intervene in the affairs of mortals to uphold or further their own interests. These interests vary from upholding universal laws, such as xenia the guest-friendship laws of Zeus, to personal interests such as vengeance or favouritism.
Homer’s epic, the Odyssey, is a heroic narrative that follows the adventures of Odysseus, the powerful King of Ithaca. The main story involves Odysseus’s return journey to his homeland after the Trojan War. However, Homer skips around in the action periodically to give the reader a better understanding and interest in what is going on in the epic. Homer takes his audience from the present action involving Telemakhos’ search for news of his father’s return, to the past where Odysseus tells the Phaiakians of his tragic journey home after the war. The events in Homer’s epic are not in order but still prove more effective at guiding the reader through the narrative. Although the events in the Odyssey are not in chronological order, the story line is enriched by Homer’s use of the in media res method because it introduces characters that were not involved in Odysseus’ adventure, because it shows the urgency of Odysseus’ return to his kingdom, and because it allows the reader to become more interested in the opening chapters without having to wait for a climax in the action.
Home was a prevalent concept in Ancient Greece. Not only was there a goddess of the hearth and home, Hestia, but hospitality towards others was highly stressed. Home was regarded as a place to escape from chaos in the outside world. Homer and Euripides in The Odyssey and Medea, respectively, use the motif of home to show the difference in an individual’s public manner versus their personal, more natural manner. This difference is caused by the different levels of comfort individuals have in different settings. Specifically, the two works portray the difference through experience of the characters, mistrust developed towards others, and the maintenance of dual identities.
In book eight of Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus is on the island of the Phaeacians and is waiting to return home to Ithaca. Meanwhile, Alcinous, the Phaeacian king, has arranged for a feast and celebration of games in honor of Odysseus, who has not yet revealed his true identity. During the feast, a blind bard named Demodocus sings about the quarrel between Odysseus and Achilles at Troy. The song causes Odysseus to start weeping, so Alcinous ends the feast and orders the games to begin. During dinner after the games, Odysseus asks Demodocus to sing about the Trojan horse and the sack of Troy. This song too causes Odysseus to break down and cry. Homer uses a dramatic simile to describe the pain and sorrow that Odysseus feels as he recalls the story of Troy.
In Homer's epic poem, “The Odyssey,” the themes of retribution ring strongly along with the notion of unjust punishment, or, more accurately, the grievances the world itself can put on man. At the end of the work, a battered Odysseus arrives home to find the peace of his house sundered by the many suitors who had taken up residence there. Even when Odysseus finds himself home, he cannot find a true peace, he must yet struggle more. Though now he finds himself with an ally: his son, Telemachus. This is the character whose nature this paper is most concerned with.
book takes place in, is called to action and set in motion on his Hero
Hu•bris /ˈ(h)yo͞obris/ noun: excessive pride or self-confidence. Hubris is believed to be the most serious of all seven deadly sins. Some say it was the original sin that led to all others. A word with such loathsome synonyms like arrogance, conceit, haughtiness, pomposity, and egotism was seen as one of the worst possible sins in Greek culture. They believed that no matter your social status those who exhibited it were destined to fall down into damnation. Yet some Grecian heroes seemed to ooze hubris in the form of confidence or cockiness. There was a fine line between the two that they should never cross. One hero in particular showed this sin on more than one account. Throughout The Odyssey, Odysseus, shows the sinful trait of hubris, in the form of cockiness when he talks to Polythemus, his crewmen, his wife, and his son.
In The Odyssey the gods are responsible for controlling many aspects of where the story goes, but the people still have to choose to go. The gods in The Odyssey are who held Odysseus captive for over eight years. They were responsible for his capture in the first place and then refused to let him go for almost a decade. When they finally decided he should be allowed to find his way home they made it known to his captor Kalypso. However Odysseus still had to choose to leave. Kalypso tried to keep him by offering immortality. "You would stay here, and guard this house, and be immortal" (Homer 267). Odysseus could have stayed but he chose to go. Some say that the gods knew Odysseus would not stay and that is why they decided to let him go.
In Homer's epic poem, The Odyssey, gods play a very important role to the plot of the story. They are the one deciding if someone can survive or not according to the sacrifice that the person made for them. In the book 1, Athena said to Zeus her father, “Didn’t Odysseus please you with sacrifices beside the Greek ships at Troy?” (Homer 65, book1). In this part Athena was trying to plead with her father Zeus in favor of Odysseus because she wants to help him to go home, while others are trying to provoke his death. This love that Athena has for Odysseus and his family is revealed throughout Homer’s epic. Although Athena supported Odysseus throughout his voyage, other gods including Poseidon, Calypso, and Circe made it difficult for Odysseus to return home, such in our real life, some people will make your life hard, but you have a good faith as Odysseus, you should always find your way out. Our God is omnipr...
If not for divine interference, neither Odysseus nor Telemachus would have journeys to make. The gods are first responsible for establishing the conditions under which the story begins. While the Greek soldiers had returned home from Troy, Odysseus remained trapped as “the brightest goddess, Calypso, held him in her hollow grottoes” because “she wanted him as a husband” (Homer, Odyssey 1.5, Translation by Allen Mandelbaum). Calypso traps Odysseus on her island of Ogygia and “keeps the sad Odysseus there—although he weeps. Her words are fond and fragrant, sweet and soft—so she would honey him to cast off his Ithaca” (1.7).
The Iliad and the Odyssey are two classic stories told by Homer. Within these two stories the roles of the gods are very important to the story line and how they affect the characters throughout. In the Iliad, more gods are involved with the characters whereas in the Odyssey there are only two major gods that affect two major characters. The roles of the gods in the Iliad are through two different stances of immortal versus immortal and mortal versus immortal. The roles of the gods in the Odyssey are through two major gods and they affect the plot as Poseidon versus Odysseus and Athena versus Telemachus.