Hachiko and Argos are two dogs who are known for their unwavering loyalty. Argos is a fictional dog in Homer’s epic “The Odyssey”, while Hachico is a real Japanese dog. Their stories have many parallels as well as differences. Their lessons are the same but the end of their tales are different. They both die in their stories but how they die in the end is different as well.
The way Argos and Hachiko’s stories are the same is that their stories are used to represent loyalty. They both wait many years for their masters to return from leaving. Hachiko waits for nine years for his master to return from his job as a professor in the agriculture department at the University of Tokyo. In the American movie depicting Hachiko’s life and death titled Hachi: A Dog’s Tale, the professor is an American named Parker Wilson. The only thing that was not changed during the retelling of Hachi’s life in the movie was the breed of dog which is called an Akita. Argos waits for twenty years for his master Odysseus to return from his voyage to Troy. Some artistic depictions of Argos and Odysseus differ between what is said in “The Odyssey.” I have seen one image on http://www.mlahanas.de/, which is a depiction of Argos sitting at Odysseus’ feet. Here is an excerpt from Homer’s “The Odyssey”: “When [Argos] knew he heard Odysseus’ voice nearby, he did his best to wag his tail [ . . .] having no strength to move nearer to his master” (320). This passages makes the image of Argos sitting at Odysseus’ feet not a valid reference to the story of Odysseus and Argos.
There are some differences between Hachiko’s and Argos’ stories. One difference is that Hachiko is a real dog and the story about him is true. Argos, however, is a fictional dog in Homer’s epic “The...
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Josie C., Dango. "Hachiko: The Faithful Dog." The Bread Basket Oct. - Nov. 2008: 40-41. Print.
Hachi: A Dog's Tale. [G]. Dir. Lasse Hallström. Perf. Richard Gere, Joan Allen, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, 2008.
Homer. "The beggar at the manor." The Odyssey. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1998. 309-331. Print.
Newman, Lesléa, and Machiyo Kodaira. Hachiko Waits. New York: Henry Holt, 2004. Print.
The Associated Press. "Worms, not skewer, did in Hachiko | The Japan Times." Japan Times RSS. N.p., 4 Mar. 2011. Web. 3 Dec. 2013. <http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2011/03/04/news/worms-not-skewer-did-in-hachiko/#.Up2BlcRDuSo>.
Yamamoto, J.K.. "Producer Brings ‘Hachi’ to America." Nikkeiwest [Elk Grove] 10 Feb. 2010: n. pag. Norther
Henry was an extremely lonely nine-year-old boy whose greatest wish was to get a dog. His parents were busy with their work most of the time and it seemed that Henry did not have any friends, perhaps because they moved so often. A dog would have provided Henry with unconditional love - something in short supply around his house - and would have been the perfect companion. The problem was, his parents did not want dog, which would have been another obligation and something else to take care of. As emotionally detached as his parents were, something else to take care of was just not desirable.
Markham, as a child, and then as a young woman, hunts with the native Murani people. Once while hunting for boar with Arab Maina, Arab Kosky, and her dog, Buller, Markham comes face to face with a dangerous, lone lion. In this section, Beryl is extremely descriptive and recalls the memory in a fashion that allows the reader to see the events unfolding through her eyes at a lifelike pace. “Buller and I crouched behind them, my own spea...
The epic The Odyssey is about a hero named Odysseus that must go through many life threatening situations in order to return to his loving family. Odysseus undergoes many trials and obstacles in the form of mythological beasts that stand in the way of arriving home. All of the archetypes that show up in Ancient Greek culture are very similar to the ones that appear in modern times. The Odyssey takes place in the twelfth century B.C where its plot setting stretches from the Aegean and surrounding seas to his birthplace of Ithaca. This epic is an example in which its main story is covered by what writers base their characters off of today:archetypes. Homer wrote The Odyssey to get readers excited to learn about the archetypes that relate to the
Dogs are represented in both two and three dimension in ancient Greek art, and such art acts as further evidence as to the roles of dogs. In terms of dogs existing as pets in ancient Greece, there is a great example of the melitaean dog in the role of pet. The oldest representation of a melitaean dog is found on an amphora from around 500 B.P. The amphora is decorated with the image of a young man walking with a small dog walking just ahead of him. It is clear that the man is not engaged in hunting. Instead, he looks well dressed and the scene has the feel of a leisurely stroll. The dog itself is clearly outlined and is more stylistic than detailed. Its posture is relaxed and it seems in good condition, which is in keeping with the idea that it is a pet.1
Canine tales are becoming an ever-more-popular medium for expression, says Garber: “Just as the pathos of human love and loss is most effectively retold, in modern stories, through the vehicle of the steadfastly loyal and loving dog, so the human hero has increasingly been displaced and replaced by the canine one” (44). The spotlight has been shifted from the larger-than-life human to the humble family pet and his canine brethren. Stories that feature a dog rather than a person are able to more convey a deeper sense of meaning, establishing their...
The Maus series of books tell a very powerful story about one man’s experience in the Holocaust. They do not tell the story in the conventional novel fashion. Instead, the books take on an approach that uses comic windows as a method of conveying the story. One of the most controversial aspects of this method was the use of animals to portray different races of people. The use of animals as human races shows the reader the ideas of the Holocaust a lot more forcefully than simply using humans as the characters.
Mark Doty’s poem, “Golden Retrievals” describes the thoughts of a dog who’s merry tone contrasts with the human’s sentimental view towards life. The poem is in a form of a Shakespearean sonnet, but uses slant rhymes to further portray the speaker is a canine. Doty uses images, rhythm, rhyme, and organization to encourage the tension between the speaker and the human.
Art Spiegelman’s Maus is a novel about the Vladek and his experience as a Polish Jew during the Holocaust. It narrates the reality of the Holocaust wherein millions and millions of Jews were systematically killed by the Nazi regime. One of the themes in the story is racism which is evident in the employment of animal characters and its relationship with one another.
Although both epics justify a status quo, codify a national mythology, preserve cultural memories, and establish literary tropes, they are united by sensibility and are traditionally poetic. They both almost have the same exact core values such as in the end, but project influence into a number to areas of cultural identity. Once more, after analyzing both texts, it is possible to conclude that Aeneas is the better leader, and The Odyssey is the greater epic. Knowing that this is the proper proposition made, this affects the readers of both well-known stories.
Homer. ?The Odyssey,? World Masterpieces: Expanded Edition. Maynard Mack ed. Ed. Coptic St.: Prentice, 1995.
Homer and Hesiod were well-known epic poets that gave contribution to their culture by writing poetry on the different aspects and views of the Greek world. Homer’s long narrative poems dealt a lot with heroes at war, gods and goddesses involved with humans while Hesiod’s poetry is shorter, having little to do with heroes, and presents the importance of work and morality. Although the two poets have their own unique writing style, there are many differences and similarities in The Odyssey, Works and Days, and Iliad about beliefs in religion, description of women, and function of war.
Homer. The Odyssey: Fitzgerald Translation. Trans. Robert Fitzgerald. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998. Print.
A magnificent creature that just want to feel simple things like freedom, be social, a caress. In this poem I can appreciate the suffering of a creature in captivity whose desire is to experience such elementary things as being the companion of a human and give his love, feeling a touch, a little affection and attention; things that should not be denied to any living creature. This poem is a desperate cry for freedom and what for me are the basic rights of any household animals, such as dogs. Once again I will use some of my work during this course to better explain the feelings of this animal in captivity that only wanted to feel
Of all the many similarities of The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Odyssey, the sharing of the main character’s archetype can be considered to be the most significant similarity of the two epics. Odysseus, the main character of The Odyssey, and Gilgamesh, the main character of The Epic of Gilgamesh, both fall under the character archetype of a hero, the man in charge of saving the day. This sameness implies that the two characters had similar fates and characteristics; both had the distinct traits of a hero. Both Odysseus and Gilgamesh were kings, strong, brave, and blessed by the gods. In addition, they both angered a god and suffered from the consequences. In The Odyssey, Odysseus had to change his route to avoid Poseidon’s wrath. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh angered Ishtar which consequently led to Enkidu’s death as a punishment ( “The Epic of Gilgamesh” 29). Both Gilgamesh and Odysseus had elements of arrogance in their personalities, and it was their arrogance that backlashed and caused...
Not too long ago, Ms. Morris’s beloved dog, Hattie, had 5 puppies. Everyone in town thought the puppies were boring and ugly. Their eyes were closed, made a little movement, and didn’t make any noise. Nobody thought the dogs were cute, and nobody wanted them.