Throughout history in Greek Mythology heroes undergo a journey through exile. The tribulations on exiled characters change their mental or physical attributes thus being able to give aid to his or her community. The reasoning behind why the hero goes through the strenuous process of exile varies. Several tales the hero’s ability to deny exile is possible, but they reject the option. They venture towards the option to better further their renown, thus give to the community which they receive the most respect from. Punishment may ensue also for previous actions the hero may have partaken in, forcing them into exile. With all the mental and physical lessons learned they improve the culture of the society, although they went through strenuous task to carry out this. For every moment the hero goes through exile there is a reason behind all, seemingly may be planned by the gods. The hero is not being gone through this task without gaining a large benefit to the character, making their pursuit of eternal wisdom closer to reality. The key way in which giving back to their community after the period in exile is when the hero has the choice brought upon them and they accept the challenge they face, with a crew of many they adventure out to conquer a daunting task. When the challenge is brought upon they hero, they accept it well knowing the level of difficulty they will have to face. “Jason, my heart floods with joy at your clever scheme! And so I now command you to go forth to Colchis. For you are the man to whom the Far-shooter’s oracle referred. Fetch the Golden Fleece, Jason. And when you return to the towers of Iolcus, present it to me as a gift.” ( Rosenberg 174) The exert from Jason and The Golden Fleece is showing the challenge be...
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... with great profit. These people took a course of action that shook them to the core facing many challenges that would be deemed undoable, but they overcame those odds. They went against the grain by themselves, gaining so much and truly fulfilling their prophecy to aid the civilization. Exile is a beautiful thing even though the average man may view it in a negative light. It proves the one who truly deserve the title of great, and provides the fundamentals for successful civilizations.
Works Cited
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Spence, Lewis. Myths and Legends: Babylonia and Assyria. U.S.: Kessinger, 2003. Print.
As seen throughout The Odyssey, a hero is perceived as a person who achieves great success never before seen and whose legacy lives beyond their years. Since The Odyssey was written around the eighth century BCE, the people that we view as heros in present day tend to embody different traits than the heroes of that time. Even though the word, “hero” does not have one specific definition, a hero is generally categorized as someone who is idolized for their bravery and does anything necessary to defend their people. Although Odysseus embodies the Homeric ideals of heroism in that he accomplishes triumphs that others have not, his successes are the product of divine intervention and his actions were primarily selfish; therefore, he is not a true
In the Hero’s journey, The Odyssey, the main protagonist, Odysseus, changes in a way which helps him gain self-knowledge. Odysseus ' experiences transformed his personality from how he was in the beginning to the end, by leading him through a heroic journey, also known as a quest. The real reason for a quest never involves the stated reason, and this is no different with Odysseus. As the story developed, many of Odysseus’ sides were exposed through the challenges he faced. Out of the countless dangers and obstacles every step back home, him and his crew have only acquired minimal character changes. Even though they are minimal, they are those which take many decades to achieve.
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"Achilles." Gods, Heroes and Myth: Mythologies of Many lands. 10 June 2003. Internet. 23 June 2003.
Myths relate to events, conditions, and deeds of gods or superhuman beings that are outside ordinary human life and yet basics to it” ("Myth," 2012). Mythology is said to have two particular meanings, “the corpus of myths, and the study of the myths, of a particular area: Amerindian mythology, Egyptian mythology, and so on as well as the study of myth itself” ("Mythology," 1993). In contrast, while the term myth can be used in a variety of academic settings, its main purpose is to analyze different cultures and their ways of thinking. Within the academic setting, a myth is known as a fact and over time has been changed through the many different views within a society as an effort to answer the questions of human existence. The word myth in an academic context is used as “ancient narratives that attempt to answer the enduring and fundamental human questions: How did the universe and the world come to be? How did we come to be here? Who are we? What are our proper, necessary, or inescapable roles as we relate to one another and to the world at large? What should our values be? How should we behave? How should we not behave? What are the consequences of behaving and not behaving in such ways” (Leonard, 2004 p.1)? My definition of a myth is a collection of false ideas put together to create
Morford, Mark P.O., and Robert J. Lenardon. Classical Mythology. '7th ed'. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
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 price that heroes pay for the glory they obtain is something readily forgotten if one does not read The Iliad in the context of the times. In the time of the Iliad, glory and honor was even more important than it was now. One can get easily get lost in the descriptive nature of the epic poem, which gives reason to a belief that the Iliad is simply a glorification of combat, however, this is not the case. The Iliad is based on much deeper principles than combat, it glorifies the search for honor and the sacrifices that great men will take to achieve this honor. If Achilleus had not rejoined his comrades, taking pity on them, he would never be remembered even if he still had great prowess in battle, because he did not use it to help help his friends.
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Morford Mark, Lenardon Robert, and Sham Michael. Classical Mythology, International Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, USA, 2011. Print. 830 pages.
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