Essay On Free Will In The Odyssey
analytical Essay
793 words
In Greek mythology as a whole, fate does have a sizeable role in most tales. However, the definition of fate for the ancient Greeks extends from the common definition. The definition of fate that is familiar to us is anything that happens for an unknown reason and is out of our control. But in Greek mythology fate also involves divine intervention from the gods of Olympus. They are able to change outcomes and alter situations to the point where what occurs might not have happened without them. In The Odyssey, gods have a very prominent role. But you cannot just discuss fate by itself. Free will is also a factor. Free will is mankind’s ability to make decisions control the aspects of one’s life. In The Odyssey life is the individual’s responsibility.
The first thing that comes up in The Odyssey that pertains to fate is when Zeus exclaims “My word, how mortals take the gods to task! All their afflictions come from us, we hear. And what of their own failings? Greed and folly double the suffering in the lot of man.” Zeus is saying that we all as humans cause our own misery and blame the gods for it. His attitude towards the struggles of humans is that since we cause our own problems, we should fix them by ourselves too. He is admitting that the gods do not have full control over events in human life. They have a
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In this essay, the author
- Explains that greek mythology defines fate as anything that happens for an unknown reason and is out of our control, but it also involves divine intervention from the gods of olympus.
- Analyzes how zeus is saying that humans cause their own misery and blame the gods for it. he admits that gods do not have full control over events in human life.
- Analyzes how odysseus' captivity on calypso's island after poseidon altered the weather and caused the shipwreck was exemplified in the epic.
- Analyzes how fate is not necessarily out of one’s control in greek mythology. homer leans towards the fact that despite the gods having the ability to change things, we have a large role in our lives.
- Analyzes how odysseus and his men encounter thrinacia, where helios' cattle reside, and decide to kill the cattle despite being told not to. the gods tried to change the future of the crew by being up front.
- Explains that athena kept odysseus disguised for as long as necessary and dropped the shroud covering him and telemakhos fought the suitors.
- Analyzes how athena changed things in the odyssey to ensure that the people of ithaca did not look at odysseus the wrong way for slaughtering all the suitors.
- Opines that athena's massacre was the last thing they had to do to make odysseus' place in ithaca secure again. if word of the massacre spread throughout the area, his reputation would plummet.
If Odysseus chose to do something differently, the gods would not have intervened and trapped him. This is a very prominent example of how fate is not necessarily out of one’s control in Greek mythology. Homer leans towards the fact that despite the gods having the ability to change things, we have a large role in our lives as well. But once Zeus lightened up and commanded Calypso to release Odysseus to go home, she tries to convince him to stay with her by offering immortality. Odysseus declined and left. The gods might have known he would never stay on the island but Odysseus still came up with the answer by
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- Destiny, Fate and Free Will in Homer's Odysseyanalytical essayFate and Free Will in Homer's Odyssey When we look at Greek Mythology we often run into the gods of that era. Sometimes they are merely backdrops to the human element of the story but in stories such as The Odyssey the gods play a prominent if not vital role to the central themes of the story. Fate has a place in the Greek world but its place is not the same as it is in other scenarios or worlds. It is important to understand the word before we discuss it. Fate as far as Greek mythology goes is not just fate.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the gods in the odyssey control many aspects of the story, but the people still have to choose to go.
- Analyzes how free will and fate are represented in the odyssey. the suitors on ithaka behaved poorly throughout the story, but the gods chose to sit back and allow the people to make their choices.
- Explains that in greek mythology, the gods play a prominent if not vital role to the central themes of the odyssey. fate and free will are not mutually exclusive.
- Analyzes how zeus' statement shows that the people are responsible for themselves and have the ability to make their own choices.
- Analyzes how the odyssey represents free will in that it gave choices to the gods but more importantly the people made their own choices.
- Analyzes homer's "the odyssey" in the constant reader, the norton anthology of world masterpieces: the western tradition.
1370 wordsRead More - Fate In Greek Mythologyanalytical essayThe term Fate has a place in the world of ancient Greece but it is very different from other parts of the world. I have learned it is important to understand the context before discussing the situation. Most people think fate happens for reasons unknown and no one has any control over what happens. However, the ancient Greeks did not believe that fate is a random occurrence. They believed that the gods created fate and would constantly intervene to force things to happen that would not have happened. Since the characters tend to not know of the gods’ interfering, occurrences seem to be fate but are really planned by the gods.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that in greek mythology, the gods play a large if not central role in the main developments of the story.
- Explains that free will is the idea of having complete control over one's actions and decisions. the odyssey demonstrates that your life is your own responsibility.
- Explains that the gods held odysseus imprisoned for eight years and refused to free him. calypso tried to make him stay by offering eternal life, but he refused.
- Analyzes how the gods intervened in the story of athena, telemachus, and odysseus.
- Analyzes how athena sentenced the suitors on ithaca to death by odysseus' hand, based on their choices.
- Analyzes how homer's epics are wonderful places to see the relationship between free will and fate. free will is experienced throughout the odyssey and makes the story more exciting and unpredictable.
- Explains that homer's conception of fate was published in the classical journal 42.8 (1947): 477-85. solomon, robert c.
- Analyzes strong, c. a., "fate and free will." the journal of philosophy psychology and scientific methods, vol. 15, no. 1 (1918): 5-9.
835 wordsRead More - The Odysseyanalytical essayThe 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.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the odyssey depicts odysseus' arduous return to his homeland. while the gods doom certain mortals, many of them exacerbate their ill fate by making rash decisions.
- Analyzes how odysseus and his crew are unlucky, but had it not been for their brash decisions they would have reached ithaca sooner.
- Opines that odysseus and his crew may still reach home, if only they had the power to curb their wild desire.
- Analyzes how odysseus' fate is not set in stone, but his interaction with tiresias highlights that even though the gods may have a certain plan, the mortal still has significant amount of control over his own fate.
- Analyzes how odysseus garners the favor of the gods by his heroic and cunning actions in the trojan war.
- Analyzes how the odyssey depicts human freedom as strongly influenced by divine power, but it is not omnipotent.
- Opines that telemachus is valid in complaining about how zeus dooms mortals, since he acknowledges his own role in their misery, while also recognizing how they increase their own pain.
1228 wordsRead More - Destiny, Fate, and Free Will in Oedipus the Kinganalytical essayFate and Free Will in Oedipus the King In today's society we let our lives be led by a certain force that we believe in very strongly. Yet, a common debate that still rages today is whether we, as a species, have free will or if some divine source, some call it fate, controls our destiny. In the play, Oedipus the King, that special force is also used and is known and defined as fate. This played an important role in the lives of the characters just as it plays one in our daily lives.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes the role of fate and free will in oedipus the king, which played an important role in the characters' lives.
- Analyzes how oedipus is determined to discover who he is, just like any person who is having problems.
- Analyzes how oedipus' fate was sealed by his pride of conquering the sphinx, which led to the marriage of jocasta, his mother.
- Explains that the character of each individual has positive and negative attributes that affect the choices that they make. the debate over fate vs. free choice has been raging for a long time.
- Concludes that sophocles believed in both fate and free will, but mainly that man has freewill, it just exists within fate, and the limitations that go along with it.
1000 wordsRead More - Fate Versus Free Willanalytical essayFate, as described in the Oxford English Dictionary, is “The principle, power, or agency by which, according to certain philosophical and popular systems of belief, all events, or some events in particular, are unalterably predetermined from eternity.” To the western world, fate is perceived as “a sentence or doom of the gods” (Oxford). They often sought prophecies of the gods, especially from Apollo, the god of knowledge. The Greeks would seek prophecies usually when they had doubts about something, or if they were afraid or in despair. When the gods made a prophecy, the Greeks put all their faith in it and believed that it would happen. When their prophecies did come true, was it really fate that controlled them? If so, was there any room for free will?
In this essay, the author
- Explains that fate is the principle, power, or agency by which, according to certain philosophical and popular systems of belief, all events are unalterably predetermined from eternity. the greeks sought prophecies of the gods, especially from apollo.
- Analyzes how the question of fate versus free will plays a dominant role during analysis in sophocles' oedipus rex.
- Analyzes how oedipus' life and everyone he loves eventually suffers from a horrible fate predicted by the gods. is the outcome of his life the result of fate or his own actions?
- Analyzes how the play proves that the greeks believed that their lives were controlled by fate. the three oracles serve as the backbone of the story.
- Analyzes how laius, iocaste, and oedipus tried to avoid their fates through their own actions.
- Analyzes how laius and iocaste give up their child, and oedipus leaves corinth on his own free will. the characters' actions are guided by the fates of the gods.
- Analyzes how iocaste feels that the word of the gods should be disregarded. she believes that laius died by the hands of a stranger rather than "at his son, as he had feared."
- Opines that iocaste and oedipus will see that the prophecies have already come true and the gods are no longer interfering.
- Analyzes the role of the gods in revealing the truth of oracle's prophecies to oedipus. he tries to avoid crimes and offending his family by leaving corinth.
- Analyzes harold donohue's question about the extent to which western culture is dependent on this notion of fate.
- Argues that oedipus could have lived with himself in the condition he was in, but the gods do not prophesize his downfall nor banish his father.
- Opines that the audience may never know whether or not oedipus's actions are of his own free will or if the gods control them.
- Cites ahl, frederick, donohue, harold, and guthrie, w.
- Cites hamilton, edith, knox, bernard m. w. oedipus at thebes, new haven: yale university press, 1957.
1744 wordsRead More - Fate’s Puppetryanalytical essay“Fate’s Puppetry,” is a Project by Kenneth Meyerson about The Odyssey; by Homer. This project was designed to provide a better understanding of the powerful role fate in the world and how humans seem to be subject to fate. Within the story of The Odyssey, the gods are unaffected by fate and are witnesses to it. Some gods are actively trying to aid mankind who is subject to fate; however, the god’s aid is often futile. What is fate and how does fate affect human life? Moreover, what effect do the gods have upon human fate? Fate is defined in multiple dictionaries as the force or principle believed to predetermine events, a consequence or final result of an action taken, or inevitable death. In the context of this paper, fate is the outline or plot of a person’s or character’s life. Fate is present from the beginning of time to the end of time, and “time” for a human starts with an individual’s first recollections and ends with their last breath and conscious thought or observation. Gods do not have complete control over mortals and of mortal’s fate, as gods cannot dictate the choices that mortals make. Instead, as bystanders and overseers, gods can issue warnings or emulate decisions designed to influence others, but they cannot change fate alone. The individual mortal must in the end make choices that alter his fate and the fates of others.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how "fate's puppetry" provides a better understanding of the powerful role fate in the world and how humans seem subject to it.
- Analyzes how the characters in the odyssey make choices at every moment, just as individuals today do, sparking the never ending chain of action-reactions within an individual’s “time”.
- Analyzes how the gods as immortal beings are not subject to fate, but are overseers of it. the success/fail scenario is exemplified by the foil family tragedy.
- Analyzes how the puppet was designed to encompass many features of fate and control, but without the guidance of a well-trained hand, it cannot be given purpose and function.
- Describes the encyclopdia britannica's article on albert einstein.
- Explains o brother, where art thou. dir. joel coen. prod.
1095 wordsRead More - Fate And Fate In Sophocles Oedipus The Kinganalytical essayThesis Statement: In the story of Oedipus Rex, Sophocles concludes that fate is an all-powerful force which controls every action, and that every choice made by man’s free will, whether wise or foolish, all lead to the inevitable fate the gods have written for them.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how sophocles concludes that fate is an all-powerful force which controls every action and that every choice made by man’s free will, whether wise or foolish, all lead to the inevitable fate the gods have written for them.
- Explains that the will of the gods and fate are two strong forces that no human being can run from, and this is proven true in oedipus rex.
- Analyzes how oedipus mentions to his wife how he left his hometown of corinth because of a shameful prophecy that led him to thebes.
- Analyzes how oedipus's attempt to escape the prophecy that was revealed to him when he was a young man didn't go away, in fact, each attempt brought him closer to its completion.
- Explains that oedipus isn't the only one who thinks that he outsmarted fate. his wife and mother jocasta also believes that she has avoided her prophecy of her son marrying her and killing her husband by deposing
- Explains that free will is an illusion used by the gods to manipulate humans into thinking that all their choices and actions are their own.
- Argues that the conflict between fate and free will is an illusion manipulated into thought by fate. if oedipus knew when to stop, his fate would have played out quietly, but his stubbornness led to a dramatic unfolding.
- Analyzes how oedipus's willful ignorance, his inability to use his intelligence wisely, and his deliberate blindness to the obvious truth contributed heavily to his fall from grace.
- Analyzes how oedipus' flaws are displayed in his arguments with tiresias and creon.
- Concludes that sophocles teaches his audience many moral lessons about human nature and values, and how excessive pride and stubbornness can be dangerous to the man processing them.
736 wordsRead More - The Role Of Fate In Oedipus The Kinganalytical essayIn today’s modern times we choose how to live our lives by certain actions or choices that we choose to believe in. Yet as people we common sometimes debate with ourselves as species and humans of our free thought do we have free will over the choices we make or does the decisions we make play with our fate that controls what our destiny is. In my thesis essay, I will be discussing how fate played a role in Oedipus the King, but how it tried to prevent him from creating his own downfall in this tragic play. I will also discuss how Ancient Greece contributed to the development of values but also how Oedipus lead to his own downfall and not the value of faith.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how oedipus believed in fate by the gods because he was discouraged by an oracle who predicted his future would end in disaster. his pride was his biggest flaw in the story.
- Analyzes how oedipus sealed away his true faith by his actions, determination and pride. he killed the driver and the man he carried on his way to thebes.
- Analyzes how the oracle represented what the gods wanted oedipus along with his parents to have tragedy and despair.
- Analyzes how fate played a role in oedipus the king, but how it tried to prevent him from creating his own downfall.
- Analyzes how greek religion played a role in greek myths, believing in god's and praying to god’s for answers.
1177 wordsRead More - Theme Of Fate In The Death Of Ivan Ilychanalytical essayFate is the development of events beyond a person’s control. Essentially it means that there are certain events in everyone’s life that are predetermined and completely unavoidable. In The Iliad, fate is even unchangeable by the gods. The belief is that there is a fixed natural order to the universe and that
In this essay, the author
- Explains that fate has played a large role in many literary works throughout the world and history.
- Analyzes how homer's view of fate differs from tolstoy and shakespeare. shakespeare writes more of fortune than of a predetermined destiny.
- Analyzes homer's epic poem, the iliad, where achilles was the son of peleus, the king of the myrmidons, and the sea-nymph thetis.
- Analyzes homer's use of foreshadowing to determine future events, fated outcomes, and the weighing of souls. achilles' fate is not set in stone and he could determine his outcome himself.
- Explains that achilles' death near the end of the trojan war at the hand of paris is mentioned in several stories. his mother tried to make him immortal by dipping him in the river styx, but his heels were left vulnerable.
- Analyzes how homer's view of fate is dissimilar to that of shakespeare. the english playwright does not write about fate but fortune, or how individual events are affected by chance or the luck of the people involved.
- Analyzes how mark antony, a fierce roman general, and one of the triumvirs, is the central character in the shakespearean play. he is torn between his sense of duty and his love for cleopatra.
- Analyzes how fortune plays an enormous role in the lives of the characters, but each individual is capable of exercising freewill. antony uses his free will to take advantage of his luck.
- Analyzes how at the end of cleopatra's life, she consoles herself with the thought that the victor of this play is not caesar, but it is fortune.
- Analyzes how shakespeare's fickle fortune and homer’s destined deaths are two ways that fate is used. tolstoy has a fatalistic approach to the subject in the death of ivan ilych.
- Analyzes how ivan ilych, a member of the court of justice, lived an unexceptionally ordinary life and strived for averageness. he contemplated his life choices and the reason for his agonizing illness and inevitable death.
- Analyzes how tolstoy's placement of ivan ilych’s death shows that he had no power to influence his future and that his actions were leading to his death were already determined.
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In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how odysseus lives in a world where there is no room for the human will. the god helios and the witch-goddess circe make certain choices that affect their travels home.
- Analyzes how odysseus and his men encounter the cattle of the sun god, helios. zeus worked up a storm that forced them to stay because they could not continue their travels on the water.
- Analyzes how odysseus and his men end up at the home of the witch-goddess, circe, and hermes approach him in the form of a young man.
- Explains that odysseus had to allow for a few men to be possibly killed so that others could make it home. this decision was to go towards scylla.
- Concludes that odysseus' world doesn't have human will and their decisions do make adifference for certain things.
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