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Analysis of the Odyssey by Homer
Analysis of the Odyssey by Homer
How does the social structure impact our lives
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The Odyssey: Exploring Our Social Roots
In modern western society we are a people taught from very young that good manners and strong morality are necessity. The idea that the good will prosper and the bad will get what they deserve is widely accepted and applauded. However, these ideas about the social rules of "modern civil man" are not so novel. This same system of social behavior and belief is exhibited throughout the epic poem, The Odyssey. In this epic we find the roots of our contemporary social actions and convictions importantly displayed.
All through this epic there are many examples to distinguish those civilized, who abided by social customs, and those who did not. One of the primary forms of manner, during this period, was the customary practice of the civilized to invite a guest to feast without prior inquiry into his errand. We encounter this social rule early upon the first meeting of Telemachos and his mother's suitors during a feast at the home. An unidentified guest arrives and is ignored by the suitors. However, the mannered Telemachos promptly invites the guest in to join them in feasting; he is annoyed that their guest was made to wait and also embarrassed by and apologizes for the suitor's crude behavior. This same practice repeats itself throughout the poem and is yet again contrasted when Odysseus and some of his crew arrive at the island of the Cyclops. The men allow themselves into an unattended cave whose owner is the Cyclops, Polyphemus. Upon the uncivilized Cyclops' arrival home he eats some of the men and traps the remainder. Clearly, the social intuition of manners plays such a strong silent role. As Horace Mann said "Manners easily and rapidly mature into m...
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...ood, and idea that good always triumphs over evil. We can easily witness the roots of present rules of society budding during this time period. Such reflection and insight allows us to connect in a way, we maybe normally would not have, with one of our modern culture's leaders in morality and manners.
Works Citied
Dimock, George E. The Unity of the Odyssey. The University Of Massachusetts Press: Amherst, 1989.
Bloom, Harold, ed. Modern Critical Interpretation Homer's The Odyssey. Chelsea House Publishers: New York, 1988.
Lawall, Sarah, ed. "The Odyssey." Trans. Robert Fitzgerald. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.: New York, London, 1999. 209-514
Cyber Nation Home Page. 2000. Cyber Nation International Inc.< http://www.cyber-nation.com/victory/quotations/subjects/quotes_manners.html>.
Heubeck, Alfred, J.B. Hainsworth, et al. A commentary on Homer's Odyssey. 3 Vols. Oxford PA4167 .H4813 1988
Fagles, Robert. The. The Odyssey. New York, NY: Penguin Books, 1996. Katz, Marilyn.
In this day and age, helping a stranger from their troubles without knowing anything about that person is a risk many people do not take. And for people who do show hospitality to strangers, their actions are little more than being friendly to the guest. However, in Homer’s time period, giving stranger’s hospitality was something most Greeks did. In ancient Greece, there were set hospitality laws where both guests and hosts had obligations. Therefore, in Homer’s Odyssey, one of the major themes of this epic was hospitality and the guest-host relationship. Robert Fagles, translator of the Odyssey, and Bernard Knox, introduction and notes writer, wrote in the introduction, “If there is one stable moral criterion in the world of the Odyssey, it
Something written over twenty-five hundred years ago shows many similarities to stories written today. These similarities are called archetypes and the y can be found in stories dating back to the earliest forms of literature. I will be talking about some of these archetypes found in The Odyssey.As you read, you will notice that these archetypes can be found in other stories and even in real life. The Odyssey is the story of Odysseus and his journey home from the Trojan War. It tells of many challenges and difficulties Odysseus faced on his way home. The topic of this essay is about three main archetypes found in the Odyssey. These archetypes are those of the Hero, the Monster, and the idea that your authority
Hexter, Ralph. A Guide to The Odyssey: A Commentary on the English Translation of Robert Fitzgerald. New York: Random House, 1993.
Thrall, William flint, Addison Hibbard, and Hugh Holman. A Handbook to Literature. New York: Odyssey, 1960.
The Odyssey is filled with emotion and adventure. Homer’s ability to show and give the reader a visual of each and every scene gives the story its unbelievable significance. To all the people who read his work there is something to be captured within every sentence, each one different in its own, unique way. Through tales of courage and defeat, friendship and love this book tells of all the values within the life of a single, solitary man, and his journey to attain what is true and dear to him. And this journey is known to all of us as The Odyssey. The Odyssey is a test of human devotion and trust through the gods, the mortals, and the obstacles through which they venture. No matter where they go or what they do, humans are tested for certain characteristics everyday of their lives, whether they realize it or not; and The Odyssey is just one of those many miraculous tests.
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.
Homer. ?The Odyssey,? World Masterpieces: Expanded Edition. Maynard Mack ed. Ed. Coptic St.: Prentice, 1995.
In the epics of both Homer and Virgil, the meaning and politics of honour play a significant role in the decisions and actions of the characters. Honour involves arbitrary set of rules, so just what is is and why did people need to maintain these rules at all? In these poems, honour is linked to a hero’s possessions, identity, and deed. All three are important, but one’s deeds seem to matter the most and without performing great deeds, honour cannot be had the other two ways.
Homer. The Odyssey: Fitzgerald Translation. Trans. Robert Fitzgerald. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998. Print.
The Ancient Greeks sought to define how humans should view their lives and how to create an existence dedicated to the basis of the “ideal” nature. This existence would be lived so as to create an “honorable” death upon their life’s end. Within their plays, both dramas and comedies, they sought to show the most extreme characteristics of human nature, those of the wise and worthy of Greek kleos along with the weak and greedy of mind, and how they were each entitled to a death but of varying significance. The Odyssey, their greatest surviving drama, stands as the epitome of defining both the flawed and ideal human and how each individual should approach death and its rewards and cautions through their journeys. Death is shown to be the consequence
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.
Project Planning and development Lifecycle is one of the most critical and sensitive aspects of organization that can have direct impact on productivity, efficiency and reputation of the organizations. Therefore, in order to complete the project development in an effective and optimized manner, it is important that special focus is made on issues and factors that lead to failed or over-expensed projects. Therefore, one of the most common concerns of project managers is regarding the factors leading to project failures, costs higher that allocated, and wastage of resources. Considering the importance of Project Planning and development lifecycle, respective paper will describe that Often projects fail due to incapability of not planning and estimating the project requirements, specifications and costs in an effective and efficient manner that could lead to successful scheduling of the project.
The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Odyssey both are held in high respect by literature analysts and historians alike for the characterization of the hero and his companion, the imagery brought to mind when one of them is read, and the impressive length in relation to the time period it was written in. The similarities that these two epics share do not end with only those three; in fact, the comparability of these works extend to even the information on the author and the archetypes used. However, The Odyssey and The Epic of Gilgamesh contrast from one another in their writing styles, character details, and main ideas. Both epics weave together a story of a lost man who must find his way, but the path of their stories contrast from one another.