Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Themes of the odyssey by homer
Themes of the odyssey by homer
Homer's odyssey deals with ..
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Themes of the odyssey by homer
Perseus has been described as a Greek hero but to earn that title you have to do something heroic. Perseus has done a few things that make him a hero and I am going to explain those things. Perseus is a Greek hero mainly for three things. First off, he killed Medusa who was a Gorgon that could men into stone by making eye contact with them. Her hair was also made out of live snakes.
It all started when Polydectes who was an evil king of an island called Seriphus fell in love with a woman named Danae. He really wanted to marry her but she had an adult son that he did not want. That adult son was Perseus. Polydectes wanted Perseus gone so he tricked him into taking a very deadly mission. The mission was to kill Medusa and bring him the head of her. Medusa also has two other sisters who are also Gorgons.
…show more content…
One day Andromedas mother boasted that her daughter was more beautiful then any of the gods daughters except for Aphrodite. This was when the trouble started. Poseidon who was the god of the sea had daughters who heard of Andromedas mothers boasting. They whined to their father telling him to do something about it. They kept doing this until Poseidon who was very angry at this point flooded the city and sent a giant sea serpent to eat everybody in the city. The king of the city who was the father of Andromeda asked a oracle what he should do. The oracle said he must sacrifice his daughter to the serpent. The king then ordered for his daughter to be chained up to a tree on a cliff that faced the sea. When the guards were done chaining her up to the tree, Perseus who was adventuring that day saw her and fell in love with her as soon as he saw her. He landed near her and cut the chains off. After that the sea serpent tried eating them but Perseus got his sword out very quickly and cut off the head of the sea serpent. They both fell in love with each other and got married soon
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
The majority of those who read The Odyssey consider the protagonist of the story, Odysseus, a hero. On many occasions, however, Odysseus makes decisions beneficial to himself alone. For example, when Odysseus and his men find themselves on Polyphemus's island, Odysseus's actions are self-centered and at the expense of his men. This can be said for most of Odysseus's actions in the story, as his main objective is to reach his home. Having his men by his side when he returns seems a trivial thing to him. Odysseus could be considered a hero, but many of his actions say otherwise. Due to the many unfaithful and self-centered decisions he makes in the story, Odysseus is not a hero.
How do you define a hero? Some may define a hero as someone with great courage and bravery; to others a hero might be a strong warrior and leader who wins battles; others may define a hero as one who uses his brain as much as his brawn to win. In Homer's epic poem, Odyssey, Odysseus is portrayed as a hero by every definition.
Throughout history, many ancient cultures created stories involving great heroes and gods to explain certain aspects of their daily lives. These stories would form an important part of the culture’s religion and are referred to today as mythology. One great hero from ancient Greek mythology is Perseus. According to both ancient standards and today’s standards, Perseus would be seen as a great hero. The many actions that Perseus is said to have done in his adventures prove his heroism.
The epic heroic journey of Odysseus was a story written in Greek. The story is a great example of the epic journey tale. Manny story's are based off of the epic of Odysseus. The hero Odysseus may be worthy for a hero for the Greeks by the extraordinary travels and the odds that he was up against. There is two different opinions if Odysseus was really a hero or not.
Odysseus has all the qualities made to be a true hero. Not only did Odysseus fight on behalf of the Greeks in Troy (Trojan War), but everything he went through he learned a valuable lesson at the end; Odysseus endured so much during his journey going back to Ithaca but he never gave up on any of his principles. He also had good escape strategies, and he risked his life to save others. Imagine you being on the same journey Odysseus went through, do you honestly believe you would have survived? He made some minor mistakes along the way but nobody’s perfect. That’s why Odysseus is a hero because, he’s strong, and intelligent and was able to get out of sticky situations.
In conclusion, Odysseus deserves the title of a hero because he shows bravery, displays a change in character, and has the Gods supporting him throughout his journey home. Odysseus has the courage to overcome physical, emotional, and intellectual challenges. While Odysseus he is on the hero’s journey, he vastly improves his character. He changes from arrogant to humble, and learns leadership qualities, and most importantly, his place in the world. Odysseus has the revelation that the gods are above him, and are in control. Because he realizes the supremacy of the gods, his reward is assistance from the gods themselves. Odysseus is not a perfect man, and is flawed, just like every other human. However, heroes are not gods.
Andromeda is saved by Perseus front a sea serpent, delaying Perseus’s completion of his quest in “Perseus and Medusa”. “Perseus landed beside her… Helmet of Invisibility” (Creighton, 93) As said in the quote, when Perseus sees Andromeda on his way home, he offers to help slay the sea serpent that is endangering Andromeda’s life. This extra stop during Perseus’s journey puts a pause to Perseus’s journey to present Polydectes with Medusa’s head and put himself in more danger. However something good did come out of this. “Perseus asked for … given so willingly.” (Creighton, 93) Through Perseus saving Andromeda’s life, he receives the pleasure of being able call Andromeda his wife. Andromeda’s contributions to Perseus’s quest affected him both positively and negatively because even though she delays him from finishing his quest, Perseus receives his one true love. Like most cases in Greek myth, Andromeda plays a small role in this story compared to the bigger picture of Perseus’s quest. This being said though, Perseus’s rewa...
His grandfather, is King of Argos, his name is Acrisius. Acrisius had a daughter named Danae, however he wanted a son. So in search for an answer towards having a son, Acrisius went to the Oracle of Delphi. The Oracle said that Acrisius’ daughter, Danae would be the one to carry a baby boy, but this child would kill Acrisius. To avoid his own death, Acrisius created an underground chamber to lock his daughter in, therefore, she would be unable to conceive a child. Little did Acrisius know that Zeus would shape shift into golden rain and conceive a child with Danae. Naturally, Danae gave birth to Perseus. When she was let out of this underground chamber Danae met Polydectes. Polydectes was determined to make Danae his wife and that is exactly what happened. Perseus was unable to grant his mother and Polydectes a gift, so he was told to bring back Medusa’s head. Perseus was successful in retrieving Medusa’s head. On his journey back home he met a beautiful Goddess who was in distress. Perseus saved her from a horrific sea monster and they instantly fell in love and wanted to be joined together in holy matrimony. However, Andromeda’s uncle was no too pleased with this decision. He wanted Andromeda only for himself. Therefore he planned to murder Perseus but was unsuccessful since Perseus had the advantage of Medusa’s head. Perseus showed Andromeda’s uncle Medusa’s face and he then was turned to stone. When he returned home with the gift, he found out Polydectes was abusing his mother. Instead of giving him the present he used it against Polydectes and turned him to stone as well. Acrisius became aware of what Perseus was capable of doing so he decided to flee. Although that didn’t help as much as he believed it would. Perseus and his grandfather ran into each other at the Games Ceremony, in Larissa. When Perseus went to throw the discus it slipped from his grasp and clashed into his grandfather’s head, killing
In Homer’s The Odyssey, the main character, Odysseus, is stranded at sea after the Trojan War. He must overcome many obstacles in order to reach his home, Ithaca. Throughout the book, we see the many admirable qualities that Odysseus possesses that makes him such an influential literary character: among them being cleverness and loyalty. However, every hero also has his weaknesses, and Odysseus’s main weakness is his pride. We can learn how to live our life from a hero’s good traits and bad traits
Overall, Odysseus is a hero because Odysseus is a clever and intelligent man, he is a courageous soldier and leader, and he is loyal to his crew. He never gives up even though it seems like nothing will go right. Odysseus fights against difficult odds and takes unimaginable risks, but stays loyal to his crew one hundred percent of the way. Odysseus is not only a model hero, but he is an epic
Odysseus confirms his role as a hero because he puts thought into all of his choices, he is quick-witted, and he frees himself of excessive self pride. From sacrificing six of his own men to surrendering his self pride to the gods, Odysseus accepts the noble title and proves himself deserving of being a hero. He took on a journey in which he grew into himself and rid himself of the one thing that held him back all along; his hubris. At the end of the journey, Odysseus went from being a selfish, cocky leader to being a selfless, modest hero.
These two stories are so different from each other they just have two things for each section that are the same. Heroes Every Child Should Know is a more interesting story of how to kill Medusa. Perseus the poem isn't that good because it just has a part of what how to kill Medusa it is just that he had a shield and just chopped her head off. So the rest of the paragraphs are just to say the similarities and differences. Perseus is different by many things the characters, settings, event, and the theme.
... foolishness of her mother, the Queen Cassiopeia. He saves Andromeda by cutting off the serpents head. After this, he returns to the island and the evil king. He goes to the Kings court and raises Medusa’s head turning the King and his court into stone. Later at a sporting event he throws a discuss which heads into a crowd and strikes and kills the King Acrisius, his grandfather. Then he and Andromeda are able to live happily ever after.
Hades shows himself to Perseus and with the rage of what Hades has done to Perseus, Perseus grabs a lighnting bolt from his sword and throws it at Hades sending him back to the underworld. Saving Andromeda and she offered to make him king and he had refused. Zeus asked if he wanted to join him in Olympus but refused and requested to stay a demi-god but Zeus granted him Io as a companion. In the story according to the Greeks Danae is the daughter of King Acrisius. When he had them put in a box and thrown into the ocean and saved by the fisherman named Dictys they both were still alive and Danae ended up falling in love with Dictys and they were married. Dictys’ brother King Polydectes wanted to take Danae as his wife, Perseus hearing the news he offered to pay any price for his mother not to marry King Polydectes. Sense Polydectes was afraid of Perseus he quickly made an offer that he will allow his mother to stay married to Dictys, only if he brings back the head of Medusa. Bravely, Perseus accepted his