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Greek culture influences the current western culture
Greek culture influences the current western culture
Greek influence modern day
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Influence of Greek Culture
Back in the days of Homer’s Writings, Greek culture had a huge influence on the way of life and the style of writing. In this epic Greek culture also played a huge roll in the outcome of the story. The three traits of Greek culture that are evident in this story are, marriage is permanent, gods are revered and intelligence is valued.
The first one of these traits that stands out in this epic is marriage is permanent. Penelope is faced with many suitors who wish to marry her and rule Ithica, yet she remained loyal and had faith that her husband, Odysseus would return to her side. In one instance, the suitors pressured her into choosing one of them to marry. To trick the men she said “Young men, my suitors, now my lord is dead, let me finish my weaving before I marry.” (p. 726, l. 100-101). Then every night she would undo her progress of the day. Odysseus too, had been desired by others and he too avoided them. Circe and Calypso both wanted to be with Odysseus, but he knew he had sworn to love Penelope. Telemachus also played a part in keeping his parents’ marriage together. He set out to find his father despise what others had told him. The olive tree bed was also a symbol of the couple’s permanent marriage.
The next trait that played a role in Greek culture was that gods are revered. Gods played a very significant role in the Greek’s way of life. Gods controlled everything from the sky to the underworld. Gods could either be your best friend, or your worst enemy. Odysseus learned that the hard way. After blinding Polyphemus he boasted his
name to the beast whose father was the sea god Poseidon. “Cyclops, if ever mortal man inquire how you were put to shame and blinded, tell him Odysseus, raider of the cities took your eye: Laertes’ son whose home’s on Ithica!” (p.756 l. 970-974). From that point on he would be punisher by the great sea god. A god also played an important role in Telemachus’ journey. Athena gave the young mortal much help and advice.
The last trait that played an important role in Greek culture is that intelligence is valued. Odysseus, Telemachus and Penelope all showed great intelligence in the epic. Odysseus main strength was his intelligence. He had tricked the Cyclops many times and saved himself and his crew’s lives many times.
This essay is trying to expose the ways Greek culture influenced the Odyssey. Religion, A household run by a male, and the idea of a true hero led to the creation of The Odyssey.
The first thing that I am comparing is the intelligence of Odysseus and Penelope. After all Odysseus is known in Greek mythology not for his ability to fight like Achilles or Hector but for his brilliance and intelligence. Even Zeus agrees by saying, “No other mortal has a mind like his”(Odyssey Book 1 Line 72). We can observe Odysseus starts to use his intelligence in his escape attempt from the Cyclops, Polyphemus. Odysseus and his men are trapped in Polyphe...
One important characteristic that Penelope and Odysseus share is their loyalty to each other. Odysseus failed to return home seven years after the Trojan war. Because he is assumed dead, 108 wealthy noblemen and princes invade his palace and refuse to leave until Penelope has married one of them. By marrying her, the suitors hope to gain control over Odysseus’s wealth and power. However, Penelope remains faithful to Odysseus. But, as a woman, she is powerless to remove the suitors from the palace. And without a man in the household, she is subject to her father’s decisions. However, despite his wish for her to remarry, Penelope clings to the hope of Odysseus’s return and remains faithful to him. She waits and gathers information by asking strangers who arrive in Ithaca about Odysseus. She goes through the stories of their encounter point by point, and asks about every detail while tears stream down her eyes. Although the suitors promise her a secure future, Penelope continues to wait for Odysseus. Without Odysseus, she does not believe that she will ever be happy again.
Helene was raised by her grandmother because she mother was a prostitute in the New Orleans. When Helene has a family of her own, she refuses to make her background be known. Helene raises Nel with fear because she doesn’t want her to have the lifestyle she grew up in. Helene controls Nel’s life and makes her see the world how it is. Nel and her mother go on a train to New Orleans to attend the funeral for her great grandmother. On the train, Nel witnessed racial situation between her mother and the white conductor. “Pulling Nel by the arm, she pressed herself and her daughter into the foot space in front of a wooden seat… at least no reason that anyone could understand, certainly no reason that Nel understood,” (21). Nel was very uncomfortable throughout the trip and wasn’t able to communicate with her mother because she never learned how to since her mother was not supportive of her. Nel views her mother very negatively for the way she raised her. Nel starts to determine her life and great her identity when she became friends with Sula. The effect of negative maternal interactions on an individual is explained by Diane Gillespie and Missy Dehn Kubitschek as they discuss
In the court of law, eyewitnesses are expected to present evidence based upon information they acquired visually. However, due to memory processing, presenting this information accurately is not always possible. This paper will discuss the reliability of eyewitness testimony, its use in a relevant court case, and how the reasonable person standard relates to eyewitness testimony.
In recent years, the use of eyewitness testimonies as evidence in court cases has been a subject in which various researchers have been interested in. Research suggests that eyewitness testimonies are actually not reliable enough to use as primary evidence in court cases. There have been many cases in which an innocent person gets sent to prison for a crime they did not commit because an eyewitness testified that they were the ones that they saw at the scene of the crime. Researchers’ goal is to improve the legal system by finding out whether eyewitness testimonies should be used in the court of law or not.
As a high school student, I worked with a thirteen-year-old boy named Ricky as a sign language tutor. Ricky had autism and did not acquire speech other than the word “ma”. A high population of children with autism does not acquire speech, and intervention is needed. Other methods of intervention exist, but teaching signs is one of the most useful ways of giving nonverbal children the power of communication. Although researchers often seek to solve problems, I approach this topic from the perspective of a teacher. Teachers must grapple with educating a higher percentage of children with communicative challenges due to a growing diagnosis of autism. Special education policy must work to support the needs of these students while giving teachers opportunities to practice appropriate interventions. The success of sign language instruction will vary among children, but invested parents and teachers may be able to help a child realize his or her communicative potential.
Truth be told, eyewitnesses always play a crucial role in the judgment process. In the present justice system, the testimony from eyewitnesses could possibly be one of the most reliable evidences and influence jurors on judging corresponding perpetrator. In psychology, researchers use eyewitness memory instead of any other expressions.
In the Unites States and Canada, an estimated range of 500,00 to 2 million people speak/use American Sign Language. According to the Census Bureau, ASL is the leading minority language after Spanish, Italian German and French. ASL is the focal point of Deaf Culture and nothing is dearer to the Deaf people’s hearts because it is a store of cultural knowledge and also a symbol of social identity, and social interactions. It is a fully complete, autonomous and natural language with complex grammar not derived and independent of English. ASL is visual manual, making visual manual words, moving the larger articulators od the limbs around in space. English uses audible words using small muscles
Then there is Odysseus’ wife, Penelope. She is depicted as an individual. Homer makes her character appear as very clever and also very loyal. Never once during Odysseus twenty years of absence does she remarry. She tolerates the suitors in her home for ten years but never chooses, always with the hope that her first husband, Odysseus, will return. Homer also makes her seem clever when she gets all of the suitors to bring her gifts before she “chooses one” knowing that they are in a short supply of resources. In another instance he portrays her as clever in the way that she keeps the suitor away by weaving the tunic for Odysseus and secretly taking it apart every night. The role Penelope plays is very important because she is seen as a person, not a possession.
Many mysterious events occur throughout this novel. Stevenson foreshadows the imminent end of Dr. Jekyll in the very beginning. As Utterson reads the will of Dr. Jekyll, he is perplexed by the statement that “in the case of Dr. Jekyll’s disappearance” (6), all of his money will go to Mr. Hyde. This questionable intent of Dr. Jekyll leads the reader to assume that there is something for complex connecting Mr. Hyde with Dr. Jekyll. Utterson not only tries to protect Dr. Jekyll from Mr. Hyde, but Utterson wishes to solve Jekyll’s entire problem. In the first description of Mr. Utterson, the reader learns that he is “inclined to help rather than to reprove” (1). This simple description implies that Utterson will be helping to solve a problem in this novel, though it is not identified whose problem he will try to solve. This also foreshadows a problem in the book; Utterson leads the reader to believe that a horrid situation will arise between Jekyll and Hyde. Mr. Hyde is driven purely by the temptations of evil; the urges that Dr. Jekyll is unable to act on. This temptation causes Mr. Hyde to murder Sir Carew with the wal...
Often times in life we search for a companion, someone to share our love and life with. Odysseus and Penelope's lasting relationship is an obvious representation of love in the Odyssey. Although Odysseus is gone for twenty years he never forgets his faithful wife in Ithaca. This love helps him persevere through the many hardships that he encounters on his journey home. Penelope also exemplifies this same kind of love for Odysseus. At home in Ithaca, she stays loyal to Odysseus by unraveling his shroud and delaying her marriage to the suitors that are courting her. She always keeps the hope that her love, Odysseus, will return. Odysseus and Penelope's marriage clearly illustrates the theme of love.
Throughout the story The Odyssey there are many themes that represent major parts of the story. The main theme that stood out to me is love which includes loyalty. “Love is a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person; a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend; or a sexual passion or desire” (dictionary.com). “Loyalty is defined in the Webster's dictionary as faithfulness or devotion to a person, a cause or a duty” (Webster’s dictionary). Through these definitions, it can be expressed that loyalty and love are major themes in Homer's epic, "The Odyssey". Love and loyalty shows relationships that are between two people. The few relationships that represents love and loyalty is between husband and wife Odysseus and Penelope and also between father and son Odysseus and Telemachus. These relationships shows more than just love and loyalty though, their relationships also shows compassion, sympathy and the need to be in each one another’s lives.
... those phaeacians who have helped Odysseus to return home. And for Calypso, she tried to offer Odysseus the immortal life and promising him to be his eternal wife, but Odysseus’s love for his wife Penelope pushes him to fight for his return
Religion was deeply intertwined with the culture of the ancient Greeks. In their stories, they prayed to the gods to satisfy their needs and offer assistance in their endeavors, and the gods would occasionally appear to select Greeks to give counsel, gifts, or other forms of aid. Alternatively, if the desires or endeavors of a mortal or mortals displeased one or more of the gods, they would also interfere with the fulfillment of their goals. In Homer’s Odyssey, the gods appear to or interfere with both Telemachus and Odysseus, either to help or hinder them in their journeys. Although the gods are responsible for the difficulty Odysseus faces returning from Troy, they are equally responsible for motivating and assisting Odysseus and Telemachus in their respective travels.