For everything, there is a season and a time. A great example of that is The Odyssey, which is one of the two major ancient Greek epic poems. An epic poem is a long narrative poem regarding the actions of a hero. The odyssey is based on the whole story of the Trojan War, where Odysseus and his men lost. In this 10-year war, innumerable of Odysseus’ men were killed and those who survived, became slaves. Odysseus finally returned to his homeland after 2 decades had gone by. The first time he set foot in Ithaca, his homeland, he didn’t recognize it. He then met Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war, whom was born from the head of Odysseus. When he first spoke to her, he tried to deceit her and act like if he wasn’t Odysseus; she knew right away …show more content…
One of the omens that was somehow upsetting was when the story described the reunion between Odysseus and Telemachus. “Sea-eagles or taloned vultures-¬/ Whose young chicks rough farmers have stolen/ Out of their nests before they were fledged” (Homer 519). This omen signifies how Odysseus didn’t get to be around his son throughout his whole childhood; Telemachus grew up without a paternal figure. When Odysseus finally divulged himself to Telemachus, they both began weeping. The utterance of their weeping was just as similar as the cries of birds. Although this omen is very significant, it’s not the only one that signifies specific events that occurred or were destined to occur throughout the …show more content…
Just like the omen from the past paragraph, this omen also describes the death of the suitors. “The vultures swoop down/ To pick them off; the smaller birds cannot escape, /And men thrill to see the chase in the sky” (Homer 595). This foreshadowed the things that were happening in the hall when it was on lockdown and nobody could escape. When Odysseus had the special bow that an old friend had given him, he took control of the suitors and started killing one by one. When some of the suitors tried to run away, Odysseus and his men went after them, like vultures going after the smaller
Again drawing from the scene where Penelope tells Odysseus of her trail a rhetorical question is presented to her. The question follows Penelope’s dream about a eagle (Odysseus) coming and killing all of her geese (the suitors). Beggar Odysseus is trying to make Penelope believe that the dream is a way of Odysseus showing her that he is coming to kill the suitors. He says “ Has not Odysseus himself shown you what is to come?”(XIX. 371). This rhetorical question is crucial to the plot of the epic poem because when Odysseus actually comes and kills the suitors Penelope cannot believe that it is him. Her ingenuity is once again revealed because she is not trustworthy of men anymore and to test any man who claims to be Odysseus she makes him tell her a secret only the real Odysseus would know. On the other hand the gods have the ability to tell and predict the future so they would have had no trouble identifying Odysseus. Once Penelope has revealed the trial to the suitors and one man Leodes has tried and failed, he asks the other suitors a question “ Resolute, are you still, to win Odysseus’ lady Penelope?”(XXI. 396). He has realized that this chase after a lady who is unwanting of them is futile. Throughout the whole book Penelope has denied the suitors any satisfaction because she has been loyal to Odysseus. Her loyalty is noteworthy because of the lack of loyalty elsewhere in the book. Agamemnon’s wife Klytemnestra killed him like “an ox felled at a trough” (XI. 198) . Agamemnon absolutely abhorred the entire women population and all to come, except for Penelope because he knew that she was faithful and “ too wise, and clear-eyed,” (XI. 199). Not to mention Zeus and many other gods were known to cheat on their significant others. After Odysseus defeated all of the suitors, Eurykleia goes to get Penelope, when Penelope hears the news she is in disbelief and is
The first and most evident example of chaos in The Odyssey is the presence of the suitors. Since Odysseus never returned form the Trojan War, many suitors who sought to marry Odysseus' wife, Penelope, were disrespecting Odysseus' house. The house was filled with the chaos that the suitors caused. They were there for so long because Penelope was resistant to remarry. While they were there, they continued to consume all of Odysseus' possessions. His wife is besieged with suitors and his entire house is threatening to fall. With the absence of their king, Odysseus, in Ithica his house was being overrun by the greedy suitors. Although order is no restored in Ithica until the end of Odysseus' journey, it is hinted at what is needed to end the confusion within the first four books, or the Telemacheia. Since Telemakhos is still too young and not fully matured enough to restore order in his father's house, it will take Odysseus' return. Even the goddess Athena recognizes the need for Odysseus' warrior strength and intelligence when she says, " bitterly you need Odysseus, then! High time he came back to engage these upstarts. I wish we saw him standing helmeted there in the doorway, holding shield and spear, looking the way he did when I first knew him. (The Odyssey, Homer, Robert Fitzgerald's translation, pp. 9)∠The rest of the books in this section are dedicated to Odysseus' journey home so that he can restore order to his homeland and be with Penelope.
The Odyssey, an epic poem written by Homer and translated by Robert Fitzgerald, is about the war hero Odysseus' ten year adventure to return home after the Trojan War. At one point in the epic poem, Odysseus is retelling his adventure at the land of the Kyklopês, in which he and his crew go to an island filled with these creatures. Through Odysseus, Homer uses contrasting connotation when speaking of the crew and the Kyklopês to convey that mankind is better than the Kyklopês using two different domains domains of society.
Along Odysseus’ journey he matures and develops as a result of his mistakes and triumphs. The Odyssey, written by Homer, is an epic poem about Odysseus’ return home from fighting in Troy. Along the way 14 stops are made while him and his crew faces many difficult groups including sirens, nymphs, and cyclops. Not only is Odysseus put into tough situations but he is also challenged to be creative and devise plans to escape certain situations. Overall Odysseus acquires many characteristic that helped him reach his goal and return to his family.
Similar to an elaborate dish, a literary genre consists of multiple necessary “ingredients,” called epic conventions, which classify a text into a particular category. Homer follows an impeccable recipe in his magnificent work. Labeled as an epic, The Odyssey by Homer portrays the Greek hero Odysseus years after his victory in the Trojan War and his awaited journey back to Ithaca. As the plot develops it is evident it is no effortless feat for our hero to return home. The godly Odysseus encounters adversities in the forms of Cyclops, sea monsters, alluring flowers and formidable Greek gods with varying conceptions of him. These characteristics distinguish the Odyssey and its episodes as an epic and bestow Odysseus with the title of an epic
Throughout the Odyssey there are many themes that Homer uses to portray different people and events. To name a few, there are the themes of Betrayal and Revenge,Greed and Glutony, Hospitality, Role of the Gods and Wealth (the amount of money one had determined the status he held in the greek society, and this explains Odysseus's love for plunder).
As former first lady Michelle Obama once said “You should never view your challenges as a disadvantage. Instead, it's important for you to understand that your experience facing and overcoming adversity is actually one of your biggest advantages,” (Michelle Obama). Odysseus faced much adversity in his journey back from troy and in his home life back on Ithaca. The Odyssey is an epic poem created by Homer that highlights Odysseus's journey from Troy to Ithaca. “Ulysses” is a poem by Lord Tennyson Alfred about Odysseus's thoughts after he returns to Ithaca from Troy. Homer and Tennyson both use figurative language when speaking of Odysseus’ travels, and his thoughts when he get back home. People undertake journeys to immerse themselves in the
The Odyssey is a tale that has changed literature and storytelling. In this tale Odysseus is a Soldier from the battle of Troy trying to get home to his island of Ithaca, where he is king. His wife and son must wait ten years while he is trying to make his way home. In Odysseus’s absence wooer’s, or better known as suitors, learn of his absence and travel to Ithaca to win his wife’s hand in marriage. These men come every day feasting on Odysseus’s food and wine, and give his servant’s orders. His son Telemachus, does his best to keep the suitors from ruining his fathers house but he is only a boy, and doesn’t receive the respect of an adult. Telemachus then has a visit from the god Athena, whom Odysseus is friends with, who advises him to travel to find out about his father. In his travels he hears that Odysseus may still be alive. Meanwhile Odysseus goes through a series of adventures and hardships that prove his wisdom. It is interesting in contrast of the Iliad, even though Achilles was much stronger and a better warrior, Odysseus was portrayed as a greater hero due to his wisdom. He uses this wisdom to escape from the Cyclops.
The Odyssey is a Greek word meaning 'the tale of Odysseus.'; Odysseus, the King of Ithaca; husband of Penelope; father of Telemachus; and son of Laertes was not able to return home after the war he was once in: the Trojan War. Stuck on an island, he is presumed dead. In his absence, suitors for his wife ruin his house with lavish feasts. This epic poem, by Homer, describes how Odysseus, with the help of the gods, gets home and regains his kingship. Justice is always harsh in the Odyssey; there is either no justice or a lot of it; the punishment however, is always severe. Justice in the Odyssey plays out among these characters: Odysseus and his crew, the suitors, Poseidon, Aeolus, Hyperion, Agamemnon, Aegisthus, Melanthius, Melantho, Telemachus, and Polyphemus. Each one of these characters does something wrong and receives a harsh punishment. In the Odyssey, justice, when done, always allots a large punishment, never a small one. Aegisthus courted Agamemnon's wife and then killed him. The justice of the Gods is a swift and powerful one. However, Aegisthus had been warned: 'we ourselves had sent Hermes, the keen-eyed Giant-slayer, to warn him neither to kill the man nor to court his wife'; (pg. 4). Aegisthus ignored the warning, killing Agamemnon and courting his wife. Orestes, Agamemnon's son, killed Aegisthus to avenge his father's death. The gods saw this as swift, fair, and powerful justice: 'And now Aegisthus has paid the final price for all his sins'; (pg.
Homer’s poem The Odyssey depicts the tendency of people to ignore the consequences of their actions. Odysseus punished Penelope’s suitors without thinking of consequences that he would have to endure. He did not acknowledge the consequences because that would prevent him from doing what he wants to do. Odysseus wanted to kill the suitors; they ate away at his fortune. Finding consequences for murdering the suitors would force Odysseus to realize what he is about to do is not a good idea. Odysseus chose to ignore the consequences and killed the suitors anyway. Odysseus had absolutely no reason to kill the suitors; they had the right to stay in his home because Penelope made them feel welcome, Penelope and Telemachus both told them that Odysseus was dead, and although Telemachus told them to leave, he did not have the right to do so.
...ally some men were killed and how the disloyal maids had died as well. This may just be because the writing style of that time was different, but it showed a darker side to Odysseus and those that fought with him.
The simile of the weeping woman also induces a feeling of sympathy for Odysseus in the mind of the reader. The image of a woman crying for her dead husband is more saddening than the heroic Odysseus crying. The scene is focused on family and love, describing the dead husband as “a man who tried to keep the day of doom far from his children and beloved home.
The first element of cosmic irony is fate, and fate has a role in book nine of The Odyssey. It typically involves a powerful deity (or something fate itself) with the ability and desire to manipulate or even control events in a character’s life. Fate is demonstrated from many characters. An example of fate is when Odysseus, son of Laertes, blinds Polyphemus, one of the cyclops, after Telemus, Eurymus’ son, tells Polyphemus this. “Oh no, no-that prophecy years ago . . ./it all comes home to me with a vengeance now!/We once had a prophet here, a great tall man,/Telemus, Eurymus’ son, a master at reading signs,/who grew old in his trade among his fellow-Cyclops./All this, he warned me, would come to pass someday-/that I’d be blinded here at the hands of one Odysseus” (9.564-570). This shows how it is meant for Odysseus to blind Polyphemus. It is not just Odysseus choice, he has to do it even though he has no idea Telemus tells Polyphemus that. Poseidon, the god of earthquake, also shows fate at the end of book nine with his plans to destroy Odysseus’ journey home, “Zeus was still...
The close reading is from The Odyssey by Homer in book nine lines 1-33. In this paper, one could see Odysseus goes full circle of emotions throughout the lines. Before this book starts Odysseus was lead to the palace of Alcinous, the king of the Phaeacians. Once he was there he plead for help from the Queen to get back to his land. The King thought Odysseus was a god but Odysseus put that to rest by saying he was a mortal. That evening, while the King and Queen were talking to Odysseus, the Queen noticed that he was wearing her daughter’s clothes. This lead to him being questioned by the Queen. At the end of the questioning the Queen was so impressed by him that the King offers Odysseus his daughter’s hand in marriage. The next morning, they
“The Odyssey” is an epic poem that tells the story of Odysseus and the story of his many travels and adventures. The Odyssey tells the main character’s tale of his journey home to the island of Ithaca after spending ten years fighting in the Trojan War, and his adventures when he returns home and he is reunited with his family and close friends. This literary analysis will examine the story and its characters, relationships, major events, symbols and motifs, and literary devices.