In “Of the Aegean,” Odysseus Elytis suggests that a person’s companion in real life cannot match the way the person feels in dreams. When the speaker begins by saying, “Eros,” it establishes the dream-like stage of the poem (l. 1). Eros is part of four Greek words that specify a category of affection (Lewis 108); Eros is a type of intimate love (“Eros”). However, that is not the only meaning. Eros is also known as the son of Aphrodite and more commonly by his Roman name: Cupid (“Eros”). Mythology is now thought of as fantasy, and the thing people dream about. Therefore, just by using this word, the speaker creates a sense of illusion. As the poem progresses, the speaker observes, “And the gulls of its dreams/ On its highest mast the sailor waves/ A song” (ll. 4-6). He first mentions, ‘gulls,’ which can either mean a bird, or deception (“Gulls). If it means a bird, then one can interpret the lines as the birds of his dreams, revealing he is fantasizing. One would conclude the dream would be about love because the beginning of the stanza starts of with the word Eros. Then, he ‘waves a song,’ which means he is dancing since he is moving to a melody. Most the time, when one moves to a song, they are happy. Thus, he is happy because of his dream about desire. Now, if one interprets the meaning of gulls to be deception, the line would mean the deception of dreams. Consequently, he would be dancing because of his dream about love, but the dream is actually deceiving him. As the speaker advances to the next stanza, he mentions a girl. He states, “And the echo of its nostalgia/ On her wettest rock the betrothed awaits/ A ship” (ll. 10-12). ‘Nostalgia’ is the desire in thought to return to one’s past, and many times people dream about ones ...
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.... Moreover, the speaker says ‘Life sails’ as life progressing to the future, showing life changes. Likewise, ‘far-seeing’ talks about future planning. For example, marriage takes future planning and thought about what will happen next. However, by using personification the reader does not feel as if they must do any future planning because it does not feel like real life and something else is already doing an action. As a result, one feels relaxed; expressing the idea dreams creates a better feeling compared to a person in real life. The use of repetition and personification create both create a strong feeling, and the feeling remind one of a dream. In repetition, it reminds one of a trance because it is relates back to how one feels while in love. With personification, it creates a dream-like feeling, therefore showing dreams cannot compare to people in real life.
“What goes around comes around”,this great saying means that kindness is key. In the Odyssey by Homer, one important theme states how hospitality and kindness are always the best policy. Temptations and Obstacles represents a glimpse of allegory in life. Friendship is also a great thing in life because it's about support through tough and good times. Always feel generous with your kindness and support like Odysseus did on his journey.
The poetry of Sappho, and the speeches in Plato’s Symposium both deal primarily with homoerotic love, although Sappho, one of the only female poets in Ancient Greece, speaks from the female perspective, while Plato’s work focuses on the nature of this love between men. There are several fundamental elements that are common to both perspectives, including similar ideals of youth and beauty, and the idea of desire as integral to both views on love. Despite these similarities, however, there is an important distinction, which can be understood in terms of Pausanias’ concepts of Common versus Celestial Love, where Sappho’s view represents Common Love, and the larger view of Symposium represents Celestial Love. While Sappho’s work is very much grounded in the physical realm, Plato emphasizes that true love is centralized in the mind, and that it is an intellectual and philosophical phenomenon.
In the ending chapters of The Odyssey Homer bring about many interesting points in which would bring us to believe that in fact Penelope had helped to slay the suitors. Penelope did not physically help to slay the suitors when Odysseus had been in the room killing them. It was Penelope’s actions leading up to this scene that may have helped Odysseus in his successful killing spree of the suitors. For the case of the argument we will discuss points in which it is believed that she had recognized him disguised as the old man, which gave her the ability to help Odysseus. On the other hand, the argument that she may have not recognized Odysseus would contribute us into believing that she did not help Odysseus to slay the suitors but that things
In the Symposium, a most interesting view on love and soul mates are provided by one of the characters, Aristophanes. In the speech of Aristophanes, he says that there is basically a type of love that connects people. Aristophanes begins his description of love by telling the tale of how love began. He presents the tale of three sexes: male, female, and a combination of both. These three distinct sexes represented one’s soul. These souls split in half, creating a mirror image of each one of them. Aristophanes describes love as the search for the other half of your soul in this quote: “When a man’s natural form was split in two, each half went round looking for its other half. They put their arms around one another, and embraced each other, in their desire to grow together again. Aristophanes theme is the power of Eros and how not to abuse it.
The William Shakespeare tragedy Othello features various types of love, but none compare to the love we find between the protagonist and his wife. In this essay let us examine “love” as found in the play.
Athena is the daughter of Zeus, the king of the Greek gods. She is one of the 12 Olympians that live on top of Mount Olympus. Athena is the goddess of wisdom, strategy, skill, and justice, and the owl is her sacred bird. In Mandelbaum verse translation of the epic poem the Odyssey of Homer, Athena helped Odysseus by providing guidance, physical, and internal help. Without this help, Odysseus would have to forge the path home by himself and face the challenges that are to come alone. He would be left to face the wrath of both Zeus and Poseidon without another major god’s help. Athena aided Odysseus in the trials he was to face, which gave him the guidance and help he needed to return to his home, Ithaca.
Throughout the Odyssey, there are many relationships that represent love between two people. These relationships show loyalty, compassion, and the wanting to be near one another. Two of these kinds of relationships are between Odysseus and Telemakhos, and Odysseus and Penelope.
Love, in classical Greek literature, is commonly considered as a prominent theme. Love, in present days, always appears in the categories of books, movies or music, etc. Interpreted differently by different people, Love turns into a multi-faceted being.
The Greeks have been known for their hospitality and politeness, especially when treating guests- whether strangers or not. This is demonstrated near the beginning of the Odyssey when Telemachus went to Pylos to visit Nestor. Nestor, not knowing who he was taking into his home as guests, treated them with great honor and respect. "Now is the time," he said, "for a few questions, now that our young guests have enjoyed their dinner. Who are you, strangers? Where are you sailing from, and where to, down the highways of sea water (p 299)?" If ever Greeks were to serve themselves before their guests or even a little better than them, then they were breaking the most basic of all Greek customs, for this tradition of hospitality was passed down from generation to generation, and breaking it would bring embarrassment and dishonor upon the home.
When it comes to hospitality, Greeks stand atop the list of all cultures for their generosity and politeness towards strangers. “Philoxenia” is the Greek word for “the love of strangers”. Philoxenia is demonstrated in several different cases in Homer’s The Odyssey. According to Greek customs, hospitality is respected by the immortal gods. If the Greek code of hospitality is not performed correctly, or not performed at all, the consequences may be very severe, gods may unleash their wrath to whoever does not follow this tradition of thoughtfulness. Homer suggests both positive and negative commentary on his own world through the examples of hospitalities that provide The Odyssey.
There are many essential emotions that form the building blocks of our lives. These emotions help to shape the people that we are. These feelings are emotional necessities to ultimately keep us happy. No piece of literature these feelings more evident than the Odyssey by Homer. Throughout the course of this book there is one major emotional theme: 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.
Intro: There are a wide variety of themes present throughout the Odyssey, written by Homer. Be it hospitality, perseverance, vengeance or power of the Gods, loyalty is truly the theme that brings the whole book together. Being 10 years after the Trojan War, many have forgotten about Odysseus and his men as they constantly brave what the gods throw their way. This essay will be talking about Odysseus and Penelope’s mutual loyalty to one another, the loyal relationships between Gods and men and finally, the loyalty Odysseus’ men show for him until death. This essay with prove to us that without loyalty, Odysseus’ legendary journey would have been put to an end near where they started. The general theme of loyalty is what kept Odysseus motivated and determined.
Many diverse cultures are found in every corner of the world. Every culture is defined by its traditions and values. The film “The Odyssey,” depicts the culture of the ancient Greeks where it illustrates the life of a man, Odysseus, who has gone on a journey just to get back to his kingdom. Many values and traditions could be identified through the path of the journey. Some elements that are found important to the Greeks are the music, the religion, and the duty to the kingdom.
commented that all philosophy is but a footnote to Plato . A similar point can