The first way in which Homer makes the storm seem particularly terrifying is by the way in which it is described. Throughout the passage, the storm is consistently described in a way that makes it seem overwhelming and powerful. At one point, the waves are said to have ‘clashed together’, implying that they are moving so viciously that they frequently ram into each other at great speeds. The wave is also described as being ‘mighty’ as if it would be so overwhelming that nothing in its path would be able to stop, making it seem extremely frightening to any ordinary man. Two other key adjectives that are used to describe the weather are ‘mountainous’ and ‘tremendous’, implying that the weather is extremely large in size and very terrifying for …show more content…
Homer states that Odysseus was ‘tossed off the raft’, which makes the storm seem extremely powerful as Odysseus is supposed to be a strong capable man who can defeat anything, but this storm is clearly too much for him to cope with. It is also stated that the rudder was ‘torn from his hands’, which has the same indications as the other point as Odysseus is meant to be this big, strong man who cannot be overcome by anything; however, this storm is so overwhelming that it is even able to overcome him. The storm was also so strong that it even managed to damage the boat as it ‘snapped the mast in two’; this makes the storm seem very terrifying as it shows how strong the storm is that it is able to almost completely destroy a sturdy boat. The storm was also so humungous that it managed to have ‘flung the sail’ and ‘whirled his raft around’, which shows that Poseidon was almost playing with Odysseus like his toy, spinning him around just for his own please to see him suffer. Throughout the passage, the storm is constantly described by Homer in a way that shows how overwhelming it is for Odysseus to cope with, which makes it seem very terrifying for an ordinary
In The Odyssey, Homer conveys a mixed message about Odysseus’s crew. At times, they seem loyal, whereas other scenes reveal them as disloyal. Homer does this to help center the attention on how Odysseus can fall victim to temptation and stand up to take control of his crew. The critical moments where Odysseus and his crew are in disagreement are significant because they demonstrate how Odysseus is epic, yet still human and flawed.
In Homer’s the Odyssey, Odysseus has many different qualities that classify him as a hero. He is brave and courageous as shown when he murdered all the suitors who were disrespecting his property even though he was outmanned by them. Despite this, he is by no means all brawn and no brain as he shows his intelligence and cunning numerous times during the epic. A few example of this would be when he was able to blind the one-eyed Cyclops while the rest of his crew didn’t know what to do. Odysseus in many ways is similar to a flowing river, because whenever there is a problem (dam in the river), he would first try to go through it, but if he can’t he would then find a way ar...
In The Odyssey the ancient Greeks had a sense of explorations, independence and love life. They were skillful and wise men and women. They are depicted as courageous and adventurous heroes and warriors. Under all those beautiful characteristic illustrated in The Odyssey, under that shell that it portrayed, the ancient Greeks had many fears. They feared the sea, Cyclops, scared of scandals, death and people with different cultures. Ancient Greeks had all these fear because it turns out that they fear everything that could take their life. Life is a big deal for ancient Greeks, they love and appreciate their life and would do anything to protect it. Even though everything that could cause death was terrifying for the ancient Greeks, the scariest thing was the meddlesome of the gods.
truth in it, for example he says he went to Troy as a henchman, he did
Poseidon has never really liked Odysseus. When Odysseus tries to make it onto the shore of Skheria, Poseidon “…calls up wind / from every quarter, and sends a wall of rain…'; (89). Consequently, it is a safe assumption that Poseidon will really have it in for Odysseus. He states, “I thought he should suffer all the way [home]'; (233). After Odysseus returns home, Poseidon talks to Zeus and says he wants to put a mountain ring around the city and crush the ship of the Phaiakians.
In Homer’s epic poem titled The Odyssey Odysseus faces abuse from the suitors verbal and physical. He is able to have self control and not say anything about it due to Odysseus not wanting to reveal his identity yet. Throughout the book we see Odysseus didn’t always have self control like when he taunted Polyphemus “Cyclops if any man on the face of the earth should ask you who blinded you, shamed you so- say Odysseus” here Odysseus shows unbridledly by trying to show who was the brave soul the blinded him(9.558-560). Odysseus caused the death of some of his crew mates for not having self control and insisted taunting Polyphemus to the point where he prayed to his father Poseidon who then brought waves of destruction to which it killed some
Odysseus saw one of his men, Elpenor, and he asked him, “When you make sail and put these lodgings of dim Death behind, you will moor ship, I know, upon Aeae Island; there, O my lord, remember me, I pray, do not abandon me unwept, unburied, to tempt the gods’ wrath while you sail for home; but fire my corpse, and all the gear I had, and build a cairn for me above the breakers” (Homer 578). He did what Elpenor said and returns to Circe’s island. The goddess warns him about the monsters he will face and gives him advices on what he should not do when he face these monsters. They face the sirens and Odysseus said to his men, “Therefore you are to tie me up, tight as a splint, erect along the mast, lashed to the mast, and if I shout and beg to be untied, take more turns of the rope to muffle me” (Homer 581). Other than tie him up, he also puts beeswax into his men’s ears so that they could not hear the sirens. This plan shows him that Odysseus was being a wise leader and an epic hero. Sirens passed, Scylla and Charybdis are coming up their
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.
... onslaught spinning his craft round and round” (Homer 321). This example shows how Odysseus is constantly suffering from the revenge of the god Poseidon. By keeping Odysseus away from home and trapped within the bounds of sea, Poseidon shows his godly revenge.
All these things considered, the validity of Odysseus’s actions remain fair. Because of his denial of the power of the gods, Poseidon forced Odysseus to the raging sea. For these years that he was apart from Penelope and Telemachus he...
His over-confidence and egocentric decisions create more problems even than it solves. These decisions that run throughout the poem puts his life as well as his crew’s lives in danger. The infamous incident with Polyphemus, the one-eyed cyclops is a prime example of Odysseus’s recklessness. When Odysseus and his crew wandered into an island of cyclops who were said to be lawless, without culture and direct descendants from Poseidon, they got into a cave that was inhabited by Polyphemus. Odysseus quickly realized the danger that he poses to him after eating six of his men and that he cannot kill him even though he got him drunk off of his wine. Of course, there is no denying that Odysseus was cunning and intelligent man with great insight when he was asked what his name was, he replied, “Noman is my name. They call me Noman – My mother, my father and all my friends” (Homer 279). But at the same time, he tried to taunt
Homer reveals Odysseus to be courageous through his voyage. For instance, Odysseus returned to his home “disguised as a beggar” (794) so he would not be recognized. He disguised himself because he knew the suitors in his home would recognize him. The suitors have been trying to marry his wife for twenty years, if he showed up they would have no chance of marrying Penelope and they would be furious. Odysseus being courageous still went into his home knowing the danger he would face if he was recognized. Another example, of Odysseus being courageous is when he set sail knowing “Poseidon by no mean [was] ready to allow an easy passage” (752). He uses his intelligence to determined to leave and be daring. He is aware the Gods are still upset him but he proceeds to try and reunite with his family. Therefore Odysseus is courageous and not afraid to do anything in order to get back with his family.
Homer compares the crying Odysseus to a woman who weeps for her husband who died in battle. The weeping woman is described in a very dramatic scene in order to reflect the intensity of the sorrow that Odysseus is experiencing. The “woman weeps, flinging herself across the fallen body of her dear husband.” As she is “clinging to him, [she] wails,” and then “the enemies behind her strike her back and shoulders, then they carry her away to slavery and trials and misery.” The woman goes through a great deal of hardship, which explains why “her cheeks are wasted with pain.” Not only does her husband die, but the enemies strike her with their spears and take her away to suffer more. By comparing Odysseus’s crying to the woman weeping in this intense scene of misery, Homer is able to show the reader the degree of sorrow that Odysseus is feeling.
Monsters are too often overlooked as frivolous and a sign of weakness; a blemish in character, however, the true value of monsters and villains lies not with the monsters themselves but with the shift in values they invoke on a man’s identity as he copes with them. French poet Victor Hugo, a fan of monsters wrote “Adversity makes men and prosperity makes monsters”(Victor Hugo). The exteriorization of monsters and villains in literature, the Heroes Journey in particular, serves to challenge a man to become a better person; these monsters may take everything that matters to the man but, if at the end of the day he still stands, the monsters have fulfilled their purpose and have turned a man into hero. In The Odyssey and in the E:60 film about
The challenges that Homer give the protagonist is all a test of character. Odysseus continues to pass the obstacles with flying colors, but his arrogance is the one flaw that is in dire need of correction. Some of the many challenges Odysseus overcomes on his voyage home is defeating the Cicones, surviving the Island of the Lotus Eaters, outsmarting the Giant Cyclops, saving his men from Circe, Traveling to Hades, passing between Scylla and Charybdis, escaping Calypsos’ Island and many more. Odysseus survives these obstacles and uses his smarts to escape near disaster. Often times he was the only one to survive these things and his crew often lost their lives due to their own stupidity. “‘We left the island and resumed our journey in a state of gloom; and the heart was taken out of my men by the wearisome rowing. But was our own stupidity that had deprived us of the wind.’”(P127 L75-79) Odysseus shows how he is an extraordinary man by being much smarter than his crew and the men that follow him. As a part of this stripping of Odysseus, Homer shows that Odysseus is a collective symbol of Everyman. On the one hand Odysseus is a great warrior, who is extremely intelligent, noble, and a great man. Although he has many god- like qualities he is still human. He shows that he is human and like every man, because of the fact that he still has major flaws. The