The Odyssey by Homer is an epic tale about the Greek hero Odysseus and his adventures back home to Ithaca. With the assumption that he had died, Odysseus’ wife Penelope and son Telemachus face off a group of suitors looking to court Penelope. A major theme found in The Odyssey is the notion of revenge. Additionally, a recurrent literary device—the epic simile—appears throughout the story, wherein comparisons are made in the form of similes, except on a grander scale. Homer utilizes a couple of epic similes in Book XXII to fully substantiate the formidability of Odysseus’ thirst for revenge against the suitors and his traitorous servants through the use of violent imagery.
As Odysseus and his crew areis warned not to eat Helios cattle for “the cattle here are not for our provisions,/ or we pay dearly for it”(XII.409-410). Odysseus and his men are stuck on the island
Odysseus’s men ignored his warning about killing the cattle and proceed so they offer Helios’s best cattle as a sacrifice to the gods and to build a temple
This is prominent when he is faced with a difficult choice: starvation or Helios’ cattle. Eurylochus tells the others, "You've gone through everything; listen to what I say. All deaths are hateful to us, mortal wretches, but famine is the most pitiful, the worst end that a man can come to. Will you fight it? Come, we'll cut out the noblest of these cattle for sacrifice to the gods who own the sky..."
In conclusion, Eurylochus shouldn't have killed Helios’s cattle because of the warning, the promise, and because they had enough food already. Even though Helios should have let Eurylochus and the men have a cow because they needed another type of food to eat. In the end, Eurylochus and the other men shouldn't have killed and feasted the
This island has Helios’s cattle, so it would be a disaster if someone killed his cattle. Odysseus wants to stay away from this island as possible, but Eurylochus persuades him to let the crew rest. A storm leaves everyone stuck there, and do well with the provisions at first. It became an issue when it ran out, and Eurylochus persuades the crew to disobey Odysseus and butcher the cattle when Odysseus slept. As a result, the Sun finds out and asks Zeus to punish Odysseus and his men.
This prophecy was part of a speech Eurylochus gave to Odysseus’ men which drive them even more. Eurylochus had told them that if they were to die it would be better on a full stomach. This turned the men toward eating the cattle even with consequences. Nevertheless, the thing that really tipped them over the edge was their belief of sacrifice once they got home. Eurylochus made the men believe that there were no troubles in eating the cattle if they sacrificed once they got home.
One of the biggest rewards that an individual can gain and appreciate is the reward of learning life lessons as they apply it to their lives to fine other’s opinions of them and make people value them as a whole. Perhaps the biggest expression of this in an individual is Odysseus from Homer’s novel, The Odyssey. Odysseus is a strong minded, independent hero who doesn’t acknowledge the assistance that others can bring which, in turn, jeopardizes others as is clearly evident in his boastful comment, “I say cyclops! If ever any one asks who put out your ugly eye, tell him your blinder was Odysseus, conqueror of Troy, son of Laërtês, whose address is in Ithaca!”(110). In Greek mythology, belief in the gods and their importance became an essential
Book 9 of The Iliad focuses on the Greek fighter Achilles, whose pride keeps him from accomplishment. In the satire Animal Farm, the pride of the animals clouds their judgment, and they are unable to see that they are suffering. In these texts, pride prevents the characters from seeing the consequences of their actions. In The Odyssey, Odysseus made a rash decision because of pride that caused him years of suffering.
The epic poem written by Homer labeled The Odyssey proves that society struggles with exercising responsibility through Odysseus’ crew, the main character Odysseus, and
Like the Epic of Gilgamesh from Mesopotamia, Homer portrayed an individual’s fate and death. A human is incapable of changing their fate as the gods have determined
In Homer’s Odyssey, Zeus, in utter exasperation and discontent, condemns one of the grave follies of mortals—shedding blame on the gods for all their misfortunes. Continuing his expression of disdain, Zeus implies that humans beings only suffer calamity and sorrow because they are foolish and disregard the bad omens and prophecies which are given to them by the gods. Zeus, to support his argument, gives the example of Aegisthus, who was killed for committing crimes against his kinsmen after he was thoroughly forewarned by the gods to not plot such a thing. Certainly, Zeus, or even perhaps Homer, is wholly under the impression that humans are the cause of their own trials and tribulations because of their callous decisions. Indeed, this is a
He reaches out to Zeus, “For hope that one might show me some way of salvation” (Homer 625) and in replication, the god, “closed [Odysseus’] eyes under slow drops of sleep” (Homer 625). Although the quotes display amnesty, they have a deeper meaning than finding salvation. In response to the hero’s call, the god puts Odysseus to slumber, while the crew indulges in the cattle. Moreover, Helios messages the thunder god to kill those who ate his cattle. It was this decree that made Zeus throw a bolt at Odysseus’ men, killing them all.
Odysseus decides to pray to the gods to end their hunger, but to no avail. A character named Eurylochus then suggests that the men eat the cattle, explaining that they should not listen to Odysseus because, in his opinion famine is the worst form of death. “‘Comrades,’ he said, ‘You’ve gone through everything: listen to what I have to say. All deaths are hateful to us, mortal wretches, but famine is the most pitiful, the worst end that man can come to’” (863-867).
One of them is that no one can go against fate, not even immortals. When Cronus finds out about his fate, he goes to extreme measures to try to escape it. However, Cronus is not able to escape his own fate, and is conquered by Zeus in the end. He tries greatly and fails, which results in a pitiless punishment. This leads into a second theme: greed will eventually strike you back.
