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Greek Gods And Goddesses In Homer's Odyssey

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In the epic poem The Odyssey, Homer portrays Greek gods and goddesses as possessing human qualities and faults. Through their actions and emotions, Homer emphasizes the detrimental effects of lust, envy, wrath, and greed in ancient Grecian society. He also never fails to remind readers of the importance of respect for holy figures because of their powerful abilities to create chaos and wonder". Homer wants to prove that gods and humans share a variety of traits, and the only difference is that god don’t allow these flaws negatively to impact their society. To help further his argument, we can compare Greek gods and goddesses to that of Christianity. These almighty figures are the world’s greatest thing because they never harm humans, they don’t desire sexual needs from mortals, and they don’t expect endless gifts and sacrifices. According to the Christian bible, one of the most despicable acts a person can indulge in is adultery and lust, but when analyzing the poem, we can see that many Greek gods and goddesses partake in this shameful behavior. The eagerness of lust that Greek gods and goddesses experience humanizes them, making them closer to …show more content…

The first time we see people make a sacrifice is when Telemachus arrives at Pylos: “The ship pulled into Pylos, Neleus’ storied citadel, / where the people lined the beaches,/ sacrificing sleek black bulls to Poseidon” (3.4-6). This proves that gods are developing some sort of character, and unfortunately, they are becoming greedy. This human trait causes many people to become careless and dangerous when they don’t get what they desire, and in this case, it’s Poseidon the god of the sea. Next, Odysseus arrives at the Kingdom of the dead seeking direction from the blind prophet. After a few encounters with ghosts and loved ones, he finally meets the prophet who tells

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Characterized as capricious, selfish, and often comical, the Greek gods and goddesses hardly served as moral precedents, as can be seen through Zeus’ various exploits and Ares’ violent and cruel tendencies (Whitmarsh 31-32). To this end, the Greek gods and goddesses served as symbolic manifestations of all aspects of humanity, embodying the urges, ingenuity, hardships, and faults of all people (31). Consequently, the Greek people tended to criticize divine elements in Homer’s and Hesiod’s works, undermining, questioning, and even parodying the adventures of the heroes (36). A significant instance of this can be found within the writings of Palaephatus, a skeptical Athenian. Regarding the mythological creatures known as centaurs, Palaephatus writes, “... it is impossible.

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As we read the Odyssey by Homer we have learned that gods and goddess were an important part of the lives of the people in ancient Greek. The people had an admiration for the gods. They would pray, ask for help in any kind of situation, and do sacrifices for them. We can also say that the gods are like a parental figure to the people in the Odyssey; if the people respected and obey them they would not get in trouble and sometimes get rewarded, but if they disrespected and disobey them chances are that they would get punished. In the Odyssey, we see that Odysseus, the main character, is the enemy of a powerful god.

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In the midst of all the chaos of being away from home, Odysseus comes across many complications, some of which include life or death interactions between himself and the legendary gods and goddesses of Greek culture. However, these interactions are not included within the epic simply to entertain the audience, rather, it is thought that Homer is attempting to make a point about how the women of his time in the eighth century were unfairly treated and discriminated against. To make his point, Homer wisely portrays the female characters of his poem in an admirable fashion; he makes sure to include how women can have wisdom, elegance, authority and several other traits of which only men were acknowledged to possess. It is because of Homer’s unique recognition to the fact that women should be treated as human individuals that his poem is being read by audiences around the world up to this

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