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Homer's The Odyssey

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The Odyssey is a narrative poem because it is presented through the narrator’s voice, this is evident when the text starts with invocation of a Muse to tell the story of Ulysses. The other characteristic of a narrative poem that can be seen in the Odyssey is the use of dialogue by characters in the form of long, formal monologues.
According to Baldick’s definition, the subject of the Odyssey, Ulysses, is what makes the literature an epic narrative. The Odyssey is a tale of Ulysses, a King and a hero’s return home, making it an epic narrative. Some of the epic subject matters in the poem that are of grand ceremonious style are: the characters of the narrative being mythical gods, and royals, the hinting of the epic hero Ulysses’ braveness, and
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405 Words | 2 Pages

In the Odyssey, Homer creates comparative relationships using metaphors and similes in order to expand upon themes. One interesting relationship in the epic is that between the poet and the hero. In this epic, the most prominent of the heroes are Odysseus and Telemakhos, and the most prominent poets are Demodokos and Homer. There are many different examples of relationships between the poet and the hero, but one of the more striking relationships is the similarity between the two. Through this comparison, Homer shows that both the poet and the hero cannot achieve greatness without pain or help, but instead need to suffer and need the help of an external guiding hand in order to achieve greatness.

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158 Words | 1 Pages

Epic poetry, known for its grand descriptions of glorious accomplishments, revolves around an honorable protagonist. As the hero faces adversity in his journey, he triumphs in fleeting moments of bravery. He often exhibits his physical strength to overcome his hardships, manifesting a story with a violent nature. In Homer’s The Odyssey, King Odysseus of Ithaca struggles to return to his loving wife and son after having fought in the Trojan War.

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309 Words | 2 Pages

The Odyssey is one of the most famous pieces of writing to this very day. Most have either heard of or have read this work within their high school or college years. This writing is what is called today an epic poem. An epic poem is a long narrative that normally entails the journey or struggles of an ancient hero. In The Odyssey the hero is Odysseus, and his adventures of being held captive and his escape back to his home are detailed in this narrative.

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654 Words | 3 Pages

The Heroes Journey, identified by American scholar Joseph Campbell, is a pattern of narrative that describes the typical adventure of the main hero, whether that be a fiction or nonfiction hero. The first step is the call to adventure, where something shakes up the hero’s current situation and the hero starts experiencing change. Consequently, this theory is also applied to the fictional hero Odysseus in The Odyssey and the real-life hero Martin Luther King Jr., a civil rights activist. In The Odyssey, Odysseus embarks on a 10-year voyage from Troy to Ithaca and encounters many monsters along the way including a gigantic Cyclops described as “…a brute so huge, he seemed no man at all…” (9 89-90).

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620 Words | 3 Pages

The Odyssey, Homer, takes the reader on a man's journey back home after being faced with many struggles for 15 years. Throughout the epic poem, The Odyssey, several examples of epic concepts are shown, such as; epithets, epic similes, and archetypes. Epithets are most commonly seen throughout this epic poem. This is evident because there are many examples of epithets in each book of The Odyssey. For example when the gods and goddesses were discussing Odysseus' fate they used a epithet.

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153 Words | 1 Pages

Universal human experiences: occurrences that happen to all people. Throughout the Odyssey, Odysseus struggles with engendering, and searches for, connections to other people. The universal human experience portrayed in the Odyssey of connecting with other people is shown through Odysseus's struggle with honest, loyalty, and From some of the events that happen in the Odyssey, it is clear that Odysseus struggles with honesty. This is especially shown in some of the interactions with his crew. After receiving the wind bag from Boreas (Homer ), Odysseus is given explicit instructions to not open the bag.

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627 Words | 3 Pages

Characteristics of an Epic Poem in The Odyssey The Odyssey is about a man named Odysseus who has a long and dangerous journey home from fighting for ten years in the Trojan War. After fighting for ten years, he takes another ten years to get home. Homer uses many characteristics of an epic poem that are common in literature. In The Odyssey, Homer includes characteristics of an epic by portraying archetypes, epic themes, and an epic hero.

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841 Words | 4 Pages

OVERARCHING THEMES Though The Odyssey and Paradise Lost are penned during completely separate time periods–with a span of roughly nine centuries between the writing of each–the two works still share many similar themes and subject matters. Some are more vital components for the genre in general, necessary for a piece of literature to be considered an epic; others remain less conspicuous, though with just as great an impact on the overall story. Heroism and the Hero’s Journey: One of the most defining elements of an epic work is the presence of the Hero’s Journey, also known as the monomyth. Introduced by Joseph Campbell, the Hero’s Journey describes the typical narrative pattern that accompanies many forms of storytelling, most commonly and most easily seen in classical literature.

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266 Words | 2 Pages

Consideration Characteristics of Sympathy Sympathetic people have feelings of sorrow and pity for one’s bad luck. People who are sympathetic towards others, are considerate of others. They consider the downfalls in others lives and show sympathy towards them. In The Odyssey by Homer, the Cyclops shows sympathy toward Odysseus through consideration of him and his crew.

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637 Words | 3 Pages

The Odyssey, written by Homer, is one of the most famous examples of a fictional epic poem. The Odyssey is one of Homer's most famous works. It tells the story of a man named Odysseus, and Odysseus recalls his story to Alcinous, a king who has taken Odysseus into his home. This tale is an example of bravery, great loss, selflessness, and heroism. It is also the result of having a close relationship with the gods.

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716 Words | 3 Pages

Among all those mortals who grew so wise that they learned the secrets of the gods, none was more cunning than Daedalus. He once built, for King Minos of Crete, a wonderful Labyrinth of winding ways so cunningly tangled up and twisted around that, once inside, you could never find your way out again without a magic clue. But the king’s favor veered with the wind, and one day he had his master architect imprisoned in a tower. Daedalus managed to escape from his cell; but it seemed impossible to leave the island, since every ship that came or went was well guarded by order of the king.

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631 Words | 3 Pages

The Odyssey is an iconic epic poem that has established the characteristics of epic poems to come. Written by Homer, the father of Western Literature, epic poem is about Odysseus, a man who is far from home, recalls the past events, and returns after twenty years. When a poet alludes to the Odyssey, both the poem and the Odyssey is enhanced. Edna St. Vincent Millay alludes to the Odyssey in “An Ancient Gesture.” In this poem, a speaker is doing housework all day.

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989 Words | 4 Pages

The epic characteristics include a vast setting, supernatural forces and superhuman courage. In The Odyssey, the central character Odysseus is a war hero who is travelling back home. He face many challenges in

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416 Words | 2 Pages

The Odyssey made in 1997, directed by Andrei Konchalovsky, is about a man called Odysseus trying to find his way home to Ithaca after the Trojan War. However the story has many corny parts, bad special effects, and places where setting could have been improved or the story could have been expanded on. The Movie of The Odyssey begins with Penelope giving birth to Telemachus, Odysseus’s son. However, soon after the kings Agamemnon and Menelaus force Odysseus to fight a war against the trojans.

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1101 Words | 5 Pages

Iliad, the epic poem is written by a great epic poet Homer. This poem is a classic in real terms and recounts some historic facts about the last ten years of Trojan war and the Greek siege city of Troy. Tracing back its history, Iliad is thought to be written back in 8th century B.C. and it is considered one of the earliest works in western literary tradition. It captures the scene of blood, abductions, murders, wrath of Achilles, revenge, anger and intervention of gods. The scene of warfare and blood are presented in the poem through oral tradition initially.

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