Recommended: The Greek’s view of tragedy
He is included in the poem so he will be represented as an ally and a foil for Odysseus to highlights the leadership of Odysseus. This will examine both the straight meaning and the deep meaning for what happened with Eurylochus and reasons he did what he did. One of
Having been stuck on an island for many days with our food supply now empty, us men are willing to do almost anything to fill our stomachs. As a group, we have been through so much turmoil, and have lost some men along the way. I have never agreed much with our leader, Odysseus, for he was the one that usually caused all our troubles. However, for once I like his suggestion to leave “The Cattle of the Sun God’s” heifers alone. Consequently, this time it was the fault of a man I once thought to be smart, Eurylochus.
Penelope, his wife, is greatly affected; as many greedy suitors disrespect her and move into their home to try and win her hand in marriage. Throughout ‘The Odyssey’, the greed and folly of men play a huge part in increasing the difficulty and severity of Odysseus’s situations and ultimately change his fate and the directions of his journey. The greed and folly of men are largely represented by Penelope’s suitors. In the very first book of The Odyssey, the disgusting actions of the suitors were introduced to the readers.
A theme to learn from the myth “Prometheus” is that good deeds may come with unfair consequences. Prometheus began to pity man, and wished to give them a gift, yet couldn’t find any except for the god's powers. After stealing from the gods to give the blessing of fire, Man accomplished some things they couldn’t
Joseph Brodsky, the poet of “Odysseus to Telemachus”, successfully conveys the feelings of a homesick man -- Odysseus from The Odyssey -- longing to see his son, Telemachus, once more by both relating it to The Odyssey and using assorted literary devices. The poem is three stanzas long, and formatted like a letter from Odysseus to Telemachus -- which allows the reader feel as if they are catching a glimpse into the heart and despair of Odysseus while he is journeying back home. In “Odysseus to Telemachus”, Odysseus first contemplates the events of the Trojan War, but finds that he cannot even recall who the victor was -- despite having been a main contender in it himself. Afterwards, he begins to describe his current location: a dirty island housing pigs, buildings, weeds, and plants.
Thesis: In Homer’s “The Odyssey”, translated by Robert Fagles, sirens have been portrayed as manipulative and deceiving creatures, who trick men by using their bewitching song as a form of flattery in order to draw men to their island and eventually to their death. However Margaret Atwood’s interpretation of sirens offers a different perspective, in “Siren Song,” sirens are portrayed similarly to Fagles interpretation, but instead of bewitching men through flattery, men are drawn to the island by sirens mocking damsels in distress to tempt the men's inner hero. Body 1: Topic sentence 1 (flattery): “‘Come closer, famous Odysseus-Achaea's pride and glory- moor your ship on our coast so you can hear our song!’”(19-20).
“The Odyssey,” written by Greek poet Homer is an epic tale depicting the brutally enduring quest home of the Greek hero, Odysseus. Within this heroic story, women play a very large and pivotal role in Odysseus’s trip home from the Trojan War. In his attempt to get back to his wife, Penelope, Odysseus’s progress is constantly hindered by the intervention of women who will do anything in order to either convince the heroic figure to stay with them or have him killed. The intentions of the women in the epic are all very different but one of the most prominent roles lies in the seductresses and the alluring women who will deeply influence Odysseus. Most importantly, Penelope plays a large role in portraying the importance of women’s roles in the story.
Odysseus, just like the woman, has to live with the losses and the suffering of the war, while his dead comrades, like the widow’s husband, do not. In this instance, the woman is representative of all the women in the Trojan War who lost their husbands due to Odysseus’ wrath. He does not cry for his own glory, but rather he empathizes with the widow, and therefore, identifies with all of his victims. Alcinous, through this similarity between Odysseus’ tears and the tears of the female victims of war, is able to see that Odysseus’ connection to the Trojan War is one filled with the pain of losses and guilt, but also the pain of having to carry these memories. These two aspects of pain can only coexist in a person if his identity is the Odysseus being portrayed in these songs.
While Odysseus’ actions taken to punish the suitors may appear immoral in modern society, by considering the ways in which modern society differs from Homeric society, Odysseus’ actions are just in the context of the poem. As violence has an extremely negative connotation in modern society, the use of the death penalty is morally ambiguous, and is a highly debated topic; however, violence is far more legitimized in the society of the Odyssey, and therefore, death is a far more acceptable form of punishment. This idea is exemplified by the way in which violence is discussed between characters within the Odyssey. In particular, this general acceptance of violence is demonstrated through the fact that many of the characters within the Odyssey share an almost unanimous belief that the suitors should be put to death to pay for their crimes.
The purpose of this parallel theme in common is to draw attention to Penelope’s struggles in the time of the Odyssey, which helps the responders to empathize with Penelope during her times of weeping, and distress. Hence Atwood’s modern perspective benefitting contemporary readers to enjoy the concepts and
In fiction, it is necessary for a character to suffer in order for a lesson to be learned and morals to be taught; however, the way it is shown by the author has become more of an internal, identity-focused conflict than a physical one over the course of the humanities agenda. We will traverse through all four years of high school humanities and describe how novels such as The Odyssey, Invisible Man, and Crime and Punishment differ in the sense of conflict while maintaining the human aspect of suffering. Novels read in freshman year focused on treacherous journeys and loss of life to convey suffering. The Odyssey and The Epic of Gilgamesh focus on physical tragedy to impact the audience. The first instance of physical torment is during Homer’s
“The Odyssey.” The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Norton, 2001, pp. 225–530. Lawall, Sarah N., and Maynard Mack. “The Aeneid.”
Alluding to this also is Prometheus’s comment to Io, “to weep and bewail misfortune then, when one will get a tear from the listeners, is worth the effort” (637-639). Pity can both strengthen the bonds of community and lighten the loads of the suffering, even if it does not directly address the cause of that suffering. Furthermore, the lack of pity for poor, wandering Io displayed by the hostile European tribes she will encounter is manifestly inhuman and base, and the sacrifice of the Oceanids for Prometheus at the end of the drama (1058-1079), motivated at least in part by pity, is noble even if misguided. Certain forms of pity are dangerous or destructive in Prometheus Bound, but certain others are quite the
Sophocles’ Electra is a well-known Greek tragedy, set place at Mycenae after the Trojan wars. In the tragedy Electra plays one of the most important roles among the Chorus. The Chorus often sympathises with Electra and also helps the reader (or the audience considering it was written as a play) to understand the events better. The Chorus shares emotions with Electra, such as her grief and frustration, or her joy upon the return of Osteres. In my essay I will discuss the importance of the Chorus and how to the presence of the Chorus guides the audience.
Sethe and her daughter are isolated from the community due to Sethe’s killing of her youngest child, an action Sethe justifies as “put[ting] my babies where they’d be safe” but one which Paul D sees as a love “too thick” (Morrison 193). Her misjudgment fits Aristotle’s description of the fatal flaw. The trauma she experienced as a slave made her justifiably determined to not let her children return to slavery, but her panicked actions resulted in her isolation the community. As her isolation is caused by herself rather than an external force such as slavery, she is a fitting model for a Greek tragedy protagonist. Sethe’s “thick love” continues to linger after the killing, as she says she wanted to die alongside her youngest child after she killed her so she can continue to take care of her daughter, and states “[Beloved] is mine” after her realization that Beloved is her daughter (Morrison 241).
