Research Paper 19 In The Odyssey

Homer’s, “the Odyssey’, due to its powerful story-telling, has become a huge influence on shaping Western literature today. “The Odyssey” is a story-telling masterpiece that draws readers in with its creative story plots, and character usage to fully engage the audience. In scroll 19 of the Odyssey, it focuses on Odysseus’s disguised return to Ithaca, and the encounter with his wife, Penelope. Homer demonstrates his literary skills in this scroll by using impressive imagery and dramatization that helps capture the emotion, and the visual scenes of the story. In this essay, I will demonstrate how Homer uses imagery to help visualize the scene, and how he uses dramatization to fully engage the audience. One of the most powerful characteristics

The unique part about scroll 19 is that Penelope does not know Odysseus is the beggar in disguise, and that he is planning to kill the suitors the next morning. Since the narration is omniscient, the reader is able to see what’s fully going on with the characters. So as a reader, since we already know about Odysseus’s plan and his disguise, it is interesting to see Odysseus tricking Penelope. Homer states, “All lies, but he made them seem like the truth,/ And as she listened, her face melted with tears” (Homer 219-220) In this scene, the disguised Odysseus describes himself to Penelope, which ultimately brings her to tears. The way Homer plays Odysseus and Penelope off each other, makes the story more dramatic for the reader. Homer also uses foreshadowing at the end of scroll 19 to dramatize the story, and engage the audience. Homer states, “In my dream/ I have twenty geese at home. I love to watch them/….But a huge eagle with a hooked beak comes/ Down from the mountain and breaks their necks/ Killing them all…” (Homer 586-591). This foreshadow dramatizes the scene because as a reader we know the dream is predicting Odysseus’s revenge. This type of foreshadowing helps the audience be active with the