ipl-logo

Comparing The Odyssey And Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close

916 Words4 Pages

Often times, the primary characters are the subjects of a context, and the story follows their footsteps. This is not an exception for both The Odyssey and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. However, Foer and Homer manage to seep in the effectiveness of secondary characters within the context, which eventually causes alternations to the main characters’ adventures. Homer begins Odysseus’ss journey by introducing the reason to do so. As an epic poem, The Odyssey’s narration focuses on Odysseus’s adventures in course of returning to Ithaca. Odysseus, as the king of this nation, takes responsibility to rule the nation with dignity, therefore wishes to be back home. As loyal as Odysseus is to his ruling, he is to be a reliable husband and father. Even though spending years with beautiful nymph Calypso, Odysseus never fails to grieve over the fact that he isn’t beside his beloved wife Penelope. Look at my wise Penelope. She falls far short of you, your beauty, stature. She is mortal after all and you, you …show more content…

This constantly reminds readers of why Odysseus has to be back in Ithaca. As suiters “feed on another’s goods and go scot-free” and aim to marry Penelope, Homer vividly describes how Telemachus is not able to handle the uproar of the suitors and Penelope “[falls] to weeping for Odysseus, her beloved husband.” By knowing this information – that is blind to Odysseus but not to the readers – the readers are able to understand the urgency of Odysseus’s household. By doing this, Homer emphasizes not only Odysseus’s responsibility as a ruler, but also his duty as a husband and a father, leading readers to regard Penelope as the main drive for Odysseus’s grand journey. Therefore, the readers are able to deduce that the reason Odysseus has to return home is to protect his household, especially Penelope who is continuously forced to marry one of the

Show More
Related
358 Words | 2 Pages

What does the statement “foil characters” mean? Foil is a character who contrast with another character in order to highlight particular qualities of the other character, in the odyssey there are a lot of foil characters and the reason for that is there are and there are many actions that the characters have done which proves that statement The odyssey is homer’s epic of Odysseus ten years of struggle to return home after the Trojan War. Throughout the journey, we readers have met a lot of foil characters from gods and goddesses to humans or even creatures such as the cyclops.

Read More
1277 Words | 6 Pages

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.

Read More
563 Words | 3 Pages

The natives there gave Odysseus and his men an intoxicating fruit of the lotus. After Odysseus and his men eat the fruit, they forget all of their thoughts about home and decide to eat more of the fruit. The only way that Odysseus can get him and his men back home is by dragging his men back to the ship and lock them up, Odysseus decides to go along with it. When Odysseus went back to Ithaca, He made the wise choice to go and see his wife Penelope. Odysseus was so brave to go see his wife because he didn’t know if she was going to recognize him at all or want to be with him for the rest of her life.

Read More
1056 Words | 5 Pages

Notably, the song in the chorus describes how at home his love remains waiting silently for him. Likewise in The Odyssey, Penelope remains loyal to Odysseus through all the pandemonium from the suitors and nearly a 20 year absence from Odysseus. In one such instance with Penelope talking with Eurymachus, she describes the pride she has for herself and her marriage with Odysseus by saying ”'Eurymachus, all my excellence, my beauty and figure, were ruined by the immortals at that time when the Argives took ship for Ilion, and with them went my husband, Odysseus. If he were to come back to me and take care of my life, then my reputation would be more great and splendid(18.251-255).” Furthermore, the lyrics of the song constantly deal with the desire to return home; similarly, this is a common story development for Odysseus in The Odyssey.

Read More
1601 Words | 7 Pages

However, Penelope still loves Odysseus and remains loyal to him by stalling the marriage. She still continues to persist in being hopeful and refuses to believe that Odysseus will never return to her, so she creates several excuses to help her evade marriage for as long as possible. She presents tasks to keep the

Read More
1112 Words | 5 Pages

Previously, Homer inserted his character into less major roles, but, when Odysseus becomes a storyteller, Homer is able to show his understanding of the character in the most in-depth way possible. For instance, Odysseus spends Books Nine to Twelve acting as a minstrel would, recounting detailed tales of adventures at sea and the moving story of a hero’s hardships to the Phaiakian court. When Odysseus is finished with his storytelling, “no one stirred or sighed in the shadowy hall, spellbound as they all were” (13.1-2), as his account of his story moved all to silence. Homer’s understanding of Odysseus is spotlighted, as the four chapters are told through Odysseus’s narration of events and the hero is put into the mindset of the speaker. He finishes by telling the court, “Those adventures made a long evening, and I do not hold with tiresome repetition of a story” (12.578-580), suggesting that, instead of simply conveying a story without thought, Homer told his stories with investment, understanding, and emotion the way Odysseus does.

Read More
626 Words | 3 Pages

The gift if the monkey's paw would decide the fate of one small town girl's life and impact her in ways no one would see coming. It was a peaceful, calm, and beautiful day in Des Moines, Iowa. Rachel was just going to her local post office. She took her key from her purse and unlocked her box. She took out her mail and said, “ This is weird, I was not expecting a package, but it is addressed to me.”

Read More
1701 Words | 7 Pages

Throughout all of human history, various pieces of literature usually reflect the nature of people and the current culture of the time it was written. A topic that was frequently written about in Greek Mythology were family dynamics and relationships between family members. More specifically, father-son relationships were an extremely prevalent topic in Greek Mythology. In particular, The Odyssey touched upon this topic greatly. The basic structure of father-son relationships have stayed the same like how the parent are supposed to take care of the children.

Read More
1042 Words | 5 Pages

This character is brought to light using several incidents and events that help to analyze and interpret the ancient Greek world and the values surrounding them. Each episode supports and allows for the development of Odysseus’ character and acknowledges the effects of these features. Through these specific incidents, the reader uncovers the quality of Odysseus and how his characteristics relate to those praised by Greeks and those that were criticized. Persistent components of Odysseus’ character include cleverness and pride, while major themes that are reiterated are Greek ideals and the struggle to reach home. Conclusively, definitive occasions in “The Odyssey” establish and expand upon the character of Odysseus and how it impacts himself and

Read More
759 Words | 4 Pages

From Odysseus’ time with Calypso in Ogygia up until the moment he takes back his home and wife from the suitors in Ithaca, the struggles he faces help answer what makes for a good life. Homer uses Odysseus’ journey throughout “The Odyssey” to identify four aspects of a good life: mortality, honor, hospitality, and experiences. Homer reveals that mortality is necessary for a good life when Odysseus denies the opportunity for immortality that Calypso offers, he shows the significance of honor in his description of Odysseus’ bravery in the Trojan war and the consequent respect that Odysseus’ crew has for him, Homer reinforces the importance of hospitality in each city Odysseus travels to, and he conveys that experiences, good or bad, define a good life. The Greeks held their gods in high esteem and therefore when Homer or other characters in the epic refer to Odysseus as being “godlike,” this is one of the highest compliments he could receive.

Read More
794 Words | 4 Pages

In Homer’s Poem, The Odyssey, Penelope is the exceptionally patient and clever spouse of the infamous hero, Odysseus, and the mother of Telemachus. One poignant factor of Penelope’s character is her patience and devotion which is displayed throughout the poem. With her husband absent for a great majority of her life for the later of twenty years and his location unknown, Penelope stays, patiently awaiting Odysseus’ return, all whilst preserving their estate and raising her son by herself. Throughout this time, she had many persistent suitors in pursuit of her, abusing her husband’s absence.

Read More
450 Words | 2 Pages

The odyssey, an epic told by Homer in ancient greece, has many major themes following odysseus’s adventures. While Odysseus is sentenced to never return home after the Trojan War. He is overcoming challenges to return home to his wife penelope and his son Telemachus. Throughout the story major themes of loyalty, hospitality and vengeance are hidden within the plot. The story continues to show his heroic side with three major traits.

Read More
1041 Words | 5 Pages

In an epic poem, The Odyssey, by Homer, Odysseus struggles to come back home while his wife, Penelope, faces barbarous suitors who plague her house to court her for the marriage in order to claim the kingship of Ithaca. With an absence of the man of the household and a son who is not old enough to rule over the country and handle the domestic complications, Penelope endeavors to keep the household orderly and civilized. In order to prevent further chaos in the household, Penelope maintains her role as the Queen of Ithaca and Odysseus’s wife through her loyalty and cunning. For a woman who does not know when her man will return home, Penelope is extremely strong to keep hope and wait for her husband; thus, her unwavering loyalty to her husband

Read More
803 Words | 4 Pages

“Foundation of Family” Family is the fundamental building block of all societies. It is all inclusive across generations and cultures. Based on the epic poem The Odyssey and current families today, we see that family is where we learn to love ourselves and each other, to bear one another’s burdens, to find meaning in our life and to give purpose to other’s lives, and to feel the value of being part of something greater than ourselves. Family is where we experience our biggest triumphs, deepest vulnerabilities, and where we have the greatest potential to do good.

Read More
1401 Words | 6 Pages

These women influenced the conditions of the journey by guiding Odysseus in different directions, and aiding him crucially. Their authority showed the idea behind an old proverb, which states, “Behind every great man there’s a great woman”. Throughout The Odyssey, the women exemplified their power during the course of Odysseus’ journey.     Odysseus’ wife, Penelope, bravely held down the front in Ithaca while her husband struggled to find his way back home. In Book 18, Penelope spoke to the ever-so-desperate suitors about what Odysseus “told” her before he left.

Read More

More about Comparing The Odyssey And Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close

Related Topics

Open Document