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Greek odyssey character development
Sexuality in literature
Sexuality in literature
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Greek odyssey character development
Sexuality in literature
Sexuality in literature
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Pride and honor The suitors seem dangerously proud, especially when Odysseus returns. In the end, the suitors have dishonored Odysseus and must pay for this. Justice Odysseus, like Orestes, will eventually be a deliverer of justice. Justice takes time. Neither Orestes nor Odysseus can act immediately.
Throughout history, many different cultures and societies have risen and existed. Each society has different central ideas that are important to it, and each one differed from another. In the Odyssey, the main character, Odysseus, went away to Troy soon after their son, Telemachus, was born. He left his wife, Penelope, with their son thinking he’d be back soon.
Odysseus, in The Odyssey by Homer, and I both demonstrate self-restraint. One time Odysseus shows self-discipline is when he’s in the cyclops’ cave and stabbed his eye. The cyclops “squatted in the breach with arms thrown wide for any silly man or beast that bolted” (907). Odysseus restrains himself from running the first time he sees a way out. Instead he stays back and plans for a better way out.
After he successfully exits the cave by blinding the cyclopes, he and his surviving men board the ship. As a result of his pride, he calls out to the monster, "If anyone asks who put out your eye, tell them it was Odysseus of Ithaca!”(Hinds 109). Considering the fact Polyphemus is the son of Poseidon, the cyclops calls out to him and therefore starts the troublesome voyage for Odysseus back home. When he returns to Ithaca he learns to control his hubris by replacing it with patience. Athena, the goddess of war and strategy, disguises Odysseus as a beggar because it is wisest to arrive in Ithaca without anyone being able to recognize him.
During Odysseus’ decade-long journey to his home, he encounters many forms of suffering, the most prevalent being transformative in nature. Transformative suffering, which is typically caused by mortals, themselves, alters a mortal being; albeit physically, mentally, or emotionally. In the first few years of his journey, Odysseus suffers the loss of much of his crew. He loses men while plundering a small island; he loses some to the lotus esters; and a few to Polyphemus. Throughout all these sufferings, Odysseus learns that he should listen to the advice of others; thus, transforming him mentally and emotionally through these sufferings.
In the beginning of the book Odysseus is impulsive and arrogant. After Odysseus blinds and defeats the Cyclops, he cannot contain himself. Out of pure impulsiveness and the inability to be humble, Odysseus yells out to the Cyclops, “If any man on the face of the earth should ask you/ who blinded you, shamed you do so–say Odysseus,/raider of cities, he gouged out your eye,/Laertes’ son who makes his home in Ithaca!” (Homer 9.556-562). Odysseus is so impulsive he has to scream out his name to the gods and the Cyclops.
“The Hero doesn’t Get the Reward; the Hero Pays the Price” (anon). One of the heroes who paid the dear price was Odysseus, a hero who fought in The Trojan War. Odysseus was the man who came up with the plan to build the wooden horse, ending the rigorous fight with it. Odysseus was going back home after earning the victory for his country, which he was king of one of the kingdoms -Ithaca-. But Odysseus faced trials that constrained him ten years late to arrive home.
At first sight, The Odyssey is an epic just like many others, but once you delve into this tale of murder and adventure you become engrossed into the literature and style of this book. The Odyssey has become by many literature enthusiasts and has been transcribed into the book that we read. The Odyssey takes us through a never ending story that has been translated over hundreds of years by many different authors, but was first written in Greek. The book was first written near the end of the 8th century by authors Robert Fagles and Homer. major themes that have stuck with the plot through the the book are excessive pride, hospitality and living up to parents expectations.
After reading, I believe that the human characters were responsible for the progression, resolution, and overall plot in the book. Understandably, many would believe that the gods were the ones responsible for what happened; but the gods create and formulate scenarios for the humans to tackle. For instance, there are times when the humans do not obey the gods’ orders; For example, when Odysseus was once instructed by Leucothoe, a goddess who resides in the sea, to leave his raft he decided not to because he did not think he would be able to reach land if he were to.
The concepts of honour and hubris are critical to understanding the social and personal motivations of the heroes in Homer’s Illiad. The poet embodies the universal Greek goal of achieving fame that resounds even after death, through the character Achilles, whose deepest desire is to attain status and respect in the form of heroism in battle, and whose inherent mentality is that ‘If [he] voyages back to the fatherland [he] loves, [his] pride and[his] glory [will inevitably] die . .’. Similarly, ‘glorious’ Hector, of whom Achilles battles against for the splendours of distinction, also exhibits the strongest most desire to ‘Fight for [his] country—that is the best, the only omen!’. In contrast to this, Hector’s brother Paris, the instigator
In The Odyssey, temptation is a theme repeatedly explored by Homer. The issue of temptation is constantly providing the protagonist, Odysseus, with conflicts. From the very beginning of the epic tale, with Paris’s lust for Helen, temptation causes mayhem in the lives of the characters. It repeatedly prevents Odysseus from achieving his main goal of returning home to Ithaca.
Odyssey Paragraph Odysseus, in the book The Odyssey by Homer, and I both showed self restraint in multiple different ways. One way Odysseus demonstrates self control is after he stabs the cyclops eye and the book quotes “Arms thrown wide for any silly man who bolted” (907). This showed moderation by him not rushing by the cyclopes and instead waiting for a better time. Another way Odysseus showed Caution was when he and his men went on the island with the lotus and Odysseus said “clear the beach no one taste the lotus” (898).
In this compelling story, “the Odyssey,” I believe that it is an excellent choice for young ninth graders to read. Not only because of the choice of the school requirement but because it really has that impact of showing people how they prefer to see someone they’d admire but don’t really know them as they say. This story can also be vague but little by little it's understandable. Some of my reasons to this would be like our class for example, they would tell us to read certain parts and then we would discuss it and “graffiti” our packets of the reading and get to clarify the passage a bit more if some people were stuck and didn't understand it. We would also get in small groups to do small projects on what passage we’ve read and others would have different ones and we'd explain to them so we could all get the same meaning of the passage.
Have you ever felt tempted to cheat on your homework or on a test? Have you been prideful of what your status or accomplishments? In Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, the brave hero Odysseus encountered these obstacles of temptations and pride that people today still face. Therefore, temptation and pride were Odysseus’ greatest enemy throughout his journey back to Ithaca, as they distracted him on his voyage, prevented him from getting home, and displeased the gods.
Determining the difference between right and wrong can be difficult, but life lessons help us figure it out. During The Odyssey, by Homer, Odysseus learns a few lessons, and one of them is that you should be aware of your surroundings and ready to use them. Another moral that he learned was to heed all warnings, regardless what your instincts say. These messages can be used in life today to help guide people during their lives.