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Archetypes In The Odyssey

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An archetype is an image, a descriptive detail, a plot pattern, or a type of character that occurs multiple times in myth, literature, religion, or folk lore. Archetypes often provoke emotion in the reader as they awaken an image, calling illogical responses into play. Many novels, legends, and myth are made up of archetypes which causes similarities in the plots of many novels. For example, the Helper God, the golden place, seasons and metamorphosis are archetypes that make up modern literature and they make up prominent themes found within the novels containing those archetypes. Like these archetypes, the magical weapon archetype, which has only one true owner able to use it to its fullest potential, also is a prominent theme within literature and film creating a large part in the theme. In the Arthurian legend, the Sword in the Stone was said to be the key to the heir as only he would …show more content…

In the chapter, "The Test of The Great Bow" of The Odyssey, Odysseus's wife, Penelope, makes a competition to see who can string her husband's bow with the man who completes the task first becoming her new husband. Odysseus enters the completion secretly once he reaches Ithaca and wins, which reveals him under his real identity, which was hidden before. In the end, Odysseus reunites with wife and peace in Ithaca is restored. This magical weapon, being the bow here, is known to only be able to be tied by the true owner, who can then successfully complete the task and claim the prize. When the suitors tried to string his bow, no one could do it no matter their strength and experience in hunting, as Odysseus was its true owner. The bow therefore showed to be not just a test of strength and skill, but it also represents Odysseus's right to his wife and ruler of

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189 Words | 1 Pages

In book 21 Penelope announces that she will marry the suiter who can string the bow, and then successfully shoot a line of twelve axes. Telemachus, Eurymachus, and many more try to string the bow and fail. Odysseus then asks to try, and this is where the epic simile is. The simile compared Odysseus’s stringing to a musician with an instrument. Thus reveling that Odysseus was in fact was very graceful, and skillful.

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Secondly, when Odysseus came home from his 20 year adventure, his wife was holding a contest to see who her next husband was going to be. In the contest the men had to string Odysseus’ huge bow

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Odysseus can relate to this because once he finally comes home from Ithaca, Penelope holds a contest on stretching a bow through 12 ax heads: “ I will promise to marry whoever is able to bend it most easily and send an arrow through the open part of twelve axes in a line”(185). If he won he would prove he is worthy to be chosen by Penelope just as Black Panther except whoever won the fight would prove they are worthy to be

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According to the book, Edith describes Odysseus as “the master of crafty cunning” (272), when the Greeks sent him to go steal Hercules’s bows and arrows from Prince Philoctetes.

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“With that he trained a stabbing arrow on Antinous … just lifting a gorgeous golden loving-cup in his hands, just tilting the two-handled goblet back to his lips, about to drain the wine—and slaughter the last thing on the suitor’s mind” (Homer 22.8). Not to mention the fact that murder is a terrible thing for any character to do, but Homer exaggerates the brutality of the murder. In doing so, Homer opens the reader’s eyes to a whole new perspective of Odysseus and his character. In summary, Homer greatly focuses on the many qualities of Odysseus, allowing the reader to form an honest

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For example, one archetype that is represented throughout all stages of the Odyssey is the hero archetype, which is played by Odysseus himself. Other archetypes that represent major parts of the Hero’s Journey include the mentor archetype which is represented by the Goddess Athena, and she is introduced in stage 4 of the Hero’s Journey, meeting the mentor/supernatural aid and stage 6 tests, allies, and enemies which are represented by the cyclopes, the sirens, Charybdis, Scylla, King Aeolus, etc. As we can see every single archetype in this narrative correlates with crucial pieces of the hero’s journey. Therefore, if Hero’s Journey wasn’t there to organize the story and the archetypes weren’t present to differentiate each character the narrative would not be as clean and engaging. Both pieces are very important when it comes to shaping this story and the characters within

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This just in Penelope announces that she will marry the suitor that can string Odysseus’s bow and shoot an arrow through twelve axe handles. Many suitors try but fail at the simple yet impossible task. Odysseus, disguised as a beggar, asks to give it a try but is denied quickly due to his appearance. Telemachus forces the suitors to give Odysseus a try. Odysseus easily strings the bow and shoots the arrow through the axe handles as expected.

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Archetypes Ethan Sodikromo The Journey - The Odyssey (Homer) Background- Odysseus is a great Greek hero who was glorified in the Trojan War. However, on his return trip to his kingdom(of which he is king), he incurs the wrath of Poseidon, who leads his ship astray. He then spends 10 years trying to return home, fighting of many mythical beasts and incurring the wrath of a few more gods.

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This creates suspense because the audience knows that Odysseus will perfectly shoot the bow, but everyone in the room, except Telemachus, doubts him. When he does successfully shoot

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so she held another test. That was, she had a suitor move his bed, and one of the legs were a tree so it couldn't be moved. That made Odysseus angry and he began to kill all of the

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Because in the beginning he was impulsive and arrogant, he set himself up for a journey of miseries, and in this quote he asks the gods to release him from those miseries. He has never asked that before and always thought he was better than the gods themselves. After being humbled, put in rags, and put through many hardships, Odysseus finds that he is not the most important being and becomes more humble because of this. When the suitors are trying to win Penelope’s heart they are tasked to string Odysseus’s bow and shoot it through axes. Odysseus waits for most of the suitors to attempt to string

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Although Odysseus is still hiding his identity, Penelope’s confidence grows because she knows that this will force Odysseus to finally come out of disguise and compete in the contest to finally prove that he is indeed the one true Odysseus, king of Ithaca. During the contest while the suitors struggle, Odysseus still disguised as the beggar pleads to Antinous to give him a shot at stringing the bow. They are enraged by the fact that a mere beggar will even think of competing but most importantly they are frightened he will prevail. Penelope uses this moment to finally get Odysseus to reveal his true identity. Odysseus proves his identity by stringing the bow and successfully shooting it through all twelve

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Homer expressed how both characters have both similar different and unique physical, emotional and intellectual qualities. Homer makes a statement by illustrating their different degrees of success in their attempts to string the great bow of Odysseus. Homer shows the love that has been missing from their lives. Finally, Homer provides one last example as Odysseus’s and Telemachus’ attitudes towards a situation where the odds are not in their favor. The story does give Telemachus his own nobility above the suitors and those who betrayed him, but Odysseus rises as our epic hero.

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After a long expedition, with Athena’s aid, he gets his “happily ever after”. He was determined to arrive back home, and this strength helped him more than he would realize. When he wanted Penelope's hand Odysseus “stretches with ease round its new cord, securing at each end the twisted sheep-gut; so without effort did Odysseus string the mighty bow” (Homer 270). He easily strung his bow with strength. Odysseus’ trip home he meets many god-like heroes like Achilles and Hercules, in the underworld.

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An archetype is a typical model or example of something. They are recurring images, patterns, and images that can be seen in myths. Common archetypes in myths include heroes, shadows, mentors, and a temptress’. There are also many personality archetypes. Gods of myth can be classified into these archetypes, as can you and I. Though I can be classified as many different archetypes, the three archetypes that represent me best are caregiver, intellectual, and creative.

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