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The odyssey analysis essay
The odyssey analysis essay
Homer's odyssey essay
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The epic poem, The Odyssey tells the story of Odysseus, returning after winning the Trojan War. He braves many obstacles and Athena assists him. One of the obstacles he faces are the Cyclopes. Homer uses connotation and imagery, to convey Odysseus’ view on the Cyclopes and their civilization. Through connotation Odysseus expresses his belief that he is superior to the Cyclopes.
During the Ancient Greek era, their culture had different social codes than other cultures in that era and the ones to come after. The Ancient Greeks of the time created their own moral codes called, “The Eight Greek Evil Thoughts” that were detrimental and took away the aspects of being human. ”The Cyclops” is epic from the story, The Odyssey that was written by Homer and translated by Robert Fitzgerald. In the episode of “The Cyclops” Odysseus and his men have washed ashore onto an island where it is mostly inhabited by cyclops, Odysseus’ curiosity leads him to a cave that it also the home to a cyclops named Polyphemus. Polyphemus returns to his cave and soon notices that he is not alone, he slowly starts to eat members from the group until
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.
Poetry for years has been renowned as a major form of expression in art and literature. A guiding example of this is Homer’s 12,000-line epic, The Odyssey. This epic tells a tale combining years to focus on the life of Odysseus, a soldier who fought in the Trojan War, and the life he lead on his journey home. Throughout his journey, Homer narrates the battles he lives through and shows how Odysseus perseveres with help from the Gods. In the above passage excerpted from Book 9, we are shown Odysseus’s encounter with a Cyclops which teaches the reader an important lesson.
The Odyssey by Homer is an exemplary story that teaches life lessons to those going on a journey for themselves. It illustrates how the challenges and obstacles one may face can help someone become a better leader. The Odyssey highlights one man, Odysseus, a man filled with excessive pride, experiencing the wrath of the god Poseidon. He expects to arrive at his home, Ithaca, safely to reunite with his wife, Penelope, but unfortunately faces many temptations and setbacks. Due to the challenges he faces, it prevents him from arriving home as early as he thought he would.
TS1 (Thesis): In The Odyssey, Homer depicts Odysseus’ real foe as the theme of temptation with displays of hubris and lustrous goddesses, which portrays the importance of being vigilant to not submit to temptation. ST1: Homer depicts that Odysseus is determined to get home, but Odysseus succumbs to temptation when he leads his crew into the cyclops lair, eats the cyclops’ food, and demands for a gift, resulting in a protracted journey home. 1: Homer displays Odysseus as recklessly brave when he requests, “we’re at your knees, in hopes of… a guest-gift”(9.300) from the cyclops. 2: It is apparent that Odysseus has given into the temptation to be arrogant when he declares for the cyclops to give them, “a guest-gift,” after Odysseus and his men have broken into the cyclops lair, showing even further Odysseus’ isn’t vigilant to
In the Odysseus (book 9), written by Homer, (book 9) has several symbolisms throughout the episode. One major symbolism used throughout this episode was hospitality. Homer use Cyclops and Odysseus to represent the different view of hospitality. Odysseus action symbolize the poor use of hospitality. Odysseus and his men sailed to the land of the Cyclopes.
Universal human experiences: occurrences that happen to all people. Throughout the Odyssey, Odysseus struggles with engendering, and searches for, connections to other people. The universal human experience portrayed in the Odyssey of connecting with other people is shown through Odysseus's struggle with honest, loyalty, and From some of the events that happen in the Odyssey, it is clear that Odysseus struggles with honesty. This is especially shown in some of the interactions with his crew. After receiving the wind bag from Boreas (Homer ), Odysseus is given explicit instructions to not open the bag.
The pathos and ethos of cultures is often discernable in literary narratives as expressions of the sentiment of approval or disapproval. Thus, the impact of literary narratives on cultures cannot be understated; the arts do impact and influence culture in both positive and negative ways. This is not a new phenomenon and can be observed in cultures as early as 6 Century B.C. and can be traced throughout human history. An example of this can be seen in Homer’s Odyssey, in which there are certain characters within the narrative that portray what is known as “arete.” Arete is viewed as a desirable character trait which some define as the display of perseverance, quick-wittedness, prowess, valor, etc.
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.
It is often wondered how words are formed or created. Many of our words are derived from different older cultures, like the civilization of Ancient Greece. An example of this is the word museum which comes from the word muse. The Muses were greek goddesses of the fine arts who were prayed to by philosophers, musicians, and artists who seeked inspiration. The Greek poet and author of the famous stories The Iliad and The Odyssey was one of them.
While many would argue that the human species officially embarked on the journey to “conquer” nature at the inception of the Industrial Revolution, with men bending nature to suit their purposes on an unprecedented scale, the seeds of such sentiments to surpass nature with created culture had been planted hundreds of thousands of years ago. With a casual overview of human history, one can see that the idea of bending elements of nature to human will rose as early as hundreds of thousands of years ago, perhaps when homo erectus first started cooking food with fire. The idea of the cultural death, the burning of one’s body to prevent one from being consumed by the elements of nature that occupies a most illustrious position in the Homeric world, can be dated back to roughly 20,000 years ago (Lake Mungo remains), the currently earliest recorded act of cremating the dead. Homer frequently juxtaposes aspects of nature and culture in his work. In the Odyssey, Homer juxtaposes the society of Cyclops with the civilized human society, demonstrating the stark differences between a naturalistic and a cultural society.
The Odyssey begins as Odysseus leaves an island he was trapped on for 10 years to go back to his hometown, Ithaca. However, we do not know if he will make it back, as it is highly probable that he will die. The Odyssey is a Greek Epic involving some of their ancient Gods. On the way to Ithaca Odysseus faces many challenges while his wife deals with challenges of her own at their house. Suitors have taken over Odysseus’s home, and are all trying to marry Odysseus’s wife, Penelope.
The cyclops Polyphemus effectively sets up the entire plot of Homer’s Odyssey, unleashing Poseidon’s wrath on Odysseus and consequently emerging as one of his most formidable rivals. Despite being perceived by Odysseus as an uncivilized savage and the polar opposite of a Greek citizen, it becomes evident that although the two are opposed in terms of customs, they fundamentally resemble one another when analyzed through the lens of xenia, rendering Odysseus’ worldview xenophobic. Thus, the Polyphemus episode turns into a powerful allegory for how the West has traditionally viewed people from foreign cultures that they sought to subjugate. Odysseus regards Polyphemus as inferior because of behavior that he sees as uncivilized when compared to
Why drinking age should be lowered? If one is considered an adult at age eighteen in most of the country, are they not allowed to purchase and legally consume alcohol? The minimum legal drinking age needs to be lowered, and not just for that reason. The amount of teenagers with drinking problems and alcoholism is far greater than in Europe, where drinking ages are far lower. Also, studies show that the current minimum age drinking laws have been ineffective to a high degree.