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Three Values In Homer's Odyssey

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The Values in The Odyssey
The ancient Greek is the starting point of European civilization, it pioneered human exploration of the spiritual world. In fact, both Homer’s and other ancient Greece literature and philosophy reflect that Greece is a contradictory but thought-provoking space. In the spiritual world of ancient Greece, the gods and humans’ boundaries are somehow vague. Gods here have the human side which is greedy, cunning, and militant, while the man also can be noble, holy, and wise like gods. Thereinto, Homer’s Epic is always considered as the central of the ancient Greek literature, and it was the representative work of the spirit and civilization of Greeks over centuries. Loyalty, perseverance, and the fatalism seem the most …show more content…

One specific example is Odysseus’s wife, Penelope. She has been waiting for her husband nearly twenty years. Though many of her suitors is telling that her husband died, she still remains faithful to Odysseus and looks forward that he would be back one day ("Three Values Of Greek Society In The Odyssey Essay | Bartleby" 2018). Penelope did not response to any of suitors until she confirmed Odysseus death.
The way Penelope shows her loyalty to family far more than this. In order to delay the decision of choosing a suitor, Penelope said she has to finish weaving the burial shroud for Odysseus’s elder father before getting married. She showed that she was weaving the shroud all day time, but then by night, she secretly undid what she had done already. Penelope’s complete and utter devotion to Odysseus is proved by what she did to resist time and time again the attempts of the suitors for her hand in …show more content…

He has strong belief to fulfill his duties and obligations as the husband to Penelope, the father to Telemachus, and the king to Ithaca ("Analyzing Odysseus As An Epic Hero English Literature Essay" 2018). His loyalty to his family and his people is what kept him always going through the hardships. He is persistent and overcomes any temptation that gets in his ways. An example of this is when he is with the beautiful nymph Kalypso. She offers him very tempting conditions such as immortality just for staying with her and leave his thoughts for getting back, but he refused her and gave it all up ("Wisdom Of Odysseus With Cultural Context In Homer’S The Odyssey (S)" 2018). All these things he did is for his family and homeland. He never gave up hope and continued to trudge his way back

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Penelope remains loyal to Odysseus during his 20 year journey by avoiding remarrying to any of the suitors in hope that Odysseus will return and that they can continue to live their lives as things were. In order to do this she must avoid provoking punishment from the gods and eternal shame for not being loyal to her husband which is what is expected in the Greek culture. She makes an elaborate plot to trick the suitors into not rushing her into marriage by telling them that “‘til to great Laertes I bequeath A task of grief, his ornaments of death’... The work she plied; but studious of delay, By night reversed the labours of the day” (XIX,158-159). Penelope attempts to hold the suitors off until Odysseus can return which is used to teach the reader that those who are loyal will be rewarded, because after doing so she is rewarded by the return of her true love, Odysseus.

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In addition to this, his unwavering loyalty to his family is demonstrated in his willingness to endure the hardships that arise with escaping from Calypso, maintaining his willpower along the way. Odysseus has a sense of obligation to fulfill his duties and return to his family, to which he carries out by standing his ground against the goddess. Ultimately, demonstrating Odysseus’ loyalty and determination to return home, as well as his intelligence in knowing that staying on the island will not bring him true

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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.

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Odysseus’s Traits Throughout the Odyssey, the main character Odysseus goes on an epic adventure with his focus being to get home to his wife Penelope, and his son Telemachus. He faces many obstacles dealing with characters such as the Cyclopes, Poseidon, Aeolus, Athena, Helios, Calypso, Zeus, Hermes, Scylla, and Circe. Odysseus’s men are some of the most valuable people to him throughout the Odyssey. He always puts himself in front of danger for them to protect them even though they all died from an unexpected turn of events soon before he returns home. When Odysseus comes home he greets his twenty year old son and straightens things out on his homeland, Ithaca.

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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

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The loyalty he has is not just for his men, but also for his wife and his household he left behind many years prior (E.W.L. 2.13). While he has the ability to be a quick thinker and is resourceful which helps him in many situations, he also uses this same ability and some shrewdness to manipulate or convince those around him to his needs without regard for any future consequences. Even with the accomplishments he has completed in his adventures in eventually establishing himself; as an exceptionally hero, he does has some flaws that make him a mortal hero having human like flaws. These acts do test his mortality, but also grows his hero status. Odysseus at times is notoriously annoying the Gods, but still understands that they control factors of his life; he does have a protector in Athena (Dobel

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Penelope puts Odysseus to one last test to confirm he is her husband. Odysseus passes her test proving himself as Odysseus and takes back his rightful place, as King of Ithica. Penelope and Odysseus are overwhelmed with love and happiness because they are finally reunited. The Odyssey portrays Penelope as the ideal Greek woman and wife dutifully following Greek culture as she employs cunning and loyal actions to remain faithful to her

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Homer was a unique poet of the 8th century BCE, where he included key values to base the epic poem The Odyssey off of to tell about the greek lifestyle and their common characteristics. The Odyssey was written by Homer and translated by Robert Fitzgerald and tells the adventure of a father and son that reunite after 10 years apart during the Trojan War. Young Telemachos is trying to locate his father, while Odysseus is trying to get back to the city of Ithaca to his Wife Penelope and his son Telemachos. In Ancient Greece, four values were taught to all generations and were present in daily life. In Homer's epic poem, The Odyssey, the greek values of cleverness, hospitality, and loyalty are featured and are either rewarded or punished.

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Up until the fourth grade I had not experienced any serious educational failures or setbacks, maybe the occasional warning from a teacher or wrong answer on my “mad minute” worksheet, certainly nothing like the great long division fiasco of 2002. I was always a hardworking student, and with enough effort I was always successful completing my school work, but when I was first introduced to long division I came to a screeching hault. There was something about this multiple step process that was baffling to me. It was like metaphorical gears in my brains were stuck, instead of turning smoke would just come out of my ears. At first I tried my hardest and I failed.

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The Greek gods and goddesses are the ultimate representation how Greek culture. Since the gods and goddesses did not mention Odysseus’ lack of sexual fidelity, this shows that the values for men in Greek culture were not infringed upon. Sexual fidelity and how it is dealt with by the story’s most important characters in The Odyssey show the morals of Greek

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Homer delivers very universal themes, such as loyalty is respected, but the epic also provides meaningful themes that are not as recognizable. The Odyssey is very focused on leadership and courage, as it centers on a hero's journey. There are many parts in the epic where Homer explains the actions of an admirable leader. In the Odyssey, Odysseus exemplifies the true meaning of being a leader through courage in the face of danger, which is shown by Circe, the Sirens, and the suitors. One might wonder why it takes Odysseus ten years to return to his homeland after he has achieved victory for Ithaca in the Trojan War.

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However, some characters in the epic display many great qualities. In The Odyssey by Homer, loyalty, courage, and trickery are displayed throughout the book in a positive manner, showing that they are the Greek’s cultural values. First, loyalty is shown as a cultural

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Odysseus’s traits help him achieve his goal of returning to his home. Odysseus and his men have a lot of willpower to continue traveling after some dangerous and life risking experiences with cannibals, lotus-eaters, cyclops and many more creatures that could of killed Odysseus and his whole crew. Odysseus's confidence and epic hero traits only increase as the story goes on, his confidence in his men increase as he starts noticing how strong and powerful his men can be, and also shows confidence in

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