Loyalty is a force strong enough to compel man to do the impossible. In Homer’s epic, The Odyssey, the main character, Odysseus, must return to his home. Along the way, Odysseus wrestles with many challenges, and suffers excruciating pain. He must cross seas, fight beasts, and stave off women determined to take Odysseus as a husband, all while an angry god is set on him not returning. Along with the physical pain, Odysseus must bear the pain of leaving his family. When Odysseus set out for Troy…
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crafty, and rich beyond measure. In Homer’s the Odyssey, the ideal man is courageous and honorable, and the ideal woman is loyal and a good housewife. Undeniably, the model person is different for each individual, culture, and time period, but even if centuries pass, certain values will always stay the same. The ideal ancient Greek man and woman, shown through Odysseus and Penelope, have similarities and differences to the ideal man and woman today. In Homer’s The Odyssey, the ideals presented are related…
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universal patterns of human nature” – literary devices The Odyssey is an ancient Greek epic poem, sequel to the Iliad, written in the 8th century BCE by Homer. The Odyssey is based on the epic hero ‘Odysseus’, who has a ten-year journey to Ithaca as he struggles to return home following the Trojan War. Throughout Odysseus’ journey, we are shown various archetypes. Archetypes focus on recurring myths and beliefs that are portrayed in a text. The Odyssey contains various types of archetypal characters, Odysseus…
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In Homer’s epic The Odyssey, a hero is defined by extraordinary abilities that they possess throughout seemingly impossible situations. Odysseus is repeatedly in what appears to be knowing situations, and not only does he overcome them, but helps his family, his men, and himself. It is his loyalty to his friends, bravery, and clever strategies that allow him to be recognized as the true hero, and restore peace in Ithaca making his broken family whole again. Odysseus puts aside his personal needs…
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In book XXII of the epic poem The Odyssey, Homer uses lines 1-43 to strengthen the epic hero’s characteristic of having the will to destroy in order to cleanse and remain loyal to his family. This is achieved through the use of imagery and diction. The nature in which Odysseus kills the suitors is brutal, but is done in the regard of avenging his personal honor. When Odysseus claims his first victim, Antinous, Homer describes his death vividly, “The arrow struck Antinous in the throat, and the…
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strong, being a hero is about being brave, honest, intelligent, and caring. Such heroes can be found in both mythology and modern society. For example, in Homer's poem The Odyssey, Odysseus was determined as a hero not because he was strong, but because he was a real leader, he was smart and caring. Odysseus, the main character in The Odyssey, should be considered a hero because he puts his own life in danger to protect his men from all dangers they face during the journey. He was brave at all times…
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Homer’s Odyssey is a Greek epic poem that focuses on a Greek hero Odysseus, who is the king of Ithaca. On Odysseus’s journey back to his homeland you find that the Odyssey implements a plethora of gruesome and violent events filled with monsters and Gods. Despite all of the malevolent events, the Odyssey shows that a true hero must have good morals. The four key factors of morality that are portrayed throughout the story are Loyalty, Self-Restraint, Perseverance, and Compassion. Loyalty the first…
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phones, and easily accessible transportation, the time when gods were respected and feared because of the power people believed they had. Whenever readers ponder the fascinations of Greek mythology, most of them think of Homer's most famous work, the "Odyssey". Because the "Odyssey" was written in the Greek language, there are many different translations, but they all explain the detailed story of a man named Odysseus's, who desperately tries to find his way back to his homeland. Nevertheless, Odysseus's…
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Narrow Portrayal of Women In the Homer’s, The Odyssey, arrays of archetypical women are presented through a mostly unfavorable filter. Nonetheless, it is important to bear in mind that the time period in which the epic took place was set in an androcentric based Greek society, within it, women had little to no honorable duty, but to support their spouse and be inferior to their male counterpart. Homer embeds the partially substandard presentation of women in The Odyssey through four main archetypes:…
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Often in works of literature, a character stands up for something he or she believes in. In Robert Fagles’s translation of Homer’s epic, The Odyssey, Odysseus has not returned to his kingdom for many years. Telemachus, Odysseus son, searches for his father while the goddess Athena helps Odysseus get home. Together, Telemachus and Odysseus kill the suitors who are trying to court Odysseus’s wife, Penelope. Athena’s strong belief that Odysseus deserves to be helped changes the course of Odysseus’s…
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