The citizens of ancient Greece lived a life depending on the pleasing of the gods and believing the gods would help guide them in the right direction towards a successful fate. In The Odyssey by Homer, we find Odysseus who is returning home from a decade long war with the now fallen city of Troy. While traveling along with Odysseus in his travel, we find some of the Greek gods put effort into his travels, some helping Odysseus and one major god plotting against him. While Odysseus is traveling home and in his return home, we see the characteristics of what a Homeric human olds, which involves a warrior type culture and a person trusting in the fate the gods have given them. The story also reveals what truths and values these characters reflect …show more content…
The story was originated around the end of the eighth century along the seaboard of Greek “Ionia,” what is today Turkey. The story began as an oral told story, told to for countless hours and even had to be broken off into sections. The story was believed to be exclusively for royal palace events, such as dinner parties for guest entertainment. When Homer first told of the story, it was told in-between 750 to 650 B.C., while the stories are set in twelfth century B.C. The setting of the story would line up with what that age is known as the Bronze Age. In this time of Greece, epics that were being told were being shared along the coastline and not in the mainland by Greeks who had a soft spot for epics concerning triumphs of Greek soldiers and their returns home (Introduction.33). The themes and tones inside the story reflect that Homer seems to be putting forth an idea that the return of Odysseus comes challenging for him to make his life normal again. With the conflict between Odysseus and the gods, some people in the audience can relate with the feeling the gods may be conflicting with their lives as well, even though it may not be as serious as Odysseus’ …show more content…
From Odysseus, we find his intellectual mind being used well to help him succeed in situations of conflict, even with the help from Athena. The major goal of a woman at this time was to breed a man of glory, and that is what is found in Odysseus. He spends the whole journey, and in the war prior to our knowledge of the book, working towards the ultimate goal of having complete glory through his great deeds and his homecoming to his family and kingdom. With the aspect of glory and Greek culture, mostly, if not all, Greeks seeked glory through pleasing the gods with their many deeds such as Odysseus did. The characteristics of seeking glory in a Homeric culture doesn’t change and it stays that way throughout the whole journey, unlike some stories found today with conflicting emotions and visions. With these attitudes and cultural aspect of characters, connections can be made to audiences listening to the story when this was composed. The Greek society and culture shines fairly well through this epic and can help show what can be learned from life as a glory seeking, fate wondering Greek citizen, also what we can learn from that society from an intellectual and theoretical
The epic poem The Odyssey by Homer is the tale of Odysseus and his men sailing home towards the island of Ithaka from Troy. On the men’s valiant journey home they encounter several curses and diversions that kept them from reaching Ithaka for years. The gods influenced the meeting of several people and places they come across on the trip home from Troy, but of the obstacles they come across that are not god-influenced, they are because Odysseus was selfish. His selfish desire for knowledge and his other inane cravings were the undoing of many of his men. Odysseus also is selfish in the sense that he had relations with several deities and women on his voyage home, showing his lust for women to
Homer’s epic poem, “The Odyssey” reveals many aspects of ancient Greek life and culture through character and plot. Through each of the tales circling the life of Odysseus and the Greek people, Homer depicts the history, legends, values, and merits of the ancient Greeks. Greek culture is known to be one of the most flavored and thorough in history, and each facet of it—from religion to ideology to mentalities and beliefs.
Homer’s story, The Odysseus revolves around Odysseus’s journey through many tribulations that he has to overcome. Odysseus, the main character faces many challenges in the battles at Troy and in the attempt to trace his way home to Ithaca. Odysseus is a hero is this story for numerous reasons. One of the major reasons is his escape, triumph over the trials he experiences and the way he maintains composure in the wake of tribulations such as his descent to the land of the dead, captivity, subjection to multiple marriage propositions, defying death, escaping the god’s wrath and the offer of immortality.
The hero of Homer’s Odyssey is Odysseus—the glistening, golden-skinned, muscular, clever hero that every audience aspires to be…right? Homer’s idea of Odysseus being the ideal man at the beginning of the Odyssey is repeatedly proven to be wrong. On more than one occasion, Odysseus displays definitively unheroic behavior that conflicts with his descriptions as a paragon of honor and virtue. His beautiful exterior conceals his true interior: that of a hypocritical antagonist who flouts the same rules he claims to uphold.
The gods play an important part in Odysseus’ journey home, bringing him closer and farther from his homeland. They constantly intervene in the lives of the many characters in The Odyssey. Though Odysseus is a hero, the gods control his life. It is as if he were the main character in a video game and the gods are fighting over who controls his life. Personal responsibility is overshadowed by the gods’ eagerness to grab the controller.
Homer’s The Odyssey, a magnificent story of lust, deceit, greed, and heroism, still fascinates scholars and casual readers alike today in the same way it fascinated its audience at the time it was written. The Odyssey, a journey of determination, patience, and virtue, tells the tail of Odysseus, the main character, on his voyage home to Ithaka after the end of the Trojan War. Odysseus goes through many unforeseen trials and tribulations, which exemplify his character. During these different happenings, Odysseus makes decisions that do not correspond to his character.
The Odyssey by Homer is an epic poem about a hero’s perilous ten-year journey home with twelve ships and hundreds of men. During this voyage, however, Odysseus and his men face the wrath of Poseidon, the wiles of Circe and the Sirens, and the peril of the monsters Scylla and Charybdis. In the end, Odysseus loses everything except his determination to return home to his beloved wife, Penelope, and his son, Telemachus. Even though he experiences many difficult challenges, Odysseus is a hero who exemplifies the Greek cultural values of bravery, wit, and loyalty.
The main character in this story named Odysseus who was supposed to come home to be with his wife and son after the war against the city of Troy. But instead, when Odysseus insulted the Gods that he don’t need their helps at all and he can do it all by himself. Which made the God of Sea, Poseidon really angry. So he told Odysseus that he will suffer his punishments and also, he would get back home again. That is how the story started, also that is when Odysseus and his crewmen faced many crazy obstacles while on journey back to home, Ithaca.
The Gods were toppled by a race of more youthful divine beings, the Olympians, in a ten-year war called the Last GODS ("War of the Titans") - a progression of fights which were battled in Thessaly between the two camps of gods well before the presence of humankind. This battle of Gods is otherwise called the Skirmish of the Gods, Clash of Divine beings, or simply The God War. It spoke to a fanciful change in perspective that the Greeks may have acquired from the Antiquated Close East.
Throughout the Odyssey Odysseus’ plays the “godlike” hero which set the standards for values and traits of the Homeric Greek man. Using his cunning intellect and valiant heroism to finds his way home after many trials and tribulations. During his travel home Odysseus gains knowledge about other peoples culture and about different lands throughout Greece. He learns from his own suffering and the mistakes he had made. Odysseus started his journey as the King of Ithaca and the warrior of all warriors known by the gods as a great hero. Odysseus was the commander of the Greek army and a cunning leader with the plan to win the Trojan war, which he accomplished with the Trojan horse. Odysseus had a seriously downfall however, because of his godlike status and other physical characteristics he tended to be challenged by allurement of series of different women. This temptation was one of the major roles played by women in the Odyssey. Another very important role played by women in the Odyssey was the role of support for their husbands and sons during times of war. Despite the importance of women in the Odyssey women continued to be inferior to men, and the double standards are extreme. Along with the double standard is the significant roles women were required to in Homeric Greece. Even the goddess had certain roles required of them. The Odyssey gives us a piece of Greek Culture during this time period and shows us the role of women.
The Role of Gods and Goddesses and Their Connection to Humans An inordinate length of time every culture many people believed in the guidance of beings with powers beyond those of humans. Occasionally, such individuals worship these beings as gods. In addition, in their time of need, they express their independence on the supernatural beings. On reading idomeis “Odyssey” the role of gods and goddesses and their connections to human become clear.
The Odyssey by Homer is about the punishing journey Odysseus, king of Ithaca, goes through to get home after his displacement from the Trojan War. Odysseus is a man lost at sea trying to find his way home, yet at the same time, he is trying to prevent losing his kingdom to the treacherous suitors. Odysseus sails around Europe for years facing many physical and mental hardships along the way. With all the obstacles he faces from mortals and immortals, Odysseus manages to stay alive and regain his kingdom through his cunningness and self-control. Odysseus demonstrates honorary Greek characteristics throughout the play; therefore, he is the most deserving candidate to win “Honorary Greek God for a Day”
The stories told in the Iliad and Odyssey are based on stories handed down over several generations, for they preserve (as we have seen) memories of an already quiet far distant past. The two pomes show clear connection in their language and style, in the manner in which their incidents presented, and in the combination of agreement with level, which distinguish their creation.
The Odyssey written originally in Greek by Homer is on the most acclaimed pieces of literature of all time. Being a major piece of poetic history, The Odyssey is still extremely influential based on its unique rhythm pattern and masterful storytelling. Homer’s epic follows the journey home for a heroic soldier named Odysseus following the Trojan War. One of the major factors he encounters on his journey are a plethora of gods that interact with him. Odysseus interacts with several proactive, human-like, and powerful gods on his quest to find his home and family in Ithaca.
When people think of Greek mythology, one of the first things that pop into mind are the supernatural beings, like Medusa, Cyclops, and the Gods. Odysseus is always in a constant struggle with them, where every island he visits hosts one after another of mythical beings that want to eat him and his crew. The Odyssey does a good job at showing how he struggles with these massive beasts, but they aren’t his only worries. The Odyssey is a comedic poem composed by Homer, a Greek rhapsode, who lived around 850 B.C, making this a very old story of a hero and his struggles. Odysseus has a tendency to hold onto character traits that aren’t that good for him in the long run, like his bulging arrogance and overwhelming curiosity. He doesn’t do much to change these attributes, though, putting his crew in erroneous positions that they do not want to endure, making the 10 year journey back home even more perilous than it was before. Odysseus cannot evade what he has brought upon himself, and it bites him back in the end.