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The Odyssey and Real Life
The Odyssey story similarities
The real story of Odyssey
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Patrick Kingsley is one of the most dazzling young journalists out there. At the age of 26 he is The Guardian’s sole migration correspondent, a two-time author, his most recent book “The New Odyssey” being a perceptive and touching account of the refugee crisis. I talked to Patrick about his book, his role, and his experiences as a reporter in the midst of one of the biggest humanitarian crises of the decade. Patrick, let us start with Hashem al-Souki, the main protagonist of your book “The New Odyssey”. How did you get to know him in the first place? And why did you decide to follow his particular fate? In September 2014 a boat went down off the coast of Egypt with about 500 people on board. In the course of researching how this happened I …show more content…
What made you opt for this title? I was trying to remind the reader that these great journeys are not just something from our age but also from centuries and millennia past. And one way of reminding people of that is to evoke the title of a famous migration like the Odyssey. However, if it had been better known I might have called it “The New …show more content…
© Guardian Faber I was going to ask you about that… Well, I am sorry to preempt your question, but yes, the Odyssey is of course about a very difficult journey but it is not necessarily about a refugee. Odysseus is someone who tries to get home from a war, whereas the Aeneid is about someone who is fleeing a war. Ironically, Aeneas is fleeing from the same war as Odysseus was leaving from, but he is actually trying to find a new home, rather than going back to his old one. So for me the Aeneid was a slightly better template because Aeneas is in essence a refugee. However, in Britain at least, the Odyssey is much better known . That is why I called it “The New Odyssey” because I thought it would have more recognition among potential readers. It’s basically the same situation in Germany. Everyone knows the Odyssey but very few people have heard of the Aeneid. Except for Latin teachers, perhaps. I studied both at school, so I know and love them both, but the Aeneid is my favourite because there is something a little bit more urgent about it. This guy and his family have to get out of Troy, as it’s burning. Whereas Odysseus, he is sort of meandering around half the time and having a bit of fun. It does not feel like it has the same
One archetype the two stories have in common is the hero. The heroes, Odysseus and Everett, try to reach their family, no matter the risks. Both have the same goal and will do anything to keep their loved ones again. Also, both of the heroes are extremely loyal to their companions. Like whenever Odysseus tried to save his crew, or when Everett went to rescue Pete from jail. However, they can also differ in ways like character. In the face of an obstacle, Odysseus faces the problem head on and uses strategy at the same time, while Everett uses excuses to try to avoid the problem. On the other hand, Everett has his friends throughout his quest, while Odysseus’ companions all die except him. These examples show how the heroes of the Odyssey and O Brother! are different.
Firstly, the main characters of both stories, Odysseus and Ulysses, share qualities of the “crossing the first threshold” that quite clearly show the similarities in these stories. These parts of the heroes’ journeys for Odysseus and Ulysses both consist of the two beginning their long journeys and beginning the transformations from ordinary people to heroes. In The Odyssey, this part of the journey is when both Odysseus starts his journey to Troy to fight in the Trojan War and when his transformation from ordinary citizen to hero commences. In O Brother, this section of the journey is when Ulysses and his fellow jail mates break out of jail and begin the long journey home that initiates his character shift from an av...
Homer. “The Odyssey”. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Ed. Martin Puncher. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2012. 475. Print.
The Odyssey tells the story of Odysseus and his both literal and figurative journey home to Ithaka. When the great king, Odysseus travels to Troy on the account of war, many obstructions hinder him from returning home. During his absence, his deprivation of being a father to his son, Telemachus, causes great disappointment. Without a father, his son strives to grow and mature yet he has not the slightest idea of where to. However, as Telemachus struggles to reach manhood and his father struggles to return to Ithaka, their seemingly separate journeys are connected. They both learn values that turn a boy into a man and a great man even greater. In the epic poem the Odyssey, Homer uses parallel rites of passage with Odysseus and Telemachus to develop the importance of the father son-bond.
In the movie Thor the title character is cast out of Asgaurd by his father and returns by proving himself worthy of his power and his father’s thrown. Similarly, the Odyssey is about Odysseus’ long journey back to his kingdom after the Trojan War. Thor and the Odyssey are very alike; but great hardship and historical literature reveals a contrast.
The Odyssey was also very popular in it’s time. It was set in ancient Greece where in its culture; mythology was the heart of everyday life. The Greek Culture turned to mythology to explain different phenomena for which they had no scientific explanation and this was prominent in the epic the Odyssey.
The ancient Greeks have brought upon numerous ideas, inventions, and stories to the world. Greek mythology influences modern day literature and life. The Odyssey is an epic poem written by Homer, which tells the story of Odysseus's journey home after the Trojan War. Odysseus does not achieve his goal of reaching home so easily; monsters and gods come in his way and hinder him. The Odyssey expresses Greek values of hospitality from the customs of Ithaca, humility from Odysseus’s reform, and loyalty from Odysseus’s family.
The Odyssey is a tale that has changed literature and storytelling. In this tale Odysseus is a Soldier from the battle of Troy trying to get home to his island of Ithaca, where he is king. His wife and son must wait ten years while he is trying to make his way home. In Odysseus’s absence wooer’s, or better known as suitors, learn of his absence and travel to Ithaca to win his wife’s hand in marriage. These men come every day feasting on Odysseus’s food and wine, and give his servant’s orders. His son Telemachus, does his best to keep the suitors from ruining his fathers house but he is only a boy, and doesn’t receive the respect of an adult. Telemachus then has a visit from the god Athena, whom Odysseus is friends with, who advises him to travel to find out about his father. In his travels he hears that Odysseus may still be alive. Meanwhile Odysseus goes through a series of adventures and hardships that prove his wisdom. It is interesting in contrast of the Iliad, even though Achilles was much stronger and a better warrior, Odysseus was portrayed as a greater hero due to his wisdom. He uses this wisdom to escape from the Cyclops.
Both of them are really great fighters, but they have differences in how they do things. Odysseus plans things out before he attacks and has a good plan as well. Aeneas however does not plan things out and just jumps right into things.
In Virgil’s The Aeneid, there are many parallels found in Homer’s The Odyssey. In each epic, the heroes, Aeneas and Odysseus, are on a journey “home.” Aeneas is on the search of a new home for he and his companions to settle since Troy has been destroyed, Odysseus on the other hand is attempting to return to his home he left years earlier to fight the Trojan War. They both have Gods against them and helping them, both Aeneas and Odysseus are both held back by women, both voluntary and involuntarily, and they both have experiences visiting the Underworld. Despite these similarities, there are differences between the two characters and it reflects their values and the society they live in. Aeneas relies on his strength as a warrior, where as Odysseus uses his deception to survive which reflects how Aeneas is truly Roman is versus Greek.
The Odyssey is filled with emotion and adventure. Homer’s ability to show and give the reader a visual of each and every scene gives the story its unbelievable significance. To all the people who read his work there is something to be captured within every sentence, each one different in its own, unique way. Through tales of courage and defeat, friendship and love this book tells of all the values within the life of a single, solitary man, and his journey to attain what is true and dear to him. And this journey is known to all of us as The Odyssey. The Odyssey is a test of human devotion and trust through the gods, the mortals, and the obstacles through which they venture. No matter where they go or what they do, humans are tested for certain characteristics everyday of their lives, whether they realize it or not; and The Odyssey is just one of those many miraculous tests.
Both the Odyssey and the Aeneid represent their cultures very well, but they express different ideas on what one should strive for in life. There are also different forces that pushed both epics to be written. The Aeneid expresses the Roman idea of pietas which means to show extreme respect for one’s ancestors. We see this in Aeneas when he is pictured caring his father away from burning Troy. He has pietas because he cared so much for his father that in fleeing from Troy he took up his father over his shoulder to save his from certain death. This is not the only major idea in the Aeneid. There is also a very political focus. The Roman were very interested in politics which comes through in the Aeneid. The Odyssey has the Greek idea of arete trapped somewhere among the many themes. Arete is a strive for perfection in both mind and body. It is a much more personal and individual idea than the Roman pietas. In the most basic seance the Aeneid and the Romans have a much more political focus and duty to the state ( republic ) than the Greeks who honor tradition , family , and arete.
There has been much debate on who is the greatest hero of the ancient world. There has also been much dispute on which is the greatest epic poem of the ancient world. However, comparing The Aeneid to The Odyssey is entirely a difficult task itself. Odysseus' journeys, both physical and emotional, are essential in the overall work because it defines The Odyssey as an epic poem. Aeneas also shares a similar experience as Odysseus as well. Both stories are similar in countless ways because they both undergo comparable experiences on their travels and their life journeys. With that being said, they both demonstrated leadership in their own way. However, it is difficult to determine who the best leader actually is. Both men exhibit great leadership skills; therefore, causing a challenge for some in determining which the greater epic is. After analyzing both texts, it is possible to conclude that Aeneas is the better leader, but The Odyssey is the greater epic.
The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Odyssey both are held in high respect by literature analysts and historians alike for the characterization of the hero and his companion, the imagery brought to mind when one of them is read, and the impressive length in relation to the time period it was written in. The similarities that these two epics share do not end with only those three; in fact, the comparability of these works extend to even the information on the author and the archetypes used. However, The Odyssey and The Epic of Gilgamesh contrast from one another in their writing styles, character details, and main ideas. Both epics weave together a story of a lost man who must find his way, but the path of their stories contrast from one another.
The tone in the story is very different in the 2 parts. In part 1, it could be said that the tone is one of excitement and danger, because it is following Odysseus on his endeavors against the ocean and the gods. In part 2, the tone could be one of sadness because Odysseus must disguise himself as a beggar, and he cannot reveal his identity to his family and they cannot be reunited. They tone was also kind of mysterious, because the readers wonder what will happen when he converses with his family in disguise, because the reader knows about the disguise but his family has no idea who it is.