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Lessons in the Odyssey
Life lessons from the Odyssey
Odysseus journey home
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Recommended: Lessons in the Odyssey
In chapter 13, the great Odysseus finally returns home to his beloved Ithaca. The chapter begins with Odysseus and his newfound Phaeacian comrades returning the heralded king to his land before setting off themselves to Phaeacia, their home. While the good willed travelers made their way home, the gods up in Olympus plotted against their homecoming, as Poseidon, who was still angry at Odysseus, desired to punish those who aided in him in returning. Zeus helps Poseidon devise ways to punish the Phaeacians, until they decided it was best to destroy their ship as it embarked to their native land, causing the Phaeacians to beg for forgiveness through sacrifices. Meanwhile back in Ithaca, Odysseus, who had just woken up, encounters Athena disguised
Throughout The Odyssey, Odysseus’ power was gained through the power of others resulting in three phases of understanding: self-determination, courage, and having a greater vision in life. In order to understand these three phases, one must be able to conquer predominance from those less useful than others. Although Odysseus was physically strong, he was not who he was mentally, without the help and guidance through the gods. Odysseus was like one who has no friends, but when he meets up with more people, he becomes popular. One who was alone and meets new people, has more friends and finds out more interesting subjects about daily life. They are the ones who have more predominance than others because they know more people and have much more interesting subjects. Odysseus was like this because he didn’t know much without the help and guidance from others.
After the incident with the bag of winds it is reasonable for Odysseus to have trust issues, but when it is a matter of life and death, Odysseus is witless. After being punished by Zeus because some of his crew ate Helios’ cattle Odysseus drifts in the ocean until he lands on Calypso’s island. 7 years pass and Odysseus can finally leave after he crafts a ship, after he leaves and sails for a bit, Poseidon sees it as a time to get revenge for his son Polyphemus. Poseidon completely wrecks Odysseus’ ship when he is close to the land of the Phaeacians. A goddess named Ino sees this and offers Odysseus help.
The Hero’s Journey is never an easy one. This particular journey, as detailed in Homer’s The Odyssey, is one of struggle, loss, heartache, pain, growth and triumph. It is comprised of many steps that Odysseus has to overcome and battle through in order to achieve his final goal of reaching his home and his loved ones. From the Call to Adventure to the Freedom or Gift of living, Odysseus conquered them all. The story begins in the middle of the story, as many of the oral Greek traditions did, with the Journey of Telemachus to find his father. Although Telemachus has not yet met his father, it is almost as if they are journeying together, where the end of both of their journeys results in being reunited. Telemachus journeys from being a boy to becoming a man, while out in the sea Odysseus is battling Poseidon to return to the home that wife that he loves and the home he has left behind.
The sum of all human traits is defined as human nature, meaning the excuse for our vices, and the flaws of mortal life. In Homer's The Odyssey, the main character Odysseus demonstrates these flaws throughout his journey, constantly struggling through the eternal fight for realization of life and death, and is weighed down by the never ending power struggle of nature versus mankind.
Poseidon has never really liked Odysseus. When Odysseus tries to make it onto the shore of Skheria, Poseidon “…calls up wind / from every quarter, and sends a wall of rain…'; (89). Consequently, it is a safe assumption that Poseidon will really have it in for Odysseus. He states, “I thought he should suffer all the way [home]'; (233). After Odysseus returns home, Poseidon talks to Zeus and says he wants to put a mountain ring around the city and crush the ship of the Phaiakians.
book takes place in, is called to action and set in motion on his Hero
These few instances of revenge: Orestes’ revenge on Aegisthus, Zeus’ revenge on Odysseus and his men, and Poseidon’s revenge on Odysseus in The Odyssey, lay the background for Odysseus’ story of struggle in his journey home from Troy. Revenge proves to be the main reason not only as to why Odysseus cannot return home, but also as a means of proving the importance of the gods’ role in the epic journey. Without these occurrences of the gods getting revenge on Odysseus and other mortals, there would be no passionate tales of the perseverance that Odysseus had in achieving his goal: getting home to Ithaca.
Brains over brawn, who will win this battle?Homer's tale of Odysseus' adventures in “The Odyssey” show that being intelligent and cunning can be far better than having physical strength. Being physically strong certainly has its advantages, but not in all circumstances. Strength in intelligence shows new meaning of strength. Odysseus is amused with himself when he defeats Polyphemus. His great skills with a bow outweigh the others abilities. Knowledge of the placement of his bed win his beloveds heart.
The epic poem called The Odyssey, which was written by the poet Homer, is one of the many classical stories from Ancient Greek culture. It tells the story of Odysseus, King of Ithaca, and his journey back home from the war with Troy, which had occurred in Homer’s other epic Greek poem, The Illiad. Odysseus faces many trials and quests in his journey home and to take back his kingdom from the suitors, such as meeting the witch Circe, blinding a Cyclops named Polyphemus, dealing with Poseidon, and staying with the goddess Calypso. The poem has many themes that are relevant to it. One such theme is the factor of redemption. Redemption is usually a typical subject in any kind of religion, like the Greek religion and Christian religion. The story of Odysseus has an underlying message of him receiving redemption from the Greek gods. The Odyssey is a tale of redemption because it deals with Odysseus being forgiven by the gods after having to go through many trials and wrongs to rightfully claim back his wife and the throne of Ithaca.
In book eight of Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus is on the island of the Phaeacians and is waiting to return home to Ithaca. Meanwhile, Alcinous, the Phaeacian king, has arranged for a feast and celebration of games in honor of Odysseus, who has not yet revealed his true identity. During the feast, a blind bard named Demodocus sings about the quarrel between Odysseus and Achilles at Troy. The song causes Odysseus to start weeping, so Alcinous ends the feast and orders the games to begin. During dinner after the games, Odysseus asks Demodocus to sing about the Trojan horse and the sack of Troy. This song too causes Odysseus to break down and cry. Homer uses a dramatic simile to describe the pain and sorrow that Odysseus feels as he recalls the story of Troy.
...a, escaping Calypso and the island of Ogygia, and Telemachus from Ithaca to Pylos and Sparta in search of his lost father. While The Odyssey tells of the courage both men demonstrate during their respective travels, their quests are the results of the intentions and desires of gods. Odysseus is trapped in exile on Ogygia by the will of Poseidon, whose anger Odysseus attracts when he blinds the Cyclops Polyphemus, son of Poseidon, and by the love of Calypso, who wishes to make Odysseus her husband. He is released from Ogygia and permitted to return to Ithaca only by the command of Zeus, as delivered by Hermes. Telemachus, rather than being trapped physically, was detained emotionally, feeling helpless to repel the suitors wooing Penelope. Only through the motivation of the goddess Athena did Telemachus find the will and courage to embark in search of Odysseus.
Hu•bris /ˈ(h)yo͞obris/ noun: excessive pride or self-confidence. Hubris is believed to be the most serious of all seven deadly sins. Some say it was the original sin that led to all others. A word with such loathsome synonyms like arrogance, conceit, haughtiness, pomposity, and egotism was seen as one of the worst possible sins in Greek culture. They believed that no matter your social status those who exhibited it were destined to fall down into damnation. Yet some Grecian heroes seemed to ooze hubris in the form of confidence or cockiness. There was a fine line between the two that they should never cross. One hero in particular showed this sin on more than one account. Throughout The Odyssey, Odysseus, shows the sinful trait of hubris, in the form of cockiness when he talks to Polythemus, his crewmen, his wife, and his son.
I chose to memorize Book I, lines 110 to 130 of Homer’s The Odyssey for a number of reasons. One of these reasons was that I liked that this section of the epic poem was near the beginning of the story. The scene depicted in lines 110 to 130 starts to lay the foundation the rest of the narrative is built around. For instance, in this section Athena travels from Mount Olympus (the home of the gods) to Odysseus’ residence and, taking on the guise of Mentes, witnesses the deplorable behavior of Penelope’s suitors first hand (Homer). This exploitation of the hospitality of Odysseus’ household is one of the main things that catches Athena’s anger and fuels her sponsorship of Odysseus in reclaiming his home.
Odysseus starts in the ordinary world, his/her home, and then an even takes place in which the hero is being called, in Odysseus’ case he is called into the Trojan War. Odysseus then refused the call because he didn’t want to leave his family, knowing that it could take a long time for him to return home to them. Once Odysseus departed on his adventure, he goes through the next step which is having a supernatural aid or mentor to help him; in this case he receives help from the goddess of wisdom Athena. Knowing the gods would be angry and taking sides during the war, there was no question that there were gods that were going to make sure Odysseus died. Athena however, felt pity for him because she knew the kind of man he was; someone who wanted to be reunited with his loved ones. After the war, Odysseus began the next stage of his journey, crossing the Threshold into a different world. He enters the next stage called The Belly of the Whale after the freak storm conjured up by Poseidon, god of the sea, one of the many gods who were upset with Spartans. His god-like powers created powerful waves and increased winds that would send Odysseus and his crew further away from
“The Odyssey” is an epic poem that tells the story of Odysseus and the story of his many travels and adventures. The Odyssey tells the main character’s tale of his journey home to the island of Ithaca after spending ten years fighting in the Trojan War, and his adventures when he returns home and he is reunited with his family and close friends. This literary analysis will examine the story and its characters, relationships, major events, symbols and motifs, and literary devices.