The Myth of Chelônê and the Feast of Olympus In ancient times in the land of Greece, the gods of Olympus would hold a feast annually to celebrate the changes of the season to spring. Hermes, the messenger of the gods, invited all the gods to attend this feast. The nymph Chelônê alone was not invited to this feast as she had once been invited to the wedding of Zeus and Hera and was turned into a tortoise after refusing to attend. Because of this event, she often found herself isolated from the rest of the gods during celebrations and as such was not invited to this feast. Chelônê heard about this and was upset that she had not been invited. She approached Hermes, the messenger of the gods, and pleaded to be allowed to join the feast. Chelônê: …show more content…
Then he would have to forgive her and restore her to her old beauty. Slyly, she approached Zeus and made a request: “Mighty Zeus, father of gods and men, I have an idea to make this feast even more memorable. Let us introduce a game where each guest adopts a new name for the night. It would be delightful.” Zeus agreed to the idea, as his interest was piqued. The other gods laughed and chose new names, amused by the childlike game. Chelônê chose the name “Oloi” (), which means “All” or “Everyone”. When the feast was about to be served, Zeus announced it, inviting all to join the feast. Chelônê boldly stepped forward: “Mighty Zeus, you declared this feast is for all, and I, Oloi, stand to claim it in the name of all present!” All the gods sat in silence, too stunned to speak for a while. Then the voice of Zeus thundered throughout the room, his eyes flashing with anger as he arose from his seat. “Chelônê, you have dared to deceive us once more. You shall face the consequences of your hubris.” As punishment for her trickery, she was ordered to return the winged sandals she had been gifted by Hermes. Zeus delivered his decree: “Chelônê, you shall be stripped of your divine gifts and cast down from
The Tragic Heroes in Antigone and Julius Caesar & nbsp; & nbsp; The two plays, "Antigone" and "Julius Caesar" both contained two very similar characters. In Antigone the nobleman, Creon, claimed the throne after his nephews, heirs to Thebes, killed each other in battle. Assuming that the populous was going to find him inadequate, he laid a strict rule in order to keep the people under his control. Creon wanted Thebes to prosper and grow and was willing to do anything to achieve this. Through a chain of events, Creon killed his entire family. & nbsp; Brutus, a senator in William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, claims the life of Julius Caesar in order to preserve Rome, his country and home.
In the Hero’s journey, The Odyssey, the main protagonist, Odysseus, changes in a way which helps him gain self-knowledge. Odysseus ' experiences transformed his personality from how he was in the beginning to the end, by leading him through a heroic journey, also known as a quest. The real reason for a quest never involves the stated reason, and this is no different with Odysseus. As the story developed, many of Odysseus’ sides were exposed through the challenges he faced. Out of the countless dangers and obstacles every step back home, him and his crew have only acquired minimal character changes. Even though they are minimal, they are those which take many decades to achieve.
Every culture has a hero. Every hero has a legend. Every legend meets that culture's particular needs. The events, settings, and other characters might be different, but the hero is basically the same for all. The universal hero is initially an immoral character, but after overcoming difficult obstacles, he/she eventually becomes a better person. Jacob and Odysseus are such heroes. Both share an obvious characteristic of deceitfulness, but both still have differences, although discreet. They become a hero because they've changed into a better human being.
While sailing away from Cyclops' island, Odysseus calls out, "'Kyklops, if ever mortal man inquire how you were put to shame and blinded, tell him Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye: Laërtes' son, whose home's on Ithaka" (IX, 548-552). Cyclops calls on his father, Zeus, to wreak havoc upon the sea after receiving multiple insults from Odysseus. As a result, Odysseus and his shipmates are not able to return home as quickly as planned. Later in their journey, the sailors encounter the sun god, Helios', cows: "they have killed your kine.' And the Lord Helios burst into angry speech among the immortals: 'O Father Zeus and gods in bliss forever, punish Odysseus' men! So overweening, now they have killed my peaceful kine...Restitution or penalty they shall pay-- and pay in full'" (XII, 481-490). Circe warns them to refrain from eating Helios' cows, however, Odysseus' men eat them anyway. They are punished by death, and Odysseus is the only one allowed to live. This disregard for a Greek value results in a fate similar to that of other characters in the
...o all guests saved Odysseus and helped him return home to his wife, son, and kingdom. Even though people from many different kingdoms and islands took Odysseus in their home and showed him great kindness on his return home, the individual who helped him most was the goddess Athena. In many occasions Athena assisted Odysseus. One such example is when Odysseus was fighting of the suitors and they threw spears at him. "Re-forming, the suitors threw again with all their strength, but Athena turned their shots, or all but two (p 566)." Another instance which Athena aided Odysseus was when she disguised him as a beggar on his arrival to his homeland. "Would even you have guessed that I am Pallas Athena, daughter of Zeus, I that am always with you in times of trial, a shield to you in battle (p 444)." "Your goddess-guardian to the end in all your trials (p 539)."
Of all of the texts read in humanities classes, the one that is likely most comparable to the book of Exodus is Virgil’s the Aeneid. In Virgil’s the Aeneid, Aeneas finds himself on a journey to save his people, much like Moses finds himself in the book of Exodus. This is perhaps the most important comparison to make, however, this is not the only similarity between the two historic works. Moses and Aeneas both receive divine intervention at many points in their respective stories. In both cases, this allows them to continue on with their fated journey. These are just a few of the significant parallels between these characters and their journeys.
Both of these two male characters are not title roles. They both fall prey to the actions of a woman, one whom they both originally thought they had complete control over. Antigone's martyrdom and conflict with the State brings Creon's destruction and Medea's double murder and infanticide brings his destruction. However, how much is this brought about through their own weakness and how much can we attribute this to a cruel fate? The issue is essentially whether a stronger person than Jason or Antigone could have avoided the destruction, and were they crushed by their own internal weakness ('hamartia'). An important to clarify is that we are not judging their personality. A despot can be a strong character and a man of high morals can be a weak character. The deciding factor is how rigidly they cling to their ideals and their ability to listen to others sensibly.
The islands of Circe and Calypso in Homer’s Odyssey are places where Odysseus’ most challenging problems occur. In contrast to battles with men, Cyclops, or animals, sexual battles with women are sometimes much more difficult to win. These two female characters are especially enticing to Odysseus because they are goddesses. Though it is evident that Odysseus longs to return to Penelope in Ithaka, it sometimes appears that he has lost vision of what life was like with a wife, a son, and with thousands of people who regard him as King. Although his experiences on the islands of these goddesses were similar in that he was retained from Ithaka for the longest periods of his adventure, these goddesses and the ways that Odysseus reacts to his experiences with them represent two very different aspects of Odysseus’ life and disposition in life.
book takes place in, is called to action and set in motion on his Hero
won) fighting a war against the city of Troy and has been held captive by
knew full well that what she was doing was wrong. She knew that if she buried
While home is usually represented by a physical shelter such as a house, Homer and Euripides in their respective novels The Odyssey and Medea show that home has much more significance as a state where one can comfortably express the values and beliefs that define one’s identity. Both authors use protagonists who are far away from home. These characters often associate with and depend upon other characters they meet. Since they live under the influence of others, it is not surprising then to find that the two protagonists lose their individual identities. Moreover, both protagonists will also purposefully develop a second identity that is designed to conform to the society in which they inhabit. Since both protagonists are away from home for the majority of both works, it would be appropriate to examine, through specific instances, how both authors connect a lack of home with an absence of individual identity.
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.
Loyalty to the household is one of the foundational values of Grecian cultures. Both Antigone and the Odyssey portray the benefits of this devotion to kin, yet also expose the tensions that can arise while keeping an allegiance to a household. Polis, the city-state, was grounded in the concept of oikos, or households. Ancient Hellenic women were expected to uphold certain standards within society, such as burying the dead family members, pledging allegiance to the household of the betrothed, or marrying into a new household following the death of a husband. Consequently, massive repercussions, even death, could arise if a woman did not fully pledge allegiance to a betrothed household or abandoned her current family without justifiable cause.
COMPARE AND CONTRAST THE PORTRAYAL OF THE GODS IN VIRGIL'S AENEID AND OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. There is a significant difference in the treatment of the gods in the Aeneid and the Metamorphoses, even though both authors were writing in the epic tradition. Virgil wrote his Aeneid in the last ten years of his life, between 29BC and 19BC, after the Battle of Actium, in 31BC, which was significant, as it established Octavian as the sole emperor, Augustus, of Rome. The Aeneid is a celebration of Augustus' achievements and rejoices in the development of Rome. There is a great sense of political propaganda, as well as an historical element, as it illustrates the origins of the Roman people.