The Odyssey, an epic poem written by Homer and translated by Robert Fitzgerald, is about the war hero Odysseus' ten year adventure to return home after the Trojan War. At one point in the epic poem, Odysseus is retelling his adventure at the land of the Kyklopês, in which he and his crew go to an island filled with these creatures. Through Odysseus, Homer uses contrasting connotation when speaking of the crew and the Kyklopês to convey that mankind is better than the Kyklopês using two different domains domains of society. Homer writes Odysseus' men as being more advanced than the Kyklopês. In the text, Odysseus boasts that “...good ships like ours.../are far beyond the Kyklopês” (9.135-136). He goes on to describe what mankind would use the land for, saying that the men would have “annexed it/and built their homesteads on it” (9.141-142), while the Kyklopês did nothing with their land. Odysseus’ boasting tone shows how Homer ultimately favors the men, as he connotes them as being smart enough to use the resources they had to make technology like ships and to use their land to make more homes for their people. The Kyklopês, though, did …show more content…
Homer writes Odysseus as saying, “Kykopês have no muster and no meeting,/ no consultation or old tribal ways../indifferent to what the others do” (9.120-124). Odysseus, furthermore, implies that men are much more civil than the Kyklopês are when giving a speech to his crew, saying that the Kyklopês could be “hospitable and god fearing men” (9.189). Homer’s characterization of the Kyklopês as savages shows how Odysseus thought mankind to be a better group of people, as Homer connotes the Kyklopês as being solitary and immoral people. On the contrary, mankind’s moral compass is God, so Odysseus’ implication is further evidence of Homer’s positive connotation of mankind as a morally guided
In The Odyssey, Homer conveys a mixed message about Odysseus’s crew. At times, they seem loyal, whereas other scenes reveal them as disloyal. Homer does this to help center the attention on how Odysseus can fall victim to temptation and stand up to take control of his crew. The critical moments where Odysseus and his crew are in disagreement are significant because they demonstrate how Odysseus is epic, yet still human and flawed.
“The Odyssey” is an epic written by Homer between 750 and 650 B.C. It is the tale of the main hero’s, Odysseus’s, journey home to Ithaca from Troy. It takes place after the Trojan War and is the sequel to “The Iliad.” Odysseus and his men set sail from Troy and come across the lair of the lotus eaters. After escaping, they run into the cyclops,
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.
Kyklops just answers that, “We Kyklopes care not for your thundering Zeus…';(153). This is a big mistake because directly after this statement, the Kyklops eats some of Odysseus’s men. Zeus does avenge the men through Odysseus. Odysseus gets the Kyklops drunk and stabs out his eye, allowing an escape. One thing that is bad for Odysseus, though, is the fact that Kyklops is the son of Poseidon, god of the earthquake. This now spurs a new challenge for Odysseus: he must get home with Poseidon’s obstacles.
As you might know, many of the characters in Homer’s tale of The Odyssey are known for their physical strength as their main tool used to strive for success. On the other hand, there is Odysseus, who uses something a little different to help him make his way home. His impressive oratory skills help him to escape some sticky situations. His spectacular ability to disguise himself within a crowd gives him advantages that others do not have. Each plan that he effortlessly conceives to find his way home was outstanding and shows his abundance of intelligence. Although many men use their physical strength as their main power to succeed in their travels in The Odyssey, Odysseus’s brains are his strongest
Throughout the Odyssey, Homer presents the reader with certain clues about what Odysseus feels his homecoming should (but not neccessarily will) be like. First of all, Odysseus wants to return to Ithaka. Homer goes as far as having Odysseus describe Ithaka: "There is a mountain there that stands tall, leaf-trembling Neritos, and there are islands settled around it, lying one very close to another. There is Doulichion and Same, wooded Zakynthos, but my island lies low and away, last of all on the water…" (Bk. 9, ln. 21-25). Kalypso lives on island, which may indeed resemble Ithaka. In this way, Homer begins to alert the reader that this scene may be a false homecoming. But, simply the fact that Kalypso lives on an island is not enough evidence to draw the conclusion that this may foreshadow Odysseus’s true homecoming. Other evidence is needed, and Homer provides it for us. Odysseus expects to return to his family and to the way of life which he is accustomed to. For the most part, Kalypso treats him as he is used to being treated—there is a certain sense of familiarity here. Returning from ten years of war with Troy and at least several years at sea, Odysseus wants to return to the comfort of home. Her cave has ...
Odysseus and Okonkwo both play great men in there stories but being held to such high standards does not happen over night and does not come easy. Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, was a man frowned upon by his people. “He was poor and his wife and children had barely enough to eat.” He was constantly borrowing money despite never being able to pay anyone back. At his death Unoka had taken no title and only left behind a great dept for Okonkwo. Okonkwo was indeed ashamed of his father and would live his life trying to get out of his shadow; which is why he took so much pride in his title as the greatest warrior in his village of Umofia, just as Odysseus took so much pride in his title of King of Ithaca as well as a war hero. Odysseus was a handsome, intelligent and cunning man, and he knew it. He knew of his power over others and loved every minute of it. Both these characters were full of pride and the journey that each would embark on would test this pride. Okonkwo often ...
Since one can’t change one’s nature then one should learn from it in order to become better people. We will always be disloyal, self-centered, and inconsiderate, even if we don’t notice at times. Homer shows us all of these faults through Odysseus’s relationships. Inconsideration is shown when Odysseus doesn’t listen to advice given to him or recognizing others that helped him win challenges, overcome temptations, etc. Homer shows us disloyalty when Odysseus was unfaithful to his wife and forgetting about his dead friends. Most importantly, Homer shows us that we are self-centered through Odysseus blaming others for his own mistakes and by taking all credit for victories. Yet, at the end, when he recognized all of his weaknesses, Odysseus became a better and understanding
As a result of Odysseus’ dishonesty, Odysseus is able to save many of his fellow crewmates’ lives throughout Homer’s
Throughout the Odyssey, there are many relationships that represent love between two people. These relationships show loyalty, compassion, and the wanting to be near one another. Two of these kinds of relationships are between Odysseus and Telemakhos, and Odysseus and Penelope.
In The Odyssey, Homer, or more so, the characters, often referred to Odysseus as the ‘Great Odysseus’. In the text, it is obvious to see that Odysseus demonstrates arrogance, charisma, over-confidence, and pride. Odysseus and his m...
Homer's two central heroes, Odysseus and Achilles, are in many ways differing manifestations of the same themes. While Achilles' character is almost utterly consistent in his rage, pride, and near divinity, Odysseus' character is difficult to pin down to a single moral; though perhaps more human than Achilles, he remains more difficult to understand. Nevertheless, both heroes are defined not by their appearances, nor by the impressions they leave upon the minds of those around them, nor even so much by the words they speak, but almost entirely by their actions. Action is what drives the plot of both the Iliad and the Odyssey, and action is what holds the characters together. In this respect, the theme of humanity is revealed in both Odysseus and Achilles: man is a combination of his will, his actions, and his relationship to the divine. This blend allows Homer to divulge all that is human in his characters, and all that is a vehicle for the idyllic aspects of ancient Greek society. Accordingly, the apparent inconsistencies in the characterization of Odysseus can be accounted for by his spiritual distance from the god-like Achilles; Achilles is more coherent because he is the son of a god. This is not to say that Achilles is not at times petty or unimaginative, but that his standards of action are merely more continuous through time. Nevertheless, both of Homer's heroes embody important and admirable facets of ancient Greek culture, though they fracture in the ways they are represented.
When people think of Odysseus, they think of a great, cunning, warrior. Who wouldn’t see him that way, he fought his way through Troy and embarked on a journey back home to see his son and wife again. On the surface Odysseus seems like a genius but in Homer’s, The Odyssey, Odysseus shows many instances where he outwits his foes but his foolishness heavily outweighs his smarts; he becomes boastful after a victory which leads to more hardships, he leaves precious cargo in the open for his brutish crew to mess with, and refuses help from the gods which nearly leads to his demise.
“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.
The challenges that Homer give the protagonist is all a test of character. Odysseus continues to pass the obstacles with flying colors, but his arrogance is the one flaw that is in dire need of correction. Some of the many challenges Odysseus overcomes on his voyage home is defeating the Cicones, surviving the Island of the Lotus Eaters, outsmarting the Giant Cyclops, saving his men from Circe, Traveling to Hades, passing between Scylla and Charybdis, escaping Calypsos’ Island and many more. Odysseus survives these obstacles and uses his smarts to escape near disaster. Often times he was the only one to survive these things and his crew often lost their lives due to their own stupidity. “‘We left the island and resumed our journey in a state of gloom; and the heart was taken out of my men by the wearisome rowing. But was our own stupidity that had deprived us of the wind.’”(P127 L75-79) Odysseus shows how he is an extraordinary man by being much smarter than his crew and the men that follow him. As a part of this stripping of Odysseus, Homer shows that Odysseus is a collective symbol of Everyman. On the one hand Odysseus is a great warrior, who is extremely intelligent, noble, and a great man. Although he has many god- like qualities he is still human. He shows that he is human and like every man, because of the fact that he still has major flaws. The