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Homer’s Odyssey and the Odyssey of Our Lives
Homer’s Odyssey is a magnificent mythological tale. This work was presumably created after his encounter with goddess Athena. Although Odysseus’ journey is filled with unrealistic adventures and mythical powers, some principles behind this story can relate to our everyday lives. Odysseus’ adventures in Odyssey relate to the heroism, intellect, and ruthlessness that are in our lives.
Odysseus’ determination of returning home will help him prevail. Odysseus’ determination rises above hunger and would starve himself if that was needed. However, his crew does not have as strong as a will as Odysseus does, and for giving in to their temptation for food, the gods punish them by diverting them from coming home. The Sun’s retribution is showed here, "Out of the ship my comrades fell and then like sea fowl were borne by the side of the black ship along the waves; God cut them off from coming home." (Homer 121). Odysseus’ crew had slain and eaten the cows of the exalted Sun even though they had been warned. Odysseus proves that his determination to return home is strong than hunger. To Odysseus, once he has reached his goal, even food shall taste much greater than before. His heroism shows that he is very determined and confident that he will overcome all obstacles and will reach Ithaca.
Odysseus is not afraid of death. His journey down to Hades and his conversation with Achilles shows that he thought of death as some light matter. When Odysseus spoke with Achilles, he said that Achilles should be happy with death because he is the ruler of the lost souls. Achilles remarked, "Mock not at death, glorious Odysseus. Better to be the hireling of a stranger, and serve a ma...
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...ght or flee, if any man will save himself from death and doom. But some here will not flee, I think, from instant death"(Homer 213). Odysseus builds up his courage and he has his moment.
Odysseus’ journey is like many peoples’ journey in life. His journey was hard, excruciating, and painful, but at the end he harvests sweet fruits from his heroism, determination, and ruthlessness. People in today’s society opting for an easy way in life do not find their way "home" and do not fulfill their goals. The harder journey....the sweeter the reward.
Works Cited and Consulted
Heubeck, Alfred, J.B. Hainsworth, et al. A commentary on Homer's Odyssey. 3 Vols. Oxford PA4167 .H4813 1988
Homer The Odyssey. Translated by Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin Books 1996
Van der Valk, Marchinus. Textual Criticism of the Odyssey. Leiden: A.W. Sijthoff, 1949.
This shows the value of bravery. As Odysseus and his crew row toward two fearsome monsters, Odysseus shows no fear. He reminds the men of the monsters they have already faced, and this inspires them. Death looks him in the eye, and, in response, Odysseus laughs in its face.
Homer. The Odyssey: Fitzgerald Translation. Trans. Robert Fitzgerald. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998. Print.
Ultimately, Odysseus' journey to Ithaka is about embracing one's life, accepting the challenges, the dangers, pitfalls, and joys, with courage, tenacity and a keen sense of what it takes to maintain balance in one's life.
One of Odysseus's biggest challenges was to resist temptation. The first temptation Odysseus and his men encountered was the sweet lotos plant, "They fell in, soon enough, with Lotos Eaters, who showed no will to do us harm, only offering the sweet Lotos to out friends..." (IX. 98-100). Eating the plant did not seem like a bad idea, but resisting was a much wiser option, ."..but those who ate this honeyed plant, the Lotos, never cared to report, nor return: they longed to stay forever, browsing on that native bloom, forgetful of their homeland" (IX. 101-104). If they had eaten the plant, they never would have gotten home. Another great temptation they had to withstand was the Seirênês. The Seirênês would tempt the men to them with their beauty and music, "Square in your ship's path are Seirênês, crying beauty to bewitch men coasting by..." (XII. 101-104). If men did not resist, they would fall into the Seirênês' clutches and die, "Woe to the innocent who hears that sound! He will not see his lady nor his children in joy, crowding about him, home from sea; the Seirênês will sing his mind away on their sweet meadow lolling..." (XII. 50-54). The biggest temptation that Odysseus had to defy was from the sea nymph, Kalypso, "I fed him, loved, him, sang that he should not die or grow old ever, in all the days to come" (V. 1420143). Kalypso wanted to have Odysseus as her husband, but all he could think of was home, "Meanwhile he lives and grieves upon that island in thralldom to the nymph; he cannot stir, cannot fare homeward..." (V. 15-17). Odysseus resisted, and was not completely unfaithful to his wife. If he had not resisted temptation, he would have been on the island of the Lotos Eaters, dead, or without a wife.
There are numerous heroes throughout “The Odyssey,” but none of them are as significant as Odysseus. “The Odyssey” is a narrative poem written by Homer (around 800 and 600 BCE) to show the numerous adventures and experiences Odysseus goes through. Throughout the Odyssey, Odysseus a prominent Greek epic hero is on a quest to return back to his home in Ithaca; to his wife Penelope, and his son Telemachus. Just like real life, not all heroes are picture-perfect; they all have imperfections. In this case, Odysseus is sometimes insolent, and discourteous; but he is still considered an epic hero because of the many heroic qualities he endures. Odysseus proves himself to be an outstanding hero in various ways such as showing loyalty, intelligence, bravery, strength, and courage which are all some of the most momentous qualities found in a hero. If a true hero can prove they are a true hero, makes them a true hero.
Homer. "The Odyssey." The Norton Anthology: World Literature. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. New York: W.W.
On our journeys we all must resist, or give into, temptations that may hinder our ascent to our goal. All people give into temptation at least once in their lives. One time that Odysseus gave into temptation was when he listened to the Sirens’ songs. We don’t always collapse into temptation, like when Odysseus wanted so badly to kill the suitors but forced himself to wait for the right time. Another time Odysseus defied temptation was when he refused to reveal himself to the people but ceased expose himself until he felt it was the right time. Temptation is not the only thing to obstruct our expedition.
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.
Socrates, a Greek philosopher stated, "Look death in the face with joyful hope, and consider this a lasting truth: the righteous man has nothing to fear, neither in life, nor in death, and the Gods will not forsake him” (Socrates). This explains the basis for Greek beliefs that can be carried over to values and qualities of them. As in this, Homer, the author of The Odyssey, portrays many Greek values that make up a righteous man, or as, Homer’s character Odysseus, an epic hero. The Odyssey is the story of King Odysseus' return from the Trojan War to his kingdom of Ithaca. Stories, like The Odyssey, are told with the intent of delivering a message that is important to their culture.
Cloning, a topic that has recently caused mayhem all over the world, is possible, but will it be here to stay? The astonishing news that scientists had cloned a sheep a couple of years ago sent people into panic at the thought that humans might be next. "Cloning is a radical challenge to the most fundamental laws of biology, so it's not unreasonable to be concerned that it might threaten human society and dignity" (Macklin 64). Since most of the opposition is coming from the pure disgust of actually being able to clone species, it makes it difficult for people to get away from the emotional side of the issue and analyze the major implications cloning would have for society. To better understand this controversial issue, the pros and cons of cloning will be discussed.
There are many opinions on the topic of cloning, particularly on the controversy of human cloning. Lots of people have many fears over if we should continue this form of study, whereas others think that this technology should be pushed forward with high hopes. However, no side should rule out the other, but instead, should compliment one another. Both arguments should be heard and acknowledged before any decision is made towards this new area of study. For example, many people think that their fears are unanswerable and should cause the absolute ban on cloning.
“Cloning represents a very clear, powerful, and immediate example in which we are in danger of turning procreation into manufacture.” (Kass) The concept of cloning continues to evoke debate, raising extensive ethical and moral controversy. As humans delve into the fields of science and technology, cloning, although once considered infeasible, could now become a reality. Although many see this advancement as the perfect solution to our modern dilemmas, from offering a potential cure for cancer, AIDS, and other irremediable diseases, its effects are easily forgotten. Cloning, especially when concerning humans, is not the direction we must pursue in enhancing our lives. It is impossible for us to predict its effects, it exhausts monetary funds, and it harshly abases humanity.
Homer’s literature served as a moral messenger to the people of ancient Greece. The Odyssey by Homer demonstrates the character development of Odysseus, the epic hero, and his journey of self-discovery. Odysseus was a great, wise, noble, and well respected war hero to his people. Odysseus had one tragic flaw that was demonstrated by his actions throughout the book. The author Homer continued to strip Odysseus of his arrogance throughout the story, by throwing challenges his way, making him pay for his mistakes, and allowing him to continue to overcome obstacles. The main purpose of Odysseus journey also to reach his home a more humble man. Reading Odysseus’ journey also served as a way to look at morals. The
The idea of the possibility of cloning has long interested scientists from all over the world. The ability to create another life without the need to reproduce, simply a petri dish and some cells, is something that has been attempted to be done for decades. There are endless possibilities of the uses that cloning could bring, and it excites many and equally terrifies others. In was in 1997 when there was a big breakthrough of cloning occurred: the “birth” of Dolly the ewe. Dolly was cloned from an adult sheep in Scotland. Dolly was the beginning of the experimentation of cloning full mammals. We now clone many mice and claves all cloned from adult cells that still now fascinate many scientists. However, the idea of cloning and cloning has been done before; however, now that a full mammal that was cloned from an adult cell was successful, it triggered the idea of possibly cloning a full human. There were many experiments done with the idea of cloning and the questioning of the replication process when cells divide; experiments were done as early as 1888. They began with the experimentation on a two-cell amphibian embryo and discovered certain genes that were lost during the replication of the cell. From there the experimentations grew more and more sophisticated and these early nuclear cloning experiments confirmed that “the complete genome is replicated during cell division, at least during early cleavage” (McKinnell, 1999). These experiments were the bases of modern cloning experiments to study the genomic ability of the adult embryonic cells. The studies and experimentation of cloning is being done all over the world: the U.S, England, France, China, and Japan are all in the field of cloning and the possibilities that it ca...
It's a good idea to ban cloning for a certain amount of time to take more precautions before continuing. There should be some rules set up to create boundaries of cloning to protect society so people don't abuse it. If rules are set up to minimize the amount of cloning, then there would be less of a worry among people. However, cloning should still be legal. Eventually, cloning can be corrected until its fully understood and it can be then be used to benefit mankind. Human and animal cloning can cure many diseases if it's finally perfected and then there won't be any more concerns or disadvantages in the future.