Homers epic poem The Odyssey, written in Ancient Greece, focusses on Odysseus struggle to get home 10 years after the Trojan war while his son, Telemachus, seeks information on his father, Odysseus. With their many attempts to find or leave, they face many dangers leaving the gods no choice but to pity them and help or make their situation worse and make them suffer.
Homer’s The odyssey shows this positive and negative intervention of gods through the many disguises and actions the gods take/do.
Homer portrays the positive intervention of gods through Athena’s many disguises and actions that come from them. Telemachus is sitting in the beach, praying to Athena, after being called crazy by the suitors. Athena disguised as Mentor, talks to Telemachus with encouraging words
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She says, “Telemachus you’ll lack neither courage nor sense from this day on, … the journey that stirs you is not far off, not with the likes of me, your fathers friend and yours.”
(2.302-319). Athena’s words, like “you’ll lack neither courage nor sense …”, show how she encourages him from feeling inferior to the suitors but stronger and much smarter. Athena also offers her help through disguising herself as Mentor and stating, “the journey that stirs you is not far…not with the likes of me, your fathers friend.” which shows that Mentor will help
Telemachus find his father with his skills of guidance (guide him personally or guide his ship).
Odysseus is sleeping by a river in some bushes after his “raft” wreck. Athena goes to the palace of the island and disguises herself as Nausicaa’s friend (Dymas’ Daughter). Athena whispers to her while she is sleeping. “Come let’s go wash these clothes at the break of day – I’ll help you
lend a hand, and the work will fly! You won’t stay unwed for long.” (6.34-37). Athena’s
Hector, acting on Helenus’ advice, told the Trojan women to make offerings to Athena, hoping she’d pity them and thus stop Diomedes from massacring any more of his soldiers.
In every journey the hero also has a mentor. In this story Athena, the gray-eyed goddess of wisdom, has taken on this role for both Odysseus and Telemachus. Athena was by Odysseus’ side as a guide for much of the beginning of his Journey. Athena also is a guide to Odysseus when he’s not even aware o...
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.
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.
In Homer's epic poem, The Odyssey, gods play a very important role to the plot of the story. They are the one deciding if someone can survive or not according to the sacrifice that the person made for them. In the book 1, Athena said to Zeus her father, “Didn’t Odysseus please you with sacrifices beside the Greek ships at Troy?” (Homer 65, book1). In this part Athena was trying to plead with her father Zeus in favor of Odysseus because she wants to help him to go home, while others are trying to provoke his death. This love that Athena has for Odysseus and his family is revealed throughout Homer’s epic. Although Athena supported Odysseus throughout his voyage, other gods including Poseidon, Calypso, and Circe made it difficult for Odysseus to return home, such in our real life, some people will make your life hard, but you have a good faith as Odysseus, you should always find your way out. Our God is omnipr...
middle of paper ... ... In Homer’s Odyssey, both Odysseus and his son Telemachus embark on long, difficult journeys; Odysseus trying to return from Troy to his home in Ithaca, 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.
In an attempt to reassure and comfort her, Athena appears as a “glimmering phantom” and says these comforting words, “Take heart, and don’t be afraid. The guide who goes with him is one many men pray for to stand at their side, a powerful ally- Pallas Athena. And she pities you in your grief, for it is she who sent me to tell you this” (Homer 342). There are many motivators for Athena in The Odyssey.
To whom does Athena refer when she says: They all would find death was quick, and marriage a painful
In the first four books of Homer’s The Odyssey, the character of Telemachus undergoes a dramatic evolution. When Homer first introduces him, he appears to be an unsophisticated youth, wallowing in self-pity. After the goddess Athena intervenes, he becomes, seemingly, a man of courage, strength, and resolve. On closer analysis, however, one remains to wonder if this transformation is genuine. The rapidity of his change in personality and the assistance he requires from the goddess at every stage in his journey suggests that he is not yet a hero in the mold of his father, the great Odysseus.
Life in Greece was heavily influenced by the mythological gods and goddesses. These twelve all powerful gods and goddesses were thought to control every aspect of existence, from things like nature and pleasure to death and destruction. The Greeks gave sacrifices and prayed to these gods. The divine intervention of these gods was thought to bring great fortune or horrible destruction. In Homer’s, “The Odyssey”, the divine intervention of the Olympian gods both benefited, and hurt Odysseus’ journey home.
The Greeks relay the their beliefs through the stories they tell, such as the Odyssey. The Odyssey exemplifies how the Greeks believe that divine intervention is needed in order to solve conflict. Demonstrated in the excerpt of the Odyssey, the Greeks highlight the irrationalism of men, and the only way to overcome that is through the interference of the gods.
The Odyssey, an epic poem by Homer, was written towards the end of the 8th century. It follows the epic hero, Odysseus, and his twenty year voyage home to Ithaca. After helping Greece win the Trojan war, he faces many challenges before returning to his wife, Penelope, and son, Telemachus. Throughout the story, Homer captures many different concepts of the human being. He presents the universal life lesson that that not all circumstances one must face in life are exactly how they seem, no matter how they appear physically, and being unaware of this deception can bring pain and loss. The Sirens, the Lotus Flower, and Odysseus in disguise are all symbols of the daily deceptions we all face, as a way to teach readers that even if something or
Finally, Pallas Athena stood up and in her armor, went before her father out of whole own head she was born and his wife, Hera. She said: “ Oh mighty Zeus, my king and my father, and beautiful Hera of the white arms hear me and see you in all your bickering have called storm down upon our mother Gaia. She is in great terror, and the waters of her teas may soon overrun the earth in yet another flood. Please, hear my wisdom and let this madness end.”
Greek mythology has systematically included the intervention of gods and goddesses in matters of the mortal world, and Homer’s The Iliad is no different. The story is littered with divine intervention, with both positive and negative outcomes for the humans involved.
“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.