Homer's The Odyssey tells the lengthy journey of Odysseus, a Greek hero, who faces many obstacles on his way home from the Trojan War. On the surface the audience might think they are listening into a simple, Dark Age anecdote centered around a cunning, victorious, Greek warrior, yearning for the ultimate fame of kleos (Homer, IX,19-34). Writing in the 8th century BCE Homer is relaying more than amusement; he is giving insight to the rules of proper behavior in Greek society. The bard's definition of the underlying motivators in the tale- revenge, reciprocity and justice- allows the reader to understand the ideas of Greek culture, as well as highlights the importance for the Greek’s fight towards kleos. Though observations it is noted that …show more content…
The gods viewed Orestes’s killing of Aeigisthos as fair, however they believed he crossed the line into revenge when he killed his mother, Clytemnestra. The gods then lead by example of justice and punish Orestes by cursing him with furies (Homer, I,26-44). By placing this account in The Odyssey Homer is displaying that the division between justice and revenge was fixed by the gods and goddesses yet each character had the will to express both qualities based on their sophrosyne, or judgement. Orestes should have used his sophrosyne to understand which killing was justified and which was purely an act of swift revenge. This shows that in Greek culture a person’s revenge was justified because it was brought upon by their own judgement. The gods show this point when they complain “’Oh shame how mortals put the blame upon us...rather, who by their own recklessness win sorrow…” (Homer, I,32-34). In addition, Homer is arranging the comparison of minds between Agamemnon, Odysseus and the suitors to justify Odysseus’s killing. Agamemnon had poor sophrosyne while Odysseus had a great mind. Odysseus knew that he had to test the loyalty of Ithaca when he returned. Using his great judgement, he then determines that the suitors who were disloyal caused their own fate of a “shameful death” (Homer, XXII, 317). The …show more content…
Helen is the cause of the Trojan war and reason for Odysseus's departure, yet the reader never see her get punished, something appears to be wrong. Instead she returns to her husband, Menelaus’s, palace despite running off with Paris (Homer, IV,120). Helen’s personality shines through when Telemachus visits Menelaus’s palace. She greets Telemachus in a bold and usually way. She “came out of her fragrant high roofed bedchamber” and “at once she spoke to her husband and questioned him with everything” (Homer, IV, 120;137). Helen’s good senses identifies Telemachus and controls the mind of her husband. She pours him wine that “makes one forget all sorrows” (Homer, IV,221) Helen acts this way in the palace because her cunning sophrosyne allows her to understand that she does not deserve revenge, as it would be unjust. Athena, Hera and Aphrodite promised Helen to Paris which then caused the Trojan War. It would not be fair for Helen to be punished for actions of the gods in which she did not have control over. When examined the audience can see that Helen does in fact fit into the entirety of The Odyssey, as it was just not to receive a
Indeed those who occupied the lord’s manor during his absence did so with no honor. But one may argue that Odysseus’ method of punishment was far too brutal, especially for the murder of the ladies who had dishonored his household. How could a man of respectable qualities do such a horrid thing, how could he soak his own home in blood? Even after Odysseus had killed Atinoos, those who begged mercy saying that Antinoos had led them to their dishonor, were slain brutally. All this harshness to others because Odysseus desired revenge on the number of men lusting for Penelope. This seems unjustifiable, and very inhumane. Odysseus was so overcome with his hate that he lost control, perhaps it was his years of denying the power of the gods that led him to brutality. Odysseus’s actions are indeed aggressive and morality at this point in his life seems to have faded.
Justice in our times is almost completely different from what the ancient Greeks considered as justice. Justice, today can be defined as the quality of being just, the principle of moral rightness. In the ancient Greek era and most certainly during the time when the story of the Odyssey happened; Justice was frequently instantaneous and severe, almost unswerving. Odysseus is sometimes seen as being the one carrying out justice or being the one affected by justice. In the Odyssey, we see justice as revenge, and areas in which we can use to say that Odysseus is a just man.
“Oh for shame, how the mortals put the blame on us gods, for they say evils come from us, but it is they, rather, who by their own recklessness win sorrow beyond what is given,” (1.32-34) is a simple quote reminding us the entities in charge of all characters in the poem The Odyssey – the gods. Hubris, or excessive human pride, is most detested by the gods and likewise is most punishable by them. The Odyssey is a story about Odysseus and Telemachus, two heroes who throughout their adventures meet new people and face death many times. Telemachus goes to find his father after he learns from Athena that he is still alive. The two meet, and Odysseus attempts to go back to Ithaca after he was lost at sea, and on his way there becomes one of the most heroic characters in literature as we know it. Like all heroic characters, Odysseus began to display hubris as he learned how true of a hero he was. James Wyatt Cook, a historian and an expert on The Odyssey, wrote about how hubris can affect the characters that display it. He says, “Because Homer’s Odyssey is essentially comic, that episode [opened wind bag destroys ship] is only one of a series of setbacks Odysseus experiences before reaching his home in Ithaca and recovering his former kingdom and his family. Such, however, is not the case for those who display hubris with tragic outcomes.” (Cook 1) Initially, Odysseus learns about Aias who died as a cause of the excessive pride he portrays. Proteus warns Odysseus when he says, “…and Aias would have escaped doom, though Athena hated him, had he not gone widely mad and tossed outa word of defiance; for he said that in despite of the gods he escaped the great gulf of the sea, and Poseidon heard him…...
Orestes’ revenge is the first important example of the gods’ revenge in the poem. In Book 1, Hermes told Aegisthus, “’Don’t murder the man,’ he said, ‘don’t court his wife. Beware, revenge will come from Orestes…” (Homer 260). King Nestor delivers the story of Orestes’ revenge to Odysseus’ son Telemachus, while Telemachus is visiting Nestor to discover answers about his fathers’ whereabouts. In Book 3 of The Odyssey, King Nestor tells this of Agamemnon, “…Aegisthus hatched the kings’ horrendous death” (Homer, 285). King Nestor continues on telling of the revenge Agamemnon’s son Orestes has on Aegisthus, “Orestes took revenge, he killed that cunning, murderous Aegisthus…”(Homer, 285). This example of Orestes’ revenge shows that the gods should be listened to or they will give horrific revenges to those who disobey.
Homer’s poem The Odyssey depicts the tendency of people to ignore the consequences of their actions. Odysseus punished Penelope’s suitors without thinking of consequences that he would have to endure. He did not acknowledge the consequences because that would prevent him from doing what he wants to do. Odysseus wanted to kill the suitors; they ate away at his fortune. Finding consequences for murdering the suitors would force Odysseus to realize what he is about to do is not a good idea. Odysseus chose to ignore the consequences and killed the suitors anyway. Odysseus had absolutely no reason to kill the suitors; they had the right to stay in his home because Penelope made them feel welcome, Penelope and Telemachus both told them that Odysseus was dead, and although Telemachus told them to leave, he did not have the right to do so.
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.
If someone did something wrong to a person in the times of Odysseus he had the right to kill them. Now a person can not do that. He had the right to kill anyone that was considered his property.In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus should have killed the suitors because they messed with his wife, they were not loyal ,and they tried to kill his son. To begin with, Odysseus should have killed the suitors because they messed with his wife.
Odysseus, the supposedly great hero of Homer’s epic The Odyssey, embarks on a fantastical journey to return home after years spent fighting in Troy. Athena’s favored, a ‘wise and courageous king of Ithaca,’ binds himself to a strict moral code throughout the poem, and attempts to hold others to that same ethical standard. His believed rigid forms of behavior, however, do not extend to being a courteous guest when he visits Polyphemus’s island. Odysseus allows his men to attempt to concoct a plot to carry off Polyphemus’s possessions and repeatedly taunts him after he blinds the Cyclops, deciding that the guidelines of Zeus’s social contract only apply to him occasionally. Odysseus’s purposeful ignorance and abuse of the guest-host relationship
The Odyssey embodies a range of emotions and judgements based off the laws of the gods. Odysseus formulates decisions solely off of an individual’s violation of the laws. During the slaughter of the suitors, Odysseus showed no remorse to the suitors pursuing his wife, but he did show a strain of mercy to Phemius, the singer and the herald Medon for their lack in threatening his reign as king. However, this type of justice was not given to the women in the house who were engaging in intercourse with the suitors. When examining these parallel incidents, one may say Odysseus as a fair leader.
Arêtê was the wife of Alcinoös and the mother of his children, including Nausicaä. The Phaeacian queen was acknowledged by her daughter, and the reader can assume that others felt the same way, as the higher authoritative. Nausicaä told Odysseus to bypass her father and instead ask Arêtê for help. Arêtê was very hospitable toward Odysseus and helped him find his way home to Ithaca. Helen, the wife of Menelaos, was kidnapped by Paris, the young prince of Troy and she was the reason Menelaos and his brother Agamemnon attacked Troy and started one of the most famous battles in Greek mythology, the Trojan War. Not only was Helen the most beautiful woman of all, but she also was treated very respectfully by not only her husband Menelaos, who it seemed completely forgave his wife, but by all citizens of Lacedaimon. She was regarded and respected as highly as the
Zeus tells his brother, Poseidon, “If any man, so lost in his strength and prowess, pays you no respect, just pay him back”. Zeus also is the one who signals Odysseus to start the slaughter with a mighty bolt flung from the heavens and who ultimately ends the fighting with a “reeking bolt” at the feet of Athena. This seems to suggest that Zeus is behind the retribution given to the suitors, who do not fear him or act properly as guests. This quote also shows Zeus doesn’t let people who disrespect him get away. Justice influenced all these actions by Zeus. Justice influenced Odysseus by wanting to slaughter suitors who have disrespected him and taken over his house. Odysseus was gone for twenty years and all this time he had suitors in his house taking away Odysseus’s hospitality. During the three years before Odysseus returns, the suitors plunder his herds of goats, pigs, and cattle. They carve away at the great King’s wealth, their countless feasts bleeding dry Odysseus’ property. But, in killing the suitors, there is clearly more than a material, dollars and cents, retribution that is enacted. This quote says for three years, suitors have taken over
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.
Among the several epics written by the Greek poet Homer, The Odyssey can be seen as the most prominent of them. It portrays a vast variety of themes that are visualized by the conflicts between characters. Unlike other epics, the interactions are between Odysseus, the protagonist, and a multitude of other characters; in fact there is no clear antagonist in the epic. Amongst these interrelations, the concept of vengeance is prominent and presides behind much of the dialogue; in fact, we can say that one of the predominant themes of the story is that of vengeance. Poseidon’s plotting of Odysseus’ death and the murder of the suitors in The Odyssey provides for a clear depiction of the interactions that externally represent the internal conflict
Telemachus has an interesting relationship to the crime that the maids committed. Firstly, Telemachus spent his life in similar conditions to the maids, being stuck entertaining and serving the suitors. Further, Telemachus loathes trickery, as he often bemoans the wanderers that come to his mother with false tales of Odysseus. However, this loathing seems to be directed at the tricksters, rather than the beguiled. Though it is not illogical that he should hate the maids for being tricked. To examine this, one must examine those that had
“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.