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Conclusion analysis of the odyssey
Critical analysis of the odyssey
Critical analysis of the odyssey
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Trying to hide from enemies, putting your life at risk, and seeing other people with a caring family die can change who you are. Most surviving veterans deal with having these memories engraved in their brain, and they are not alone because this has been happening to experienced people in war for thousands of years. In the article “Back From War, but Not Really From Home” by Caroline Alexander the author talks about what veterans go through, and how it relates to the book The Odyssey by Homer. The experiences of modern veterans and Odysseus’ experience are the same because they both have changed as a person because of war. Both the article and The Odyssey support how veterans and Odysseus changes with experience in war. In the early parts
of the book Odysseus claims that he is the “raider of cities” (588) then later on when he is in desperate need and there is “no land at all in sight” (436) Odysseus does not feel the same. This represents how Odysseus has changed as a character after war, because he has been in great glory and showing off then all of a sudden he jinxed it and then had to suffer harshley from what he has done. This shapes him as a person from his return to Ithaca. In the article written by Caroline Alexander the author states, “returns home to a place he does not recognize, then finds homestead overrun with young men who have no experience of war” (Alexander). This shows how veterans change over time in war because they return with all of these new young men not scared by the memories that affect millions of veterans today. Overall, veterans are shaped by war which is what makes special to our society. Even some of the oldest veterans stories are told today, like Odysseus’. This connects our society today, because of these memories are still being created and turning the inexperienced into a changed man. Although it is sad how we do not commemorate them in the correct way.
Although some could possibly call Odysseus, the protagonist of Homer’s The Odyssey, a great leader, the fact that he fails to earn his men’s respect, endangers his men’s lives repeatedly and allows them to die due to his own selfishness states otherwise.
Every day people make decisions. Some are more important than others, but all decisions have consequences, no matter how small. The decisions that you make, and the decisions others make could affect your life. They may have positive effects, but they may also have negatives effects like in The Odyssey by Homer. In general, Odysseus and his men made some decisions that lead to some very negative effects.
The Odyssey by Homer is an epic about a man’s return home after fighting in war. The protagonist of the epic is Odysseus, but interactions with and stories of his fellow veterans abound. The story of Agamemnon’s death upon returning home is retold and referred to numerous times and serves as a warning to Odysseus of the dangers that could exist for him in Ithaka. The ghost of Agamemnon is encountered by Odysseus in the land of the dead and is quite changed from the friend he knew and fought with at Troy. Despite his high place in life and exploits in war, Agamemnon demonstrates the suffering of the returning veteran.
The epic poem, The Odyssey, by Homer, is about the events that happen after The Iliad. It tells the story of Odysseus and his journey home from the Trojan War. Odysseus, the King of Ithaca, encounters forces that are external and internal. These forces prevent him from returning to his homeland and achieving nostos. Although many different forces impact Odysseus’ journey home, internal forces such as recklessness and temptations hinder Odysseus and his crew from their homecoming far more greatly than external forces.
The Odyssey, by Homer and translated by Robert Fitzgerald, is an epic poem written about 3000 years ago. It is essentially a sequel to the Iliad, as it tells of the story of a Greek man named Odysseus and his ten year journey back home to Ithaca, after the Trojan War. It also follows the story of his estate and his wife Penelope which are both being fought over by the suitors that have occupied his palace and are consuming his goods. Along with his son, Telemachus, who is set out on a journey to uncover the whereabouts of his father by the Greek goddess Athena. The epic also gives insight to many of the classic Greek ideals that Odysseus embodies and other Greek virtues and values that are explored through the story of Odysseus’s journey back home. A striking resemblance is seen between Odysseus’s characteristics and many of the characteristics we see in heroes in modern culture and entertainment today. Another striking resemblance is that of the journey of Odysseus and how closely it follows that of the Hero’s Journey archetype. Although some of these Greek ideals still maintain to be relevant, others are
“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…...
One of the major themes of Homer’s Odyssey is the importance of cunning over strength. This also happens to be the case with Odysseus and his long ten year journey home from fighting in Troy. Odysseus uses his intelligence over strength to ‘fight’ through tough times and bring himself home to Ithaca. Odysseus uses his intelligence when he has his men tie him down while passing the Sirens, so he himself will be able to hear their beautiful song, but not be entranced by their singing. He also uses cunning to escape from the Cyclops’ cave without being harmed. He then uses his cunning by storing away all of the armory, shields, and knives from the suitors so he is able to kill them easily.
There where several parts of The Odyssey that lead me to choosing my topic, but there were two specific pieces that were the most influential. The first was in Book 9 when Odysseus seemed to have completely lost control, “Again I began to taunt the Cyclops-- men around me trying to check me, calm me,” (Homer, 226-227). This was really the first major pert that showed me something had changed about Odysseus due to the war. Many PTSD victims can get caught up in the moment of things not even remotely related to their trauma yet they still lose control and do things they wouldn’t have done originally. The next part that showed me PTSD in The Odyssey and lead me to choosing my topic was when Odysseus and his son reunite at last after 20 years and Odysseus did something he didn’t tend to do before he
Picture this: a hero of great legends who travels to the underworld and back to get directions to his home from a blind prophet. It sounds like quite an impossible journey, but that is exactly what makes Odysseus all the more fascinating. The Odyssey, an epic poem orally transmitted by Homer, a Greek poet who wrote The Iliad, had to contain some variety of attributes that Greeks valued in a person. That one embodiment of what the Greeks found intriguing in a character is Odysseus. Odysseus is known as what is called an epic hero. An epic hero is a protagonist of a story that represents the most important attributes of a civilization. Odysseus, being based in ancient Greece, is the embodiment of intelligence, loyalty, and strength.
...journey is less cyclical than Achilles' but similarly ends with his regret for the ravages of war. Odysseus is a flawed character, much like man himself, and his actions can only be fully accounted for by attributing them to the gradual progression of his soul. He is gifted, yet possesses shortcomings; insightful, yet blind; driven, yet lost. Achilles is divine, yet mortal; rational, yet contradictory; kind, yet vicious. Still, together they represent the ideals of Greek mythology and the weaknesses of mankind. They are in control of their own actions, but subject to fate. Through both heroes, Homer manages to convey some of the most fundamental features of human existence.
The Odyssey is about a man named Odysseus and his journey back home on his way back he faces many hardships. Modern soldiers also face hardships like Odysseus did.Which makes Odysseus' journey a direct metaphor to many soldiers experience returning home. Many soldiers come back to their children who have seemed to grow up without them as Odysseus was with his son Telamachus.
Other writings such as Odysseus in America can provide examples of soldiers remaining in combat mode after war.
The range of perspectives from which the Odyssey is viewed produces sometimes essentially incompatible readings. These unreconciled differences derive not only from the different points of view that the poem leaves open to interpritation, but also from the extraordinary richness of its characters. When viewed as simply an action-adventure story, what happens to the hero is accidental, and the interest lies in a series of daring escapes brought about by the hero's cleverness, stamina, and tenacity; all admirable qualities, if not necessities. But the Odyssey, I am convinced, requires that one recognize its great spiritual significance at the same time that it recognizes Odysseus as a complex and typically human character. His success at the end of the poem is not accidental, but founded on the recognition and acceptance of his divine mission, and on harmonizing his own will with that of the divine. The purpose of my essay is to try and make clear those parallel distinctions fundamental to understanding both the Odyssey itself, and the assumptions it makes with respect to the relations between divine and human interactions.
Homer’s The Odyssey is a Greek story that follows the journey of its primary character, Odysseus, back to his home in Ithaca after the Trojan War. Odysseus encounters many challenges in his journey home, from encounters with Polyphemus the Cyclops, the witch Circe and even the ghosts of dead Greeks. Meanwhile, his household in Ithaca is being threatened by suitors of his wife, Penelope, all wanting to inherit Odysseus’ possessions in the belief that he was already dead. Like many epic heroes, Odysseus possesses many admirable qualities. Three good characteristics of Odysseus are—cleverness, bravery and strength—here are some supporting instances from the epic that demonstrates Odysseus possession of such characteristics.
“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.