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Lessons in the Odyssey
Life lessons in the Odyssey
Lessons in the Odyssey
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Most call it a bucket list, some call it life goals, and others simply say, “this is how I am going to live my life till the day I die”. The Odyssey, a well know story about the brave man, who struggled with the Greek army to break the walls of the city of Troy, also known as The Battle of Troy. For ten years, this man struggled to break the walls of Troy, not being able to conquer their obscure structure. Till one day, when he thought of the miracle idea of building a large wooden horse, where the Greek soldiers would hide make their way into the town of Troy and destroy the entire town from the top down. Any well educated person knows this story, but did you know that the Greeks changed Odyssey’s name to Ulysses, to match their Roman language? A well known Victorian author named Alfred, Lord Tennyson, brought up a question that no other author has taken into consideration. What exactly happened to the courageous Ulysses when he took the steps into seniority? Within the poem Ulysses, written by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Tennyson addresses three key ideals you should consider when you realize that your life is close to its end: live your life to the fullest, keep your life …show more content…
Ulysses will never sit there waiting for something to come to him, he will live life to the fullest and search for a new opportunity every chance he gets. Every day you have two options when you wake up in the morning. Will you sit in bed and dwell on the previous days occurrences, or will you get out of bed put a fresh pair of clothes on and observe all the possibilities of the day? There should never be a dull moment in your life. Every opportunity you have in your life you should take, because there is a chance that you will never receive that opportunity again. Never have a dull outlook on life each day is a new chance to do something
Amir and Ulysses both ultimately attempt to return to their home and reach a goal. In Amir’s case he had to return to his childhood country to retrieve his half brother’s son and in Ulysses’s case he needed to return home after being out at sea for twenty years. The two held family values and had people at home who loved them greatly. Amir owed it to Hassan and Ulysses needed to return to his faithful wife and son in Ithaca. In a sense they both took on these dangerous journeys and endured them for their family—“For you, a thousand times over” (Hosseini
strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield” (Tennyson 1172). Ulysses filled his head with foolish fantasies, abandoned responsibility, and selfishly left his kingdom and family to have an
After centuries of serving as background noise to her husband Ulysses’ odes of sea storms, sirens, and celebrity, the mythological Penelope finally steps into the light in Miriam Waddington’s poem “Ulysses Embroidered.” Functioning as a revisionary text to both the Alfred, Lord Tennyson work “Ulysses” and the tradition of The Odyssey itself, “Ulysses Embroidered” quickly strikes its readers as a fiercely feminist re-envisioning of Penelope and her tale. Waddington’s work allows for an age-old legend to be told in a new way with a bold, feminine speaker, but to what end do her changes remark on Tennyson’s original work? By engaging in two separate modes of revision by both reading against the grain and “constantly [engaging] in dialogue” to work in tandem with the original poem, Waddington
Throughout modern history the ancient Greeks and their stories have influenced our culture and way of life. Many of the ancient Greek myths are those of caution that teach us moral lessons. For example, the myth of Odysseus and the sirens, told by Homer in The Odyssey, teaches us to resist the urge to indulge in temptations. Odysseus and his crew are travelling near the island of the sirens when Odysseus plugs the ears of his crewmates with beeswax and has them tie him to the mast so that he can listen to the sirens’ song and not crash their ship onto the rocks as they pass the island. Odysseus and his crew safely pass the island of the sirens without any casualties and continue on their journey home. Author Margaret Atwood and artist John William Waterhouse both display their brilliant ideas about the myth of Odysseus and the sirens using poetry and painting. Both Ulysses and the Sirens by John William Waterhouse and “Siren Song” by Margaret Atwood use the myth of the sirens to show that during their lives, people often encounter bad temptations that can lead to their demise and should pay no attention to such temptations.
Children are to be impressionable and easily persuaded. As a father Ulysses want to share a special bond with his daughter as she mirrors his believes through her everyday life and thinking. As someone who is indifferent to his teachings and ideology he feels that he has failed as a father. Even if Una had disagreed with his teachings, it would be preferable to enticing no emotion.
“Our life’s journey of self-discovery is not a straight-line rise from one level of consciousness to another. Instead, it is a series of steep climbs, and flat plateaus, then further climbs. Even though we all approach the journey from different directions, certain of the journey’s characteristics are common for all of us.” Author Stuart Wilde’s impression of journeys and their shared commonalities supports the claim that all journeys have a motive and an outcome. In the epic poem, The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus sets off to defeat Troy, leaving his wife and child behind. After accomplishing his goal, Odysseus faces many problems while trying to return him and his crew back home to Ithaca. Similar to Odysseus’s physical journey, the goal in
"Fame and fortune is the ultimate goal of any man"(Heubeck 21). One lives to strive for the best and conquer the world, metaphorically speaking for reaching his highest potential. "Although not everyone can achieve such high status, if a man can conquer a feat thus similar, his name can be passed on and he will be immortal" (Van der Valk 63). In Homer's Odyssey, the ultimate goal of fame and fortune entices Odysseus to disregard his morals by using cunning and trickery for lying and killing others, to ensure his homecoming to Ithaka.
Ulysses, in The Odyssey, is the hero who has been trying to get home to his love, Penelope, and also his beloved country. He has found himself at war with many different gods and people, including Neptune, who is not yet ...
use of ideology, "a system [. . .] of representations [. . .] endowed with
Another way that Ulysses fits the model of an archetype is that he has flaws.In other words he is not perfect.If he was perfect he would be boring and it wouldn"t be interesting if he does the amazingest thing.It wouldn"t be interesting because you would already expect that from someone who is perfect.One of Ulysses flaw is that he is greedy. In the beginning of the story when Ulysses won the war between Troy he had taken all the treasures. He had taken so many there ship barely had room for food. Then when they went to more places he got greedy and took more treasures now leaving no room for food.That is why Ulysses and his men went hungry. He is also a little stubborn because when he saw his men eating the cattle that was forbidden to eat he had gotten all mad but, when his men convinced him he ate.
place we are creating not going to. The path is to be made not found
Stanford, W. B. The Ulysses Theme: A Study in the Adaptability of a Traditional Hero. Dallas, TX: Spring Publications, 1992.
Tennyson’s abstract poetic genius in combining historical references and deeply felt emotion, causes comprehension obscurity in finding a single thematic idea. The distinction weaved through the works of “Ulysses” and “The Lady of Shalott” is depicted though the mood, structure, and tone. Although the differences vary heavily, an underlying theme of escaping their idle world appears evident through both pieces of writing. Through Ulysses, a grand warrior, and The Lady of Shalott, a locked away mistress, appear as contrary characters, their development in relinquishing themselves from redundant worlds relates them in various manners.
...old age or barriers, he will always strive to fulfill his goals. The experiences of Odysseus and Ulysses are tributes to the power of the human spirit; one can achieve much if they are determined.
'Ulysses' is both a lament and an inspiring poem. Even modern readers who are not so familiar with the classics, can visualize the heroic legend of Ulysses, and so is not prepared for what he finds in the poem— not Ulysses the hero but Ulysses the man.