“The gods are immortal men, and men are mortal gods,” (Heraclitus). In Homer's The Odyssey, the gods (Specifically Poseidon) are characterized as powerful beings and immortals having human-like tendencies towards the people of Greece. Odysseus and his men, 10 years after the Trojan war, face severe natural and supernatural forces throughout their desire and journey to get back home to Ithaca. While in Ithaca his son, Telemachus, has to take his fathers traits of bravery and leadership into taking care of the suitors. While Odysseus’s wife, Penelope, kills time so she does not have to marry one of the suitors, for she still has faith Odysseus is alive. After Odysseus has overcome all the obstacles on his way back home, he returns and shows the …show more content…
Poseidon is enraged when he finds out the Phaecians have helped Odysseus return to Ithaca despite knowing the troubles Odysseus had with him. Poseidon then wants to “wreck the Phaeacian ship as it is returning,” from taking Odysseus to Ithaca so he asks Zeus if he can. Poseidon then learns from Zeus that he “can do just as [he] please[s]”. Poseidon would have done so if he wasn’t “anxious to avoid anything that might displease [him],” (Homer 198). Again, the gods characterized as being powerful is confirmed when Zeus tells Poseidon he may do what he thinks the Phaecians deserve as a punishment showing how much control they have in situations. Also, Poseidon is reluctant about punishing the Phaecians without Zeus’s approval first, afraid of what could happen to him if it displeases Zeus. Even between the gods, there is a hierarchy where other gods prove to be stronger and wiser than the others. Homer hinting at the fact that with the gods having such great power, can cause great punishments as a …show more content…
Furthermore, Poseidon is seen as having mortal-like tendencies when he holds a grudge against Odysseus and does not care for him. On Odysseus' voyage, he encounters Poseidon's son, Polyphemus. Polyphemus traps Odysseus and his men in his cave and to escape Odysseus blinds his eye so he can open the rock blocking the exit and call for help. Poseidon disliking Odysseus, “torments him” for the rest of his journey “by preventing him from getting home” (Homer 12). Poseidon holding a grudge on Odysseus when he troubles him on the way back to Ithaca instead of punishing him one time and despite knowing people will get killed validates him having human-like desires. Similar to mortals, who torture people just to feel like they have served the right person for what they did. Also how mortals wish to torment one person even though people who aren't that person may die when trying to fulfill this desire. Homer portraying the gods as powerful to highlight their power as immortal beings, but also showing how much they are similar to humans because they created humanity. Equally important, Poseidon has no liking for people controlling things that belong to
All these things considered, the validity of Odysseus’s actions remain fair. Because of his denial of the power of the gods, Poseidon forced Odysseus to the raging sea. For these years that he was apart from Penelope and Telemachus he...
In this long narrative poem, Odysseus changes from being disrespectful to the gods by explicitly saying that he doesn’t need them, to longing forgiveness later by stating that he is nothing without them. After the success with the Trojan Horse, Odysseus considered himself higher than the gods because he, a mortal, was able to accomplish something even the gods couldn’t. He boasted to Poseidon and the others about how he is overpowering, and how his power and abilities were far beyond their limits. His epic boasting to the gods had lead him to create his own obstacles as, he is one who essentially was the cause. This disrespectful attitude is the personality which shows how Odysseus behaved at the beginning of the story. It not only demonstrates what he was once like, but how his obstacles get much more precarious. As this is the attitude in the beginning, by the end of this epic, Odysseus understands the value of gods and their power, even if it’s for good or bad. At the end of book twenty-two, page 1160, on lines 107-109, Odysseus finally accepts the fact that he is not the biggest thing
Poseidon wasn’t happy with Odysseys when his men killed Poseidon’s cows for food. Poseidon created the storm on the high seas and blows Odysseus on Calypso Island where he was captured. Due to having multiple gods in Greek religion, each god has a certain domain and they can’t interfere with another domain. All of the gods wanted Odysseus to be able to return home and reunite with his family except for Poseidon. “But my heart breaks for Odysseus, that seasoned veteran cursed by fate so long-far from his loved ones stills, he suffers torments, off on a wave-washed island rising at the center of the seas” (Homer 1.57-60). Athena’s appeals to Zeus about all of the Odysseus past sacrifices moves Zeus to take pity as well. When Poseidon is absent from Mt. Olympus, the other gods are able help Odysseus home. Athena guides Odysseus to Ithaca, getting him past many dangers and obstacles.
Homer (fl. 850 B.C.). The Odyssey. The Harvard Classics. 1909-14). "In disguise as an old friend of Odysseus', Athena travels to his manor in Ithaka, now overrun with noisy, lustful suitor's intent on marrying Odysseus' wife, Penelope. Odysseus' son, Telemakhos, unhappy among the suitors, greets Athena warmly as a stranger and invites her to their feast. As the suitors devour Odysseus' oxen, Telemakhos says he believes his father - whom he does not know at all - is dead."(gradesaver.com/ClassicNotes/Titles/odyssey/summ1.html). "He is so unsure of his own identity that he refuses to affirm without qualification his relationship to Odysseus. Athena introduces herself as Odysseus' old friend Mentes and predicts that he will be home soon. Telemakhos matures from a callow, helpless youth into a stronger, more confident man" (Approaches to Teaching Homer's Iliad and Odyssey ). "Just as Odysseus' story is about returning home to his old identity, Telemakhos' is about forging a new one; as Athena tells him, "You are a child no longer"."(gradesaver.com/ClassicNotes/Titles/odyssey/summ1.html). As Telemakhos' develops from youth to man inspired by Athena, especially her favorable comparisons between him and his father; he stands up against the suitors in his assembly. "Failing in an attempt to get the Ithacans to help him to assert his rights, Telemakhos sets out for Pylus under the guidance of the goddess Athena, who is disguised as Mentes, a friendly chief.
The Odyssey is a tale that has changed literature and storytelling. In this tale Odysseus is a Soldier from the battle of Troy trying to get home to his island of Ithaca, where he is king. His wife and son must wait ten years while he is trying to make his way home. In Odysseus’s absence wooer’s, or better known as suitors, learn of his absence and travel to Ithaca to win his wife’s hand in marriage. These men come every day feasting on Odysseus’s food and wine, and give his servant’s orders. His son Telemachus, does his best to keep the suitors from ruining his fathers house but he is only a boy, and doesn’t receive the respect of an adult. Telemachus then has a visit from the god Athena, whom Odysseus is friends with, who advises him to travel to find out about his father. In his travels he hears that Odysseus may still be alive. Meanwhile Odysseus goes through a series of adventures and hardships that prove his wisdom. It is interesting in contrast of the Iliad, even though Achilles was much stronger and a better warrior, Odysseus was portrayed as a greater hero due to his wisdom. He uses this wisdom to escape from the Cyclops.
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.
... gods operate on extremely different terms. The Aeneid's gods are ruled by destiny, despite their own wishes and require frequent control by Jupiter. It is a matter of hero against hero with Turnus pitted against Aeneas, patron goddess against patron goddess with Venus in conflict with Juno. Luckily for Odysseus, it is he and Athene against monsters, trials and trepidation, not against a deity with a grudge or a favourite to pit against him. Though we might consider Poseidon who acts against him, he is happy to leave Odysseus alone when he reaches the shores of Scherie ("so much for you" O.5.376), as Polyphemus' curse is now satiated. He receives no more trouble from Poseidon from that moment onward.
The gods somewhat shape the lives of the women and men within the Odyssey. Athena, the Fighters Queen (Homer, Odyssey 16.237) was the protector of and assisted Odysseus. After Odysseus went missing, she was by his son, Telemachus’, side (DelGuercio). If Athena did not push him into calling an assembly to the suitors by urging him ‘to find some way of ridding the house of these Suitors’ (Homer, Odyssey 1.10) and basically stating to grow up, ‘you are no longer child: you must put childish thoughts away’ (Homer, Odyssey 1.11), Telemachus would have been killed by his mother’s suitors plan (Smith, 2012). Athena helps him mature, gain confidence and assertiveness to take action against the suitors. Similarly the Goddess helps Telemachus search for his absent father. She helped with the venture to find and search for Odysseus. Athena ‘lulled the suitors there into a state of pleasant drowsiness’ (Homer, Odyssey 1.25), which therefore allowed Telemachus to undertake his journey. However it’s not always positive relationships the mortals and Gods have. The relationship between the ‘wise Odysseus (Homer, Odyssey 1.99) and ‘the Earth-Shaker God Poseidon’ (Homer, Odyssey 1.81) is undesirable. Poseidon will go out of his way to stop Odysseus from returning home. ‘The sight of Odysseus sailing over the seas enraged him’ (Homer, Odyssey 5.70). Poseidon purposely roused up the seas and stirred up a storm to
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 was important to their culture. Through characters and situations, The Odyssey promotes and emphasizes many important ancient Greek values such as hospitality, pride, and fate.
The Odyssey details Odysseus’ arduous return to his homeland. Ten years have passed since the end of the Trojan war and Odysseus, the “most cursed man alive”, has been missing and presumed dead by many. (10.79). Throughout the novel, gods play a significant role in the fate of Odysseus and other characters. The extent of the gods’ role though is not unqualified, contrary to Telemachus’ suggestion that, “Zeus is to blame./He deals to each and every/ laborer on this earth whatever doom he pleases” (1.401-403). While Zeus does have this power, his description of how humans meet their fate is more accurately depicted throughout the novel. As he aptly points out, “from us alone, the say, come all their miseries, yes,/ but they themselves, with their own reckless ways,/ compound their pain beyond their proper share” (1.38-52). While the gods do doom certain mortals, many of these mortals exacerbate their ill fate by making rash decisions and ignoring the gods’ warnings. The gods are also not always disrupting mortals lives; they often aid mortals in need. In fact, mortals who effectively court the favor of the gods often benefit greatly. While the gods’ powers are unquestionable, no one god’s power is insurmountable. Gods can be outsmarted and their wrath escaped. The Odyssey, in congruence with Zeus’ statement, ultimately, portrays human freedom as existent, but limited.
Homer makes a point of portraying Odysseus’ pride throughout the story, and how pride brings mortal men to ruin. After Odysseus and his men escape from the cave of Polyphemos, Odysseus yells, “Cyclops, if any other mortal man asks about the disgraceful blinding of your eye, you can say that Odysseus, sacker of cities, did it, son of Laertes, whose home is in Ithaca.” (Book 9 Lines 484-488). Poseidon is made
As the human race, we value many different characteristics to admire people by. The Greeks value hospitality and loyalty. Homer displays these values within two different characters: Nausicaa and Eumaeus. Odysseus’ journey starts after the Trojan War has ended and when Odysseus is making his way back home to Ithaca, his kingdom. At home in Ithaca, the insolent suitors are causing dismay to Odysseus’ wife, Penelope, and his son, Telemachus. Odysseus faces the wrath of gods and uses his strength and intelligence to dodge obstacles put in his way. After spending seven years on Calypso’s island, Odysseus leaves on a small raft that he built. At sea, he is thrown around by Poseidon’s wrath and washes up at the shore of the Island of the Phaeacians.
Disregarding the warnings from Penelope, Telemachus, and Athena– three individuals with divine authority and relation, the suitors of Odysseus’s estate are punished by Odysseus and by extension, the Gods, “These men the doom of the gods and…indecent acts” (Fagles 2006: 478). It’s important to note the doings of typically pious characters when placed under the duress of a God or Gods: While being endangered by the cyclops Polyphemus, a working of the Gods, Odysseus reminds his men to “respect the gods…We’re suppliants” (Fagles 2006: 550). This reminder speaks to the larger influence Gods play in each mortals life– that a misfortune can be attributed to the irritation of at least a single God. In this case, the misgivings following the escape of the cyclops-inhabited island were the wrath of Poseidon. And while enduring the punishment of one god, Odysseus admits to a lack of free will, “hardly landlocked of…free will,” then reasons, “I…have angered one of the… gods,” and interrogates a nearby immortal, “which one of you blocks my way” (Fagles 2006: 148).
Odysseus starts in the ordinary world, his/her home, and then an even takes place in which the hero is being called, in Odysseus’ case he is called into the Trojan War. Odysseus then refused the call because he didn’t want to leave his family, knowing that it could take a long time for him to return home to them. Once Odysseus departed on his adventure, he goes through the next step which is having a supernatural aid or mentor to help him; in this case he receives help from the goddess of wisdom Athena. Knowing the gods would be angry and taking sides during the war, there was no question that there were gods that were going to make sure Odysseus died. Athena however, felt pity for him because she knew the kind of man he was; someone who wanted to be reunited with his loved ones. After the war, Odysseus began the next stage of his journey, crossing the Threshold into a different world. He enters the next stage called The Belly of the Whale after the freak storm conjured up by Poseidon, god of the sea, one of the many gods who were upset with Spartans. His god-like powers created powerful waves and increased winds that would send Odysseus and his crew further away from