The Impact of Ancient Religion on Homer’s Odyssey
There has long been a fashion among critics and historians, including Sir James Frazier and Graham Hancock, to insist upon taking the account of Odysseus' voyage to Hades in Book XI of the Odyssey at near face-value as a description of people and places familiar to a Greek audience of Homer's day. Both linguistics and comparative history have been employed to discover exactly how accurately this originally oral epic conveys this gritty realism. Something, however, is not right with this purely empiric approach. What is missing is an examination through the lens of ancient religious practices. Surely a literary work so teeming with deities-wise Athena, spiteful Poseidon, impish Hermes, omnipotent Zeus-deserves such study.
In protohistoric times, the worshipers of the gods sought out mystic union with their deities by means of bodily mortification and ingestion of hallucinogenic drugs. These practices are spelled out both in the Rig Veda of India and the Chinese Book of Songs. In the Veda, Indra is worshiped in a ritual that includes large doses of soma. The Book of Songs, compiled by Confucius from the many texts of poetry and myth at his disposal, contains repeated accounts of trance and religious ekstasis. In the twenty-second chapter of St. John's Revelation, the Koine Greek term translated as sorcerers in the King James Bible is pharmakeusin Literally, this word denotes those who use drugs to achieve arcane effects. Since plants were the mainstay of medical science in those distant days, a secondary meaning might be applied: herbalists. Robin Fox, in his book Pagans and Christians, argues that the role of such figures as the Sybil of Cumae and the Delphic prophetess ...
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...se value to the Odyssey as a voice from an antique time aimed at future generations. During the Roman Empire, both the Odyssey and its companion, the Iliad, were considered as foundational texts in education. Small wonder; history, poetry, parable, hymn-such a literary work is its own small cosmos. It deserves to be approached and interacted with as a living entity that still matters in Western civilization. That is possible only if we view such works in the context of the societies that produced them. Religion was a huge component of such a society. Although we now possess technological marvels that might give a Greek deity apoplexy from shame, the ancient Greeks are still Us. Men and women will always feel the need to see the world through fresher eyes than their own.
Works Cited:
Homer. The Odyssey. Trans. Robert Fitzgerald. New York: Vintage Books, 1962.
After saving Hist from the Hurons, Deerslayer was taken captive by them. The Hurons respected Deerslayer for his honesty and integrity and therefore treated him accordingly. When the time came for Deerslayer to pay for his crimes the Hurons devised a situation that would spare his life.
Rather than fulfilling its original intent of energy conservation, Daylight Savings Time has not only become an unpopular, discombobulating nuisance but also a potential hazard to public safety and health.
Something written over twenty-five hundred years ago shows many similarities to stories written today. These similarities are called archetypes and the y can be found in stories dating back to the earliest forms of literature. I will be talking about some of these archetypes found in The Odyssey.As you read, you will notice that these archetypes can be found in other stories and even in real life. The Odyssey is the story of Odysseus and his journey home from the Trojan War. It tells of many challenges and difficulties Odysseus faced on his way home. The topic of this essay is about three main archetypes found in the Odyssey. These archetypes are those of the Hero, the Monster, and the idea that your authority
Ben Hogan, a famous golfer, once said, “ the only thing a golfer needs is more daylight”. Daylight saving time not only impacts the world’s golf games, it also affects the economy, outdoor activities and comes with many health concerns.Daylight saving time(also know as DST) was used as a way to save energy and have more natural light in the summertime, but it was as affected and it also came with many consequences to the countries and states that still use this time. It was first used in the USA in 1918 and has been on and off for many years , but now DST is used seven months out of the year. There are two times during the year we change the clocks. The first Sunday in March, we “spring forward” with the clocks and the second Sunday in November we “fall back” one hour. However, daylight-saving time should be abolished from the rest of the world that uses this time throughout the year.
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Homer. ?The Odyssey,? World Masterpieces: Expanded Edition. Maynard Mack ed. Ed. Coptic St.: Prentice, 1995.
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Daylight savings was first implemented in the United States in 1918 to conserve resources for the war effort. Since then, Americans have been consistently setting their clocks forward and back to maximize the amount of sunlight they can utilize per day. Daylight savings time is a waste of money in America and the government should at least consider discontinuing its use.
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This essay will focus on how Robert Louis Stevenson presents the nature of evil through his novel ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’. Using ideas such as duality, the technique used to highlight the two different sides of a character or scene, allegories, an extended metaphor which has an underlying moral significance, and hypocrisy; in this book the Victorians being against all things evil but regularly taking part in frown able deeds that would not be approved of in a ‘respectable’ society. This links in with the idea of secrecy among people and also that evil is present in everyone. The novel also has strong ties and is heavily influenced by religion. Stevenson, being brought up following strong Calvinist beliefs, portrays his thoughts and opinion throughout the story in his characters; good and evil.
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