Analysis Of Homer 's The Odyssey

Homer’s Odyssey is one of the many epic of the classical era to give an detailed overlook on the relationship between humans and gods. Odyssey is not just an adventure story about a king struggling to get back home after having gone to war; nor is it one about a son searching for his father after rumors say that he has been dead for many years. The events that take place in Homer’s Odyssey are heavily influenced by the Greek Gods. One can see how the gods interaction with humans affects what it means to be human through the perspectives and experiences of the mortal main characters such as Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, and Telemachus, the son of the king.

The Odyssey is one of two epic poems written in the late eighth century BC by the Greek poet, Homer. It encompasses the lives of many characters, including: Athene, the goddess of wisdom, Penelope, wife to Odysseus, and Telemachus, the son of both Odysseus and Penelope. With these and many others comes one major, most important character, son to Laertes and King of Ithaca, Odysseus. In reading, The Odyssey portrays Odysseus to meet the many requirements of being an epic hero: strength, courage, intelligence, and loyalty.

In Homer’s historic epic The Odyssey the protagonist, Odysseus, is venturing home to his native land of Ithaca. Throughout the story Odysseus is faced with many great challenges and is forced to make many decisions that will greatly affect his life and that of everyone around him. Each decision is crucial to his survival and his journey home. Homer portrays many patterns that are susceptible throughout the tale. One of the major themes that he portrays is that temptation can befall any man, even Odysseus. Many times throughout the story Odysseus and his men fall or are delayed due to the sweet temptations that the world offers them. These temptations do not end even after Odysseus

If you think about it there isn’t a day in your life that goes by without facing some kind of temptation. Temptation can be our biggest weakness, and I think that in Odysseus’s case it was his. In The Odyssey, Homer uses the siren scene to symbolize temptation in different ways. It represents how temptation can come in many different ways; and it can control us no matter how much we know that it is wrong to give in. In The Odyssey, temptation came to Odysseus and his crew from the sirens. This scene displays how temptation looks, sounds, and how it makes you act.

In Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey, certain characters are granted with the ability to make decisions for themselves, while others must deal with external factors, whether it be fate or divine intervention, that predispose their lives. Similarly, women are predisposed with the inability to make choices for themselves while men are born with the right to uphold power and enforce control over the female gender. Contrary to these gender stereotypes concerning power in a Homeric world, Homer instills Penelope with complete control, while leaving Odysseus with none. It is this distribution of control in Penelope that enables Odysseus to complete his nostos and re-identify himself, therefore pushing the boundaries of gender norms.

The ancient civilization tells a story of things that have happen in a world of their own. The plot consists of very powerful demigods, heroic warriors, supernatural beings, and the mistreatment of women. Many believe that women have been overlooked and disrespected in this world for years. The irrelevance of these women was a part of the Greek life. In the epic poem, “The Odyssey” by Homer, Penelope becomes a different person when she is brought into a time where women are taken control of more than anyone else in the Greek world. During this epic story, Penelope becomes a person of her own and not just someone that is focused on the hard times that she faces as well as her husband being gone for a long period of time. “Yes she’s in

It is an unspoken truth in Homer’s Odyssey that “home“ is something good. All that Odysseus seems to want throughout the poem is to come home again, but that is one thing he is not granted from the god Poseidon for nearly ten years time. On the first page of the Odyssey we learn that all his friends-in-arms had the fortune of returning home “while he alone still hungered for home and wife.“ (The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Robert Fitzgerald; Book I, line 21-22). The original intention of this paper was to ask the question: What is home? What is it that Odysseus yearns for so long? But reading through the Odyssey again, it came to mind, that this question might go beyond the constraints of this essay, considering that Homer describes not just Odysseus’ home, but also shows the reader (or listener) glimpses of the homes of Meneláos, Nestor and Alkínoös. Throughout the Odyssey one of the most central themes of this poem is the topic of “homecoming“ illustrated through the struggle of Odysseus to get home again. Odysseus desire for his home is so overwhelmingly strong “that he longs to die“ just for the sight of seeing “the hearth smoke leaping upward from his own island“ (I., l. 78-80). And yet after years and years, after his long and troublesome passage home “trials and danger, even so, attended him even in Ithaka, near those he loves“ (I., l. 26-30). This hints right at the beginning of the Odyssey at something essential in it: even after a voyage full of

Throughout the Odyssey, the hero, Odysseus is portrayed in two different and contradicting lights: the wise hero and the capricious leader blinded by his own pride. The epic writer, Homer, embodies the theme of hubris throughout Odysseus’ journey home. The idea of hubris, a trait of excessive pride, significantly develops personalities of characters within The Odyssey, and Homer ultimately creates a statement about excessive pride. The dual portrayal of Odysseus leads the reader to ultimately perceive him as a flawed hero who is responsible for his fate.

In Homer’s The Odyssey, loyalty is not only a vital character trait for Odysseus, but also an important trait for any dutiful citizen. Odysseus personifies loyalty as he journeys back to Ithika in, but his wife and servants also display an extreme amount of devotion to their lost king. Those that are loyal are rewarded, while those that aren’t are punished.

The Odyssey shows a lot of different stereotypes for women throughout the book, taking action to get what they want. Odysseus is trying to get back home after ten long years since the fall of troy, and his son is going out to find him. Throughout the book Odysseus meets lots of woman who vary in personality. He meets woman with the stereotypes: “mantis”- dominant, eats its mate, destroys to gain power, feared by many. “Damsel in distress”- persecuted maiden, woman placed in a dire predicament requires a hero to rescue her, relatively weak and frail. “Seductress”- reveals a man 's weakness, great beauty and sensuality, heavily chastised through alienationl rejection. He meets two woman named Circe and Calypso. Calypso whose is portrayed by Homer as a “Seductress” and Circe portrayed as a “Mantis”. He first has a love affair with the witch-goddess Circe, and later on gets imprisoned on Calypso’s island for 7 years. In Homer’s Odyssey, both Circe and Calypso seek power through female stereotypes; however, Circe and Calypso’s ability to understand helps them retain that power, conveying the message that once people understand each other good things can come out of it.

Tolkien once said, “Living by faith includes the call to something greater than cowardly self-preservation”. In this quote he captures the very essence of heroism. Homer’s epic poem “The Odyssey” follows one man, Odysseus on his hero’s journaey home from the Trojan War. There is no question as to whether or not his quest follows the steps of the hero’s journey monomyth. The hero’s journey monomyth is the universal link in all tales of adventure. It contends that every hero follows a three-stage journey consisting of a departure, fulfillment, and return. Odysseus’ story fits perfectly into these three stages. He departs Calypso’s Island, fulfills his quest of returning to his native land, and returns to his palace to regain his role as leader. The controversy lies in whether the character of Odysseus truly merits the title of hero. Odysseus acts more in the fashion of someone pursuing cowardly self-preservation than a hero pursuing a greater good. He proves himself to be a cruel and sadistic serial killer against the Cyclops and his wife’s unfortunate suitors, selfish and immature in his conduct towards enemies, and the opposite of a hero, a coward when the gods put him to the ultimate test. Odysseus is many things but not a hero.

In the Odyssey, Homer portrays Odysseus as a strong, courageous leader who not only uses his physical strength, but also, his wit to problem solve and defeat his opponents. While Odysseus possesses many valuable traits that help him become the great leader he is, he also has one major character flaw--his hubris. Through his long trek back home to his wife and estate in the Odyssey, we see Odysseus slowly grow as a person and become slightly more humbled and less stubborn. Odysseus does not lose his hubris by the end of his journey, however, there is definitely a change in his decision makings.

While there are many scenes in the Odyssey which fall under the category of “moments of recognition” there seems to be a general structure to each scene. At first Odysseus tests the person’s loyalty by listening to them and determining whether they hold sympathetic views towards the suitors and whether they wanted him to return to his home. The next phase is a phase of deception in which Odysseus tells a tale to hide his true identity. This is followed by a scene of him foretelling the future which holds that Odysseus will in fact come back sometime in the future. The final section then is obviously the final recognition in which Odysseus revels his true identity to the people he encounters.

Homer’s The Odyssey is about Odysseus’s journey back home after war. Just like in every journey, Odysseus changes as the story progresses but the one the thing that does not change is the use of his mind and sharp-witted he is. There is an underlying theme of body versus mind in this epic. This theme is noticeable in book eight lines 174 to 194. In this passage Odysseus is responding to Làodamas’s challenge of joining in their games. In Odysseus’s response he focuses on “birth, brains, or speech” and brings up the question of which is more important body or mind. Through his choice of wording and a few metaphors, Odysseus makes it seem like the mind is more important to him all within twenty lines.

Joseph Campbell stated that “A hero is someone that has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.” He also believed that on the journey to being a hero, one must physically or mentally leave home, decide on a quest, encounter “dragons”, experience an all out struggle, be wounded, and finally obtain wisdom. In The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus embarks on a journey to try to get back home to his kingdom of Ithaca after he i s away at the Trojan War for ten years. Along the way he encounters sirens, a Cyclops, enchanting sorceresses, a bag of winds, and a six headed monster, all of which hold him back ten years. When he finally reaches Ithaca, he learns that there is a group of suitors trying to woo his wife into marrying one of them. With the help of his son, he kills all the suitors and reunites with his wife and father. Though he endured many obstacles, Odysseus is not a hero because he lets his dishonesty, carelessness, and resilient nature stop him from completing the hero’s journey.