Character Analysis : ' The Great Odyssey ' And ' Oedipus ' Essay

During Odysseus’s time of absence, Penelope continues to express her loyalty to Odysseus. After Odysseus was missing for twenty long years, Penelope continued to await his home coming. Unfortunately, she began feeling pressured to remarry but then

Although, Odysseus has compared the goddess and Penelope his longing to go home has not changed, “Yet, it is true, each day I long for home, long for the sight of home” (line 228-229). Through Odysseus’ journey, he does not forget home. He knows more tasks are ahead and he is ready to face them, “If any god has marked me out again for shipwrecked, my tough heart can undergo it. What hardship have I not long since endured at sea, in battle! Let the trial come.” This heroic ending grasp the readers’ attention to see that Odysseus is willing to do whatever it takes to go home to Penelope. The love he has for his home land shows his determination and dedication.

Penelope serves as one of the most crucial characters within the Odyssey. She one of the few driving forces for our main protagonist’s journey home and she is also an exemplar model of female character breaking the mold of the damsel in distress. She actually takes it upon herself to take command, to some extent, of her own situation while her husband is presumably making his way back home from war. Penelope even matches Odysseus in craftiness and sly personality. For example, Penelope had told the suitors that she would assume a new husband after she was done weaving a shroud, but she would secretly unweave her progress every night. This behavior is a reoccurring theme. Penelope sets up other tests, such as having to shoot an arrow through

Home is a place of comfort, clarity, and relaxation. In The Odyssey, Odysseus uses a reverse metaphor in order to prove that one is truly at home in the presence of family and loved ones. When separated from this amenity, the emotional toll can cause a change of identity. In this particular passage, Odysseus morphs into the image of a distraught woman. This dramatic change represents the effect of Odysseus’ lack of contentment within his body and soul while away from home, which is represented by his wife, Penelope.

After Odysseus becomes enraged when Penelope asks the maid to make his bed outside, she realizes that he knows the secret that only Odysseus and her share. She embraces him and praises his homecoming. Once again, Penelope is wise and patient in her decision-making. The suitors pursued her, overtook her home and aggressively pushed her to remarry as she was supposed to. If Penelope would have given in, The Odyssey would not have ended with Odysseus returning to a loyal home. Through cunning, independence and loyalty, Penelope is able to create a positive image as a woman. Chaucer’s Wife of Bath has similar independence and cunning, but she makes her name as a domineering lady that chooses who she wants, and when she wants them.

Penelope, just as Odysseus, portrayed the great human trait of patience. She did what it took to fend off the suitors with hope that her husband would come back for her. Penelope didn’t give up hope because she felt in heart that Odysseus would come

While traditional readers of Homer’s, The Odyssey, view Odysseus as a hero, they often reduce Penelope to Odysseus’s helpless wife, but Penelope is more than just a damsel-in-distress. Penelope proves to be Odysseus’s heroic equal, as through her resilient, witty and strategic actions she ensures Odysseus fighting advantages over the suitors.

Brains over brawn, who will win this battle?Homer's tale of Odysseus' adventures in “The Odyssey” show that being intelligent and cunning can be far better than having physical strength. Being physically strong certainly has its advantages, but not in all circumstances. Strength in intelligence shows new meaning of strength. Odysseus is amused with himself when he defeats Polyphemus. His great skills with a bow outweigh the others abilities. Knowledge of the placement of his bed win his beloveds heart.

Two souls bound together across time and space. The love between the protagonist, Odysseus, and his beloved wife Penelope in enduring and everlasting in the Odyssey. The hardships they both endure make each of them stronger individuals and stronger together despite the distance between them. This strength they share becomes especially apparent as she laments of her sufferings to a strange man when all hope is lost. Penelope sharing her story about weaving and unweaving the shroud for her husband’s father illustrates how deep her sorrow is for her lost Odysseus, and how she has retained her honor while being faithful to her lost husband despite all her troubles and anguish.

Odysseus, as the ideal hero, expresses loyalty in multiple ways throughout The Odyssey. Although Odysseus is unfaithful to his wife Penelope physically, his determination to get back home to her is evident when he turns down Kalypso’s offer to remain on her island as an immortal (Homer 87). As Kalypso angrily compares herself to Penelope, Odysseus responds cunningly by explaining that although Kalypso’s immortal beauty can’t compare to the “quiet Penelope”, each day he “longs for home” and is willing to face any trial to get back to Ithika (Homer 87). This sentiment shows that Odysseus does still love and long for Penelope and has remained devoted to her throughout his journey.

Odysseus's wife, Penelope plays a crucial role in Homer's ‘The Odyssey’, with not only providing the motivation for Odysseus's return to Ithaca, but she is also the center of the plot involving the suitors and the fate of Telemakos and Ithaca itself.  Therefore the objective of this essay is to analyze the importance of Penelope’s role in ‘The Odyssey’.

Furthermore, Penelope is an important character as her identity “functions as a stable and unchanging reference point for the adventures of Odysseus” (Katz, 6). As Katz explains, Odysseus’ travels are interwoven with his lust for home and his desire to be with his wife again. As well, her identity becomes a parallel to Odysseus’ identity through her use of polutropus (tricks and turns). She proves, by the end of the poem, that she is the perfect match for Odysseus as both of them share the same skills with rhetoric and language to get what they want. Their like-mindedness is evident during the recognition scene between the two. Penelope tests Odysseus’ knowledge of their marital bed - before blindly trusting his claim of identity - by asking the slaves to move their immovable bed: “[putting] her husband to the proof-but Odysseus/ blazed in fury, lashed out at his loyal wife” (Homer, 23.203-204). In his angry response to Penelope’s test, Odysseus proves his identity to his wife as he explains why the bed cannot move. When she hears their familiar story of the creation of their bed, - which only the two and a slave know about - Penelope submits to her long-lost husband in an emotional reunion. Her caution, before accepting Odysseus’ claim, shows the wary protectionism stance that she had to adopt while her husband was gone so she could protect the kingdom from the suitors.

There are many facets of personality of a minor character that authors may utilize to supply contrast to the main character of their work. Some of these contrasts are extremely noticeable and some are not. One such facet is with the use of a neutral character; to not only showcase the main character’s flaws, but so not to detract from the moral of the story. Creon, from the play “Oedipus the King” by Sophocles is used for both of these reasons. Sophocles wished to show that one cannot escape fate, yet did not want to cloud this issue with a possible coupe against his main character Oedipus. He also showed how, at times one character can act completely irrational, while one remains calm in the face of serious accusations.

Sophocles’ Theban tragedy, Oedipus the King, is not sexist. The prominent play portrays both men and women justly. The events presented by Sophocles exemplifies a level of admiration and respect for women that was not ordinary in ancient Greece. This is predominantly achieved through the dialogue of Jocasta and Oedipus, illustrating a corresponding relationship. In addition, the behavior of Jocasta, analysis of other literature, as well as the bad fortune of the male characters reaffirm that the Oedipus the King is not sexist.

The role of women in Greek literature has demoralized them and showing them in a maligned light. The women are portrayed as frail, cruel, insensitive, or as seductresses. These characteristics have been integrated into today’s society and [have] built the standards and defined the moral outlook of women. However, in Greek mythology, powerful and strong women are not as well celebrated, such as Athena. Homer’s The Odyssey construes the positive and negative role of women through the epic poem. The women in the poem are depicted through the contrasting actions of Penelope and the maids, in addition with the opposite personalities between the goddess Athena and the nymph Calypso.