Character Archetype In Homer's Odyssey

Penelope is the wife of Odysseus who is the king of Ithaca. When Odysseus is called off to the Trojan War Penelope shows great faithfulness and wit. She stays faithful to her husband and waits for him for twenty years. This shows strong internal will and love for only one man, her husband, Odysseus. During this time, many different suitors tried to court her and offered marriage proposals. She shows great wit

Unlike Odysseus Penelope is confined by the gender roles of her time and cannot use physical strength against the suitors or even direct verbal rejection, instead Penelope resorts to her emotional resilience and wit in order to challenge the suitors. She wrongly reassures the suitors that once she finishes weaving a gift for Odysseus’s father, she will choose someone to marry her, “’Young men, my suitors, let me finish my weaving, before I marry’…every day she wove on the great loom but every night by torchlight she unwove it.” (II. 103-104, 112-113) Penelope’s actions are strategic and well calculated. Her main goal, like Odysseus, is to successfully overcome her situation. She understands that she may not be able to physically fight the suitors but she can trick them until Telemachus or Odysseus are able to. By crafting a lie that delays the suitors from marrying her immediately, Penelope restrains the suitors from seizing Ithaca, her household, and posing a threat to Telemachus or Odysseus. Her lie gives Odysseus a crucial advantage in the physical fight against the suitors as he comes back to a city and household where Penelope

A trip to hell is not unique to Homer’s The Odyssey, but rather this journey is found as an archetype in multiple cultures. If you look at any story from any culture, there is always a low point or valley in the story where a hero must dive into the unknown to prove themselves as a hero. This also serves as a stage to show the hero their own mortality and enhance their bravery. What results is that they emerge from the hardships as a brave and justified hero. There is no place that maintains these circumstances of death and decay better than the underworld. Additionally, what makes the hero a hero is the fact that he or she has gone to the place of no return for most people, and has come back after conquering some form of evil. This gives the

    Most people think of a hero as a strong, superior, good-looking person that could never make a mistake. However, in a story called The Odyssey, a connection to real life reveals imperfections to be common in heroes. Each person has their low points and highlights, regardless of their “rank”. The author and epic poet, Homer, exemplifies our main character, Odysseus, to take on this idea of a hero throughout his writing. The time period took place in Ancient Greece, allowing Greek culture to relate to the poem. Different aspects of such culture and history may have influenced the works and creativity of Homer as well. A major point includes The Trojan War because it focuses in on Odysseus’ journey to bring Helen back home by devising a plan to destroy warriors in the city. Acknowledge this factor when reading The Odyssey, for not only evidence of heroism, but also other major points of archetypes, in which the device reflects the insights of readers in modern time and what is seen from Ancient Greek culture.

In most stories the heroic archetype can’t be left out. The article “ The hero’s journey’’ says “this archetypes of heroism allows an individual to serve as the primary example of what society deems as valuable and moral.” Odysseus is the heroic archetype of this story because he goes through a lot of wars and problems but nothing seems to hurt or kill him. For example, when he was hanging from the tree branch he lasted nine days without food and water, but he still lived. Also in the article “The Hero’s journey” it says “a hero should be: successful ,brave, cunning, and strong.”

Who exactly was Odyssey? Odyssey was an epic hero, although he had good qualities he also had many flaws that led him and his men into trouble. Odyssey is also considered to be an archetype, why is he thought to be this? Well in this essay I will give examples of how he is an epic hero, what his good and bad qualities are, and why he is considered to be an archetype.

Adam and Eve, the first people on earth according to the bible, were tempted a lot by the snake or the devil. One of the tricks that Satan had used was on Eve. God had warned adam and Eve not to eat the one fruit off of the one tree. While eve was out she had went by the tree, and a snake caught her attention. This snake turned out to be the devil, and had told Eve to just get a taste of the fruit. Eve was curious and she took a bite. Now god was after Adam and Eve. They tried to hid behind a bush from god but god had found them, and then they repented. In Homer's epic entitled The Odyssey, the hero's journey archetypal structure plus literally analysis shows how the episode where Odysseus is tempted by the sirens is essential because

The hero archetype destines Odysseus to survive and complete his mission. In every story about heroes that follows the archetype, the hero goes through plenty of

Circe is a prime example of the seductress archetype. When the men arrive onto her island they are drawn to her house not only because of the smoke from the fire, but her allure. She is described as having a “Beguiling voice, while on her loom she wove ambrosial fabric sheer and bright,” (Book X, line 244). Her allure and witchcraft allows her to draw in men and turn them to animals to keep. Women are often seen as witches in Greek society. The only way they are able to get anything is through manipulation and trickery.

A trickster is “someone who tricks or deceives people especially in order to get something” (Merriam-Webster). Examples of the trickster archetype can be found in the Odyssey by Homer. For example, while Polyphemus has trapped Odysseus and Odysseus’ crewmates in his cave, Odysseus tells the Cyclops “Here, Cyclops, try this wine-to top off the banquet of human flesh you’ve bolted down” (Homer 222 lns. 388-389)! Enjoying the wine, the Cyclops demands for more, just as Odysseus anticipated he would.

In the book the Odyssey, Odysseus is an archetypal hero for several reasons. An archetype hero is “a person, generally a man, of tremendous physical strength who loves his family and country equally.”(handout).

This also helps her fit into the damsel in distress archetype. She needs to be “rescued” from them men invading her home to try and marry her. On page 1011, Odysseus states to Penelope’s suitors that “You dared bid for my wife while I was still alive”. When Odysseus says “bid” he means that the men chased after Penelope’s hand in marriage. While she was in no physical danger, hordes of men chased after her and invaded her home.

In mythological epics, the narrative often depicts imageries of masculinity; they follow a journey of prophecy; fulfilment of destiny and/or a journey of honour (reference) in male characters thus securing their masculine status among their peers. Women however are often binary opposite of the reward, obstacle, or the love interest/desire in these epics (reference); another interpretation is that, in their own right, these women displayed honour and strength, demonstrating both androgynous traits during the Trojan War. In my research, I found it difficult to find literature that publicized female heroes and epic journeys from the point of view of a woman. However, the two that I have found come from Homer’s Odyssey (Leeming, 2005. 297) and

Picture this: a hero of great legends who travels to the underworld and back to get directions to his home from a blind prophet. It sounds like quite an impossible journey, but that is exactly what makes Odysseus all the more fascinating. The Odyssey, an epic poem orally transmitted by Homer, a Greek poet who wrote The Iliad, had to contain some variety of attributes that Greeks valued in a person. That one embodiment of what the Greeks found intriguing in a character is Odysseus. Odysseus is known as what is called an epic hero. An epic hero is a protagonist of a story that represents the most important attributes of a civilization. Odysseus, being based in ancient Greece, is the embodiment of intelligence, loyalty, and strength.

Archetypes ! You’ve probably never heard of them, but once I explain you will instantaneously recognize what they are. Archetypes acute stereotypes. They show up in books, movies, poetry, etc, but they also show up in ancient Greek culture. Around 1200 B.C., the Trojan war took place and about 450 years later the epic poem The Odyssey was written about a man named Odysseus. He is traveling home and is overcoming many obstacles and stumbling blocks such as facing ungodly monsters and mad Lotus eaters, as well as all of the troubles the sea carries. You might be asking, “ Why is he facing all of these inconveniences ?! “ Well, here’s what happened, after the war he was going home with all of his mates and at one point he ended up at the island where the Cyclopes reside. He and his men were then capture and were each being eaten, but Odysseus had a plan to save not only himself but his men as well. Only a few of his men, including himself, got out alive. As they got away from the barbarian, he told him who he was. The beast then prayed to the god Poseidon, that Odysseus would never get home, or would not get home for a long time and when he did he would come back to a corrupt home. The topic of this essay is archetypes in the Odyssey and what they sight about ancient Greek culture. The three archetypes that I will use as examples in this essay are as follows ; The hero, temptress, and monster.