Comparing Odysseus And The Odyssey

In my eyes a hero is a person who shows courage, is humble, does not give up, and is someone everybody can relate to. The protagonist in “The Odyssey” by Homer, Odysseus is a hero because although he is emotional throughout the book and lets his emotions take over his actions, he displays immense courage and perseveres through his journey and hardships.

Misogyny pervades the picture Aeschylus, Aristophanes, and Sophocles paint of Athenian society. In their literature, however, female characters catalyze plot by challenging this picture. Such characters--from Sophocles’ Antigone to Aristophanes’ Lysistrata--face grim consequences for acting independently. Clytemnestra and Cassandra from Aeschylus’s Agamemnon exemplify this archetype of autonomy and destruction. When they confront injustice, male characters perceive them as vindictive and hysterical. This paper will compare the standards of justice Aeschylus’s society imposes on men and women. I will argue that Clytemnestra and Cassandra are protectors of divine justice who reject subservience and thereby transcend the sexism of their society.

Three traits that Odysseus and Telemakhos share are clear-headedness, eloquence, and showing strong emotion. They are portrayed with these traits in the Odyssey, composed by Homer. Odysseus is a renowned military strategist, warrior, and the King of Ithaca. He was forced to go to war against Troy twenty years ago, and since then has traveled all over the Aegean trying to find a way back home. Meanwhile, his son, Telemakhos, has developed into a full-grown man from the mere infant he was when his father left for war. He has searched far and wide for news of his father, still hoping, along with his mother, Penelope, that Odysseus is still alive somewhere and somehow, even though most have assumed he is dead. Through his ventures, Telemakhos

The majority of those who read The Odyssey consider the protagonist of the story, Odysseus, a hero. On many occasions, however, Odysseus makes decisions beneficial to himself alone. For example, when Odysseus and his men find themselves on Polyphemus's island, Odysseus's actions are self-centered and at the expense of his men. This can be said for most of Odysseus's actions in the story, as his main objective is to reach his home. Having his men by his side when he returns seems a trivial thing to him. Odysseus could be considered a hero, but many of his actions say otherwise. Due to the many unfaithful and self-centered decisions he makes in the story, Odysseus is not a hero.

Odysseus’ and Telemachus’ journeys or nostos were both very similar and different. They parallel each other in some ways but they are also completely different at other times. Telemachus starts as a younger, less mature boy, and without the presence of his father during his childhood, he becomes a timid, shy and spineless boy who is greatly pampered by his mother. He has even more to achieve, being the son of a world-famous father, and this is a very difficult reputation to live up to. His journey, and after that the killing of the suitors who took advantage of him really show how his journeys and problems throughout the book mature him from being a shy, timid boy into a mature man. Odysseus’ journey also taught him about many things

Both the ‘Odyssey’ and ‘1001 Nights’ feature male protagonists who traverse the seas, and the concepts and themes of men seafaring is common throughout most canonical texts. For example, the allusion of Odysseus’ difficult journey is made when a minor male character in Apuleius’ ‘The Golden Ass’ describes his seafaring adventures as being ‘positively Ulyssian’ (‘Ulyssian’ thus being a reference the Roman naming of Odysseus) (pg 29). Furthermore, both texts share themes, such as: seafaring, the supernatural, trials and tribulations, tradition, belief systems, and the geographical setting and pride in the protagonist’s home city play a key role to the overarching plots of the texts in the sense of the protagonist’s endurance and motivation to both leave and return home. Likewise, the supernatural is used to further the plot of both texts.

Odysseus is the main character in an epic poem called the Odyssey. In the poem Odysseus has had some bad luck getting home, with some of the gods helping him and some hindering him; his journey towards home is a constant struggle. In this poem we see a man being broke and rebuilt, through constant irony his faith was damaged and without the help of Athena he probably would have given up on his journey. Through his hard work and wise spirit he finally does achieve his goal.

American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson once stated,” A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer.” Emerson is an english philosopher that uses intuition to peer into reality. Greek philosophers are looked upon for most of greeks history. Philosophers are knowledgeable and often right. A philosopher such as Emerson uses knowledge to determine what makes the average person a hero in the eyes of society.

In Homer’s The Odyssey we are presented with an interesting and quite controversial protagonist, Odysseus. There are many different types of heroes which mostly include superheroes and regular heroes. Odysseus most certainly does not fall into the category of super hero mostly because of his blatant disregard of his men's lives and his disloyalty to his wife. He does fit into the simple hero category because of his physical and spiritual abilities .

Odysseus is the king of Ithaca and is sent to Troy to fight the Trojans. He is at war for 10 years. After the war was over he was very arrogant. As a result, the gods send Odysseus to a hero’s journey to teach him a lesson. In the epic poem The Odyssey, written by Homer and translated by Robert Fitzgerald, the hero Odysseus uses his wits and strength of character to make it home after a twenty year absence.

Odysseus showed a lot of character traits, but daring stuck out the most. His choices that he made were very dangerous ones that could lead to dangerous situations but he wanted to show off what he did which is his reasoning.

     A comparison between Virgil's hero, Aeneas, and the Homeric heroes, Achilles and Odysseus, brings up the question concerning the relevance of the difference between the Homeric heroes and Aeneas. The differences in the poets' concerns are explained by the fact that Virgil lived many years after Homer, giving Virgil the advantage of a more developed literary and philosophical society than Homer had at his disposal. But the question remains: how are the differences between the Homeric heroes and Aeneas relevant to the epic at large? This question will be answered by first pointing out the differences between Greek and Roman society, then explaining

The two clips - Odysseus's Ship and The Land of Odysseus are both videos that explain the beliefs of Odysseus. The first clip “Odysseus’s Ship” explains how scientists discovered an ancient ship that may have been sailed by Odysseus, Homer's legendary Greek King. In the second clip “The Land Of Odysseus” explains how the Greek island known today Ithaki which is the furthest island and west to the sea according to Homer’s description, but this description does not match up. Although, both clips talk about different situations, they have a few reasons with evidence to determine Homer’s legendary Greek King description for being real.

The Odyssey by homer tells the story of a demigod named Odysseus. Odysseus is a brave and determined man, yet seemingly troubled. With human traits, Odysseus must go on a journey that transpires over two decades. Odysseus serves as the model for an epic hero. An epic hero is a symbol of something that is great, someone that is in tune with others needs and is considerate of how their own actions will affect others around him. Though this idea comes from an ancient story, it is still relevant in modern popular culture. One example of a modern-day epic hero is Harry Potter. A Hero created by J.K. Rowling for The Harry Potter series, Harry Potter clearly shares many characteristics with Odysseus. Odysseus is the model for the modern-day epic hero, Harry Potter, who shares Odysseus’ characteristics of determination and bravery by not allowing the way he is treated change his personality and by not being scared to take risks.

Tennyson portrays Ulysses/Odysseus in a contrasting light than the Homeric version. Homer’s Odysseus and Tennyson’s Ulysses seem to differ in at least one fundamental way: Homer’s hero journeys in order to reach home while Tennyson’s journeys simply for the pleasure he finds in the journey itself. The classical texts show Odysseus as a character who longs to be home in Ithaca with his wife and son, Telemachus. However, Tennyson casts a modern revision on such a notion in presenting him as not being satisfied with the domesticated life. Tennyson's Ulysses gives the reader indications that he wants to return to the adventurous life of Homer's Odysseus. Tennyson’s Ulysses questions the home, its importance and glory. Even the idea of a final destination seems distasteful to this hero: “How dull it is to pause, to make an end.” (22) For Ulysses, the journey becomes the goal because he finds stopping to be boring, or dull. He seems to have a persistent longing to travel, to constantly move, to unknown places.