Comparing Ovid's 'And Apollodorus Pygamlion'

After reading Big Fish and The Odyssey, it becomes blatant that the character Edward Bloom is a version of Odysseus, having been rendered new. In The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus is called to war and forced to leave his wife and son. He spends ten years fighting and another ten returning. He was honored as a clever, wise, and strong Greek warrior and acted under the guidance of Athena, goddess of wisdom and battle strategy. In Big Fish by Daniel Wallace, Edward Bloom is dying and his son, William realizes he doesn’t know the man beyond the mythical stories his father told him about his life. Daniel Wallace rendered Odysseus new through the adventures of Edward Bloom.

To fully understand the poems; Metamorphoses and Theogony, one needs to understand more about the writers. Hesiod was a greek poet, who lived around 700BC, and was inspired by muses to write epic poetry. Theogony is considered one of earliest works and concerns itself with the cosmogony, or the origins of the world and theogony, or the gods, and pays specific detail to genealogy (West, 1996: 521). Ovid, on the other hand, was a Roman poet, born in 43 BC – the year after the assassination of Julius Caesar and lived during Augustus’s reign. It’s said that his father took him to Rome to become educated in the ways of

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

      Since the beginning of time epic tales have been passed on from generation to generation as a form of entertainment.  Even though each epic is different in its plot, every epic has certain features in common.  The prime example of their similarities is their main character, the hero of the epic.   The hero's behavior changes from the beginning to the end of the tale.  Since the plot revolves around the epic hero, in most cases, they are made to seem God-like, or larger then life, in their capabilities and strengths.  The hero constantly has to conquer major obstacles to achieve their initial and final goal.  Usually the hero is tremendously suspicious of other characters intensions.

Ancient Greeks’ history consisted of monsters, creatures, gods, goddesses, fights, and battles. It shows that Ancient Greeks were very imaginative and creative. There were three main archetypes that were used in Homer’s epic ,The Odyssey, which show different aspects of Ancient Greek culture. Those three archetypes were: the hero/father figure archetype, the monster archetypes, and the search for love. The hero archetype explained the Ancient Greeks’ love for thrill and adventure; Odysseus went on many thrilling adventures while on his journey. The monster archetypes represented the Greeks’ love of horror; Odysseus’ men have died due to the monsters and creatures. There were also love stories that show the Greeks’ passionate and emotional

Heroic, Strong, Brave, Confident. A hero is these things and many more. Two heroes who are very alike are Odysseus from the Odyssey and Hercules from the Disney movie Hercules. Not only did they both battle fearsome monsters, they were both working against an angered Greek god and shared many common characteristics. Odysseus and Hercules may have been uncannily alike but in the beginning they had their differences in motive. Although towards the end their purpose became more alike than ever.

Odysseus, the hero in The Odyssey, and Aeneas, the hero in The Aeneid, fought in opposing sides in the Trojan war. Odysseus was the king of Ithaca and was arguably the smartest king and warrior in all of Greece, whereas Aeneas was a warrior from Troy whose destiny was to found the Roman race in Italy. While both men were highly acclaimed by their respective countrymen as heroes, they shared many similarities in respect to their background, their virtue and their struggles. However, amidst these similarities Odysseus and Aeneas were very different in their social status, their innate disposition and in the defining characteristics of their quest.

In Greek Mythology a rivalry always occurs between certain Gods and Goddesses. In the case of Apollo and Dionysus there is no exception. They are half brothers, both sons of Zues and they compete just as most brothers do. Though the two Greek Gods, Apollo and Dionysus, were actually very similar in some ways, they severely contrasted in others.

There are many legendary epic stories have been passed on from generation to generation in the Greek culture. Even though each story has different outcomes, every epic character has certain features in common. Odysseus in The Odyssesy and Oedipus in Oedipus the King are great examples of epic heroes with a variety of similarities. Odysseus and Oedipus are similar in which they both god-like men who are considered heroes because of their cautious ways and relentless tenacity. On the other hand, Odysseus and Oedipus also demonstrate their crude habits with their hubris behavior throughout their own prophecy. In addition to the similarities, the powerful gods play a significant role which drastically affects

“Oedipus” written by Sophocles and “Odysseus” written by Homer both are Greek poets. Both stories share the same themes in ways where both of the epic heroes endure a conflict. The characters in these plays are attributed certain characteristics by the author. The characteristics suggested by the authors are intrinsic to the audience. They both have a complete and subjective understanding of work. Their characteristics are displayed through the characters actions, what the writer says about them, and what they portray on themselves. This will be the focus of the essay. Both Oedipus and Odysseus, spoken by others, they describe character traits.

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 had many adventures throughout his life, but the most important one were the ones between Troy and Ithaca. During these adventures, three important theories explained the myths of Odysseus’s encounters. The theory of social charter theory, feminism and ritual theory can all be related to some of the outrageous adventures that Odysseus had to go through.

Achilles and Odysseus are quite different in the way they view combat and take down their enemies. Achilles seems to rely on his physical prowess, often charging in headfirst into battle using surprise and brute force to overpower his opponent whereas Odysseus has a tendency to use his intelligence and cunning nature in both the battlefield and politics as he stealthily plans the demise of his unsuspecting opponent. “Gnashing his teeth with rage, Achilles leaped from his chariot, made for his enemy, and lunged out at him with his sword” (341). Even when faced with a seemingly invincible assailant, Achilles uses his anger and sheer power to overtake Cycnus and impulsively attacks his unblemished skin in the hopes to end his life. It is Achilles’ agile and finesse in battle that has led to many victories for him. Even though the reasoning for his actions are more simplistic and even quite animalistic in some scenarios, it is this godlike strength and vicious temper that makes him the physical embodiment of a vengeful hero and in the Greeks stories he possesses all of the physical traits a hero should exemplify. “For now Odysseus began to boil with envy and thought up a despicable plan to end his rival” (342). Odysseus is quick and decisive in his actions but he relies on his sly nature to defeat and overwhelm his opponent in battle. Odysseus is valued for his wisdom and fair counsel, he has experience in the real world and this shows in the way he manipulates and even plays

In Ovid’s “The Story of Daedalus and Icarus”, Ovid uses characterization to make the characters realistic and vivid and to reveal plot through the characters’ actions, thoughts, speech and physical appearance. Without the characterization of Daedalus and Icarus, understanding “The Story of Daedalus and Icarus” completely is not possible. Ovid hides important pieces of the plot in the text, and wants the readers to reveal the true meaning of the story by looking into the characteristics of the main characters, Daedalus and Icarus. With the view of their wants and responsibilities, the story becomes clear to the reader and the purpose of this story in a poem is revealed.

Homer and Ovid are two of the oldest, most influential poets that have ever lived. Although they are both poets, they have several differences in their writings. Homer, a Greek poet, is most famous for his epic poems Iliad and Odyssey. Ovid, a Roman poet, is most famous for Metamorphoses a 15 book poem containing over 250 myths. To compare and contrast these two poets and their writing styles, I will use Achilles’ battle with Hector in Homer’s Iliad book 22 and compare it with Achilles’ battle with Cycnus in Ovid’s Metamorphoses book 12. The comparison of these battles will give us a better understanding of these poets different views on the Trojan War.