Cosmic Irony : Fate And Fate In The Odyssey

Homer's great literary classic, The Odyssey, represents and illustrates many emotional and mental values. All of these values can be classified under three different main themes that are constant throughout the epic tale. These themes are: A boy's struggle to be a man, a king's struggle to reclaim his kingdom, and a man's struggle to return home. As one reads this book it will become more and more evident to them that a man's struggle to get home is the most important theme throughout Homer's adventure.

“There are those who say fate is something beyond our command. That destiny is not our own, but I know better. Our fate lives within us, you just have to be brave enough to see it.” Princess Merida states this in Brave. She goes on a journey to seal her fate, similar to Odysseus. In Homer’s The Odyssey, Merida’s statement is proven false. In The Odyssey, the omnipotent power of the gods is absolute over the mortals. The will of the gods controls suffering, actions, and ultimate fate.

In Homer’s Odyssey, the idea of fate is more significant than the idea and sense of duty. Odysseus’s journey begins when Poseidon learns that Odysseus blinded his Cyclops son, Polyphemous while trying to escape from his capture. This enrages the already hot-tempered sea god, damning Odysseus, his men, and his voyage. Poseidon attempts to delay and keep Odysseus from his home, Ithaca. His anger towards Odysseus is so great that Zeus has to step in to save him from the sea-god. Zeus, after Poseidon complains to him about the Phaenecians aiding Odysseus, states “Since for Odysseus now I vowed that he his home should win through many a misery yet utterly bereft not his return; for such your purpose was and decree.” (Homer, Book 13, st. 45) Zeus, in the Odyssey, acts as the hand of fate by preventing Poseidon from further stalling Odysseus’s return home. This is unlike Jupiter in the Aeneid, who dispatches Mercury to remind Aeneus of

Heroes, as shown in literature, often undertake the most difficult tasks and place themselves in mortal danger in order to bring back, for themselves and their societies, both knowledge and treasure. Their stories follow “Hero Journey.” The Odyssey, as the epic story of the hero Odysseus, follows closely the complete cycle of a Hero Journey, both as a physical and as a psychological undertaking. The Hero Journey, used as a framework for both Odysseus’ physical and mental journeys, serves to bind the two together. Each of Odysseus’s physical difficulties can be viewed as a metaphor for a psychological hardship that he must overcome, and by overcoming these hardships, Odysseus matures—achieving a more complete understanding of himself and

In book nine: the Cyclops fate is demonstrated; these are the times you see that the gods take action in Odysseus life. Odysseus is talking to the terrifying Cyclops; Odysseus is explaining to the Cyclops how fate has brought them to his island. Odysseus says on page 116 lines 159 thru 163. “We are Achemans…took the wrong route as Zeus I suppose instead that we should.” Odysseus says that he

The Odyssey by Homer is a great text that manipulates the skill of storytelling bringing out the meaning of being human, the spiritual and physical homecoming. It is an archetypal epic expedition essential for understanding ourselves and other modern texts following the same pattern. The text brings out the ancient Greek beliefs and customs that are essential in studying Western Literature through the evaluation of different characters, and the themes manifested are essential in establishing a good foundation for any literature student. The themes therein such as leadership skills, folly, retaliation, mythology, death, ogres, temptation seduction, deceit, and warfare make the text an essential student companion in the quest of comprehending literature.

Free will and fate are both prominent in the Odyssey. In the Odyssey, free will is depicted whenever characters make decisions. In example, Odysseus blinds the Cyclops, Polyphemus. Fate, in the Odyssey, is the consequences that are dealt out due to certain actions. In the case of Odysseus and Polyphemus, the consequence is that when Odysseus is on a ship heading home to reach Ithaca, Poseidon, being the father of Polyphemus, sends a storm at Odysseus being angry that Odysseus blinded his son. In that scenario, Odysseus makes the decision to blind Polyphemus to escape, and in turn, the consequence is that Poseidon attempts to hit him with a storm in the sea. The contrasting themes of

Homeric or epic similes can be found all throughout The Odyssey written by Homer. A simile is the comparison of two unlike objects using like or as. Homer’s similes are considered to be “epic” because of how elaborate they are to help the audience “feel” and picture a scene. One of the most glorified scenes in The Odyssey, full of epic similes, is when Odysseus stabs the eye of Cyclops Polyphemus. As soon as Polyphemus fell asleep from the over-consumption of wine, Odysseus put his plan into motion to escape the Cyclops’ cave. Courage took over Odysseus and Homer writes:

In The Odyssey by Homer, many characters feel prejudiced toward others. Many of these characters have opinions solely based on rumor. Such characters are influenced by many factors,, but all of them lead to improper judgement. In the same context, many characters in Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird also possess such prejudiced thoughts. Through her use of the characters within Maycomb, in her novel To Kill A Mockingbird; Harper Lee shows how injustice and prejudice between African American and white people was impossible to beat at this point in history, however some characters attempt to fight it anyways.

In Epic Poem “The Odyssey” Odysseus is the protagonist. Odysseus’ over-the-top ego caused him to lose his men and his son’s childhood, but taught him a valuable lesson about humility. The Odyssey, written by Homer, tells the story of Odysseus and how he faced misfortune in his attempts to return home after the Trojan War. Odysseus is not famous for his great strength or bravery, but for his ability to deceive and trick. To his friends, he was a brilliant strategist. To his enemies, he was a deceiver and a manipulator of the worst kind.

    Fate seems to defy humanity at every turn.  A man may have his life planned out to the last second, but then some random force intervenes and he dies the second after he has completed his life plan.  Some believe in fate, believing that our lives are predetermined from the moment we are born.  Other people believe that everything is random, the result of some god rolling the dice in a universal poker game.  Still other people believe that each and every person is in total control of his or her destiny, every step of the way.  Who is to say which viewpoint is false?  Every culture has a unique perception of the role of fate in our lives, and no group has the "right answer," simply a

Sing I me, Muse, and through me tell the story of the lady nymph goddess Calypso. Oh so beautiful and immortal who lives in the sea- hollowed caves on the island Ogygia. She craved the hero of Troy, king of Ithaka, son of Laertes, a mortal and took him as her own. Nine long years they spent on the island together.

Throughout vast journeys of many heroes, no other hero had a more complex journey than Odysseus. This journey is called The Odyssey, written by Homer. It is an epic poem or story told of a hero name Odysseus on a 20-year voyage trying to get back home from the Trojan War. The great epic poem known as The Odyssey and attributed to Homer was probably first written down around the eighth century BC, but the origins of the ancient story in myth, legend, and folklore and art appear to be much older. Greek Epic Hero When you think about Greek Epic heroes, Odysseus will most likely come to mind. Odysseus is the main character in Homer's poem "The Odyssey." "The Odyssey" is a narrative poem that describes Odysseus' adventures

Throughout the Odyssey women play a substantial role in the epic poem; in the story women play both positive and negative roles, sometimes a little of both, some the women in the book also play a role of seductresses. Since the epic poem is mainly about Odysseus’s ten year journey home to Ithaca and his wife and the obstacles he encounters and has to overcome on the way many of those involving women, women that are positive in the Odyssey are Penelope, Athena, Nausicaa and Helen who help Odysseus during his journey, and Telemachus in finding Odysseus; some of the women who are negative in the Odyssey are the Sirens, Melantho and Clytemnestra, then some that are both positive and negative are Kalypso and Circe, the seductresses throughout the Odyssey are Circe and the Sirens . Whether women play a seductive, positive or a negative role or both in the Odyssey, they contribute to the plot considerably.

Sophocles used Oedipus’ pride to characterize Oedipus as a tragic man. It showed that he was destined to make himself miserable because of the hubris he was born with. He also uses it to show that there is fate, but we are a part of it and it is only what might happen based on the person we are. Oedipus came about his tragic discovery not because of an evil act or an evil trait but because of the person he was. When the oracles stated that Oedipus would kill his father and marry his mother, he stated what could happen. Oedipus’ fate might have been avoided if Oedipus was not the type of person he was.