Greek And Greek Culture : Characteristics Of Greek Culture

Ancient Greek cultures and traditions have set many precedents in the world. Even now in the twenty-first century, the presence of ancient Greek culture can be found in our mathematical and scientific formulas and theories, philosophy, and art. While some parts of the Greek culture have receded throughout the progression of history, like the belief in the pantheon of the gods, others have stayed, but changed. For example, the Hippocratic Oath, an oath sworn by medical professionals to the gods has changed throughout the years, but still remains a part of current medical practice. The Hippocratic Oath, although changed with time, offers important insight to the principles and beliefs that the ancient Greeks thought as important.

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

The society of Ancient Greece was very much centered around the gods, and a healthy fear of the consequences of not obeying their laws. The next most important staples of the society were the concepts of braver, pride, and hospitality, or Xenia. The significance of these values is shown quite clearly in The Odyssey of Homer.

This pales in comparison to Penelope’s twenty year wait for her husbands return, while suitors attempt to wed her every day for three of those years. She is a “poor lady, / still in the women’s hall. Her nights and days / are wearied out with grieving” (XVI, 46 - 48). Penelope is also waiting to become a wife again; Odysseus's return is a catalyst for her liberation from the removed, distant queen facade she must maintain in order to fight off the suitors. Additionally, when Odysseus, disguised as a beggar, enters the palace, Penelope sends Eumaeus to retrieve the beggar for questioning about Odysseus. The beggar tells Penelope to “be patient, wait… till darkness falls”(XVII, 764), and “she accepted what had been proposed” (XVII,

Penelope was Odysseus’ wife and intellectual equal. Homer shows us that Penelope is just as cunning as Odysseus with the weaving of Laertes’ shroud. She told the suitors ravaging her house that she would pick one of them to marry as soon as she finished weaving the shroud. Penelope would weave in front of the suitors every night but once she retreated to her room, she would unravel it. It took the suitors four years to realize what she was doing. But even then, it took one of the maids to tattle on Penelope. And even after the shroud incident was exposed and she was forced to complete it, Penelope still had a trick up her sleeve. She devised the bow challenge because she fully understood that no one but Odysseus could complete it properly. Penelope held onto the belief that Odysseus was still alive and stayed true to him. Odysseus loved Penelope and despite faltering, he was able to maintain his relationship with

The Vikings had a closely tied relationship between their culture and other cultures. You can see this because some of the stories from different parts of the world were put into their own stories. The story of the creation myth of Ymir is paralleled to the story of the Brahma. The stories of zombies from the African culture can be closely tied to stories of revenants that are in the Viking culture. A reason for some of these resonances may be because of the trade route they had; which was through the Mesopotamian, Byzantium, and the African worlds.

Penelope has a very complex and interesting character. For example her determination to wait and to mislead the suitors for so long shows that she had great intelligence and perseverance. Penelope's wit is acknowledged in this quote from Antinous "For all the Achean beauties of former times, none had at her command such wits as she."(Page 20, Book 2). Penelope's wit is also shown in her scheme to mislead the suitors by saying that they must wait for her to weave a shroud for Odysseus's father Laertes. She told them

Penelope waited a long, lingering twenty years for her beloved Odysseus return to Ithaka and into her arms. Penelope proved her loyalty by ?wearing out [her] lifetime with desire/ and sorrow, mindful of [her] lord, good man/? (Homer 18:229-230). Even though the pestering suitors were like vulture swarming in on fresh meat Penelope was able to hold them at bay with her faithful devotion to her mighty Odysseus. In order to do this the cunning and wily Penelope lead them to believe that she would marry one of them only to later let them down. She used the weaving of the funeral shroud for Lord Laertes to keep them under control. ?So everyday she wove on the loom-/ but every night by torchlight she unwove it;? (Homer 1:110-111). Attestation of Penelope?s loyalty to Odysseus is the unweaving of the shroud because she did not want to marry one of the suitors and had full confidence in her beloved king?s return. The archery test that Penelope purposes is functioning to hold off the suitors, for none are a match for Odysseus, as well as prompting Odysseus to proving himself to her. ?Upon Penelope, most worn in love and thought, / Athena cast a glance like a gray sea/ lifting her. Now to bring the tough bow out and bring/ the iron blades. Now try those dogs at archery.? (Homer 21:1-4). Penelope tests Odysseus to make him prove that it is he before she will trust him. The test of the bedpost that she puts to Odysseus once again proves Penelope?s

Very rare are there people who are truly loyal. The definition of loyalty is to strongly support. In Homer’s epic poem, “The Odyssey,” there are two people that are consistently loyal to Odysseus through the whole story. Odysseus has been away from Ithaca for twenty years. He has been trying to get home from the Trojan War.

Penelope acts as the damsel in distress. She is unable to keep the suitors away from her house because she is a woman, and that makes her vulnerable. She also provides Odysseus with a reason to return home because she is his wife. She has no choice but to pick one of the suitors, and soon. Penelope says she is “wasted with longing for Odysseus, while here they press for marriage”(1004). She still loves her husband, which gives him hope that he will be accepted once he makes his return, and gives him a reason to continue trying. She also cannot turn the suitors away, preventing her from being able to protect herself. This once again proves that, as the damsel in distress, Penelope needs Odysseus for protection.

After twenty years of her husband missing she never gave in to the numerous suitors who tried to have her for themselves. She had no husband to rule the palace so she did it by herself. Not only did she rule the palace by herself, she also weaved and said that she would marry when she was done but every night she would undo her work, “she set up a great loom in her palace, and set to weaving a web of threads long and fine. Then she said to us: "Young men, my suitors now that the great Odysseus has perished, wait, though you are eager to marry me, until I finish this web, so that my weaving will not be useless and wasted… Thereafter in the daytime she would weave at her great loom, but in the night she would have torches set by, and undo it. So for three years she was secret in her design” (page 96). Most women in the shoes of Penelope would have felt obligated to be in a relationship with one of the suitors. Penelope on the other hand was able to ward off the suitors for an entire twenty years by doing whatever she could, such as undoing her weaving work at night. Along with this she was also the motivation for Odysseus to return home. For this reason Penelope serves as an independent and powerful woman who treats men in uncommon ways unlike many women during this time

Penelope has been faithful to Odysseus for over 20 years. This shows loyalty as she waits for him to return. Since she is Odysseus’s wife, she endures the 20 years while persevering the aggressiveness of the suitor who want her hand in marriage. The suitors are aggressive because they think that Odysseus will not return home because he is either lost or dead and also giving the fact that he is king therefore they want to overthrow him (Mucci, T., Caldwell, B., & H., 2009). Penelope dodges them by playing them against each other just to avoid 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

“Greek civilization is alive; it moves in every breath of mind that we breathe; so much of it remains that none of us in one lifetime could absorb it all.” Ancient Greeks are known to be one of the greatest and most advanced people and have left behind a legacy that helped define the Western civilization. Cultural diffusion helped spread Greek culture all over the world, and its effects can still be felt today in almost every aspect. Greek culture has greatly affected different parts of my daily life including architecture, food, government, inventions, music, religion, and education.

One of the main themes in Penelope’s relationship with Odysseus as depicted by Homer is her enduring love for Odysseus and her ever-present anguish over his absence. Having been gone for twenty years, and could reasonably have been expected to be dead, it is a testament to her faithful love for Odysseus that not only does she not give up hope of his return, but also remains strong under immense pressure to remarry in the four years leading up to the return of Odysseus. The palace at Ithaca has been overrun by 108 suitors, all vying for the hand of Penelope, but she resists temptation and resorts to various cunning methods to delay the inevitable remarriage – all in the hope that her husband is not dead and will one day return. It is a very strong bond of love