Greek Mythology

The ODYSSEY PART: in the PRENTICE HALL Gold Edition Textbook: ASSIGNMENTS and DIRECTIONS on-line and in student’s binders:

The Odyssey by Homer has been around for almost three-thousand years. Many critics and analysists have given their opinions on his pieces. Throughout the reading of Howard W. Clarkes' article in Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism, it was thought to be a comparison between a father and sons journeys. While many believe Telemachos' journey was to find out in sequence details that have taken part in his fathers' 20 year odyssey throughout Greece and partially throughout the underworld, some indeed believe that it was only Telemachos' journey to find his heroic self to carry on the traits of his warrior father (Clarke 281).

he Odyssey, as written by Homer, intricately and excitingly weaves Colin Renfrew’s Subsystem Theories throughout the entire play. Many of the five subsystem theories can be seen and support understanding of the novel. Of the five systems, trade/communication, social/ political hierarchy and symbolic subsystems will be the focus of analysis in this paper. All of these subsystems come together in The Odyssey to explain the characters and their lives, and also how they fit into the society which they live in. To understand the growth and development of the characters, we must understand the systems theories, “many human actions have a meaning at several different levels, with undertones and overtones… it is the complex interconnectedness of the subsystems which gives human culture its unique potential for growth.” As this paper will demonstrate within The Odyssey, trade and communication, social and political hierarchy and lastly symbolic subsystems create adventure in Odysseus’s harrowing, yet exciting journey back to his kingdom and family. These specific subsystems add depth and excitement because we see how each specific one impacts Odysseus’s journey back home. They help us understand who Odysseus is a man and sympathize with all that he goes through. The communication subsystem helps explain how communication between people (and gods) in different lands aid to the success of his return home. We are able to see from the social subsystem how Odysseus and other men

Heubeck, Alfred, J.B. Hainsworth, et al. A commentary on Homer's Odyssey. 3 Vols. Oxford PA4167 .H4813 1988

The Odyssey is filled with emotion and adventure. Homer’s ability to show and give the reader a visual of each and every scene gives the story its unbelievable significance. To all the people who read his work there is something to be captured within every sentence, each one different in its own, unique way. Through tales of courage and defeat, friendship and love this book tells of all the values within the life of a single, solitary man, and his journey to attain what is true and dear to him. And this journey is known to all of us as The Odyssey. The Odyssey is a test of human devotion and trust through the gods, the mortals, and the obstacles through which they venture. No matter where they go or what they do, humans are tested for

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Throughout Hesiod’s “Theogony”, the origin of the universe was established through the use of gods and goddesses forming the universe as the Greeks knew it. These gods and goddesses were portrayed as having a few human characteristics, despite their immense power. Upon further analysis of the poem, we begin to see that Hesiod’s work is very representative of the various Greek customs and reflective of the culture of his time, especially when analyzing the characters found within his poem. It is also important to recognize that all cultures have some fundamental parallels, as such, we can extract these timeless aspects of Hesiod’s work and apply them to a modern culture, such as our own.

This essay will discuss the importance & significance of book 24 in the Homeric Epic, The Odyssey. Homer starts book XXIV in Hades as Agamemnon and Achilles greet the dead suitors. One of the suitors tells Agamemnon about Penelope staying pure and faithful to Odysseus. This dialogue between Agamemnon and the suitors connects to the story since Agamemnon was referred to in book 3 when Nester recounts the fall of Troy**. Book 6 involved the scene of Hades much throughout the story but yet

When authors write, they want to engage the reader. To achieve this, authors use various methods such as having an easy-to-follow storyline; likewise, they may apply many lessons between the lines of their words. Homer’s The Odyssey is an excellent case of the latter. Though the specific events that the characters go through differ from anything a person would go through in the twenty-first century, the messages that the author was conveying have the same impact on people today as they did when The Odyssey was written, c.800 BC.

This short essay will identify five traditional epic characteristics that are evident in both the Iliad and the Odyssey.

based on some parts of Homer’s famous Epic, the Odyssey, specifically on the second half of the

The main sources in this book are comprised of the Ovid, Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, Pindar, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides,, Apollonius of Rhodes, Apollodorus, and Virgil.

Throughout The Iliad, Homer paints several poetically visceral scenes of violence that keep the reader engaged on a primal level and simultaneously appeals to our emotional side by recounting the dramatic triumphs in addition to the harrowing failures of its heroes. Identifying the traits that render these characters heroic allows the reader to internalize and understand the values that were most important to Homer, a member of Greek society between the eighth and seventh centuries BCE. In book ten, the author uses the night-raid undertaken by Diomedes and Odysseus as a way to develop two distinct types of heroic behaviour by contrasting the two heroes and their individual approaches taken when faced with a variety of situations that test their character. The epithets used to describe the characters, compounded with the techniques they utilize to deal with the enemy scout Dolon, and the different roles they fall into when raiding the Thracian camp all effectively contribute to the categorization of these two distinct types of heroes.

During the third quarter, my English class was assigned a two-part book project on the epic poem we were reading, The Odyssey by Homer. This poem is about the ten-year struggle of a cunning, strong man named Odysseus to return home after the Trojan War. Odysseus battles mythical creatures and faces the wrath of the Greek gods, all while his wife Penelope and his son Telemachus try to stir away the suitors who want to marry Penelope and gain Ithaca's throne.

Both of my journals for the odyssey were similar, which is why I decided to write the journals together. I was very fortunate to have already read the odyssey and was able to obtain my notes from the first time reading. I will be discussing the teaching views and notes I have taken from both time periods.