Homer 's The Odyssey And Virgil 's ÂŹ The Aeneid

Odysseus thinks that his reasoning are final and his activities are constantly just and right, although he frequently allows his ego control his rational thinking, resulting harm to his group and messing with the gods’s plans. His men could have went back home Securely for it is the desire of Athena and the other heavenly gods who surround to her in Mount Olympus, however Odysseus takes it to himself to outrage and blind Polyphemus, the monstrous son of Poseidon, adored by his dad yet abhorred by the people, In this way distrusting their whole arrangement . Subsequent to being blinded by the heroine, Polyphemus tosses huge pieces of rocks at Odysseus's ship, nearly obliterating them at the same time. But instead of retreating for safety, Odysseus keeps on provoking Polyphemus and “[calls] out to the cyclopes again, with [his] men hanging all over [him] begging him not to”(Book 9, 491-492). His feeling of pride and presumption influences to disregard the requests of his people even in these critical circumstances . He will fulfill his own feeling of interest and pleasure without thinking of the result it would have on his crew. Despite the fact that he is bound to get away from all passings and assaults, his group isn’t so blessed. Their lives are in mortal peril since Odysseus considers them as child sheeps who should forfeit their lives for him when the circumstances comes, much the same as how mortals make conciliatory offerings of sheeps for the heavenly gods. He is willing to fulfill his own feeling of interest without thinking of his groups lives or their suppositions and is regularly infuriated when they negate his request. If they hurt his sense of pride and self-importance and pomposity , Odysseus will be overcome with outrage and

Odysseus’ starts his speech by saying, ‘“We’re hardly strangers at meeting danger”’(Odyssey 12.226). This reassures and reminds the men of all the difficult trials that they have faced and conquered so far in their journey with Odysseus as their leader. He then proceeds to state that: ‘“This danger is no worse than what we faced when Cyclops penned us up in his cave with crushing force!”’(Odyssey 12.227-229) showing his confidence and proving that his wit and cunning can and has lead them safely out of danger before, even though his actions were responsible for getting them in to the dangerous situation in the first place. This is his Ethos which is his reputation and the characteristic’s that

    Most people think of a hero as a strong, superior, good-looking person that could never make a mistake. However, in a story called The Odyssey, a connection to real life reveals imperfections to be common in heroes. Each person has their low points and highlights, regardless of their “rank”. The author and epic poet, Homer, exemplifies our main character, Odysseus, to take on this idea of a hero throughout his writing. The time period took place in Ancient Greece, allowing Greek culture to relate to the poem. Different aspects of such culture and history may have influenced the works and creativity of Homer as well. A major point includes The Trojan War because it focuses in on Odysseus’ journey to bring Helen back home by devising a plan to destroy warriors in the city. Acknowledge this factor when reading The Odyssey, for not only evidence of heroism, but also other major points of archetypes, in which the device reflects the insights of readers in modern time and what is seen from Ancient Greek culture.

Homer implements the idea of strategy overpowering strength in The Odyssey as he introduces and develops Odysseus’ character as an admirable hero. The author accomplishes this when narrating Odysseus’ travels and his impact on people. His encounter with the Cyclops, Polyphemus is a huge contributor to how he utilises his intellectual prowess over his might. Further, he dons the guise of a beggar rather than using strength in order to complete his goals. This epic poem is the story of Odysseus who’s sailing home with his crew from the Trojan War; however, they’re sent off course by Poseidon who harbors a grudge with Odysseus. The sea god delays his voyage home to Ithaca, where the suitors are wrestling for his wife's hand, draining his wealth,

In The Odyssey, Odysseus demonstrates the qualities of a poor leader because his arrogance and pride interferes with his judgement to make wise wisdoms, thus putting his entire crew in danger. When Odysseus and his crew escape the one-eyed cyclops, Polyphemus, Odysseus is overcome with triumph as he and his deceived the cyclops by securing themselves to the stomachs of the monster’s flock of sheep. His escape plan proved successful, and he then proceeded to untie his men from the grazing sheep, and make haste to their ship. Odysseus taunts Polyphemus as he and his crew begin to sail away. “You shameless cannibal (IX.534),” said Odysseus to the cyclops, who became filled with rage. Odysseus’s crew sense the will of Polyphemus to wreck havoc, and thus, ask

Throughout book nine of The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus’ encounter with Polyphemus is described, as well as the events leading up to the encounter. After taxing run-ins with the Circones and the lotus-eaters, Odysseus arrives at the island of the cyclopses, a rough and uncivilized land. Odysseus’ own greed leads him to put his men into a dangerous situation, and though he uses his metis to save himself and his crew, it is clear that his hubris is still quite intact and may lead to his downfall.

Along his journey, a Cyclops confines Odysseus's crew, and Odysseus must figure out a way to escape. Odysseus patiently tricks the Cyclops; he calls himself “nobody” so the Cyclops, Polyphemus, cannot call out for his friends to save him from going blind. However, right before they escape, Odysseus boasts, “If ever mortal man inquire how you were put to shame and blinded, tell him, Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye” (160). He continues to taunt the Cyclops even when the Cyclops throws a hilltop at them. Subsequently, their actions anger Poseidon and creates further challenge for Odysseus’s journey to Ithaka. Rather than revealing his true identity, which may anger the Cyclops and prevent the crew’s escape, Odysseus faces humility to carry out his plan of trickery. He and the readers learn that high expectations, or overconfidence, create harmful impulses, since the Greek custom of receiving gifts as guests lead them to carelessly help themselves in the Cyclops’s cave. As a result, the Cyclops gets angry and traps them. On the other hand, he forgets modesty while close to escaping due to overconfidence. The Cyclops’s reaction and their subsequent misfortunes from the Gods teach Odysseus the lesson to never underestimate the effects of your actions, despite being close to safety. To add on Aeolus, the

Odysseus not only invades Polyphemus’ home, but he also eats of Polyphemus’ food and then he threatens Polyphemus with the wrath of Zeus should Polyphemus harm him or his men. This is against his men’s suggestion, which is simply to take Polyphemus’ food and leave, which is by far the safest route. Why did Odysseus ignore this suggestion, one might inquire? He ignored the suggestion of his men simply because he was curious about what a Cyclops looked like (“Odyssey” Pg. 218, Lns. 241-59). This, however, is not enough for Odysseus, because he then taunts the angry Cyclops, nearly getting his men killed and causing a curse to be put upon him (“Odyssey” Pg. 226, Lns. 515-630). Odysseus, later in his story once again shows his lack of ability to comprehend, and therefore lead, men. After being given the give of the winds tied in a sack from King Aeolus, Odysseus neglects to share what is in the bag with his men, who then believe he is keeping extra treasure from them. In their ignorance, they open the bag, blowing themselves back seven days of traveling and cause Aeolus to banish Odysseus as the “…most cursed man alive!” This whole episode could have been prevented easily if Odysseus had simply told his men what was in the sack (“Odyssey” Pg. 230-32, Lns.

In the Odyssey, Odysseus is a leader of men. As one examines his narrative of the voyages and encounters with various people and challenges, it becomes evident that his capabilities as a leader are varied, and he as a character is often nuanced and contradictory in his representation of these characteristics. This can be seen in many of his adventures, but especially in his encounter with the Cicones, his brush with the Cyclops Polyphemus, and his experiences on Aeaea, the island of Circe.

Composed circa the end of the eighth century BCE by Greek poet Homer, The Odyssey retells the story of Ithaca’s king Odysseus and his journey home to Ithaca after the fall of Troy. The ten-year voyage is a classic example of the Hero’s Journey, for it contains within it not only all the necessary plot requirements, but more importantly the archetypes: heroes, heralds, mentors, threshold guardians, tricksters, shapeshifters, shadows, allies, and temptresses are present throughout the poem in both Odysseus’ journey and his son Telemachos’ as well. Although the epic presents each archetype differently and with their own characteristics, never are they described to deviate from the basic definition of their role.

     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

Homer implements the idea of strategy overpowering strength in The Odyssey as he introduces and develops Odysseus’ character as an admirable hero. The author accomplishes this when narrating Odysseus’ travels and his impact on people. His encounter with the Cyclops, Polyphemus is a huge contributor to how he utilises his intellectual prowess over his might. Further, he dons the guise of a beggar rather than using strength in order to complete his goals. This epic poem is the story of Odysseus who’s sailing home with his crew from the Trojan War; however, they’re sent off course by Poseidon who harbors a grudge with Odysseus. The sea god delays his voyage home to Ithaca, where the suitors are wrestling for his wife's hand, draining his

Journey, fate, conflict and divine intervention demonstrate the morals and ideas of the age and cultures in which both Virgil and Homer lived. The lives of the main characters, Odysseus and Aeneas must fulfill their destiny with direct interference from the Gods and Goddesses. With the gods and goddess not always sharing the same motives or best interest of the main character would make the journey to achieve their destiny extremely difficult. The gods and goddess can be vengeful just as much as they can be helpful to the main characters. “They are volatile, unpredictable, and fickle forces without limit and forces that cannot be altered once set into motion, unless an equal force intervences.”1 In both Virgil’s Aeneid and Homer’s Odyssey

Virgil 's Aeneid takes a character form Homer’s Odyssey and constructs a life for him beyond Homer’s ideas. It is quite obvious that Virgil was heavily influenced by both Homer’s writings, The Iliad and the Odyssey. Both stories tell of parallel journeys home from Troy at the end of the Trojan War. Homer’s Odysseus is returning to Greece and the family he left behind ten years ago. Virgil’s Aeneas, in contrast has been given a direct command by the God, Mercury to create a new Empire. Both men set out on their ships, into the Mediterranean Sea, and both encounter mythical creatures along the way. Sirens and harpies respectively curse and unsuccessfully attempt to lure the men off course. Bad weather however is noted to blow both ships off course. Aeneas lands on an island and lives with the beautiful Dido for a period of time, putting his journey to found a new city on hold. Similarly, Odysseus remained on the Island of Cyclops with the beautiful Calypso for several years, only leaving when the Gods command him to. The love in not everlasting and both tales tell of the men subsequently abandon their loving women waiting for them at home.

Aeneas constantly sacrificed his own life and personal happiness to appease the gods for the good of his people and civic duty. On the other hand, Odysseus does not live his life for duty or others. When he left Troy in order to return home to Ithaca, he does not reach his final destination for ten years and doesn’t have any of his original crew. Odysseus abandons those he is responsible for and even strays from his path. For example, when he is on the island of the Cyclops, with Circe and Calypso, he puts his followers in danger and betrayed his wife who was waiting for him. The only reason why he returned to Ithaca and his wife was because the gods instructed him to do so. Overall, Odysseys’ actions were fueled by self-interest. Unlike Aeneas, he puts his personal life above his civic duty which was loathed by the Romans. Because of this, Virgil’s comparison of Aeneas and his sense of duty and Odysseus’ self-interest, puts the Roman culture above the Greek culture.