Numerology in The Odyssey How numbers are used throughout The Odyssey by Homer and how they all symbolize different events or characters in the book

Odysseus spends so much time sailing home that the sea really takes up a good chunk of his life. This is fitting, since the sea and its perils work much the same way the Odyssey argues that life does, it is full of suffering, but it can’t be avoided. The sea can send blessings like sea breezes to blow him home or obstacles like storms, Skylla and Charybdis, and treacherous islands. Because the sea is ruled by Poseidon, it is also a manifestation of the superiority of the gods and nature over man.

Joseph Campbell once said “A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.” Heroes go out of their way to do things in which no one else is brave enough to do. Odysseus in Book 21 of The Odyssey, Edmond Dantes in the Count of Monte Cristo, and Thor in Kenneth Branagh’s film take risks in order to benefit others using their characteristics and items that are significant to them. Imagery and symbols can help depict how heroes go through times of difficulty and trouble. Odysseus’s bow, Edmond Dantes developed vision, and Thor’s hammer(Mjolnir) are all factors of the heroes and how they go through their journeys.

Chapter 1- Ten years after the Trojan War, everyone reached home except for Odysseus. He remained a hostage at Ogygia by Calypso. Meanwhile, Telemachus (Odysseus’s son) is told by Athena, disguised as Mentes, that his father will return home and tells him to dispel the suitors who keep devouring his father’s estate.

In Book IX of the Odyssey, Homer uses imagery and foreshadow to illustrate how the cyclopes’ loneliness can significantly reveal how Odysseus and his men gets involved in a conflict with the cyclopes later on in the book. Homer uses foreshadow to develop the plot and build suspense. For example, Homer uses imagery to show what it was like when Odysseus encounters the land of the Cyclopes. Using imagery, readers can interpret the Cyclopes’ living conditions as well as their personality. The phrases “screened with laurel”, “cavern yawning”, “A prodigious man slept in this cave alone”, and “he seemed rather a shaggy mountain reared in solitude” shows that the Cyclopes are living in an isolated society and are very lonely on their island. Also,

In the “Odyssey”, Odysseus goes through obstacles throughout the book that a normal man couldn’t subside. One example is in book 9, his main obstacle that he is trying to face is to escape from being held hostage in a cave by a Cyclops better known as Polyphemus. Odysseus is a archetypal hero, he is also a role model, with an ambition to get to his homeland Ithaca. He goes through resisting temptation and using his intellect and physical strength to get him there, no matter the obstacle nor the negative flaws that he faces. Odysseus put himself and his men in that situation by being curious and wanting to know what kind of land his ship and the winds led him to. This was selfish of him because it cost him some of his men, but a leader and hero has to play that role and some lives will be dealt with on the way. Odysseus says, “The rest of you will stay here while I go with my ship and crew on reconnaissance. I want to find out what those men are like, Wild savages with no sense of right or wrong Or hospitable folk who fear the gods” (Homer 429). Saying this quote alone makes Odysseus a humble man due to the fact that not even a piece of land is going to slow him down on his journey back home.

In the Epic, “The Odyssey", spoken by Homer, conveys a heroic tale of an epic hero named, Odysseus, who faces many challenges as he sails to get home. One of the tasks Odysseus faces is, "The Sirens", who challenge Odysseus 's will power. Another challenge Odysseus encounters is, “The Cyclops", who torments and slaughters some of Odysseus 's men due to his curiosity. One of the hardest threats he had to confront was, “The Land of Dead" which tested his self-restraint, and revealed his human weaknesses of sorrow. The Epic Hero, Odysseus, struggles with many challenges such as, the taunting Sirens, the brutish and cruel Cyclops, and one of the arduous territories Odysseus has ever crossed, The Land of the Dead.

This quote is from the time Odysseus is trapped on an island by the nymph Calypso for nine years. These powerful words portray clearly the pain that Odysseus bears within him thus giving the reader a fuller understanding of the story and his character.

“Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns ... start from where you will—sing for our time too” (I, 1, 12). From the very beginning, Homer shows his intention for themes of The Odyssey to be applicable in the modern age and essentially “sing for our time” (I, 12). Homer’s epic provides the ideal reflection upon the very definition of heroism because it details the strenuous journey of Odysseus, a crafty hero whose key priority is to return home to his family. As one of the most prominent themes, The Odyssey carries forth the idea of heroism through the portrayal of Odysseus, and establishes a connection with the real world through the expression of life lessons. Consequently, Odysseus is characterized to serve as a role model for the successful hero because, after all, the poem is essentially centered on his very name. However, The Odyssey simultaneously conveys that an entirely perfect hero may be impossible, but a means for improvement is always present. The attributes for success that are revealed in The Odyssey can be examined under interconnected ideas of passion, perseverance, and prowess. Thus, heroism is the most compelling theme of The Odyssey because it exemplifies the attributes for success while also demonstrating that heroes are not without mortal flaws.

The character Ulysses Everett McGill from “O Brother, Where art thou?” is a worthy representation of Odysseus from the “Odyssey”. Ulysses Everett McGill, or Everett, was the main character of the movie who was trying to get back home. Odysseus was a king and warrior who spent 20 years away from home due to obstacles and distractions. Both characters share many personality traits and events that make the movie a modern adaption of the epic poem

1. The key values that are shown in Chapter 1 were humanism and freedom to think. In humanism gods are superior to man, and as Zeus says, “ ‘ I am mightiest of all.’ “ (Hamilton 20) Zeus is showing the gods are mightier than the humans and Zeus, the mightiest of the gods. Also, the humans had the freedom to think and worship. “When his (Zeus) worship spread to a town where there was already a divine ruler the two were slowly fused into one.” (Hamilton 21) This shows that the Greeks freely worshiped Zeus and other gods, and their worship of one god spread from town to town based on their beliefs.

- Hermes: also known as “Hermes of the golden wand” or “the giant killer” is the messenger and son of the god Zeus. He was sent by Zues to inform Calypso of Zeus’s order to free Odysseus.

When Cyclops set a curse on Odysseus, it set the course for the rest of the story. Cyclops asked his father, Poseidon, to make Odysseus’s journey home long and torturous, because Odysseus put out the Cyclops’s eye. The Cyclops prayed to his father, Poseidon, “He shall see his roof again among his family in his father land, far be that day, and dark the years between. Let him lose all companions, and return under strange sail to bitter days at home.” For the next six chapters, Odysseus fights the elements, losses all of the men in his company, and returns home to witness scores of suitors eating his food, living in his home, and attempting to marry his wife. The

Man had sinned and was separated from God, and will always be separated from Him unless there was a redeemer. To be able to bring us back to Himself, God had come up with a plan of redemption for mankind, starting with His own involvement, working through His prophets, and then through His one and only Son.

Relationships and marriages have been occurring since the beginning of mankind, but only some of these bonds have held steady through the perils of life while keeping love as an important factor in the relationship. The faithfulness of Penelope, Odysseus’ endeavors to return home, and how the royal couple treats each other all show what an extraordinary relationship Penelope and Odysseus share; their love manages to survive even against the odds.