Josh Marszalek
Larr
Block 2
21/9/17
Man vs. Man In epic poems, there are many different conflicts, especially the conflict of man vs. man. Epics may seem to have a strong supernatural presence. Despite the gods making humans do their bidding in certain circumstances, people still know how to make decisions for themselves. This leads to conflict between men of different beliefs, cultures or countries. In the Odyssey, we see Odysseus conquer and escape all different kinds of supernatural creatures, such as the sirens, the cyclops, and even Poseidon himself. However, when he returns home to Ithaca, there are many suitors looking to take his place (Shmoop, The Odyssey). Odysseus is also having a hard time keeping his adventures a secret, which is evidenced when he
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That is the gods' work, spinning threads of death through the lives of mortal men, and all to make a song for those to come..." (Shmoop, the Odyssey). While the suitors try to marry his wife Penelope, she delays the suitors for as long as possible. The suitors mistreat Odysseus when he returns disguised as a beggar. This enrages Odysseus and along with 3 of his loyal patrons and Athena, he defeats the suitors. (Shmoop, The Odyssey). This is evidenced when Odysseus says, “Amphinomus went back across the room, heart saddened within him, shaking his head, for in his spirit he saw the evil, but still could not escape his doom, for Athene had bound him fast, to be strongly killed by the hands and spear of Telemachos.” (Shmoop, The Odyssey). He describes what he is going to do to the suitors. The conflict in the Iliad is not as complicated, but it is just as important as the one in The Odyssey. The soldier Achilles is fighting in a war for the Greeks against the Trojans, and he is fighting to win. He defeats the great Trojan prince hector, which is an important example of man vs. man. Achilles’ conflict with the Trojans may be successful with a bit of divine
In the Homer’s, The Odyssey, Odysseus has a very resilient view of himself and is exceptionally selfish. The book starts out with Odysseus on an island where he is “held captive” for 7 years. He really is cheating on his wife with Calypso, a persuasive nymph. Eventually Athena is sent to fetch Odysseus and return him to his Kingdom where he has been missing for 20 years.
In the book The Odyssey, Odysseus a king and hero returns to his kingdom after 10 years. During those 10 years people come and try to marry Odysseus's wife. When Odysseus gets home he brutally kills all the wooers. After that he takes all the servants who helped the wooers and makes them clean up the mess of bodies and blood. He then has each of the servants hanged.
Olaudah Equiano, known by many other names such as, Gustavas Vassa, Jacob, and Michael was kidnapped from his family, home, and childhood at an early age and was sold into slavery. Equiano never knew what to expect from day to day, as his circumstances were always changing. During his captivity and slavery there were times he longed for death to come for him and thought of being in Heaven as a comfort. However, his captivity was not all bad, as he learned how to speak English, read and write, and how to become a successful merchant. Equiano later chose to write about his ordeal in his work titled, “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavas Vassa, the African, written by Himself”.
The suitors who come to marry Penelope are portrayed as some of the worst villains in the entire Odyssey. It is Odysseus’ duty to kill the suitors. Odysseus, being as intelligent as he is, knows he cannot just barge and kill the suitors. Thats why he creates a plan with Eumaeus and Philoetius, ( the cowherd and shepherd) to kill the suitors (21.56-76). After he formulates a plan
Although “The Odyssey” by the Greek poet Homer is very much an epic tale of a man’s heroic quest, women play an incredibly large role. Homer’s epic tale, “The Odyssey” revolves around Ulysses’ quest to return back to his wife, Penelope, so that he may be reunited with her and assume control over his palace, which has been overrun by suitors. Ulysses’ son, Telemachus attempts to regain authority in the presence of the many suitors but finds this difficult and embarks upon his own journey under the guidance of Athena and other deities. The main thrust of Homer’s “The Odyssey” centers upon the adventures of Homer as he endeavors to get back home, which he finally does. He overtakes the suitors through his cunning and the tale ends happily.
Towards the end of The Odyssey, Odysseus finally returns home to find over 100 suitors staying in his old home. Even thought there were rumors that Odysseus was still alive, the suitors ignored them and continued to live in his house and court his wife. Because of this, Odysseus was enraged. He was filled with hatred for the suitors because they took advantage of such a tragic event. He then decided to take revenge on the suitors. Odysseus plotted against them in secret with his son, Telemachus.
In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus is away from his home, Ithaca, for twenty years. Despite the low odds of Odysseus ever returning home after such a time, those in Ithaca were expected to remain loyal to Odysseus as they awaited his return. While this was a daunting task, those who accomplished it were heavily rewarded, while those who didn’t were met with death. Upon his return, Odysseus promised Eumaeus, the loyal swineherd, that he would find him a wife, grant him property next to his own, and that he would become one of the “comrades to Telemachus, brothers from then on” (21.243). His own wife Penelope remained loyal for all of the twenty years of Odysseus’ absence, never once giving in to the many suitors who invited themselves into her home and spent years vying for her hand. While she probably would have been killed by Odysseus if she had been unfaithful to him, perhaps her greatest reward was just being able to be with her husband again and being able to live. The suitors, however, were not so lucky. Odysseus, along with the help of the goddess Athena, carefully plotted and executed the death of every suitor that entered his home and gone after his wife. With the help of his son, the swineherd, and the goddess, Odysseus took down every suitor, until “the suitors lay in heaps, corpse covering corpse” (22.414). The resulting death of every disloyal character in the epic
Along his journey, he encountered a vicious Cyclops, a scheming witch, and tempting mermaids, yet overcame them all because of his courageous choices. For example, when "the others had all disappeared . . . Odysseus himself went to explore" (Rouse 5). Although he was facing the unknown, he did not shy away. Instead, he did the opposite, knowing the only way to succeed was if he risked his life and explored the shadows.
Who is the ideal Greek man? It can be argued that through the illustration Homer weaves throughout the Odyssey, Odysseus's character traits cast a lens as a prime example of a man in ancient Greek society. He appears to be brave, intelligent, well-spoken, and clever. Much of his knowledge is discovered by his travels, absorbing the local culture around him and using it as a guide. Aristocratic and a warrior. Perhaps the best warrior of all time. It is the Iliad which presents these attributes initially. The commander of the Greek army, Agamemnon, calls on Odysseus for assignments frequently, ones that required someone cunning and brilliant. He sends Odysseus off to ask Achilles if he would be willing to return the army and has Diomedes come along also into the Trojan camp to gain more information. Odysseus must act quickly on his feet impulsively in order to not be caught. Interestingly enough, despite how valiant he can be during battle, it is in the Odyssey in which it becomes clear how Odysseus can be seduced and enchanted by women. In the Odyssey, myriad examples of such temptation reflect the importance of gender and the role of women. His specific interactions make this clear, creating an interesting duality between the power of men and women as illustrated throughout the poem.
In the Odyssey, Odysseus is quite the legend known to people, whether you are high up in the sky with Zeus, or deep in the ocean with Poseidon, everyone knows Odysseus. In the epic poem, the Odyssey told by the one and only Homer, the brave, the godlike human, Odysseus is finding his way home after the big battle victory against the Trojans. This story is about his travels home and how he got caught up in other business. Let’s just say he stabbed Poseidon’s son, had his crew turned into pigs, faced a six-headed monster and whirlpool, and that is to say the least. He may as well be on America’s most wanted list with all the trouble he was causing. Even though Odysseus is a troublemaker, he has multiple great characteristics of a leader. Odysseus, when it comes to his crew and family, is confident, compassionate, wise, and always knows a way to get out of any problem.
First, one of the recurring themes in the Odyssey is that of cunningness over strength. Although Odysseus was known to be a strong and powerful of individual, his cunning was his strongest asset when it came to overcoming the obstacles in his travels. Instead of relying solely on his strength, he relies on his minds ability to deceive and manipulate individuals to do as he pleases. An example of this is seen when Odysseus with the help of Athena disguises himself as an old beggar. Instead of simply going to his home
Humanity has always maintained a strong bond between thought and action. It is through our ethical and moral beliefs that we reinforce our mentality on life. In both Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis and The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Phillip K. Dick, the protagonists and the story interact in a similar fashion. These novels portray many fundamental religious theories that directly mesh with human values. Characterized by their subjective actions, the main characters in these novels are motivated most strongly by the mythic dimension of the sacred, which reveals human inclination to think rationally about humanity’s past.
Odysseus must now face the other suitors in order to win Penelope. He must rely on physical strength to get past this task then to face Penelope and convince her it is really Odysseus. After defeating the other suitors Odysseus was cleaned up and made to
Ten years after the fall of Troy, the victorious Greek hero Odysseus has still not returned to his native land Ithaca. A band of rowdy suitors, believing Odysseus to be dead, has overrun his palace, courting his faithful—though weakening—wife Penelope, and going through his stock for food. With permission from Zeus, the goddess Athena, Odysseus' greatest immortal ally, appears in disguise and urges Odysseus' son Telemachus to seek news of his father at Pylos and Sparta. However, the suitors, led by Antinous, plan to ambush him upon return.
In the battle between Hector and Achilles, there was more on the line than winning the war. Until the end of the poem, it can be argued that both Achilles and Hector fit the role of an epic hero, but there can only be one. The battle represented who would ultimately be determined the epic hero. In Homer’s epic poem, The Iliad, Achilles is crafted into an epic hero throughout the poem by the illustration of the qualities of an epic hero: a great warrior, help from the supernatural, an epic flaw, and an epic journey.