Social Structure in Homer's Odyssey

In the story, “The Odyssey,” it is about a man known as Odysseus, he was away from home for 20 years. He was away from home for that long due to being in war, being kidnapped, all of his men and his ships being destroyed. When he does return to Ithaca he finds out that his house is full of men trying to take his wife away from him. After he heard about this he plotted to get them and knowing all this his actions were justified. They were justified because, the wooers are trying to take his wife, they threatened to kill his son, Telemachus, and when he was dressed as a beggar they were rude and unpleasant towards him.

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.

Odysseus killing the suitors and the unfaithful maids is justifiable during the time period in which Homer wrote the Odyssey. It is justifiable for all of the suitors for three reasons. First off they were barbaric when it came to the way the suitor overstayed their welcome. Second, eating and drink all of Penelope, Odysseus’ wife, and their servants food and alcohol. Also, at the end when Odysseus reveals himself after killing Antinous and later killing all of Antinous’ “followers”, they said how Antinous was planning on killing Telemachus which is Odysseus’ son. Homer wrote that Odysseus stated, “‘You yellow dogs, you thought I’d never make it home from the land of Troy. You took my house to plunder’” ( Homer page 45). Then Homer wrote

In Homer’s epic poem, Odysseus is justified in killing the suitors when he returns home to Ithaca from Troy because the suitors have been tormenting and harassing his wife Penelope and his son Telemachus while freeloading in his palace for years; therefore, Odysseus deserves revenge. The suitors constantly badger and pursue Odysseus’s family behind his

The suitors deserve punishment because they dishonor Odysseus’ family. Also, they try to push Penelope into marriage, even though she is already married to Odysseus. The suitors abuse the hospitality that is given to them.

In "The Odyssey" by Homer, Odysseus was gone from his home for about twenty years. During these years, he faced many challenges and obstaclesduring his epic journey. While he was trying to get back home to his wife and family, there was trouble at his house. There were many wooers trying to marry his wife. They abused the hospitality offered to them.

The Odyssey is an epic poem about a man who left his home to fight in the Trojan War and went on to go on a ten-year journey. The man was named Odysseus and had to endure demanding battles to return home. During this adventure, Odysseus is challenged and has to use his strength, leadership, and bravery to get back to his family. As he goes through these tough battles, Odysseus shows his personality not just through his thoughts and words, but also through his actions. In “The Odyssey” by Homer, Odysseus shows loyalty in the event of killing his wife’s suitors.

For Odysseus, the suitors' deaths are a matter of restoring honor to his household and his name. Their blatant disrespect for his wife, home, and the social norms of their time represents an unbearable affront that can only be cleansed through their blood. Odysseus's reflection on the suitors' fate reinforces this notion: "Not for all your trying did you win my wife; so now your reckoning's come for the rape and plunder" (Book 22, lines 37-39). Here, the punishment of the suitors is framed not just as an act of retribution, but as a restoration of honor and dignity to Odysseus and his

Homer’s epic poem, “The Odyssey” reveals many aspects of ancient Greek life and culture through character and plot. Through each of the tales circling the life of Odysseus and the Greek people, Homer depicts the history, legends, values, and merits of the ancient Greeks. Greek culture is known to be one of the most flavored and thorough in history, and each facet of it—from religion to ideology to mentalities and beliefs.

In the epic Greek home, the Odyssey, author Homer conveys a tale of a man, Odysseus, as he tries to get home after a ten-year Trojan war. The poem he has presented as the message of appealing to everyone's desire to make the painful and long journey home to be with their family. Homer depicts this message through his use of Homeric similes and it accomplishes his attempt of engaging into that desire of longing that everyone feels. The Author compares the subject of Odysseus and his son, Tele Maykus, meeting after Odysseus made the long journey home to a, "keen and fluttering as those of a great taloned hawk.

Violence in Literature can take any form, whether it be natural disaster like and earthquake or a human based disaster like war (Campbell). In Homer’s The Odyssey both types are found… whether it’s Odysseus’s hardships like making it home or dealing with the wrath of the god Poseidon. Every violent scene has its own reasons, some are more reasonable than others. For instance, the gods were angered by the disobedience of the mortals, this is more reasonable than the killing of the Cyclops. While we always relate violence to men and the gods, women also had their moments of rage, but their initial violence wasn’t necessarily due to anger. Moreover, violence in The Odyssey is based on jealousy, territorial rights, and last getting revenge. Overall violence is what makes The Odyssey so intriguing.

The Odyssey is an epic poem attributed to the now-famous Greek poet, Homer, written approximately in the early sixth century B.C.E. The poem shares the tale of the wily adventuring solider, Odysseus', return from the Trojan war to his wife and home in Ithaca. The poem details his misadventures, the efforts of his son, Telemachus, to find him, and revenge on his wife's suitors. While many themes run through this poem, the most prevalent is that of hospitality. The Host-Guest relationship is significant in the Odyssey as it acts as one of the main thematic devices used by Homer and examples of good hospitality versus bad hospitality and their results serve as the main plot elements throughout the tale.

The household is an important concept in the context of Ancient Greece as it relates to the physical home, the land, and the family who support the master of the house. This essay will discuss the different representations of oikos (the household) in Homer’s Odyssey as well as discuss the differing representation of oikos in Aeschylus’ play Agamemnon. Marilyn Katz’s essay Penelope’s Renown: Meaning and Indeterminacy in the Odyssey will be looked at to highlight key points about the household. The oikos in the Odyssey will be considered with its relationships between the polis (city-state) and the characters who are connected to the household. To evaluate the significance of the oikos, the characters Penelope, Odysseus, and Clytemnestra

Odysseus talks about the suitors saying, “they’d no regard for any man on earth--good or bad/thanks to their reckless work, they met this shameful fate” (22.439--440,441-442) arguing that they deserved what they got because they were

At the beginning of The Odyssey, Homer tells of Odysseus’ struggle he faces to return home to his wife and son. Meanwhile, in Ithaca, his wife Penelope is pursued by many suitors trying to marry her and take over his kingdom. Athena then appears to Telemachus as Mentor to give him hope that his father will return and to convince him to set sail in search of his father. In book two, following Mentor’s visit, Telemachus gathers all the suitors and confronts them about their actions toward his mother. Antinous then tells Telemachus of how Penelope had led them on. Throughout The Odyssey, Homer emphasizes many important points with his use of symbolism. One of these points regarded Penelope’s loom. He emphasizes her loom as though to illustrate the ideas of faith, faithfulness, trust and betrayal, as well as the idea of karma.