The Character Of Hermes In The Homeric Hymn To Herme

The Odyssey written by Homer highlights the character development of Odysseus, the epic hero, in his journey of self-discovery. Odysseus is accredited with many strong traits including his nobility, smarts, and bravery. Having one tragic flaw, being his arrogance, was put to the test throughout his heroic journey. Homer stripped the protagonist of his arrogance as the story goes on, by giving him many challenges, giving dire consequences for his mistakes, and allowing him to continue to overcome obstacles. The main purpose of Odysseus’ journey was to reach his home as a humbled man. The hero’s journey can be used as a way to look at life’s morals. The reader is able to see the protagonist continue to make mistakes, because of his arrogance and continue to be punished by the gods. Once he overcame this, he is greatly awarded with the security of his home. This essay will analyze the arrogance of Odysseus along with his extraordinary traits, the molding of his identity, and his new found lesson of humility.

During Odysseus’ wanderings, a change comes over him. A change that is motivated by the immense suffering he brings both on himself and on those around him through his prideful actions. Beginning with the prideful raid on the city of the Cicones and culminating with Odysseus taunting the newly-blinded Polyphemus, Odysseus’ pride heaps more and more suffering upon himself and often kills those around him. Because of this increase in suffering, Odysseus changes. He becomes more humble, more tactful, less of a barbarian and more of a planner; this change can been seen primarily through his diplomatic actions in Phaeacia and his cunning use of Athena’s disguise during his time of testing in his own home.

The reader’s view on Zeus in Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound is very interesting, as the character’s perception is pieced together through other characters’ opinions of the god. These given impressions form the figure’s personality. If Hermes, an arrogant and unsympathetic character, praises Zeus, the reader’s opinion of the king of gods will undoubtedly change for the worse. Whereas Zeus is only portrayed through others in Prometheus Bound, the Theogony focuses on the god’s own actions and words, thus presenting the god in a good light.

Hermes is very quick, in terms both of movement and quick-thinking. From the moment he was born, he could not stand to be still, “So soon as he had leaped from his mother's heavenly womb, he lay not long waiting in his holy cradle, but he sprang up” (14-16). Even

Narratives need to have well-developed characters. As authors and translators do revisions and translations, they often change things in a piece, most often how the plot runs and how the characters act. Greek mythology has a strong idea of what makes a hero as well as certain ideals of honor and war. This essay will be looking at the character changes of Paris of Troy -- his cowardice, unmanliness, and lack of spirit -- through the novel The Iliad, by Homer, and the movie Troy, directed by Wolfgang Petersen.

    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.

Even though Agamemnon made a success for his homecoming, what was waiting for him was her wife’s conspiracy with Aegisthus and his death (262-263). Namely, his nosmos was rather a failure and he also faced fate of his failed household. This Agamemnon’s gives a comparison with Odysseus future success for preserving his family and throne. Furthermore, Clytemnestra’s unfaithfulness and infidelity provides a foil to Penelope’s faithfulness and loyalty. Clytemnestra’s merciless and brutal actions, not sealing Agamemnon’s eyes while he was dying, adds contrasting characteristics between Odysseus and Agamemnon’s wives. Note that here, the story of successful vengeance for Agamemnon by Orestes gives a foil to Telemachus’ weakness and deficiency. Orestes here is depicted as a heroic example with murder of Aegistus after he comes of age (264). On the contrary to Orestes who saved his household and restored order in his family’s kingdom, Telemachus, as he came of age, couldn’t serve as protecting his household and repel his mother’s suitors in the absence of his father. In the light of comparing each heroic figures’ sons, the son of Achilles is also depicted as successful warrior with great strength and fame in the battlefield against Trojan, adding a foil to Telemachus’ unsuccessful position as a son (266).

In Epic Poem “The Odyssey” Odysseus is the protagonist. Odysseus’ over-the-top ego caused him to lose his men and his son’s childhood, but taught him a valuable lesson about humility. The Odyssey, written by Homer, tells the story of Odysseus and how he faced misfortune in his attempts to return home after the Trojan War. Odysseus is not famous for his great strength or bravery, but for his ability to deceive and trick. To his friends, he was a brilliant strategist. To his enemies, he was a deceiver and a manipulator of the worst kind.

The Odyssey is known as a story of an epic adventure of a famous war hero named Odysseus; whom is trying to get home, after being away from home for twenty years. However, this epic at its very core is a story of his young son Telemachus’s coming of age. What does one have to do to be a successful man? What trails and trials and tribulations must one go through to become a man? These questions are some of the many questions that have haunted mankind for many years, but Telemachus has shaded some light on these difficult questions. Calling a meeting with the leaders of Ithacas’s, learning how to behave among Greek leaders, and joining with his father’s plot to overcome the suitors are the main ways Telemachus shows true development in this epic adventure.

Throughout the play we find that Oedipus, the protagonist of this Greek tragedy, is tested by life in a number of ways. To those in Athens who watched the performance of Oedipus the King, Oedipus appeared to be the embodiment of a perfect Athenian. He is self-confident, intelligent, and strong-willed. Ironically, these are the very traits which bring about his tragic discovery. He is portrayed as a character of

The purpose of the paper is to compare and contrast the characters of Penelope in the epic, The Odyssey, Lysistrata in the comedy, Lysistrata, and Medea in the tragedy, Medea. The writer will first give a brief synopsis of each character, followed by a comparison and climaxing with the contrast.

In the Poetics, Aristotle provides an outline of how the artist is to portray or represent the perfect Tragedy. A Tragedy, of course, was nothing more than a drama, in which the characters appeared "better" than in real life (in a comedy, they appeared "worse," according to Aristotle). Aristotle's Poetics makes several references to other dramatic works to illustrate his points, but he most commonly calls upon The Odyssey to support his argument for how a dramatic structure should be designed. However, along with the Odyssey, Aristotle extensively references Sophocles' Oedipus Rex. Both poetic works were enormously popular in their time (the former had been passed down orally for generations, and the latter won the top prizes at the dramatic festivals). Therefore, Aristotle is comfortable using both to support his viewpoint concerning Tragedy and the Tragic Hero. This paper will analyze the standards that Aristotle sets out concerning the definition of the Tragic Hero and show how Sophocles' Oedipus exemplifies Aristotle's definition of a Tragic Hero.

Annabeth had figured Polyphemus would still have a grudge about that name, and she was right” (212). Annabeth confronts the cyclops on her own to distract him and uses her wits to think of a way to throw the cyclops off balance. Annabeth rightly believes that using the name Nobody will bring out Polyphemus’s hatred and cloud his mind, thus putting him mentally off balance. The bravery and ingenuity displayed by Odysseus and Annabeth are highlighted as positive traits to have in both Ancient Greece and modern times. The authors want their readers to develop these characteristics as part of their personality, thus they show the positive consequences these traits had for both Odysseus and Annabeth.

One of the issues in Homers The Odyssey is understanding the role and function of the goddess Athena. The problem is most pronounced when examining Athena’s duality. She provides Odysseus both her counsel and assistance throughout the story yet she’s also the entity that keeps him exiled from his home. Athena’s role, similar to the other gods, is to correct apparent injustices. “Oh father Zeus and gods and bliss forever let no man holding scepter as a king think to be mild the fatherhood and mercy through his reign. Meanwhile he lives and grieves upon the island of the nymph…” Book 5 lines 9-21. These lines show that Athena is concerned about the injustice that surrounds Odysseus and his son. This suggests that gods can become active in the role of mortals and may aid them to correct inequity through their fate. This paper will explore the obligations Athena had to ensure Odysseus’ voyage home safely as well as the thematic importance of fate in The Odyssey and the intervention and the power of the gods and goddesses. Fate is one of the occurring themes throughout the Odyssey, where the intervention of the gods and goddesses is common due to the triumphs of men and women.

Another way Petronius exemplifies his purpose of writing this story is showing the importance of education in ancient Rome during the time, and how the culture valued it so much. Agamemnon, the scholarly teacher and friend of Trimalchio, is very well respected by the populace of the story. There is one passage in particular where Trimalchio tries to spark a conversation with Agamemnon about the stores of Hercules and Ulysses wherein Trimalchio makes obvious to Agamemnon that he is not well read in Homer’s literature, yet pretends to be. Trimalchio questions, 
“Do you remember the twelve labours of Hercules and the story of Ulysses—how the Cyclops tore out his thumb with a pair of pincers. I used to read about them in Homer, when I was a boy. In fact I actually saw the Sibyl at Cumae with my own eyes dangling in a bottle.”
This unintelligent miscue may not be noticed amongst the banquets’ crowd of guests, but among the educated individuals familiar with