The Function Of Fiction : The Heuristic Value Of Homer

he Odyssey, as written by Homer, intricately and excitingly weaves Colin Renfrew’s Subsystem Theories throughout the entire play. Many of the five subsystem theories can be seen and support understanding of the novel. Of the five systems, trade/communication, social/ political hierarchy and symbolic subsystems will be the focus of analysis in this paper. All of these subsystems come together in The Odyssey to explain the characters and their lives, and also how they fit into the society which they live in. To understand the growth and development of the characters, we must understand the systems theories, “many human actions have a meaning at several different levels, with undertones and overtones… it is the complex interconnectedness of the subsystems which gives human culture its unique potential for growth.” As this paper will demonstrate within The Odyssey, trade and communication, social and political hierarchy and lastly symbolic subsystems create adventure in Odysseus’s harrowing, yet exciting journey back to his kingdom and family. These specific subsystems add depth and excitement because we see how each specific one impacts Odysseus’s journey back home. They help us understand who Odysseus is a man and sympathize with all that he goes through. The communication subsystem helps explain how communication between people (and gods) in different lands aid to the success of his return home. We are able to see from the social subsystem how Odysseus and other men

Without fiction our imaginations will never be achieved, everything will be boring and too real.

All this has added to the growing popularity of the Harry Potter brand that is everywhere today. Young readers can relate to Harry’s issues and the books create another world the readers can subconsciously ‘escape’ too.

The point of The Iliad is personal honor. Honor was prevalent throughout the poem. The honor of every person in Homeric culture was important. Homer demonstrated some lack of honor in some of the main characters. Therefore, Homer wants to infuse pride, emotions, and values into the main characters who are viewed as heroes that the society looks up to. With these three solutions it would help out the honor culture.

Within the masts of ships, the tests of loyalty, and the authority of the social pecking order lays the similarities and differences among powerful female characters. The Odyssey by Homer was written as a sequel to his previous work The Iliad. These books follow The Trojan War and the events following this massive war. Specifically, The Odyssey follows the journey of war hero Odysseus on his way back home to Ithaca. On his campaign filled with trials and tribulations, Odysseus received help from many important women. Bright-eyed Athena, the goddess of strategic warfare, serves as a mentor throughout Odysseus’ journey to his homeland, Ithaca. Calypso, the nymph with the human voice, houses Odysseus on his journey home. Eurycleia, the nurse in his placae, provides care and support to her superior, Odysseus. These three women can all be compared and contrasted to one another because of their close relationships with Odysseus, master of tactics. Odysseus would not have been successful on his journey home to Ithaca if it were not for women such as Athena, Calypso, and Eurycleia.

Telemachus, who is the son of Odysseus was seen to be insecure and immature that had trouble in making decisions in his life. He had trouble coping with the idea of losing his father and letting others to rule Ithaca. It is noticeable from the beginning of The Odyssey, written by Homer that Telemachus finds himself in a complicated situation where his life is seen to be in danger. He is a character of being distance from people. The idea of Telemachus becoming his own father, threatens suitor’s control in Ithaca. Homer describes Telemachus as a teenager who has not found himself and is on a mission to become an adult as his father. Telemachus wants to be seen as a powerful and respected man. Before his mission, Telemachus meets with Athena who gives him courage to go and find his father. The meeting with Athena makes Telemachus more confident in making decisions. His mission to find his father and meeting with different kings and queens changes Telemachus into a secure and confident man. The people that he met during his mission made a tremendous change in his life in becoming more than he expected.

The Merriam-Webster defines a hero as “a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability.” Does that mean every single hero has to have great strength and have the skill and style of Superman? To try to define the word hero is useless because it can be interpreted in too many ways. Presidential candidates, philanthropists, and even religious leaders are considered heroes by many. Odysseus is seen as the first real hero put on paper and seen taking “the hero’s journey” just like the heroes we look up to in everyday life, such as Abraham Lincoln. With such a tall, lean, magnificent structure, Abraham Lincoln at 6’ 5’’ looks like a true hero, and that’s not all of it. A man not only with the perfect

It is also about viewing things in perspective and seeing things differently. Fiction gives us new lens and it opens up to how the character and narrator thinks. It also shows how events can unfold in the real world rules and timeline. In one of the cites it said how it tells us how some events in the book can led to real world rules and timeline. Also it says that it can tells us the way on how the character and narrator think. This helps the students because it gives them multiple lens and it sometimes connects to real world rules. Within that it can also challenge the reader to really think about it. People reading fiction help them find new lens because they have to pay attention to the details in the book to find the lens. Once they start to read fiction it’s all about imagination and we have to get the image in the book and adapt it to are heads so we know what we are talking about. This can help the reader’s because if they get it in their head they can see what they are talking about and they can see all the details. Then it can get in there head and get the lens or see what the main character/narrator are thinking of. Finally is that Not only is this book about fiction it is also based on fantasy/ not true events. It is also about viewing things in Last, is that Fiction needs to be in the curriculum because the students will read it more because they will

After reading the Harry Potter series, U spent weeks anticipating a letter from a magical school that would reveal that I was in fact a wizard and was invited to attend their classes to learn magic. People tend to enjoy reading fiction so they can live vicariously through the characters in the story. Fiction, despite being “made-up”, often have close similarities to the real world. By taking a closer look at “The Veldt” by Ray Bradbury and “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe, one can infer that fiction reveal a significant amount of truths about human nature.

As Odysseus travels from one Greek city to the next, the native citizens inquire about his identity and family. Although Odysseus has not seen his native land in twenty years, he defines himself as the product of family: either the son of Laertes or the father of Telemachus. Odysseus is treated like family in the foreign lands he visits. Telemachus embarks on an adventure of his own and is accepted by Nestor and Menelaus, especially because his father suffered through the Trojan War along with the two kings. Family is at the heart of decisions, central in society, creates a frame of reference for individual members of society, and is a source of learning. Family, the central theme in The Odyssey, connects individuals, cities, and gods to one another and is a driving force in decisions and emotional reactions.

When a person reads a book, the person becomes entrapped in the book. A book immerses a person in the surreal. Books take the reader to a parallel universe, where vampires, wizards, and werewolves are real, and are the norm. Sometimes a book immerses us deeper, and gives the reader a sense of realism, even if it is fiction. A book may make us want to be the hero or heroine by making us want to thrive to be like them in the real world. In When We Dead Awaken: Writing as Re-Vision, Adrienne Rich says re-vision is being “the act of looking back, of seeing with fresh eyes, of entering an old text from a new critical direction (Rich 2)”. Many books can use a good re-vision, just like Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The 2010 movie

A modern adaptation of Homer 's Odyssey – one of the most widely read ancient literary works in the world – Margaret Atwood 's novella, The Penelopiad, retells this classic story, this time from the perspective of Penelope, Odysseus ' wife, who spent ten long years waiting faithfully for him to return form the Trojan war, and is now lameting her life from the greek underworld, Hades. The Penelopiad deconstructs the portrayal of penelope in the Odyssey, showing that instead of waiting and wasting away, she instead employed her wits, feminine charm and strength of character to build a strong empire and achieve her own ends, or at least, that 's what she would like us to believe. Chapter 26 is a courtroom scene, where Odysseus is on trial for the hanging of the 12 maids, which he justifies by convincing the judge of their supposed indescretions. Atwood employs various literary devices, such as the exploitation of genre and dark humour, to convey the double standard between genders, the failures of the justice system, and the lack of consequences awarded to those in power.

Fiction is, and has always been a mirror for the real life. Therefore, literature, as the artistic tool used to deliver works of fiction, has been parallel to history from past to present. As the ideas evolved, the cultures evolved, and as the cultures evolved, literature evolved. However, there have been times when this evolution had help. In its core, this is what happened in the Renaissance era. As people rediscovered the ideas and cultures of the past civilisations, Middle Ages, in which the evolution of thinking was going backwards, came to an end with a leap in thinking style. People realised they have been stuck at one point because of twisted religion and blind violence between people, and learned to look through individual glasses. These new individual glasses gave huge importance to human, rather than vast kingdoms and large groups, and focused on the core. They moved on from their one-sided viewpoint in life, which was giving the ultimate importance to the afterlife, and gave themselves to discovering

Using imagination and creativity, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series has defined literature as transformative. In this seven-book series J.K Rowling imagined and creatively pieced together a fantasy world of muggles, wizards, tyrants, and heroes to symbolically share with readers problems plaguing modern society. Similar to Shelley’s work of the past, never before have readers in the modern era seen teenage and adult mania surrounding an 11-year-old wizard. Some will argue that J.K. Rowling’s young-adult series lacks depth or wants to twist young minds by using magic and evil, but through close examination it is evident that

The generation of people being raised right now is obsessed with pop culture. Music, television, celebrities, fashion, movies, and books all have a significant impact on this generation. This generation’s morals and personalities are being shaped by the pop culture that surrounds us. Years from now, people will still be a product of two very popular book and movie series that have greatly effected our pop culture: Harry Potter and Twilight. Both have brought new fashion and trends to the world and it is not uncommon for you to hear references to the books on a day-to-day basis, but more importantly, both series have brought extremely different examples of love to this generation. Even though the Harry