The Odyssey by Homer

"A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow men."

During, Homer’s, The Odyssey many strengths were tested throughout the entire book. This book was a mythological Greek folk tale that was created between the eleventh and eighth century B.C, therefore it is filled with many exaggerated stories about the Gods and treacherous adventures Odysseus had ventured on. He encounters a cyclops and after battles a six-headed monster. His crew discovers their talent for making mistakes such as being turned into pigs by Circe and letting strong winds out of the bag sending them farther from home. Odysseus experiences battles with his emotional stamina as well. His depression about his travels are shown through his lamentation on Calypsos’ island and his will power to discover the loyalty of his house mates is tested by Odysseus disguising himself as a beggar in his own home. Throughout, Homer’s, The Odyssey perseverance holds significance emotionally, physically, and mentally when enduring the battles and setbacks he experiences.

Is a hero only characterized by their success? If a leader’s last actions carry them to victory, are their flaws unimportant? The Odyssey by Homer narrates the ancient myth of a leader coming home from war in Troy who faces many trials, and despite returning home alone without any of his crew, he is looked upon as a hero for having survived. His ultimately sole success continues to define him, although the bitter truth being that he was the leader of his men when they all perished. As flaws of the all-mighty Odysseus and his crew are presented through their responses to the challenges they experience on their journey, people of the modern world may begin to understand that there exist several flaws that plague all men, whether they live now or lived thousands of years ago, and whether they are leaders or followers. The Odyssey is important in its characters’ responses’ to their trials ability to evoke emotional reactions that cause the reader to ponder their own tendencies by revealing the human nature of pride to be the fuel of the impulsiveness that oscillates fate.

Homer’s “The Odyssey” takes place ten years after the events in “The Iliad”, to which the Odyssey is an indirect sequel, and the fall of Troy; even though the story is believed to have been composed some time during the eight century B.C.E. it is estimated to be set sometime between 1300 and 1000 B.C.E. in Mycenaean Greece during the Bronze age. In this novel all Greek heroes have returned home after the fall of Troy, except for Odysseus who after a three year journey has been held captive by the goddess Calypso, who has fallen in love with him, on her island, Ogygia. After the ten years have passed Odysseus is presumed dead, his wife Penelope is courted, and his estate is auctioned off by the Suitors, the young men of Ithaca who attempt to win Penelope’s favor and hand in marriage.

Thus far in The Odyssey, Homer has introduced several characters. The Gods discussed what they should do about Odysseus’ struggles as he attempts to get home to his wife and son. Athena then appears to Telemachus as Mentor, an old friend of Odysseus’. She convinces him that he should set sail in order to find out if his father is dead or alive and to take back control of his father’s kingdom from his mother, Penelope’s, suitors. Antinous, one of her suitors, then tells Telemachus of Penelope’s deception toward them. After hearing this, they exchanged more words, and then he set sail to find his father. He goes to see King Nester who remembers what it was like during the Trojan War and tells Telemachus to be strong and brave. The Gods met again and discussed Odysseus’ capture by Calypso. Zeus sent his son Hermes, the messenger of the Gods, to tell Calypso that she must release Odysseus. Calypso reacts vividly to this, stating that the gods are unfair in their treatment of gods and goddesses. Calypso then begins to speak to Odysseus. During this conversation in book 5, Homer reveals to us the importance of a person’s wit and the deception of others in order to help yourself, as well as the importance of one’s will power.

It can start a war or end one. Give you the strength of heroes or leave you powerless. It can be snared with a glance but no force can compel it to stay. Love. It was the downfall of Troy and the triumph of Odysseus. The dual nature of love in Greek myth as both destruction and salvation may have led to Plato’s unique conceptualization of love. In The Symposium he speaks of two Aphrodites: Common and Heavenly. The first has domain over physical attachments and is considered vulgar. The second, being divine is concerned with the soul, not the body. It is a heavenly love, a love of the mind, the spirit. It is also exclusively for same-sex partners. Although Plato’s conception of love may not have been the prevailing notion of the time, it is

Throughout The Odyssey, Odysseus is described as cunning. His thoughts are always working towards the best outcome for himself and like a good chess play, he always remains one move ahead. Odysseus’ cunning can be observed through his interactions with the nymph Calypso in Book Five and the Phaeacian Princess Nausicaa in Book Six. During these interactions, Odysseus flatters the females and evokes pity for his suffering in order for the situation to work to his advantage. He is not always honest, but his command of language allows him to win people over with his lies. Odysseus wishes to get home as quickly as possible and is willing to lie and flatter to complete the journey.

In Homer’s The Odyssey, while Odysseus was away from home, there were suitors who lounged around his house and wanted Penelope’s hand in marriage. When Odysseus finally arrived home, he was outraged and eventually killed the suitors and the servants who were disloyal to Odysseus’s family. Some people might believe Odysseus was inhumane for killing the suitors, but Odysseus had a reason for everything he did. Odysseus killed the suitors and most of his servants in order to protect himself and his family, assert his title as King of Ithaka, and to enact his revenge for betrayal. This teaches us that Odysseus knew what he was doing and that he had a reason why he chose to do those actions.

Jean-Michel Basquiat emerged from the punk scene in New York as a street-smart graffiti artist. He successfully crossed over his downtown origins to the international art gallery circuit. Basquiat’s work is one of the few examples of how an early 1980’s American graffiti-based could become a fully recognized artist. Despite his work’s unstudied appearance, Basquiat very skillfully and purposefully brought together in his art a host of disparate traditions, practices and styles to create a unique kind of visual collage. His work is an example of how American artists of the 1980’s could reintroduce the human figure in their work after the wide success of minimalism and conceptualism.

“A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous

The Iliad: Book I, is about the conflict between Achilles and Agamemnon in the beginning of the Trojan War. It shows how vigorous Achilles’ rage was and that he is no one to mess with. The book states “Peleus’ son Achilles, murderous, doomed”. This shows his fury in just a few words. Achilles was a Greek hero who was the son of a Goddess named Thetis. He was an incredible solder; brave, violent and godlike. However, Agamemnon was the commander of the Achaean Army. He was greedy, aggressive and selfish. He was described as “the most grasping man alive”. He absolutely hated Achilles. I feel that he was jealous of how respected Achilles was among the ranks in the army because of his superior skills in the field of battle. Agamemnon claimed Chryseis as his prize, after sacking a Trojan town. Chryseis was a daughter of a Priest of Apollo, Chryses. He offered an enormous ransom to get his daughter back. At first Agamemnon didn’t want it but the people round him persuaded him that it would be best to let her go so they could be released from the plague that Apollo put on them. Agamemnon then poised to Achilles that he is going to steal Achilles prize, Briseis. This is when Achilles’ rage shows at its best. He nearly draws his sword to kill Agamemnon but he is stopped by the goddess, Athena.

The Odyssey, a text written by Homer, originates from Ionia (a part of Asia Minor). This epic poem relates the journeys of both Odysseus and Telemachus. During their journeys, they encounter a wide variety of hosts. Telemachus provides Mentes a great meal and is later also given a feast from King Nestor. In addition, King Nestor also gifted Telemachus two horses and a chariot; Athena gave Telemachus the gift of wise advice, for which he used to go on his journey. And as their paths crossed in a meeting back in Ithaca, Odysseus is given food and allowed to rest by Telemachus just as his emotional need had been cared for by Alcinous through ending the lyre’s tune. The figures that host Odysseus and Telemachus during their travels highlight the importance of hospitality. As revealed by The Odyssey, the Ancient Greeks valued feasting, gift giving, and caring for the need of the guest as important values of hospitality.

A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back

The Odyssey by Homer and the Old Testaments: King James Version are two of the most read and most sophisticated pieces of literature that have transcended through generations. While they share similar qualities; both greatly differ as well, especially when it comes to the women characters. Classical historian and professor of classical studies at Wellesley College, Mary Lefkowitz, makes a significant contrast between these two famous writings. She believes that a major difference between the women of each story differ dramatically when it comes to their personality and actions. “[Although] the notion... that a man should be active and aggressive, a women passive and subjected to the control of the men in her family, are expressed in virtually every Greek myth, even the ones in which the women seek to gain control over their own live.…[so] that it is possible to show that the Greeks at least attributed to women a capacity for understanding that we do not alway find in the other great mythological tradition that has influenced Western thought, namely, the Old and New Testaments." (Women in Greek Myth, Mary Lefkowitz). I completely agree with Lefkowitz statement on these characters, it’s very clear that most of the women in the Old Testament are very flat while the Odyssey is full of well rounded characters especially when it comes to Jacob’s wife Rachel and Odysseus 's wife Penelope.

The Odyssey, an epic poem written by Greek poet Homer, follows the story of Odysseus, a war hero and king of Ithaca, as he went on a journey to return home from Troy ten years after the Trojan War. On his journey, he was confronted by various monsters, including the one-eyed Cyclops, and faced the loss of his men and his ship. Not to mention, when he returned to his land, he also had to defeat the suitors who had overrun his home and were trying to court his wife, Penelope. Homer not only tells us the adventure of brave Odysseus, but through his story, he also tells us the four qualities that a commendable Greek must possess: hospitality, humility or absence of hubris, honor, and heroism. First, hospitality, also known as “xenia,” refers to showing generosity to guests or visitors. By treating every guest with generosity, people in ancient Greece believed they could avoid angering a god if one appeared at their door disguised as a stranger. Not doing so could result in punishment from the gods. Then, hubris refers to extreme, ignorant pride shown by an individual and is punishable by the gods. Homer emphasizes the importance of showing humility and not possessing a sense of superiority over others throughout The Odyssey. Next, honor refers to having a reputation for excellence, and it can be earned through killing others in battle, looting, or even dying. In ancient Greece, battling others was considered the duty of a soldier, and dying in battle was a glorious feat.