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The Role Of Culture In The Odyssey

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Odysseus; Culture of the Ancient Greeks Homers epic poem, The Odyssey, tells the tale of the Greek hero, Odysseus’s ten-year struggle to reach home after the Trojan war. While this poem mentions many mythological themes, Homer includes factual information about ancient Greeks and their way of life. He details their culture though the plot and characters of the story, using his skill as a poet to inform readers about the achievements, values and culture of the Greeks. Religion, xenia and loyalty all play a large part in the poem and happen to be very important to real Greeks during that time. One of the most notable factors in Greek culture is their firm belief in gods. The Greeks were polytheistic and believed that the world was ruled over by Zeus and other Olympian gods. In Greek literature, the gods were given human bodies and characters - both good and bad - and just as ordinary men and women. They intervened in the Trojan war and in the Odyssey. In many of Homers poems the gods directly intervene in human affairs, disguised as humans. The Odyssey is written to accommodate these beliefs, and incorporates religion into everyday life. Greek culture was heavily focused on honoring the gods and they worshiped them with formal rituals including animal sacrifices and myths to explain the origins of mankind. Athena plays a major role in The Odyssey because she guides both Odysseus, and his son Telemachus through their journeys. One example of this is when she disguises

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