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What Role Does Religion Play In The Odyssey

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One of the oldest, yet most famous works in literature is the esteemed myth called The Odyssey. This epic, or long, narrative poem, was written by Homer, a blind poet, around 650 B.C. and has truly withstood the test of time. The story focuses around a Greek named Odysseus and his troubles after the long war that took place between the Greeks and Trojans, known as the Trojan War which lasted ten years. The tale is written in three distinctive parts, part one being about Odysseus’ wife and son back home, part two centering around Odysseus’ travels that occurred in the ten years it took him to reach Ithaca, his homeland, and part three, concentrating on Odysseus after he gets home and dealing with the changes that have happened in the twenty years he was gone. Religion was a huge factor in ancient Greeks’ lives and shapes much of the poem through the influence of the Greek Gods. In particular, four gods named Poseidon, Athena, Helios, and Zeus had an extremely dramatic impact on the years of …show more content…

Helios is the sun god and has an island full of cattle that he is extremely protective of and does not want his cattle harmed. Odysseus’ men eat his cattle after they had been warned not to and Helios becomes enraged. He forces Zeus to destroy Odysseus’ ship and kill all his men along with it, leaving Odysseus stranded at sea. The anger Helios has can be observed in this quote when he yells ¨And the Lord Helios burst into angry speech amid the immortals: O Father Zeus and gods in bliss, forever punish Odysseus’ men!”(Homer, 1013) Odysseus also speaks of Helios and his intense love for his cattle when he says ¨Fierce the god is who cherishes these heifers and these sheep: Helios;¨ (Homer, 1011) The god Helios stays for a minimal time, but keeps Odysseus from reaching his home soon by seeing his ship and men were destroyed, making Odysseus lost at

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