Comparing the divine world in the Iliad and the Odyssey, Wolfgang Kullmann emphasizes that unlike in the Iliad, in the latter, "men themselves, not the gods, are responsible for their sufferings beyond their destined share. Gods, on the contrary, g Continue Reading...
Odyssey Much of Homer's epic poem The Odyssey deals with the trouble the titular character finds himself in, and the suffering he and men must endure as he makes his way home over the course of ten years. Upon cursory examination, one might think th Continue Reading...
Homer was a legendary Greek poet who is traditionally credited as the author of the major Greek epics the "Iliad and the Odyssey," as well as the comic mini-epic "Batracholmyomachia" (The Frog-Mouse War), the corpus of Homeric Hymns, and various othe Continue Reading...
For Aristotle, true freedom and liberty consists in ruling and being ruled in turn and not always insisting on fulfilling one's own personal desires at the cost of others. Thus, for Odysseus, true freedom can only come about when one is allowed to Continue Reading...
However, when the Greeks reach their boats, Odysseus cannot help but once again proving his devotion to achieve glory wherever he goes, informing Polyphemus in regard to his true identity and thus infuriating the gods. This is Odysseus' biggest mist Continue Reading...
According to Griffin, the Odyssey is a didactic poem that delights precisely in its own lesson about human fate and its own rhetoric. Thus, as Griffin emphasizes, the Odyssey teaches its reader that the end of human life and of all the disasters, mi Continue Reading...
Moral Perfidy in the Odyssey In The Odyssey, Homer utilizes the lie as a motif, and in so doing, he establishes a moral dichotomy. The Odyssey is populated with lies and with liars, but the liars operate differently from one another. Indeed, when vo Continue Reading...
O Brother, Where Art Thou? Homer in Hollywood: The Coen Brothers' O Brother, Where Art Thou? Could a Hollywood filmmaker adapt Homer's Odyssey for the screen in the same way that James Joyce did for the Modernist novel? The idea of a high-art film Continue Reading...
Nestor seems saddened by the fact that some of the best Greek warriors were killed in Troy, including Ajax, Achilles, and Patroclus as well as Nestor's own son. The fact that Nestor's own son died may make him particularly sympathetic, of course, to Continue Reading...
And the Western people followed this idea. This labor code has been legalized for so many years now and has been amended several times all for the benefit of the working population. It is not only the Western civilization who has been benefited by t Continue Reading...
Odyssey Odysseus and Athena as Liars The world of the Odyssey is full of legendary heroes, exploitive gods, crude monsters, and devious men. Homer weaves three separate tales, those of Penelope, Athena, and Odysseus, into an epic tale, suitable for Continue Reading...
Odyssey and O' Brother In the course of human history, one of the interesting things about past literature is the way the heroic appears again and again. In fact, this appearance becomes an archetype in that we see very similar themes in literature, Continue Reading...
Odyssey Coman writes, in the July 2001 issue of Quadrant, that what gives Homer's "The Odyssey" such an eternal relevance is that it defies definitive analysis, thus it retains a sense of mystery that draws readers in by posing more questions that Continue Reading...
Essay Topic Examples 1. The Evolution of Odyssey Spec Analyzer: Explore how the Odyssey Spec Analyzer has evolved from its inception to its current state, detailing technological advancements and changes in user needs. 2. Co Continue Reading...
(Homer) Clearly, both Odysseus and Penelope are representing a conflict that most people will go through during the course of their lives. As, there will be times that: they will be away from one another and how they must not lose faith in themselv Continue Reading...
Odyssey Throughout the text of the Odyssey, Odysseus finds recourse to rely on his inner resource to surmount incredible odds in order to finish his journey home. Indeed, often we think of epic heroes using their enormous physical strength to solve Continue Reading...
Divine Comedy vs. The Odyssey Both Dante's epic poem The Divine Comedy and Homer's The Odyssey begin in media res, or in the middle of the protagonists' respective stories. Dante, the narrator, has reached middle age and is confronted with the spec Continue Reading...
Legacy of Homer Modern best sellers' books could never compare to the great ancient writings of Homer. Homer has become a household name and is considered one of the most important and influential writers in history. Little is known about Homer's l Continue Reading...
Nevertheless, both heroes are very similar in their characterizations: they are both human and are subject to the whims of the gods. Odysseus confides his most troubling mistake: "From the start my companions spoke to men and begged me to take some Continue Reading...
Joyce's Ulysses Claude Rawson is best known as a scholar of Jonathan Swift and the eighteenth century, but Rawson's has also used the savage irony of Swift's modest proposal for a series of essays which consider Swift's invocation of cannibalism in Continue Reading...
(Hart & Hayman, p.177) Thus Joyce suggests that conventional national tales of origin, and national borders have become further and further collapsed in modernity. So long as people can envision a common, even familial bond between the two char Continue Reading...
Voltaire's "Candide" is several novels rolled into one. (Homer and Hull, 1978), he returns to the life of a commoner. His life has gone full circle. From flights of fancy, he derives pleasure from one of the most basic occupations -- farming. Voltair Continue Reading...
Aristotle desired a reversal because of the suddenness of the impact, which heightens the emotional impact of the plot. As a constant element, the juxtaposition of opposites is less emotional and more intellectual in its effect. There are other det Continue Reading...
Nevertheless, I want to get home, and can think of nothing else" (Homer, 2000). Thus, Penelope serves as the catalyst for bringing Odysseus home, and shows that beauty is not all a man looks for in a wise and loving mate. A literary critic writes of Continue Reading...
Aphrodite and Venus Aphrodite vs. Venus In many ways the two goddesses were the same person because they were both said to be beautiful and carried the mantle as goddesses of love and fertility. However, the tradition is much different since both w Continue Reading...
Is it a sign of inconsistency in Athena that at the end of the Odyssey she echoes the sentiment of Zeus and sues for peace whereas in Book 4 of the Iliad she is all too eager to ignore the sentiment of her father and manipulate the warriors into sh Continue Reading...
This is perhaps another interesting aspect of Herodotus's objective level of discussion: his interests go beyond history and simple ethnography to give larger descriptions of additional themes such as geographical location. These can also help in de Continue Reading...
Ulysses: An Odyssey of Errors Critics of James Joyce call his work cryptic and rambling, not easily followed by most readers. They proclaim that it lacks plot and classical elements of modern literature. However, Joyce did not intentionally write a Continue Reading...
Illiad and the Odyssey In what ways do the acts of the warriors on and off the battlefield serve as models of behavior for the Greeks? One could contend with conviction that The Iliad appears to be celebrating war. Characters in the epic are worshi Continue Reading...
The Perilous Journey of Odysseus: Six Monumental Obstacles in 'The Odyssey' Introduction In Homer's epic, "The Odyssey," the protagonist Odysseus faces a series of challenging obstacles on his journey back to Ithaca after Continue Reading...
By taking part in his destiny, she somewhat disproves Zeus' claim that humans are wrong to suggest that the gods are to blame -- for without her interference, the many suitors would not have been slaughtered by Odysseus. Athena's speech here, which Continue Reading...
Adaptations Mythology - Adaptations When watching the Coen Brothers' film Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?, it becomes immediately apparent that the film is meant to be a creative adaptation of The Odyssey by Homer. Rather than a straightforward mimicki Continue Reading...
Here Aeneas sees a bit of the future when he acknowledges the battles that he must "still wage . . . And how he is to flee or face each trial" (VI. 1189-90). Aeneas would not h ave become the man he did had he not ventured into the uderworld. He wou Continue Reading...
Thematic Comparison: Divine Intervention in Homer & Virgil Both works decently portray the horrors of warfare, and (albeit it in a reverent fashion) place the blame for this horror soundly at the feet of the gods. However while in Homer this int Continue Reading...
In the Old Testament, Eden appears as a lush tropical rainforest full of fruit and life. In other words, it is presented as an image of perfection. In the Old Testament, the character of Cain is said to have a mark on him. This mark signifies his br Continue Reading...
Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" with Milton's "Paradise Lost" Comparison of the two works: Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and Milton's Paradise Lost are two examples of great works that seemingly have little in common. The differences in subject, appro Continue Reading...
Either as mothers, sisters, wives, daughters, mistresses, lovers or supernatural creatures, women populate the world of the Odyssey and bring thus an important source of information when it comes to finding parallels between their representations in Continue Reading...
As stated earlier, Burgess' writings were very scientific in nature, and naturally they read in a very scientific way. The book is presented as a study of the makings of Homers poetry and how his poetry (especially Iliad and Odyssey) became known a Continue Reading...
As is the case with the sonnet form, this sonnet is in fourteen lines. The rhyme scheme may vary in different tyes of sonnet, and Keats her uses a scheme of ABBA CDCDCD. The Shakespearian sonnet would normally end with a couplet, but Keats does not Continue Reading...
But before Odysseus returned back home his destiny gave him serious trials: mean-eating giant Polypheus, temptations of Calypso who offered him immortal life if he refuses from return home, etc. Odysseus returns home, but first in order to spy the r Continue Reading...
