That argument - to die young as a hero or to live a long, uneventful life - is at the core of the Iliad. By Book XI, Homer has firmly established Odysseus as a hero for all time, but one whose failings made him distinctly human. Heroes such as Achil 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...
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...
Odysseus waits for the Cyclops to return home because he "wanted to see the owner himself, in the hope that he might give me a present." (Homer, Book IX) Odysseus introduces himself and his men to the Cyclops as essentially being mass murderers, and Continue Reading...
The two lovers are trapped by Hephaestus' chains and the gods are debating their fates. They contemplate the issue of whether being trapped in the chains is sufficient punishment, to which Hermes quips "...although I might be held by chains that are 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...
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...
Penelope as Heroine While today we primarily read the works of Homer for the eloquence and literary skill of this great Greek poet, we may also examine his texts for the clues that they provide to a deeper understanding of Greek society. For we must Continue Reading...
Homeric heroes exhibit the fundamental values and qualities that ancient Greek culture esteemed. Doubtlessly, this is true of Achilles in the Iliad, Odysseus in the Odyssey and even Odysseus' son Telemachus. Yet, another pervasive theme in mythology Continue Reading...
Coming of Age: Telemakhos in "The Odyssey" We often hear the line, "Like father, like son" and Homer's "The Odyssey" gives us an opportunity to see how this line can actually work in life. With a father like Odysseus, one might feel a bit of intimid 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...
Introduction The roles, ideals, views of men in the ancient civilization have been explored extensively in literature from the famous Kings of Israel to the mathematicians and philosophers of Greece. In contrast, the history entails limited literatur Continue Reading...
In addition to the diplomatic relationships established between the Greek poleis, in the frame of the political arena, there were also the alliances made between persons, usually high raking members of the ruling classes: "there was a fine-meshed ne 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...
This is why Homer is killed: he has lied to Emily and to the townspeople, and his deceit is punishable by death (at least, so it seems to Emily -- if Blythe is correct in his analysis). This is why the tension that exists between Emily and the commu Continue Reading...
Social Work Exercise The imaginary recording helped me to examine the language that I use commonly, and listen for embedded biases. I noticed that I assumed that the client could hear me and see me, rather than acknowledge the fact that the client Continue Reading...
Shaw's primary purposes in writing Pygmalion, the story of a phonetics professor who, on a bet, transforms a guttersnipe of a flower girl into a lady, was to educate. The title of the play comes from the Greek myth of Pygmalion, a sculptor who creat Continue Reading...
O Brother Where Art Thou? And the Odyssey In the film "O Brother Where Art Thou?" The filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen loosely paralleled the epic found in the Odyssey. Though there are some obvious parallels between the story and the movie, there are Continue Reading...
mythology is important for both individualistic and collective reasons. On an individual level, mythology could teach moral or human truths, whereas on a collective level mythology could be used to keep people in touch with their origins. Mythologic Continue Reading...
Orient West Minoan and Romantic movements Describe the earlier historical art period, characteristics of the style, and social conditions that may have contributed to the advent of this style. Within the history of the Ancients, the story of Class Continue Reading...
