Reading Homer's Odyssey

Improved Essays
Why Every OSU Freshman Should Read the Odyssey by Valerie Lin &
The motto of OSU is Disciplina in Civitatem, “Education for Citizenship”, meaning the goal of the university is to teach the students to become better citizens. All students could be benefited from all three works: the Odyssey, the Trojan Women, the Iliad. However, from reading Homer’s Odyssey, the students can learn something that could benefit them for their lifetime; it teaches the students about the importance of having hope, and the importance of personal relationships especially have someone that can connect mentally (Homophrosyne). The Odyssey teaches the students about hope and the personal relationship…High school is very different from college, many students could

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Written by Zachary Mason; The Lost Books of the Odyssey was originally published in 2008 by Starcherone Books and then later republished in 2010 by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. The book is made up of 228 pages with 44 chapters. Mason tries to show that the last 44 books of the Odyssey are new stories about Odysseus that show new points that are not in the Odyssey as well as a different way of thinking about the people that appear in this book. Mason wants to show that in these 44 books the warriors, mainly Odysseus, become tired, turn their back on the past, and move on to a new life.…

    • 912 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Imagine earthquakes as a result of a giant man shaking the Earth. Crazy right? It's hard to believe, but centuries ago, this was the explanation of natural phenomenons. In The Odyssey, a king must travel across Europe in order to return to his kingdom and family.…

    • 1097 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Devised by mythologist Joseph Campbell, a monomyth, also known as the hero’s journey, represents “a basic pattern that… is found in many narratives from around the world” (“Mythology” 1). The monomyth consists of several stages and archetypes. Fitting into “stories of Osiris, Prometheus, Moses, Gautama Buddha, and Jesus” (1), the hero’s journey closely follows a structure of the hero on a quest being put through many tests and trials before reaching victory. Homer’s epic, The Odyssey, is representative of James Campbell’s monomyth as it presents the story of Odysseus throughout the several stages of the hero’s journey, as well as the archetypes appearing throughout the story.…

    • 1331 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    One of the questions often asked about a work of literature is whether the principal characters grow or develop as the story progresses. The theme of spiritual growth is central to The Odyssey, especially as it relates to Telemachus and Ulysses. When the epic opens, Telemachus is at a loss as to how to deal with the suitors who have taken over his home and seek the hand of his mother in marriage for primarily political reasons. His own life is in danger; as a pretender to the crown, he is nothing more than so much excess baggage to the men who would be king.…

    • 443 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Odyssey Poem Analysis

    • 163 Words
    • 1 Pages

    The next stanza continues unfolding more of the Siren’s motives with individuals she encounters. The poem continues is a continuum of the allusion to Homer ’s The Odyssey, as Atwood writes, “...forces men/to leap overboard in squadrons/even though they see the beached skulls”(4-6). The Siren describe the power her song has on men that hear it, because they “leap” despite seeing the “beached skulls”.…

    • 163 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Odysseus’s adventure in the Odyssey has lasted in the span of around 10 years. While our freshman year only lasts for nine months, our lives and Odysseus’s have their share of monsters and obstacles. Everyone has their Cyclopes, Lotus Eaters, and Scylla and Charybdis. Within the span of nine months, one whole school year, I have experienced my own Odyssey The first monster I faced in my personal Odyssey was the cyclopes.…

    • 881 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Theogony as Role of Citizenship by Kyle Herman The Theogony should be required reading in the Ohio State freshmen curriculum over The Odyssey because the Theogony better demonstrates the role of citizenship through the importance of cooperation and the freedom to choose. The Theogony should be required reading in the freshmen curriculum over The Odyssey because it emphasizes the importance of cooperation. In the Theogony, Typhon plans to rule over the Gods and humans.…

    • 383 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Life of a Single Mother I wonder how it felt to be in Penelope’s shoes with Telemachus. She was a single mother raising Telemachus threw out his whole life because his dad Odysseus had go to the Trojan war. She was a very indepent women and responisble when Odysseus was gone. I bet she had a hard time, but she was a good mother.…

    • 875 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Humanity includes all of the beings in the world, where they are righteous without influence. One way humanity is shown as intrinsically ethical is throughout Homer's Odyssey. Homer depicts many qualities of being a naturally good person through different aspects of the novel. Odysseus's self-control is one of these many aspects showing how human is naturally good. Another very important quality of the characters in the Odyssey is their own hospitality.…

    • 570 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Homer begins his story asking for creativity from the muse, and then starts in the middle. The epic is cleverly written to tell the story with as much action as possible. The action alludes to the characteristics of human nature that Homer wishes to examine. The importance of intelligence, loyalty and temptation within human culture are clear within many aspects of The Odyssey. Homer is very obvious in pointing out the importance of intelligence in various parts of The Odyssey.…

    • 1695 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    1. In Ion, Ion claims that his skill at reciting and explaining Homer's Iliad and Odyssey makes him an expert in every field on which Homer touches. What does Socrates think of this?…

    • 416 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Greeks believed that ones fate was predetermined and that it could not be avoided, one can only be judged for how they acted on the way towards meeting their fate. The concept of individuals meeting their fate is extremely prevalent in the great epic The Odyssey. This epic is one in which human lives are continuously manipulated by the gods, the one thing that the gods cannot do though is alter the individuals fate. In The Odyssey, fate governs the relationship between the central character Odysseus and the goddess of wisdom Athena. Though Athena cannot alter Odysseus’ fate her actions helps make his fate come to fruition.…

    • 768 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Odyssey Book Report

    • 819 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Odyssey was written by Homer. The main Character in The Odyssey is Odysseus, a man of advancing age who has earned the glory and worship of his people. Odysseus spent 20 years at war and returning home. With the help of the Greek Goddess Athena and her father Zeus, Odysseus was able to return to Ithaca. Upon returning to Ithaca Odysseus disguises himself as a beggar.…

    • 819 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Thousands of people join our military and risk their lives to fight for their country. After many years of fighting in war soldiers are no longer who they used to be. When they return home they are looked at, treated badly, and are not given the treatment needed to recover. The struggles and obstacles these veterans face on their journey home and once they arrive forever face. In the epic poem, Odyssey by Homer, it shows the obstacles a soldier has to face on their journey.…

    • 832 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Allison Craig Advanced English 10 Compare and Contrast essay 6/30/15 Captivating Audiences Have you ever wondered how film writers came up with all of the ideas to make fantastic blockbusters? Many of these movies are adapted from their original books, including The Odyssey, which was written by Homer. This novel is believed to be composed near the end of the eighth century. However, the Odyssey became modified by the film writer Andrei Konchalovsky, into a famous movie.…

    • 971 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays