This passage depicts the beauty of human ingenuity, human kindness, and human ambition. Essentially, it shows the beauty of humanity. Telemachus is being helped by the people of Ithaca because he does not himself have a ship or a crew. Despite this, the crew is loyal to Telemachus and follows his orders. The ship itself is fantastically described, and shows off the ingenuity of humanity. While there may not have been anything particularly unique about the ship in its time, the way Homer describes it lends itself to being admired. The crewmen are all very capable, easily able to follow orders and accomplish their tasks, which all work together to control the great ship, another testament to this human ingenuity. Telemachus himself is on a valiant
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He says, “suddenly wind hit full and the canvas bellied out and a dark blue wave, foaming up at the bow, sang out loud and strong as the ship made way, skimming the whitecaps, cutting toward her goal” (Homer II: 469-472). This quote is possibly the most beautiful that I read in this section of The Odyssey. I was tempted to use it alone to analyze, but felt a good portion of its beauty comes from the context surrounding it. Firstly, there is the victorious moment when the boat fully catches the wind. One can only imagine a trumpet fanfare playing in the background. Then nature, though likely influenced by Athena, works with them, providing them with a dark blue wave. This is beautiful not only because nature is working with humans, but because of its color. I’ve seen many, many bodies of water, but the most beautiful have been the light blue-green of a shallow lake and the menacing dark blue-black of a deep ocean. Homer then describes the billowing sail as breaking out into song. Music, I’ve found, is a way we express emotions when words just can’t cut it, and so by evoking a song it only adds to the beauty of the scene. The ship then skips across the water, towards Telemachus’ destination. All in all, this quote is victorious, which I believe to be beautiful, and the way Homer writes it is beautiful as
He says, “suddenly wind hit full and the canvas bellied out and a dark blue wave, foaming up at the bow, sang out loud and strong as the ship made way, skimming the whitecaps, cutting toward her goal” (Homer II: 469-472). This quote is possibly the most beautiful that I read in this section of The Odyssey. I was tempted to use it alone to analyze, but felt a good portion of its beauty comes from the context surrounding it. Firstly, there is the victorious moment when the boat fully catches the wind. One can only imagine a trumpet fanfare playing in the background. Then nature, though likely influenced by Athena, works with them, providing them with a dark blue wave. This is beautiful not only because nature is working with humans, but because of its color. I’ve seen many, many bodies of water, but the most beautiful have been the light blue-green of a shallow lake and the menacing dark blue-black of a deep ocean. Homer then describes the billowing sail as breaking out into song. Music, I’ve found, is a way we express emotions when words just can’t cut it, and so by evoking a song it only adds to the beauty of the scene. The ship then skips across the water, towards Telemachus’ destination. All in all, this quote is victorious, which I believe to be beautiful, and the way Homer writes it is beautiful as