“Men are so quick to blame the gods: they say that we devise their misery. But they themselves- in their depravity- design grief greater than the griefs that fate assigns .” This one line from Homer’s Odyssey summarizes the epic poem in a whole. The story of Odysseus’ s journey home after war is one of the most well-known poems in history. There have been many variations to the poem including author’s basing their books off the poem and movies that were written to follow the story line. The Odyssey is a representation of a person trying to find their identity and a soldiers journey home from war, which helps to tie The Odyssey to World Civilizations. The Odyssey picks up where Homer’s previous epic poem, the Iliad, ended, it has been ten years
…show more content…
We can relate to this hero because we share with him a sense of being somehow lost in a world of difficult choices. Like him, we have to cope with unfair authority figures. Like him, we seem always to have to work very hard to get what we want .” Homer wrote The Odyssey to show that everyone must go on a journey through life to discover who they are, or their identity. The story starts with Odysseus returning from war a hero and feeling like he is on top of the world, as most heroes do. Unfortunately, on his journey home, all of the mythological creatures scoffed at his military prowess, an even the people of his home seem to lack respect for him . This is how many people today can feel when they go off to college, move to a new job, or start a new career. When Odysseus wins the war, and starts to head home this could be seen as the beginning of his identity crisis because up to this point in this life nobody has ever questioned his worth or his ability to do …show more content…
This is the researchers' interpretation, anyway. Homer wrote that Hermes, the Greek name for Mercury, traveled far west to deliver a message.”
Even if these historians and astronomers don’t have the exact date of Odysseus’s return correct, they did their best to calculate where the real historical events would fit-in with the events of The Odyssey.
The Odyssey fits in with World Civilization I because this course talks extensively about traveling and the journeys of various civilizations. In addition, there are quite a few wars in history and The Odyssey is the story of a soldier’s journey home. When Odysseus returns to Ithaca Penelope does not recognize him, this is since Athena has disguised Odysseus as an old beggar, this is very similar to a soldier returning home injured and looking very different.
“He is at first unrecognizable to his wife (he has come back "a different person" – literally, in that he has disguised himself and assumed a false name, but military spouses will understand the metaphor of the warrior utterly changed by war). The necessary process of recognition and reintegration is accomplished, but only violently, painfully
We can relate to this hero because we share with him a sense of being somehow lost in a world of difficult choices. Like him, we have to cope with unfair authority figures. Like him, we seem always to have to work very hard to get what we want .” Homer wrote The Odyssey to show that everyone must go on a journey through life to discover who they are, or their identity. The story starts with Odysseus returning from war a hero and feeling like he is on top of the world, as most heroes do. Unfortunately, on his journey home, all of the mythological creatures scoffed at his military prowess, an even the people of his home seem to lack respect for him . This is how many people today can feel when they go off to college, move to a new job, or start a new career. When Odysseus wins the war, and starts to head home this could be seen as the beginning of his identity crisis because up to this point in this life nobody has ever questioned his worth or his ability to do …show more content…
This is the researchers' interpretation, anyway. Homer wrote that Hermes, the Greek name for Mercury, traveled far west to deliver a message.”
Even if these historians and astronomers don’t have the exact date of Odysseus’s return correct, they did their best to calculate where the real historical events would fit-in with the events of The Odyssey.
The Odyssey fits in with World Civilization I because this course talks extensively about traveling and the journeys of various civilizations. In addition, there are quite a few wars in history and The Odyssey is the story of a soldier’s journey home. When Odysseus returns to Ithaca Penelope does not recognize him, this is since Athena has disguised Odysseus as an old beggar, this is very similar to a soldier returning home injured and looking very different.
“He is at first unrecognizable to his wife (he has come back "a different person" – literally, in that he has disguised himself and assumed a false name, but military spouses will understand the metaphor of the warrior utterly changed by war). The necessary process of recognition and reintegration is accomplished, but only violently, painfully