The Odyssey Essay

The Odyssey, written by Homer, is an epic that revolves around Odysseus and his men overcoming many obstacles while trying find their way back home to Ithaka after being lost for 20 years after the Trojan War. Back in Ithaka, Odysseus’ wife Penelope is struggling to keep up with her marriage due to the suitors forcing her to marry one of them. Telemachus, his son, who has been fatherless for a very long time now, will not give up on the idea that Odysseus will soon come back and embarks on an…

Throughout Odysseus’ adventures he encounters many challenges, but with intellect and guile he manages to escape them all while teaching the reader a lesson. This epic is known as the Odyssey. The Odyssey was originally written by Homer and translated by Robert Fitzgerald. This epic is based on a mortal known as Odysseus who has to overcome many complications in an effort to reach home. He had to face these problems due to his first adventure, the island of Cyclops where a cyclops prayed to…

by one’s culture, and how one’s culture has changed. In modern day, revenge is seen as a violent act in return of wrongdoing. Compared to Ancient Greece, revenge was honored and respected as a characteristic of many heroes. In the epic poem, The Odyssey, Homer uses the motif of revenge to demonstrate the value of violence and justice when considering someone a hero. Throughout his visit on Polyphemus’s island, Odysseus shows his heroic ability when displaying acts of violence and justice. Once…

In the book Odyssey written by Homer many different themes are used to help show the reader the struggles and conflicts the Odysseus must face on his long journey home. These themes demonstrate how a character can change over a period of time, however at times it seems as if Odysseus’s desire to return home is purposely delayed due to his personal actions and choices. The themes that are shown in the Odyssey, when closely analyzed, help paint a picture for the reader on how Odysseus’s journey…

man who has been through bitter experiences and traveled far enjoys even his sufferings after a time.” (Homer, The Odyssey). Imagine standing in front of a one-eyed, ten-foot tall Cyclops, or turning into a pig, or even traveling to the underworld after being away from home for twenty years. What a crazy thought! Odysseus experienced difficult adventures like so, in the book The Odyssey, by Homer. Throughout our lives, we withstand many struggles and distractions. This results in straying off…

The Odyssey is a mythological epic about the travels of a man and his crew along the waves of the sea. The Odyssey was written by a blind poet named Homer and it is said that he dictated the story poetic style in Greek with the intention of the story to be conveyed orally. There has been speculation that while Homer was verbally telling The Odyssey and The Iliad, scribes recorded these epics. Homer is estimated to have been born in eight-hundred BCE and died in seven-hundred BCE. The Odyssey is…

"The Odyssey" is an epic tale by a famous Greek poet, Homer. After being away from his kingdom in Troy for twenty years due to war, Odysseus and his crew started to make their journey back home. Unfortunately, they ran into some trouble along the way. Little did he know, his kingdom had been taken over by gentleman called suitors. While he spent years with other women on his journey back to the kingdom, his wife, Penelope, was holding off marrying anyone else because she had faith he was still…

provider of hospitality and are confined solely to the home. In this way, the household can be understood as an institution which rests on the distinction between masculinity and femininity. Depictions of the household and domesticity in Homer’s Odyssey displays the moral complexity for women to exist in these domestic spaces without subjugating themselves to the inherently patriarchal system that they are forced to live in. The physical and metaphorical…

A mentor is a wise and trusted counselor or teacher. The mentor is a significant figure because he/she helps the hero on his journey by guiding and helping the hero. In The Odyssey, the goddess Athena helps protect and guide Odysseus on his way home from twenty years away for battle and the adventure he had. Athena provides protection when she is with him: “’ Surely I’ll stand beside you, not forget you, not when the day arrives for us to do our work’” (13, 299, 449-450). Athena helps…

Angelou a “Hero is any person really intent on making a better place for all people.” In other words, a hero is someone that makes sacrifices, and contributes to others. In the Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus must defeat supernatural obstacles such as gods, and cyclops to return home to his son and wife after 20 years. Although Odysseys is quickly perceived as a hero through its narrative perspective, He is ultimately an antihero which is explained through Odysseus’s selfish personality, and lack of…