Characters in the Odyssey

Few novels and stories can withstand the test of time and still exist in a modern pop culture. The Odyssey by Homer translated by Robert Fagles and Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky translated by Constance Garnett manage to pull this off with incredible storytelling and revolutionary works of writing in history. Both of these stories follow a same broad idea, the story of a person and their journey to home. These stories both have striking similarities despite their extreme differences,…

periods, and genres of literary work. The representation of heroism, and the characteristics of the hero throughout time have changed greatly in Greek literature, but the characters are still referred to as heroes. By comparing factors of three different Greek literary works, the changing nature of heroism can be seen. The Odyssey, The Argonautica, and Oedipus the King are all very influential Greek works. The heroes of each piece of literature have many similar characteristics, but there are…

The Odyssey is the second of two epic poems by ancient Greek poet Homer. The poem is considered to be the second work of the western literature. Homer was born between the 12th and the 8th century on the coast of Asia. It was written in the 8th century BCE. The poem is about the Greek hero Odysseus, king of Ithaca, his journey home after the fall of Troy. In the Odyssey Homer describes women as sexual predators and this symbolizes in the characters of the goddesses Circe, Calypso, and the sirens…

important epics and mythological tales, specifically The Iliad, The Odyssey, The Aeneid, and Sinbad the Sailor, readers can see that women play a far different role than men. In each of these texts, the protagonist is always a male character, who is brave, strong, and determined. The women never play these roles, but instead are an accessory to these protagonists, as well as flat and static characters; such as Eurycleia in The Odyssey, with her main goal being to tend to Odysseus, and she shows…

the texts, Homer’s The Essential Odyssey and Andrew George's translation of The Epic of Gilgamesh both share many fundamental values, including fear of the gods, which drives social conventions, what is just, which is decided by the gods, and honor, which drives the actions and thoughts of the characters. In both texts, fear and respect for the Gods comes up in many different situations—it influences social conventions and the daily lives of all of the characters, particularly Ninsun and…

Homer’s story, The Odyssey, can be read and and interpreted two ways: as a feminist or sexist. The story has many prominent female characters that have a big influence in Odysseus’ journey home. The Goddesses Athena, Circe and Calypso, play a part in testing Odysseus while also supporting the feminist ideal. Penelope, Odysseus’ wife and a mortal, shows her feminist stance through her quiet determination and her defiance against the suitors. Even though the Greek view on women is extremely…

preventing the great and wonderful actions of the Greeks and the barbarians from losing their due meed of glory; and withal to put on record what were their grounds of feud.” (Histories, 1.0) He is continuing in the same vein as the Iliad and the Odyssey, works that had already successfully preserved and glorified a past war, shaping Hellenic culture. All three stories are about war: the context…

According to The Odyssey by Homer and Hippolytus by Euripides, women in ancient Greece were “a great evil” (Euripides 2001: 29), deceitful, and liars. Throughout Odysseus’ journey, Odysseus encounters several women who kill men in his army, cause battles and the slaughter of many men and deceive the characters in the epic through disguises. The most destructive women in The Odyssey are Athena, Zeus’ daughter, and Clytemnestra, Agememnon’s wife. Although Athena appears to guide Telemachus in…

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,…

The Odyssey, an epic poem by Homer is about Odysseus and the reader learns that Xenia was given to anyone who needs it. Xenia means guest friendship and is given in times of need. Guest friendship was used in ancient Greek times around the country you did not necessarily need to be a hero Xenia was given to everyone and anyone who needed the hospitality. Hospitality meaning providing food, a bath, bed to rest, clothes, etc. There were rules to Xenia they consist of respect from host to guest…