Space Odyssey series

The ethic of hospitality is quite prevalent in Homer’s Odyssey. Its presence shows how important hospitality was to the ancient Greeks. They were expected to host others in need as if they were one’s own family, and guests were expected to respect their hosts. The gods are responsible for punishing those who practice improper hospitality. As it turns out, many of the characters in The Odyssey do not follow the Greek ethic of hospitality, and are subsequently punished by the gods for doing so. In…

Women of the Odyssey Throughout the Odyssey women are viewed in a myriad of ways; however, a common thread is woven into the epic. Women are seen as subordinate to men. Goddesses obey the gods, and mortal women kneel before their male counterparts. Suffering places itself upon women who disobey men. Females who allow men to control them are regarded with higher esteem than those who transgress the beliefs of men. At a glance it may appear that women are inferior to men; however, with deeper…

Robert Fagles describes the first four books of the Odyssey as the “Telemacheia”, “the story of a young man from a poor and backward island who asserts himself at home and visits the sophisticated courts of two rich and powerful kingdoms, to return home a grown man.” (introduction, pg 9). Crucial to this maturation is Athena, who assumes the role of father figure for Telemachus. Telemachus had no father in his life, since Odysseus left for Troy when Telemachus was an infant. Telemachus was an…

The world described by Hesiod in the Works and Days is different from the heroic world described by Homer in the Iliad and the Odyssey. These world differ in many different ways from each other in the aspect of realism. The descriptions in the Works and Days is a world that is close to Greek life and doesn’t exaggerate many aspects while the Iliad and the Odyssey are books that exaggerate heroes and warriors and wars throughout the story. There are a lot of major differences between the books…

"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…

The story begins after Troy has been defeated and the Greeks have returned home. One of the most well known epic poems, The Odyssey, a mythological Grecian epic poem that has been verbally passed down for centuries, it was finally written down between 900 and 700 BC by the influential scholar Homer. It is literally the journey home from the Trojan War for Odysseus, ruler of Ithaca. Having left Troy with ships full of supplies and men, Odysseus mostly survives on his own, confronting various…

Courage, nobility, and bold deeds - the perfect package for a hero. Fictitious or not, a hero is usually defined by these statements, including two men, Odysseus and Louie Zamperini. In the epic poem by Homer called The Odyssey, a resilient and bold man named Odysseus faces a ten year journey filled with many obstacles. He constantly faces problems and has to always find a way to solve them. Not only does he have to stay out of trouble, but he also has to keep himself and his men alive in order…

Both are the combination of man and god. Both have gods interfere in their lives. Both have friends that die during the course of their lives. As characters in a story, Gilgamesh in The Epic of Gilgamesh and Achilles in The Iliad share striking plot similarities. They are not the same story however. The Epic of Gilgamesh is an ancient Mesopotamian epic where the main character, King Gilgamesh, is an oppressive and unjust ruler until he meets Enkidu whom he then goes on an adventure with.…

HUM1: Demeter in the Hymn to Demeter is More Closely Resemble to Penelope in The Odyssey than Calypso In The Odyssey, Calypso resembles herself as Demeter, the goddess in Hymn to Demeter. However, Penelope in The Odyssey is more closely resembled to Demeter. Penelope and Demeter share one thing in common. When Demeter and Penelope struggle to fight with authority or pressure for their loved ones, Persephone and Odysseus, Persephone and Odysseus also suffered simultaneously when Demeter and…

The Odyssey falls right into place with Joseph Campbell’s, “Hero’s Journey” as Odysseus travels far and wide to complete his journey. He voyages through all of the twelve stages present in the hero’s journey while discovering, fighting, and traveling with his men till the very end. While on his voyage he becomes and meets characters that match the Hero’s Journey archetypes as they help or prevent him on his journey. The interpretation of the stages of the Hero’s Journey below helps to describe…