Winslow Homer

In the 2017 documentary, The Crest, directed by Mark Covino, the story of two cousins on opposite sides of the United States who are both surfers and both unaware of the other’s existence, and they discover that they are both descendants of An Ri, the last King of the Blasket Islands, a collection of rocky islands off the western-most point of Ireland. The cousins meet for the first time in Ireland on a quest to explore their shared heritage, learn what has been passed down to them from those…

In the movie Chariots of the Gods, based on the novel by Erich von Däniken, it brings up multiple pseudoarchaeological claims. A pseudoarchaeology claim “-involves the misinterpretation and misrepresentation of archaeological data to concoct a past that some feel is more satisfying” (Fader). One of the most interesting claims I heard about was the idea that the Egyptians could not have built the pyramids in Giza by themselves with the technology available at the time. Von Däniken creates this…

The Odyssey, an epic poem by Homer later adapted into a play by Simon Armitage, is a narrative depicting the journey of the greek hero Odysseus back to Ithaca after fighting in the Trojan War. His voyage spans twenty years, and throughout the course of his trip back home, Odysseus and his men encounter various obstacles that they need to overcome. Since Odysseus is essentially the leader of his crew, it is most often his responsibility to defeat the enemy and solve the problem at hand. At times,…

Empiricism. Depriving of the Greek word, Empeiria, meaning experience. Like many English words honored with deprivation from the language of our ancestors, the greek it was harvested from hints at its meaning. Empiricism is a philosophical theory, the theory of experience. It is the view that all knowledge comes from experience, furthermore sensory experience. The premise being that sensory experience is the most reliable source of knowledge. We can’t imagine the world without the sensory…

affect thousands of lives. In Book II The Iliad states “45 kings and princes from 29 areas who lead the crews of a total of 1,186 ships”. Not only are all of these soldiers fighting for Helen affected, but also all the families left behind, which Homer portrays when Hector’s wife “bemoans the fate of a widow and the orphan, unprotected in a world of violence”. By kidnapping Helen, Paris unintentionally kills thousands of men and leaves even more in grief. Another theme remains apparent halfway…

Life is meaningless, humans often search for clarity. Sisyphus was shown as an absurd hero, he was the wisest and most prudent of the mortals. Although he was labeled as such a noble person, Sisyphus often questioned the meaning of his life and existence. “There is only one real philosophical problem, and that is suicide. Deciding whether or not life's worth living to answer the most fundamental questions of philosophy.” It was found that our existence has no true meaning. We look for things…

Between both epic poems by Homer; The Iliad and The Odyssey, the reader is able distinguish a variety of themes that set both stories apart. But there are also multiple instances where the themes of the poems overlap and actually build off of each other. This is where Homer is able to help the reader fully understand both stories by implementing themes through both poems and a multitude of characters and situations to help his message get across. One of the biggest similarities between both…

However, some people believe in very different outcomes. One being that she was stolen by Paris away from her home with Menelaus her husband. And some say that she was in love with Paris and she willingly ran away with him. Nonetheless the way that Homer told it was that she was stolen…

One common expression which we hear very often is “to open a Pandora’s box.” Now, you might have dismissed it as just another proverb, but this saying actually has a story behind it. The Greek myth of Pandora’s box eventually lead to this common saying. The main character of this myth, Pandora, is culturally significant and shows how the Greek population viewed the world. Pandora is a Greek mythical character who illustrates Greek values and culture through her actions in the myth, Pandora’s box…

guided by his emotions and not but his brains. “You wine sack, with a dog's eyes, with a deer's heart. Never once have you taken courage in your heart to arm with your people for battle” (Homer, Book 1, 225-227). Even though he…