Free Essays on Odyssey

Odyssey vs. O’ Brother Where Art Thou This paper compares the Odyssey to O’ Brother Where Art Thou. Even though Homer’s Odyssey was written in Greek times, the movie O’Brother Where Art Thou has many similarities. The Odyssey and O’ Brother each start with an obstacle that keeps the main characters, Odysseus (Odyssey) and Everet (O’Brother), from their homes and their wives for many years. Odysseus is kept from home because he is fighting the war between Troy and Greece, and for Everet it’s prison. When Odysseus escapes, from the war, and Everet escapes, from prison, they both try to return their homeland and their wives. Odysseus and Everet are blessed with meeting a blind prophet that tells them their journey but not what obstacles they will have to overcome. Odysseus first runs into a Cyclops that is the son of Poseidon, the God of the Sea, and when Odysseus barges in, the Cyclops eats 6 of his men. Everet though is traveling with only two other men, Pete and Delmar. When they barge in on Pete’s cousin his cousin turns them into the police. Odysseus believes that the gods didn’t help him by any means and Everet doesn’t believe in gods at all. This lack of faith proves to be wrong for both men at the end of their voyages. Pete and Delmar get baptized and Everet gives them credit for being dumber than a sack of hammers. Just after this they meet a thrill seeker named George Nelson a.k.a. Baby Face Nelson. In the Odyssey, Odysseus runs into Aeolous the cousin of Poseidon says: â€Å"The sea is nothing without the wind.† Aeolous just happened to be the god of the wind and gave Odysseus and his men a wind home and all the bad winds in a bag. I believe that George Nelson is comparable to Aeolous and the Sheriff is comparable to Poseidon. I also believe that the law is nothing without the crime, so George Nelson’s conflict with the Sheriff is comparable to the conflict between Aeolous and Poseidon. Odysseus a... Free Essays on Odyssey Free Essays on Odyssey The Odyssey features many great women of classical fiction, and they represent the spectrum from the benevolent and chaste Penelope to the malevolent and chaotic Sirens. Yet despite their allegiance to good or evil, all of them play a major part in helping our protagonist Odysseus complete his circutious journey home. Although they were valued, the human women, were expected to possess certain traits and occupied a subservient and inferior position. The goddesses were also known for their beauty but possessed a little more power. The most important aspect of a women was her appreance and the children she bore. It meant everything in the Ancient Greece times. If important men and gods consider a woman beautiful, or if her son is a hero or important king, the woman is successful. During the book you will read nothing about a women’s accomplishments in her lifetime. Their only role and only power they posses is their strong influence on men. The whole reason Odyssey had first left his home, was to help retrieve Helen and bring her to her home. To the men a women is a trophy that is to be placed upon the shelves and paraded around like a prize. Women in the Odyssey are very often seen and spoken about as sexual creatures. Penelope, the wife of Odysseus, is one such woman. Penelope was a women of beauty and grace, her suitors all waited for the day she would pick a new husband and as they did she approached them and used her powers to have them bring her gifts on the last night before her belove d husband arrived. â€Å"The suitor’s knees went slack, thier hearts dissolved in lust-all of them lifted prayers to lie beside her, share her bed.† For their beauty they were praised and loved. Throughout the book, everytime a women is mentioned there is a phrase or word that describes her for Penelope it was usually radient. For Athena the goddess, it was bright eyed. Every women was introduced or spoken about in a sexual way a... Free Essays on Odyssey Usually when the word hero is mentioned people tend to think of heroes such as Superman, Batman, and Spiderman. People often forget one of the most important and earliest of our time. The famous Greek poet, Homer, writes of him in one of his most famous works, The Odyssey. His name is Odysseus, King of Ithaca. Odysseus proves his heroism well throughout this story overcoming many obstacles and reaching his goal. All heroes possess three common characteristics. Neither are fools or invincible, each has a goal, and each is beset with many dangers, loneliness, and temptation. One can see after reading this great epic that Odysseus well deserves the title of a hero. The first main characteristic of a hero is that he or she is neither fool nor invincible. Odysseus cunning wit can be seen even before the Odyssey. He was the clever mastermind behind the great wooden horse of Troy. Odysseus again shows off his craftiness when he is found trapped in the cave of the Cyclops. He is able to defeat the Cyclops by using many sly tactics, such as getting the monster drunk and escaping under the bellies of sheep. On the island of Calypso, Odysseus uses his sensible mind on the goddess to assure of his safety once he is set free. Calypso replies, â€Å"what a rogue you are to say such a thing! It shows the crafty way your mind works† (75). Even the gods and noble kings recognize his ingenious mind. Odysseus also proves that he is invincible just as any other mortal man. Poseidon, the unpredictable god of the seas, has it in for Odysseus for killing his son, Polyphemus. Poseidon tortures poor Odysseus throwing him about the dark sea not allowing him t o return home for several years. Odysseus is also struck with the burden of losing his entire crew and being stranded on an island for seven years. His misfortune alone proves him to be invincible. The next main characteristic ever hero acquires is that each has a personal goal they strive to obtain. Ody... Free Essays on Odyssey Odyssey vs. O’ Brother Where Art Thou This paper compares the Odyssey to O’ Brother Where Art Thou. Even though Homer’s Odyssey was written in Greek times, the movie O’Brother Where Art Thou has many similarities. The Odyssey and O’ Brother each start with an obstacle that keeps the main characters, Odysseus (Odyssey) and Everet (O’Brother), from their homes and their wives for many years. Odysseus is kept from home because he is fighting the war between Troy and Greece, and for Everet it’s prison. When Odysseus escapes, from the war, and Everet escapes, from prison, they both try to return their homeland and their wives. Odysseus and Everet are blessed with meeting a blind prophet that tells them their journey but not what obstacles they will have to overcome. Odysseus first runs into a Cyclops that is the son of Poseidon, the God of the Sea, and when Odysseus barges in, the Cyclops eats 6 of his men. Everet though is traveling with only two other men, Pete and Delmar. When they barge in on Pete’s cousin his cousin turns them into the police. Odysseus believes that the gods didn’t help him by any means and Everet doesn’t believe in gods at all. This lack of faith proves to be wrong for both men at the end of their voyages. Pete and Delmar get baptized and Everet gives them credit for being dumber than a sack of hammers. Just after this they meet a thrill seeker named George Nelson a.k.a. Baby Face Nelson. In the Odyssey, Odysseus runs into Aeolous the cousin of Poseidon says: â€Å"The sea is nothing without the wind.† Aeolous just happened to be the god of the wind and gave Odysseus and his men a wind home and all the bad winds in a bag. I believe that George Nelson is comparable to Aeolous and the Sheriff is comparable to Poseidon. I also believe that the law is nothing without the crime, so George Nelson’s conflict with the Sheriff is comparable to the conflict between Aeolous and Poseidon. Odysseus a... Free Essays on Odyssey The Odyssey, written by Homer, tells the story of Odysseus and how he faced misfortune in his attempts to return home after the Trojan war. Odysseus is not famous for his great strength or bravery, but for his ability to deceive and trick. From his misfortunes he learned to be a better man and became able to regain his place in his homeland of Ithaca. During his journeys Odysseus often makes the mistake of bragging to his enemies but learns that doing this gives his enemies a chance to seek revenge against him. After leaving Troy, Odysseus attacks the land of the Cicones. Instead of leaving after his victory he satys to celebrate until a force is gathered against him. He must then flee after many of his men are killed. Afterwards Odysseus and his crew land on the island of the Cyclops. they are attacked and someof the men are eaten by Polyphemus. After getting the giant Cyclops drunk, Odysseus and his medn blind the monster with a spear in his one eye. The could have made an escape without misfortune but Odysseus mocked Polyphemus and shouted his real name, when before Odysseus had told Polyphemus that his name was "Noman". With this new information Polyphemus prays to his father, Peoeidon, to have Odysseus and his men punished. because he agnered Peoceidon, Odysseus must wander throughout the sea while his men slowly die one by o ne. Odysseus learns that bragging can have ill effects and uses this knowledge on the island of Phaecians and Ithaca when he does not openly brag about his deeds and his journeys. Odysseus also learns to pay close attention to the instructions of the gods, or he might have to face a terrible price. When Odysseus and his crew landed at the island of Aeolus, they were given a parting gift that would have helped if they had paid attention to the warnings of Aeolus. He gave Odysseus a bag full of the bad winds tha would keep them from their home of Ithaca. Odysseus and his crew were in sight of the homeland... Free Essays on Odyssey The Social Ritual of Leadership Leadership is an essential part for any group in a society that wants to be successful at whatever it’s trying to accomplish. Without a leader the group will not be able to achieve their goals. The group will instead be lost and confused. However, after that goal has been meet, does the leadership diminish as well? The passion that once was there to lead the group might not exist anymore. The wealth that the group has achieved will most likely outweigh the strength of the leadership that once excited. Also the group’s willingness to listen to their leader will also decrease. In book IX of The Odyssey of Homer, Odysseus’ leadership starts to decline, as his group was able to reach the goal that they had set out to accomplish. The Greeks believed in the importance of social order and rituals, and one of those included having good leadership abilities. Odysseus has always portrayed himself as a true leader. He is the strongest and most powerful out of all of the men. He believed that he was the one that was responsible for leading his men to victory in the first battle against the Kikonians. Odysseus and his men defeated the Kikonians in battle and were rewarded with the war spoils that the Kikonians had to give to them. However, some of Odysseus’s men became greedy and took more possessions than was granted. They were just excited by the new fortunes that they had obtained. They did not listen to Odysseus because they had already gotten what they wanted. This caused the Kikonians to become frustrated by the way Odysseus and his people were dishonoring the social ritual of good hospitality. It will later lead to a second attack by the Kikonians and some of its’ neighbors against Odys seus and his men. This starts to demonstrate the decline of Odysseus’ leadership abilities. In terms of the type of social order that the Greeks believed in, a good leader is someone that... Free Essays on Odyssey BOOK I TELL ME, O MUSE, of that ingenious hero who travelled far and wide after he had sacked the famous town of Troy. Many cities did he visit, and many were the nations with whose manners and customs he was acquainted; moreover he suffered much by sea while trying to save his own life and bring his men safely home; but do what he might he could not save his men, for they perished through their own sheer folly in eating the cattle of the Sun-god Hyperion; so the god prevented them from ever reaching home. Tell me, too, about all these things, O daughter of Jove, from whatsoever source you may know them. So now all who escaped death in battle or by shipwreck had got safely home except Ulysses, and he, though he was longing to return to his wife and country, was detained by the goddess Calypso, who had got him into a large cave and wanted to marry him. But as years went by, there came a time when the gods settled that he should go back to Ithaca; even then, however, when he was among his own people, his troubles were not yet over; nevertheless all the gods had now begun to pity him except Neptune, who still persecuted him without ceasing and would not let him get home. Now Neptune had gone off to the Ethiopians, who are at the world's end, and lie in two halves, the one looking West and the other East. He had gone there to accept a hecatomb of sheep and oxen, and was enjoying himself at his festival; but the other gods met in the house of Olympian Jove, and the sire of gods and men spoke first. At that moment he was thinking of Aegisthus, who had been killed by Agamemnon's son Orestes; so he said to the other gods: "See now, how men lay blame upon us gods for what is after all nothing but their own folly. Look at Aegisthus; he must needs make love to Agamemnon's wife unrighteously and then kill Agamemnon, though he knew it would be the death of him; for I sent Mercury to warn him not to do either ... Free Essays on Odyssey The â€Å"Odyssey† is an epic story that has been a significant piece of literature since it was first composed and will remain so for ages to come. One of the reasons it has been so is because of the hero, Odysseus. Odysseus is one of the first Greek mythic heroes renowned for his brain as well as his muscle. Indeed he is a man with an inquiring mind, and he is also a man with outstanding prowess and bravery. We also must not forget that he is a top-notch athlete which only adds more to this seemingly insuperable character. It is no wonder why many scholars refer to Odysseus as a powerful mythic hero. Odysseus often hesitates before acting, because he uses his reason and gift to evaluate things. This patience is one of his most important additional attributes. This has saved him and his men many of times, and it can be easily seen in various instances throughout his travels such as when he disguised himself as a beggar when he finally reached Ithaca, waiting for the right moment to reveal himself. As great as he was, Odysseus still had some weaknesses that prolonged his voyage back to Ithaca. His most important weakness that he possess is that of his pride. Pride is good to have, but in Odysseus' case he had to much of it. This is clearly evident in the episode on the cyclopes' island. When Odysseus and his men are clearly safe away from the island Odysseus braggs about his exploit. Polythemus hears this and hurls giant boulders in the direction of the ship. A couple came very close to sinking the ship. Still that was not enough for Odysseus. Carried away in his pride he unwisely gave away his identity to Polythemus. With that Polythemus called upon his father, Poseidon, to punish the man who had harmed him. That incident hurt Odysseus more than losing a few men, because Poseidon made his travel home ever so longer and arduous. Yet another weakness of our hero is his sensualness. Odysseus enjoys women. He stayed with Circe fo... Free Essays on Odyssey The tale begins on Mt. Olympus where Athena draws Zeus' attention to Odysseus whose journey has been halted on the island of Calypso. Zeus sends Hermes to have Odysseus released and Athena goes to Ithaca. In Ithaca she assumes a disguise and convinces Telemachus to go on a journey seeking news of his father. Telemachus calls an assembly announcing that the suitors who have besieged his house and have eaten his food for years are in the wrong. He goes to see Nestor at Pylos and Nestor does not know anything recent about his father. Nestor advises him to go to Sparta to see Menelaus. When he gets to Sparta, Menelaus tells him that the last thing he heard about Odysseus was that he was trapped on the island of Calypso. They feast together and talk into the night. Athena reminds Zeus to send Hermes to Calypso and he tells her that Odysseus may leave but under strict conditions: he has to build his own raft. Calypso isn't happy about the command and Odysseus has problems believing her. Once he has built his raft, she gives him food and sends him off. He sails for seventeen days and then his raft is destroyed by Poseidon. He is aided by a nymph and floats for two days to land. He is found by Nausikaa and told to go to the house of her father Alkinoos. Alkinoos hears part of his tale and secures passage for him back to Ithaca. There are athletic games and feasts at which a minstrel sings. The minstrel's songs make Odysseus cry and this makes Alcinoos even more curious about his situation. Alkinoos asks Odysseus if any of his relatives died at Troy and Odysseus begins his tale. He tells them how he left Troy and lost some men in a botched raiding party. Soon after this they came near the land of the Lotus eaters where some of his men were almost lost to the enchanting flower. Then came the island of the cyclops. Odysseus led his men in to investigate and were trapped by Polyphemus, one of the cyclo...