Un-linear in fashion, the narrative is halted by excerpts of myth, which inform the reader of just one of Odysseus countless feats. As told by the bard Demodokos, the inner tales of “the quarrel between Odysseus and Achilleus son of Peleus”(8.75) and “the love between Aries and lovely-Aphrodite”(8.267) are symbolically significant, and draws a parallel with the outer story.…
The greek hero Perseus is one of the most famous ancient greek hero figures in history. To begin telling his tale of heroism I must first start with his legacy. The grandson of Acrisius and the son of Zeus and Danae, Perseus was born from very strong parents. Acrisius got word from an oracle that if is daughter Danae birthed a son, the child would kill his father. Acrisius, accordingly, shut up his daughter in a subterraneous chamber, made of brass and stone, but Zeus having metamorphosed himself into a shower of gold, came down upon her through the roof of the apartment, and became the father of Perseus. When Acrisius discovered that Danae had given birth to a son he cast her and Perseus into the sea in a golden chest. Miraculously…
Persepolis is a historical book yet an entertaining story of a girl during a frightening time in an important era in her country. Author, Marjane Satrapi writes about her experience in Iran as a child. She includes humor as well as sentimentality in this book to express her view on how times were. As a reader of this book it helped me understand the dark times that the Iranian people faced. With this book being a memoir it further helped understand the Islamic Revolution and the actions taken by the people of Islam in their efforts to stay safe during the war with Iraq. Marjane Strapi brought her experience to life as she wrote this book.…
There once was king named Acrisius, who lived in a magnificent mansion. Acrisius had a beautiful daughter named Danae. There was a man named Apollo, and he had a oracle, that told Acrisius that there would come a day when Danae’s son would kill him. Acrisius was afraid so he locked her in a bronze tower so that she would never get married or have children. Danae became very sad over the years, until one faithful day, a bright light came through the window that was in the bronze tower. A man appeared holding a thunderbolt in his hand, Danae knew it was the god Zeus. Zeus said “I have seen your empty heart, and I wish to make you my wife, if you agree I can turn this place into a beautiful garden.” As she agreed the terrible bronze tower turned into a beautiful garden. One day Acrisius saw a light coming from the window. He tore down one of the walls and when he entered, he saw Danae smiling and holding a baby boy in his hands. This baby was called Perseus.…
The story, The Odyssey, by Homer is about King Odysseus of Ithaca and his long journey and struggles to get back home. He was known as a strong, courageous and cunning warrior. He left home to fight in the Trojan War that lasted 10 years. On his journey back to Ithaca he meets up with different setbacks that ends up taking him 19 years to return home. While he is gone a group of wooers try to marry his wife Penelope and kill his son Telemachus. Odysseus creates a plan to disguise himself as a beggar and take back his throne. Odysseus almost losses Ithaca and everyone he loved. He is justified in killing all of the wooers to keep his wife Penelope, save his son Telemachus’ life and getting rid of every wooer that hurt his family to take back his…
Thus Orestes interprets the prophecy as him killing his mother as revenge for his father’s death. Cassandra had foreseen this in Agamemnon, and it has come true in The Libation Bearers, as evidenced by Clytaemnestra’s dream and Orestes’ return and subsequent murder of his mother. Again, the prophecies from Agamemnon and The Libation Bearers are shown to be integral to the plot.…
Fate, one of the most important themes in Greek culture, is expressed in Book XI in many ways. The whole basis of this book consists of Odysseus going to the Underworld to learn his and his shipmates' fate. First, Odysseus goes to Teiresias to find out his fate. Teiresias tells him how he will get home safely, about the suitors in his house and how he will kill them, and even how Odysseus will eventually die. After Teiresias tells Odysseus the information he needs, he says, "and all this shall be just as I foretell" (189), assuring Odysseus he will play out his fate correctly.…
The first four books, other wise known as the Telemachy, is able to prepare the readers for the story of Odysseus as it gives background information on the characters and foreshadows what is to come in the books ahead. Foreshadowing is prevalent throughout the epic and the journey's in it. In the case of Agamemnon, his life is ultimately ended in the hands of his wife and the suitor she had chosen. His son's revenge can foreshadow and parallel to what Telemachus and his journey may bring ahead. The story of Orestes (Agamemnon's son) and the vindication for his father, "Orestes killed the snake that killed his father. He gave his hateful mother and her soft man a tomb together, and proclaimed a festival day for all the Argive people." (44), brings to light the similarities between Telemachus and Orestes.…
The most commonly used motif of all is the quest for something of importance. In the Odyssey, Odysseus was away from home for twenty years and could not wait to see his faithful wife, Penelope, and loyal son, Telemachus (Homer). Odysseus is on his journey home to see his family and reclaim his throne as king of Ithaca. Just like Odysseus, in Finding Nemo, Marlin, a clownfish, swims across the ocean in a desperate search for his son, Nemo, after he was captured by a scuba diver. Marlin’s son was precious to him, and the only family he had in his life (Stanton). Odysseus and Marlin’s families are greatly important in their lives, and they make it clear that reuniting with them is a top priority.…
Prometheus is the son of the god Zeus, who disobeys his father and gave humans fire. In "Prometheus” he states, ‘“It is very greedy; you must feed it twigs until it becomes a proper size. Then you must stop, or it will eat everything in sight- and you too’” (Evslin 57). This personification can tell the reader how fire actually is since they both have greed and know how concreted greed is making it ideally difficult to stop. They can also infer how dangerous it is for the people to have such thing since they are not sure what it is yet but it can “eat them.”…
The theme of justice is shown very early in the poem. Zeus is thinking about the story of Aigisthos. Aigisthos married Agamemnon’s wife, Klytaimestra, and killed him on his return. Aigisthos was warned by Hermes to, “not to kill the man, nor court his lady for marriage” (Lattimore, Book 1, 39). This led to Orestes, son of Agamemnon, to kill Aigisthos in honor of his father. Not only does Orestes kill Aigisthos, he even kill his mother for committing adultery and aiding in the death of his father. The gods believes Aigisthos death was justifiable because he was warned; yet he still committed those crimes. Shown in the first few lines of the poem, Orestes’ actions seems to be a justifiable precedent for Odysseus when he gets back to his household.…
The play Pericles, Prince of Tyre is arguably one of Shakespeare's best plays. In this play Shakespeare displays two informative underlying themes. One of the themes that Shakespeare is trying to portray in this play is what goes around, comes around, and in the end good always triumphs over evil. Shakespeare also displays a belief in Gods, and how they control fate in peoples' lives. This theme represents loyalty. If you are true to yourself, worship the Gods, they will oversee your life, and bless it with gifts. The gods play a major part in the play Pericles, Prince of Tyre. They used good people, pirates, and coincidental events to reward Pericles in the end for overcoming adversity. Also the gods use the same method to punish the people…
The plot was associated to Oedipus, who had a very unfortunate life. In Thebes, where Oedipus ruled as a king, a curse was distressing all throughout the land. Oedipus was determined to save his kingdom from these detrimental prophecies. In the quest for solutions, he had ordered Creon to move out from the palace and went to Apollo to ask for help. However, Apollo uttered that the murderer of the previous king of Thebes must be killed for the curse to completely vanish. The Chorus implicated that Teiresias, a prophet, could possibly provide the missing piece of information. Oedipus compelled Teiresias to speak and he found out that he himself was the murderer. Dismally, the prophecy uttered that Oedipus would kill his own…
Odysseus is a heroic war hero who after fighting in the Trojan War is lost at sea, escapes from a magical nymph named Calypso. He then sails from island to island, outwits a Cyclops, angers the Sea god Poseidon, and intrigues the interest of the god Athena which whom will assist Odysseus to make it back Ithaca. Through all of his struggles he eventually makes it back home to his ever waiting wife Penelope, who has been pursued by multitudes of men in hopes of wife. Odysseus must outsmart Penelope’s suitors with wit. Penelope sets up a contest that the suitors are not capable of winning, but Odysseus is completes the contest with ease.…
Classic themes of The Odyssey are a reason that it is a timeless tale. The concept of revenge is often shown throughout Odysseus’ journey. The reason Odysseus kills the suitors is to avenge their plunder of his abode. Odysseus kills Antinoos first since he was the leader of the suitors. Not only do mortals believe in revenge, the gods do too. They encourage Odysseus to take revenge, and Zeus even sends a thunderbolt down to signal the right time for Odysseus to strike. Another theme in the Odyssey is hubris. In most classic, the hero or protagonist demonstrates this quality. This was followed up on in The Odyssey, where Odysseus was the character who demonstrated hubris the most. After he blinded Polyphemos and successfully escaped, he screamed out his name to the monster, who did not know his real identity previous to this. This was a mistake caused by his excessive pride, because he wanted the Cyclops to know that he, Odysseus, was powerful enough to blind the son of Poseidon. Polyphemos then prayed to his father that Odysseus would have a long and difficult journey, which of course Poseidon honored. Lastly, the use of the loom in The Odyssey helps to make the poem a timeless classic. The loom is used multiple times by women throughout the story. It often demonstrates hearth and home. Penelope uses it to trick the suitors. She says that she must complete the shroud of Laertes before she chooses a new suitor. This makes the suitors respect Penelope since it displayed her kindness and honor. In reality, Penelope was really avoiding marriage by unweaving the shroud…