In “Homer’s Odyssey” and “Siren Song” both show the weaknesses of human beings. Also it reveals humans find something so enticing that they are incapable of withstanding it. In “Homer’s Odyssey” Homer creates an illusion that the sirens are dangerous creatures, unlike Atwood’s poem, “Siren Song.” Atwood’s poem however shows a desperation coming from the sirens.…
In The Odyssey written by Homer and translated by Richard Lattimore, several themes are made evident, conceived by the nature of the time period, and customs of the Greek people. These molded and shaped the actual flow of events and outcomes of the poem. Beliefs of this characteristic were represented by the sheer reverence towards the gods and the humanities the Greek society exhibited, and are both deeply rooted within the story.…
Bibliography: 1dkennedy.org. (2004, July 15). The Greek Myths: 1 - Robert Graves. Retrieved from dkennedy.org Book reviews: http://www.dkennedy.org/C2025243227/E518045992/index.html…
Many people have noticed the similarities between The Odyssey by Homer, and O’ Brother, Where Art Thou? by the Coen Brothers. Both characters exhibit perseverance at great lengths and many other things throughout their journeys. There are many things in common between the two main characters. Both are away from their homes for a long time and are leaving loved ones behind. Their journeys were very similar but different at the same time. Two things may be very similar but things are bound to be different.…
One day, in the far away land of Olympia, lived two gods named Zeus and Poseidon. Zeus and Poseidon are brothers, but Poseidon prefers not to be seen by other mortals or gods. Therefore, he was already mad Zeus for bringing him to Olympia, but little did they both know that it was about to all go down hill. Just before Zeus pulled Poseidon out of the ocean, he saw a mortal girl named Ara. Ara is a very beautiful woman and most people are attracted to her. Besides the fact that Zeus has already had three affairs, he had to win over the heart of Ara. That leaves us where we are now with Zeus and Poseidon. Poseidon is now out of the ocean and refused to go into town.…
“….But any man I catch trying to skulk behind his long beaked ship, hanging back from battle, he is finished. No way for him to escape the dogs and birds!” So he commanded and the armies gave a deep resounding roar like the waves crashing against a cliff when a South Wind whips it, bearing down, some craggy headland jutting out to sea, the waves will never leave it in peace, thrashed by gales that hit from every quarter, breakers left and right.”*1…
In a world whereby diverse cultures and religions collide amongst the disparate and polarized people of our planet, there are few pervading threads that adhere the seams of human life and experience as vividly and profoundly as mythology. Emerging from the first primordial peoples of the earth, from the Occident to the Orient, mythology appears to be an almost innate and inbuilt feature of the human psyche; as religion fuels the contention of superhuman gods who perhaps once sowed the seeds of life, mythology yields the direction and guidance that we all individually require whilst balancing on the beam of existence. Timeless in nature and endlessly influential, the mythic structure reflects the journey we all experience from the cradle to the grave, whereby the fantastical monsters and heroes of yesterday now act as allegorical agents for surviving the trials and obstacles of today. These archetypes, the mystic guides we associate wholeheartedly with fantasy and exaggeration, are found not only in ancient scriptures and folklore, but also deep within the recesses of our unconscious where these characters facilitate the uncertain and perilous path of living. They exemplify how the human psyche sculpts separate dimensions to our personalities to cope with the theatrics the world stage may throw at us, whereby psychologist Carl Jung (1961) identified a particularly strong correlation between dream characters and the mythic archetypes; he postulates that they are both originating from the same source, the collective unconscious, whereby the human psyche manifests itself through mythic figures in dreams. (Jung, 1961) Myths are therefore psychologically accurate; they represent the inner mechanics of our minds, the universal cogs and gears constantly rotating the…
Since the birth of prose, various literary techniques such as tone, imagery, similes, and foreshadowing have been used by authors to engender specific impressions upon their audience. Like an artist's pallet of paint, authors color their words with vibrancy through the use of these literary tools. In the Greek work the Iliad, Homer skillfully utilizes similes and foreshadowing in an innovative way. Rather than approaching them as separate entities, he notably combines them by foreshadowing in the form of a simile about what will come to pass. Though the fall of Troy may not be told directly in the Iliad, numerous comparisons are drawn between the element of fire and Ilion, alluding to its anticipated and foreseen demise. Through critical analysis of three specific epic similes, it is apparent that the functions which Homer's similes serve not only surpass extravagant imagery, but also heighten anticipation about an expected occurrence and expand the descriptive power of each scene in which they appear.…
Homer wrote one of the greatest and earliest literary works, the Odyssey around the eight-century BCE. The Odyssey provides us with a lens through which we examine Greek society around eight hundred BCE. Prevalent themes including, Greek hospitality, their attitudes towards the afterlife, and their relationship of gods and man are all present in the Odyssey, which are also contemporaneous in ancient Greek life around the eighth century. Ultimately, the Odyssey allows us to learn more about people’s customs and beliefs in archaic Greece.…
During The Iliad we see the warrior ethos as being the main ethos, but as we transfer to The Odyssey we see the transformation from warrior ethos to domestic ethos. Furthermore, the novel is based on domestic ethos and how home affects the warrior. Throughout The Odyssey we see Odysseus trying to make his way home after the Trojan War. On his adventure home he goes through trials and challenges before he actually makes it home. He has to outsmart people to be able to get where he wants to with out dying. This task is not easy but eventually he makes it. Moreover, we realize that warrior ethos is not the major ethos represented in the novel. It is domestic ethos. Odysseus learns how to use the domestic ethos to his advantage to be able to make it back home and see his family.…
The book The Odyssey by Homer is a way to show how people can face many challenges in their lives. For example, the cyclops named Prometheus could be an example of people trying to hurt you, or stop you on your journey. Lotus flowers could represent temptations, and Aeolus meant to represent fortune and luck in going to be where you want to go, and underestimating how fortunate you are at a certain time. It’s easy to mix life with fiction, but the Odyssey merges the two beautifully.…
Homer’s The Odyssey is a tale about a man journeying home to his family while facing many trials along the way. Throughout the story, there are many themes that illustrated the Greek Society’s beliefs at the time. One of the most prominent themes is how the Greek Gods were portrayed throughout the story. Due to their significant aid to Odysseus’s endeavors, the Gods in Ancient Greek Society were revered as good and pure.…
The Iliad and The Odyssey are tales written by Homer centered on the drama of the Trojan War. First poem deals with the time during the end of the war, while the latter, which occurs roughly ten years later, explains the disastrous journey of Odysseus fighting his way back home. The character of women in the Odyssey is to exhibit the many and diverse roles that women play in the lives of men. These functions vary from characters such as the goddess ' that help them to the nymphs who trick them. Women in the Iliad exhibit their significance in the lives of the ancient Greeks because they are so prominent in a world so dominated with military relations.…
I found the connection between dreams and ancient religions to be the most intriguing part of the reading. It certainly does make sense that dreams might have inspired animism and other forms of religion and the way that the ancients interacted with dreams seems to share many similarities with how we interact with dreams. Similar to what happens in a Seneca Dream Guessing ceremony, people today analyze their dreams and interpret them in various ways, although it is not always in a spiritual light and there are many more resources now besides for friends, family, and other tribe members to offer ideas of what dreams might mean. Additionally, just as people in ancient times might have interpreted their dreams according to their religion, considering dreams to be visions or proof of possession by some higher power, people today may do the exact same thing. Considering how odd dreams can seem and how we still don’t seem to have much knowledge on their causes today, this comes across as unsurprising.…
The Odyssey is the epic that has been read time and time again, by varying ages, digging its way into our hearts, becoming an instant classic. Odysseus and the adventures of his homecoming create a much different tale than Homer’s other work, the Iliad, provided. The epic is not about bloodthirsty men trying to get their hands on kleos anymore; it is about the homecoming of a man who uses his wits, not his weapon. In the Odyssey, the characters balance – Homer provides contrasting characters to show the readers the traits that Odysseus holds and how it builds his character development and even those who are foils to him. Odysseus’ own son, Trojan War companions, and wife create the man that is called Odysseus, highlighting the various facets of his personality throughout the epic.…