think Odysseus and his wife Penelope are perfect for each other and were meant to be together. I also believe Odysseus and Penelope's story is a very good example of how most military families function. I can relate to their story just a little bit because my husband was in the Air Force for six years. My husband served in the Air Froce from 2001 until 2007. He left for basic training just a couple months after the attack on September 11. The six years that he was in the military we got to experience one deployment.…
In Greek mythology, gods are seen as mystical, all-knowing and almighty, but what if it is not always true? In the novella Penelopiad, by Margaret Atwood, Penelope, the wife of Odysseus, is in her grave while she is narrating what happened in her life. Atwood retells The Odyssey by Homer, from penelope’s point of view. In this section of the book, she is informing the readers about the characteristics of the gods and how their actions were not god like. She is using the chance to reveal the true nature of the gods, because if have spoken illy of the gods she would have faced severe punishment.…
Penelope’s character is an archetype for anyone waiting for a loved one to return from war. Penelope has the strong courage to wait for twenty years even though there was no guarantee that Odysseus was alive. A woman’s mission in life in Geek times was to bear children and take care of the house. She had the strength to raise Telemachus single handed, letting him not feel the absence of his father.…
The gods seem to be aware of her emotional state and sometimes even keep information from her to avoid panic; a good example of this is when Eurycleia was washing the feet of Odysseus and Eurycleia discovers from a scar it is Odysseus and wanted desperately to tell Penelope it was her husband right there but “she could not catch the glance, she took no heed, Athena turned her direction elsewhere” (Homer 19.540). Penelope’s life is an interesting example of more Greek values that are fidelity and patience. The fact that Athena did not want Penelope to know also shows an important quality of the gods, that they are able to see the bigger picture, and have everything well planned…
Penelope’s cunningness, and loyalty in the epic depicts her as an ideal woman, showcasing her crucial role as a motivational guide for Odysseus and his journey back home. Starting with Penelope’s intelligence and cleverness. Penelope’s cunningness and intelligence is shown throughout the situation with her suitors. For instance, the quote, “Thereafter in the daytime she would weave at her great loom, but in the night she would have torches set by, and undo it. So for three years she was a secret in her design,” (2.104-106), shows the reader how Penelope is able to plan a strategy to delay choosing from one of her suitors to marry.…
Love is a powerful word. It has been told that through love, you can conquer all things. Like Odysseus, who traveled for years, for miles, and would endure any pain for the love of his family. Odysseus and Penelope had a very strong connection and marriage compared to others whom lived in this era. An era in which the definition of marriage was not one that we are quite used to. People of this age did not marry someone because they necessarily “loved” their spouse- but for the other things that the man or woman would bring to the table. Women looked for a suitor who would bring in the best gifts along with someone that would take care of the household. Men sought out for a certain reputation. They compete for the one they had laid eyes on by…
My two subtopics are about Ithaca and the Underworld. First, Ithaca is the main place of the plot of the Odyssey. Ithaca is the home island of Odysseus, the husband of Penelope and the father of Telemachus. Odysseus struggled 10 years to return home after the decade-long Trojan War. After Odysseus returned, he took back Ithaca's throne. In addition, his wife Penelope and his son Telemachus stave off suitors’ competition for Penelope's hand and Ithaca's throne for Odysseus to return. Furthermore, Eumaeus and Eurycleia were two important characters who lived in Ithaca. They helped Odysseus to reclaim his throne after he returned to Ithaca. The final battle in the story happened in this place when Odysseus reclaimed Ithaca’s throne and killed…
As Odysseus’ friend Agamemnon told him, that Penelope is “’much too steady, her feelings run too deep...that wise woman”’(263 - 64). Penelope contains the qualities of a trustworthy and cunning wife, a perfect match for Odysseus, however the suitors continue to woo her into marriage. Every night with the suitors ends as Penelope “fell to weeping for Odysseus...till watchful Athena sealed her eyes with welcome sleep”(435). Penelope also represents support for Odysseus; a crutch for him to lean on, a reminder of home. Ithaca is truly where the heart…
In the vast tellings of Homer’s The Odyssey, many character comparisons can be made. Few are more pressing however, than the heroism of Odysseus and his wife, Penelope. Although both Penelope and Odysseus displayed heroic characteristics in The Odyssey, Odysseus was more of a hero than his wife was in the epic. Penelope, while somewhat of a heroine, simply was not depicted by Homer to be the hero that her husband was.…
During the Odyssey alot of good advice is given to one another. Unfortunatley this good advice is usually ignored and results is disaster. Due to this theres many unfortunate events during this story just on the act of stubborness.…
In addition, Odysseus slays the dozens of suitors plaguing the halls of his palace. After returning to his palace in Ithaca, he commences a bloodbath. He begins by shooting the villainous Antinous through his neck. The text describes that “The point passed clean through his tender throat...His life-blood gushed from his nostrils in a turbid jet.” (Homer, 329) Odysseus begins to take back his right as the master of the palace. The lifeless state of Antinous stresses his looming wrath. In spite of the suitors’ attempts to bargain their wealth for being spared, Odysseus asserts the punishment which they deserve for their crimes. He says “...not if you made over all your patrimony to me...would I keep my hands from killing until you Suitors had…
Movies, which show more and tell less, allow potential heroes to prove their heroism with actions and not words. Each movie that we watched for class showed heroism in a different way, much like the ancient Greek and Roman poems told about heroism in a different way. Partially a product of their time, each movie approached a World War in a way that reflected the values of their time, much like how Odysseus’s cunning was praised by the Greeks and condemned by the Romans. However, I think that the sequence of movies matches up quite nicely with the sequence of poems. Comparing The Grand Illusion to the Iliad, Saving Private Ryan to the Aeneid, and Inglourious Basterds to the Odyssey brings out contrasts, like the definition of heroism, between…
In the epic, pain precedes greatness. The gods often time cause the pain of the great ones in the epic, allowing them to overcome their struggles and therefore become great. When talking about Demodokos, Homer wrote, “ By [the Muse’s] gift [Demodokos] knew the good of life, and evil--- for she who lent him sweetness made him blind” (127). Although the Muse takes away Demodokos’s eyesight, she shows him “ the good of life” and makes him an amazing minstrel. In this passage, there is a direct relationship between suffering and success. “She who lent him sweetness made him blind” shows how the Muse both made Demodokos great and caused him suffering. Although being blinded causes Demodokos pain, it allows him to be great. By causing Demodokos pain,…
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.…
Penelope is shown to be contsently in emotional termilol over odyessus throughout the Odyssey. For much of the book she is seen to be crying until a god take pity on her and allows her to fall asleep. But while Penelope is seen to be very leaky, she is also shown to be very rational, and very bounded to many things. One of this things is the funeral shroud that she uses to trick the suitors for three years by unraveling it at night. This was a very interseting part, because in some way it reence backs to Zues putting a viel on chaos and giving it form. Rather in this intsence the viel is a shroud, Penople is Zeus, and the chaos she is bounding is her solution to keep her husbands home without remarrying, or having to give it up, and to move back in with her parents. Penelope is and intersecting character because she mirrors Zeus first wife in many ways, such as tricking her suitors for three years, and by rational finding out that is Odysseus was the true Odysseus, and not and…