Rise And Fall Of Odysseus In The Odyssey
The Odyssey is considered one of the oldest pieces of literature that we as mankind know; even if it was passed down orally for hundreds of years and we have little to no information about who Homer was or if he even existed. Even with its stylistic writing as well as what in today’s society would be considered as hard to follow structure, the Greeks knew and understood this story by heart, no matter the social or economic status of any one person. This piece tells the story of Odysseus and his ten year struggle to return home to Ithaca, even though most believe him to be dead. While gone, his wife Penelope is courted by suitors in hopes of the riches and title that is held by Odysseus as we watch the rise and fall of and fall of Odysseus’
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journey and the growth of him as a character along the way. Throughout this piece, Homer creates such concepts like a bildungsroman, as well as the Greeks struggle with who is to blame within this world in relation to deities versus human nature, which all ties together through a sense of adventure and a hero to conquer all, which perfectly defines what the Greeks chose to live their life by and embodied their culture as a whole. When speaking of The Odyssey, we must literally go to the beginning of time in terms of literature. The earliest citing that we have of The Odyssey coming into a reality, dates back into the late eighth or early seventh century (Introduction, 1). Homer specifically crafted this poem for the Greeks to describe their culture and lifestyle of trying to capture what happens after a war as well as the everyday struggles of a man, no matter how heroic. The setting of the story is after the Trojan War, although it was not composed into a story until several hundred years later of the battles ending and was passed down orally, changing even further through that telling alone since there were no concrete words at that point. Although there were several accounts of the Trojan War through poems, Homer told this grand adventure through folklore, where these “fake” events that Odysseus embarked on and survived are seen as true and through The Odyssey, the story focuses on people rather than specific battles and events within the Trojan War. This suggests that Homer created this certain point of view within the story to try and encapsulate the idea that the Greeks are almighty and have a certain wisdom and cunning way, that few can replicate. These larger than life events and grandeur sense are specifically held throughout the piece by Homer to show how the Greeks viewed their lives through their rich culture and how even after their fall as an empire, influences were still held strongly throughout the Mediterranean world for centuries to come. The Greeks centered their lives around the dramatics of theatre and storytelling, leading to the creation of The Odyssey to be within the same fashion that lead to its success . Homer’s language was simply described as “the creation of epic verse”, and often a poem of an epic proportions carries with it a journey or conquest (Introduction, 12). These sorts of journeys usually have a series of problems that need to be dealt with before reaching their goals. Because of this journey, a story is built that might not have originally existed on the simple account of how the story flowed through the definition of an epic poem. The Odyssey was created as an epic to hold this journey to its true form of ups and downs, as well as mirror the stylistic choice of the meter held throughout the poem. Greeks had a sort of “enthusiasm for folk poetry”, and the way that The Odyssey was broken down into multiple books made the story intertwine and had to be pieced together through a broken and interwoven way (Introduction, 8). Because this story is an epic narrative, it “announces the point at which it begins”, which leads way to the fact that there is no way to break down the books into a concrete sense, as it has points in the story of flashbacks, present, and past time, and therefore can have room for change and lead to debate between scholars of what existed and what did not in the transition between words to paper. Homer’s shaping of the story and characters is purely based off of the strong power that religious and mythical beings held in Ancient Greek mythology to be omnipotent over all decisions in order to please the gods as well as the the audience’s belief that in the end, the gods will restore peace and order over all situations. Heroism to the Greeks did not mean that a person had no fault or always chose to do the right thing, it meant that they made choices of epic and unthinkable proportions and prevailed through it all. Gods like Athena praised Odysseus for being able to have quick wit in situations, and therefore the Greeks as well saw this as an attribute whereas in today’s world it might not seem as such. Without this intervention of the gods, Odysseus may have never made it away from Calypso, or the senseless killing when Odysseus returned to Ithaca of suitors may not have stopped. The Greeks believed that the gods held the power to a good life and by pleasing the gods, they were held in good graces. Another point to consider about how the story was shaped was the double standard of men versus women that was carried throughout the piece. When Odysseus essentially broke into the island that the cyclops inhabited by eating and drinking all of their sustenance, he sees no issue with this but when the suitors do the same when Penelope is home, it is an outrage in his mind. Odysseus also remains worried about whether or not Penelope has stayed faithful to him throughout his time of being gone, yet continues on various rendezvous with other women but justifies it by staying faithful with his eternal love for her. Within the telling of The Odyssey, the Greek culture is revealed through a sense of learning through a journey no matter how big or small, and that even the most prideful or knowledgable suffer from that fact alone.
An example of one of these points is shown when after Odysseus gauges out Polyphemus’s eye and makes it back on the boat, he calls back telling of his name, which ultimately gets him into more problems . Although Odysseus does not want this person “Noman” to get credit for his cunningness, if he had just remained humble silent on who the alias officially was, the journey would have been much easier in the long run instead of what he had roped himself into (9.360). As the story progresses, Odysseus makes choices on a whim and faces consequences of them. This in turn forces him to reflect of his decisions instead of acting on instinct. This is also shown when Odysseus faces the monsters, Scylla and Charybdis, in one of the many obstacles in the trek back to Ithaca. He battles the monsters and ends up losing six of his crew members because he does not think in the interest of others but only in the interest of himself. Without Odysseus being this smug character, he may have made it home within a reasonable time with all men instead of trying to be a hero for no reason at all. This whole battle that Odysseus faces shows the Greeks fascination between being humble yet wanting a character of heroic proportions to match an epic style of writing. The journey, to Greeks, is supposed to teach a protagonist life lessons and reveal where they might falter or strive by seeing the circumstances alone. Without this journey, Odysseus would never have been able to grow and become someone greater than before, and this is accomplished by not only surviving the journey but by showing Penelope the man that he is. By Odysseus learning through the trials and tribulations of the journey home, a growth is seen within him, which more importantly is where the birth of a
bildungsroman came into existence. Although now it is mainly seen as a “coming of age”, Odysseus as well as the Greeks in general could all use a life lesson in order for them to grow and learn from mistakes. Overall, The Odyssey takes a multitude of elements within Greek culture and language to craft a poem of epic proportions to display the foundations of our system of storytelling and overall common themes and motifs seen throughout the rest of literature today. A powerful concept that it held within the piece that Homer highlights in contrast to the Iliad is what happens when peace can return after a war and how the cycle of destruction is so hard to rid once we as humans have had a taste of it. The Odyssey allows us to begin to dissect human nature, as well as how the Greeks thought of society. These ideas show us what a hero looks like in today’s time period versus what they considered to be heroic in their time. Within the epic, the gods must be pleased and an over importance on how a person acted determined how the gods decided one’s eternity. The Odyssey has shaped a multitude of ideas on what it means to be a good story, as well as what it means to a culture as an in depth look into that specific time period.
journey and the growth of him as a character along the way. Throughout this piece, Homer creates such concepts like a bildungsroman, as well as the Greeks struggle with who is to blame within this world in relation to deities versus human nature, which all ties together through a sense of adventure and a hero to conquer all, which perfectly defines what the Greeks chose to live their life by and embodied their culture as a whole. When speaking of The Odyssey, we must literally go to the beginning of time in terms of literature. The earliest citing that we have of The Odyssey coming into a reality, dates back into the late eighth or early seventh century (Introduction, 1). Homer specifically crafted this poem for the Greeks to describe their culture and lifestyle of trying to capture what happens after a war as well as the everyday struggles of a man, no matter how heroic. The setting of the story is after the Trojan War, although it was not composed into a story until several hundred years later of the battles ending and was passed down orally, changing even further through that telling alone since there were no concrete words at that point. Although there were several accounts of the Trojan War through poems, Homer told this grand adventure through folklore, where these “fake” events that Odysseus embarked on and survived are seen as true and through The Odyssey, the story focuses on people rather than specific battles and events within the Trojan War. This suggests that Homer created this certain point of view within the story to try and encapsulate the idea that the Greeks are almighty and have a certain wisdom and cunning way, that few can replicate. These larger than life events and grandeur sense are specifically held throughout the piece by Homer to show how the Greeks viewed their lives through their rich culture and how even after their fall as an empire, influences were still held strongly throughout the Mediterranean world for centuries to come. The Greeks centered their lives around the dramatics of theatre and storytelling, leading to the creation of The Odyssey to be within the same fashion that lead to its success . Homer’s language was simply described as “the creation of epic verse”, and often a poem of an epic proportions carries with it a journey or conquest (Introduction, 12). These sorts of journeys usually have a series of problems that need to be dealt with before reaching their goals. Because of this journey, a story is built that might not have originally existed on the simple account of how the story flowed through the definition of an epic poem. The Odyssey was created as an epic to hold this journey to its true form of ups and downs, as well as mirror the stylistic choice of the meter held throughout the poem. Greeks had a sort of “enthusiasm for folk poetry”, and the way that The Odyssey was broken down into multiple books made the story intertwine and had to be pieced together through a broken and interwoven way (Introduction, 8). Because this story is an epic narrative, it “announces the point at which it begins”, which leads way to the fact that there is no way to break down the books into a concrete sense, as it has points in the story of flashbacks, present, and past time, and therefore can have room for change and lead to debate between scholars of what existed and what did not in the transition between words to paper. Homer’s shaping of the story and characters is purely based off of the strong power that religious and mythical beings held in Ancient Greek mythology to be omnipotent over all decisions in order to please the gods as well as the the audience’s belief that in the end, the gods will restore peace and order over all situations. Heroism to the Greeks did not mean that a person had no fault or always chose to do the right thing, it meant that they made choices of epic and unthinkable proportions and prevailed through it all. Gods like Athena praised Odysseus for being able to have quick wit in situations, and therefore the Greeks as well saw this as an attribute whereas in today’s world it might not seem as such. Without this intervention of the gods, Odysseus may have never made it away from Calypso, or the senseless killing when Odysseus returned to Ithaca of suitors may not have stopped. The Greeks believed that the gods held the power to a good life and by pleasing the gods, they were held in good graces. Another point to consider about how the story was shaped was the double standard of men versus women that was carried throughout the piece. When Odysseus essentially broke into the island that the cyclops inhabited by eating and drinking all of their sustenance, he sees no issue with this but when the suitors do the same when Penelope is home, it is an outrage in his mind. Odysseus also remains worried about whether or not Penelope has stayed faithful to him throughout his time of being gone, yet continues on various rendezvous with other women but justifies it by staying faithful with his eternal love for her. Within the telling of The Odyssey, the Greek culture is revealed through a sense of learning through a journey no matter how big or small, and that even the most prideful or knowledgable suffer from that fact alone.
An example of one of these points is shown when after Odysseus gauges out Polyphemus’s eye and makes it back on the boat, he calls back telling of his name, which ultimately gets him into more problems . Although Odysseus does not want this person “Noman” to get credit for his cunningness, if he had just remained humble silent on who the alias officially was, the journey would have been much easier in the long run instead of what he had roped himself into (9.360). As the story progresses, Odysseus makes choices on a whim and faces consequences of them. This in turn forces him to reflect of his decisions instead of acting on instinct. This is also shown when Odysseus faces the monsters, Scylla and Charybdis, in one of the many obstacles in the trek back to Ithaca. He battles the monsters and ends up losing six of his crew members because he does not think in the interest of others but only in the interest of himself. Without Odysseus being this smug character, he may have made it home within a reasonable time with all men instead of trying to be a hero for no reason at all. This whole battle that Odysseus faces shows the Greeks fascination between being humble yet wanting a character of heroic proportions to match an epic style of writing. The journey, to Greeks, is supposed to teach a protagonist life lessons and reveal where they might falter or strive by seeing the circumstances alone. Without this journey, Odysseus would never have been able to grow and become someone greater than before, and this is accomplished by not only surviving the journey but by showing Penelope the man that he is. By Odysseus learning through the trials and tribulations of the journey home, a growth is seen within him, which more importantly is where the birth of a
bildungsroman came into existence. Although now it is mainly seen as a “coming of age”, Odysseus as well as the Greeks in general could all use a life lesson in order for them to grow and learn from mistakes. Overall, The Odyssey takes a multitude of elements within Greek culture and language to craft a poem of epic proportions to display the foundations of our system of storytelling and overall common themes and motifs seen throughout the rest of literature today. A powerful concept that it held within the piece that Homer highlights in contrast to the Iliad is what happens when peace can return after a war and how the cycle of destruction is so hard to rid once we as humans have had a taste of it. The Odyssey allows us to begin to dissect human nature, as well as how the Greeks thought of society. These ideas show us what a hero looks like in today’s time period versus what they considered to be heroic in their time. Within the epic, the gods must be pleased and an over importance on how a person acted determined how the gods decided one’s eternity. The Odyssey has shaped a multitude of ideas on what it means to be a good story, as well as what it means to a culture as an in depth look into that specific time period.