The Value of Xenia on a Hero’s Journey A centralized idea in Ancient Greek society was the value of Xenia. Xenia was the Greek word for what we know as hospitality. Hospitality played a vital role in the way a person went about life and lived. In Homer’s epic poem the Odyssey‚ both Odysseus and his son Telemachus’ journey’s include frequent encounters of hospitality. Hospitality signifies the host and guest relationship. Honoring a guest was important to a host because it meant pleasing the Gods
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Homer’s use of figurative language in the epic poem‚ The Odyssey. Throughout this epic‚ Odysseus is on a journey back home to Ithaca. Homer uses figurative language to convey that the Land of the Dead as a terrifying and transformative setting for Odysseus’s development as a hero. In general‚ figurative language helps the reader know how important‚ terrifying‚ or happy the setting is. In this specific poem‚ Homer uses descriptive language to show how repulsive the Land of the Dead is. Odysseus enters
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In book 7 and 8‚ Athena alters how Odysseus appears to others. In book 7‚ Odysseus has arrived in Phaeacia and makes his way to the King’s palace. During his walk‚ the narrator explains how Athena alters Odysseus’s appearance: “Pallas Athena‚ harboring kindness for the hero‚ drifted a heavy mist around him‚ shielding him from any swaggering islander who’d cross his path… [and] search out who he was” (VII.16-19). Here‚ Athena tries to help Odysseus by concealing him during his journey by surrounding
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recklessness and temptation act stronger than external forces in preventing Odysseus and his crew from achieving nostos. Odysseus and his crew act with great recklessness‚ which leads to deaths and losses of progress in their journey home. One example of Odysseus’s recklessness comes from their encounter with the barbarous Cyclops‚ Polyphemus. Odysseus mentions upon their arrival on the Cyclops’ island that he
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violate these concepts multiple times throughout the poem‚ giving Odysseus a justified reason to take their lives. His revenge on the suitors was not excessive because at the end he took the lives of the people that dishonored his family and home. Odysseus’s hatred towards the suitors are triggered by multiple
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ENGLISH 13/Mythology and Folklore Hidden Themes from Homer’s Odyssey (Source: www1.union.edu/wareht/gkcultur/guide/14) The Odyssey is not just about the heroic Odysseus‚ but more importantly about the underlying themes from the Greek culture. The following page discusses in detail four of those themes: spiritual growth‚ loyalty‚ perseverance‚ and hospitality. Spiritual Growth By Brian Lower Homer uses the idea of spiritual growth as one of his underlying themes in the Odyssey. He relates
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Lotus Eaters. If he would have never done that he would not have lost two of his men to the mind numbing effects of the Lotus plans. One of Odysseus’s other crazy acts to learn knowledge was in the “Cyclops”. In the epic Odysseus led himself and his men into a Cyclops cave. This caused several of his men to be eaten by the Cyclops. Many of Odysseus’s men have died because of his hunger for knowledge. Odysseus shows his hunger again when he ventures into the land of the dead! The man is so
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XI‚ Odysseus goes to Hades where people confront him from his past‚ present and future. He is confused and dazed and seems to change as the different characters address him. All of the elements of Book XI show that it is the most pivotal book in Odysseus’s voyage homeward and in the development of his character. In Book XI‚ Homer reinforces major themes that repeat through the rest of the story that show Odysseus he can get home using the ideas seen throughout the text. Hospitality is a theme in
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Odysseus’s Odyssey Home “He saw the townlands and learned the minds of many distant men‚ and weathered many bitter nights and days in his deep heart at sea‚ while he fought only to save his life‚ to bring his shipmates home” (McDougal p. 1104). Odysseus‚ King of Ithica‚ was determined to get home with all of his men unscathed after the Trojan War; however‚ the voyage did not go as anticipated. Whilst on his journey home to Ithica‚ Odysseus and his men found themselves facing an island of Cannibals
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and demands that they tie him to the mast in order to safely pass by the tantalizing Sirens. Homer remarks that Odysseus is “far the best of mortal men for counsel and stories” and even suggests that he is able to match a god in wits and trickery. Odysseus’s wife‚ Penelope‚ is just as cunning and smart. Feigning the task of sewing a shroud for Laertes‚ she secretly undoes what she does in the day during the night. It is also notable that Penelope gets so many suitors because she is so well-known for
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