Monthly Archives: September 2016

The entire odyssey on which Odysseus is journeying is to provide him space to leave behind all the negative memories of past. War, death, separation–all elements that bring grief to Odysseus. The apex of this notion can be found in … Continue reading →

TOPIC: DEATH [Focus on Agamemnon’s Death] THESIS The story of Agamemnon is narrated multiple times in The Odyssey to provide a foil and suspense for the successful return home of Odysseus to his loyal wife through the use of deceptive … Continue reading →

Potential Thesis: Throughout the Odyssey, Penelope is ordered around by her son or being smothered with suitors. However, behind her facade of being the helpless woman, we can see that her actions both mirror those of her heroic husband Odysseus. … Continue reading →

Topic: Memory Focus: The binary of memory vs forgetting with the guiding question “what is worth remembering?” Thesis: In the Odyssey, memories prove to be more curse than treasure; yet the present cannot compete with the augmented past, where certain … Continue reading →

  “‘Don’t be there When she sucks it down. No one could save you, Not even Poseidon, who makes the earth tremble. No, stay close to Scylla’s rock, and push hard. Better to mourn six than the whole crew at … Continue reading →

“I want to find out what those men are like, Wild savages with no sense of right or wrong Or hospitable folk who fear the gods.” The Odyssey, Book IX: Lines 169-171 In Book IX of Homer’s Odyssey, there is … Continue reading →

“You’re dumb, stranger, or from far away, If you ask me to fear the gods. Cyclopes Don’t care about Zeus or his aegis Or the blessed gods, since we are much stronger. I wouldn’t spare you or your men Out of fear of Zeus. I would spare them only If I myself wanted to. But tell me, Where did you leave your ship? Far Down the coast, or close? I’d like to know.” (Book IX 265-273) When Odysseus tells Alcinuous the story of his encounter with Polybus, we witness the breakdown of the guest-host relationship that had otherwise been observed several times throughout the … Continue reading →

439: Book X, Lines 53-60   “The winds rushed out and bore them far out to sea, weeping As their native land faded on the horizon. When I woke up and saw what had happened I thought long and hard … Continue reading →

“I spoke, they obeyed. But I didn’t mention Scylla. There was nothing we could do about that, And I didn’t want the crew to freeze up, Stop rowing, and huddle up together in the hold.” 231-234, Book XII This passage … Continue reading →

Though the Iliad portrays the Trojan War in a thorough fashion, War and Peace is undoubtedly a major structuring binary in the Odyssey. Upon first glance, those who participated in the Trojan War, such as Odysseus, Achilles, and Agamemnon, witnessed … Continue reading →