Month: September 2016

Homer tells a complicated story with a difficult protagonist whose character is complex and hard to analyze. Odysseus’s desire seems to interact with his fate in different ways, making everything even more complicated. As a reader I want to trust Odysseus’s desire to return and see him home so bad his actions make it impossible. The reason so is that he might not be ready yet. Showing his emotions the way he did while listening to Domodokos made me believe that he is very attached to his journeys, battles and experiences and is not ready to give up on them yet and return home.

It is clear that Homer believes that wit and cunning are the most valuable skills in Homer’s world view. While it is shown that Odysseus is very strong and has experience in battle, he has gotten into situations where strength or battle would not be able to help him. For example, the cyclops was much stronger than him, and the boulder that the cyclops used to keep Odysseus in the cave was to large for Odysseus to move himself. Also, his decision to have himself bonded to the mast of the ship when the sirens sang was very important, otherwise he would have been drawn to them and sank his ship, despite his physical strength. Both situations depended on cunning rather than strength.

I do not totally trust Odysseus’s desire to return home. While he does state his desire many times throughout the book, his behavior sometimes says otherwise. He spends unnecessarily long periods of time with Circe (1 year) and Kalypso (7 years). It also was not until Athena intervened that Odysseus was able to get out of these two situations. I think that he did want to go home but it was not his top priority all the time. I think Homer probably thought similarly. He emphasizes that he wants to go home many times throughout the book but he also tells of these exciting adventures on his journey. Odysseus did have a desire to return home but it was not always his main concern.

What is the genre of The Odyssey? Is it simply an epic poem? The first novel? A collection of myths? A fable or allegory? Or a composite genre, some combination of these?

Does everything we read have to have a genre? Can this piece of artwork just be a genre of its own. Brilliant content and here we are trying to categorize it. Can this book just have a genre of its own; can we just create a new genre only for this book? Maybe I’m going to extreme but there really is not one fit genre for this book.
I’d like to start off by saying this book has full of myths but to just say they are only a collection of myths is very basic. I’d even describe it as a rap without rhymes; think about it, The Odyssey contains a variety of themes in which everything is read with a specific tone in your mind. In my opinion I believe The Odyssey can just be thought of as an epic poem. Poems can tell stories right? How about fables/myths? Sure! Poems can be written as long as one wants it to be.

Question: Is Odysseus or anyone else in The Odyssey a hero? If so, what does this tell us about western ideas of heroism? Do any of these ideas remain in place today or have they changed? If so, how or how not and why or why not?

There are many different characteristics that heroes possess one or more of, such as determination, honesty, leadership, and many more.  The one common characteristic that has always represented heroism, in terms of western ideology, is courage.  Many historical heroes of the West show great acts of courage, such as Abraham Lincoln, who went against the beliefs the majority of America by fighting for African American privileges.  A character that represents great courage in the Odyssey is Telemachus.  Telemachus shows courage by setting out on a journey, unknowing of whether he’ll find his father or not.  It takes courage to abruptly abandon a life of constant familiarity, and security, to a life of constant uncertainty, and danger.  Telemachus is a hero because of his representation of the true mark of a hero; courage.

Question: What is the genre of The Odyssey? Is it simply an epic poem? The first novel? A collection of myths? A fable or allegory? Or a composite genre, some combination of these?

Answer: Many would believe that The Odyssey would only be classified as an epic poem genre book due to simply the format which is written as a poem. First and foremost, it is clear that the book is written after the book, The Illiad. The Odyssey’s plot deals with what happened post-war in which The Illiad was about Odysseus’s Trojan War. Although both books are in a poem format, as you continue to read throughout and within, you realize that the content makes it more than a poem. The book consists of Greek gods and goddesses in which it is clear that there is greek mythology throughout the entire book. Being those Greek gods and goddesses are not factual, many would also say that this is a fable.

Although both books are in a poem format, as you continue to read throughout and within, you realize that the content makes it more than a poem. The book consists of Greek gods and goddesses in which it is clear that there is greek mythology throughout the entire book. Being those Greek gods and goddesses are not factual, many would also say that this is a fable. This can only be an allegory based genre being that it is a story being told by the protagonist, Odysseus himself of what happened post-war. Throughout the entire poem, there are hidden meanings behind each line any poem does.

The Odyssey is clearly classified as a composite genre book being that it consists of multiple genres; a mix of mythology, epic poetry, fable, allegory, quests and much more.

In my view from the reading, I believe Odyssey describes the experience with pros and cons, although abjection in itself is totally negative. In the flip side good can be withdrawn from any bad situation. Odyssey points out the process of uncertainty and torture. In this situation an advocate is needed. For example, in book one, Athena who is the grey-eyed goddess kept on pleading with Zeus for Odysseus to return home. Moreover, in the positive scene I believe he described Odysseus as resilient and an equipped person. In my take on this he became experienced from being in this situation. Furthermore, as being exile from one’s home or desire location as in this case, Odyssey stated in book two, where Odysseus’s son is feeling the heavy burden of his father departure and the Lords of the island are plundering their homes.

Is Odysseus or anyone else in The Odyssey a hero? If so, what does this tell us about western ideas of heroism? Do any of these ideas remain in place today or have they changed? If so, how or how not and why or why not?

I think that Athena is the true hero in the story because without her neither Odysseus nor Telemakhos would have the will or courage to incite on their journey. Athena is the one who got the ball rolling with getting Odysseus out of Calypso’s captivity, while he was reduced to longing for home during the day and sleeping with Calypso at night. To me Athena embodies what it means to be a hero which I believe is to be someone who stands up for what is right. Someone who is willing to help push people in the right direction but not force their beliefs onto another. This is what she has done, Telemakhos knew that it was his time to stand up to the suitors and find out what truly happened to his dad but he just needed the motivation to do it. In today’s world I feel like we lost the meaning of a hero and people really just focus more on what others think of them rather than how they think about themselves.

Question: Discuss The Odyssey’s focus on vengeance and/or loyalty and betrayal.

Answer: The Odyssey’s focus on betrayal and loyalty is highlighted through different characters such as Penelope, Odysseus’ wife and Clytemnestra, Agamemnon’s wife. On one hand, Penelope demonstrates her loyalty while waiting for her husband’s return. In Odysseus’ absence, many suitors have taken over her house wanting to marry her and inherit the throne. However, Penelope believes her husband is alive, as a result tells the suitors that when she finishes the shroud she is weaving, she will marry one of them, yet they don’t know that she unweaves the shroud at night to buy herself more time until Odysseus returns home. On the other hand, after Agamemnon’s return from Troy, he came to discover that another man had seduced and married his wife. Then with her approval, he killed Agamemnon. Betrayal and loyalty are opposites, however, in The Odyssey they are very well related since they come from unexpected people.

Question: Discuss The Odyssey’s focus on vengeance and/or loyalty and betrayal.

Answer: Throughout The Odyssey, the ideas of vengeance, loyalty, and betrayal is depicted numerously. Vengeance and betrayal is shown when Aegisthus married Clytemnestra while her husband, Agamemnon, was away at war. Clytemnestra even approved of Aegisthus murdering Agamemnon when he returned, demonstrating ultimate betrayal to her husband. Due to this event, Agamemnon’s son, Orestes, plotted revenge and killed both Aegisthus and Clytemnestra as punishment for their actions. Additionally, when Odysseus blinded the Cyclops Polyphemus, Polyphemus urged his father Poseidon to take vengeance on his behalf. As it’s known, Poseidon used all his efforts to make the journey home for Odysseus an arduous one. Athena’s acts of kindness can be said to demonstrate loyalty towards Telemachus and Odysseus as the goddess encouraged Telemachus to take control of his father’s home from the suitors and set out on a journey to find news of Odysseus. Along the way, Athena also assisted Odysseus through obstacles on his journey home.