Classic literature often provides insight to an ancient society, their values, and their beliefs. Many books that are considered classics today focus on ancient Rome and Greece. Revenge, hubris, and other themes, and the relation of this book to modern life, classifies the poem The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Fitzgerald, as a classic. For this reason, it is still read today. Classic themes of […]

Tall Tales Things need not have happened to be true. Tales and adventures are the shadow truths that will endure when mere facts are dust and ashes and forgotten. –Neil Gaiman The escapades of wily Odysseus are ingrained into the hearts of countless children. The bedtime story of one man’s journey home and the obstacles he faces along the way forever lives on in youthful […]

Glory! In Homer’s 8th century BC epic poem The Odyssey and Sophocles’ 3rd century play Antigone, the leaders Odysseus and Creon display both similar and different leadership qualities. Odysseus is a leader of a crew he’s taking back home from a journey, but has many unexpected encounters on the way back. Creon is the heir to Oedpius’ thrown, and is King of Thebes. Both are […]

Women in The Odyssey After following an epic that revolved so completely around men, The Odyssey has quite a lot of female roles. True, the ancient Greeks had a better androgynous balance than other civilizations, and this is reflected very clearly in The Odyssey. Femininity has not only a bigger role in this epic, but it seems as though it is honored with its own […]

The ancient world literature is filled with epic tales of heroes and gods who go on perilous adventures to foreign lands and encounter many mythical beings along the way. These adventures usually teach a lesson or give insight as to the culture of the area and time period in which it was written. The Iliad, the Odyssey and the Aeneid are all similar epics in […]

For years and years I’ve been roaming around the seas in hope to get back to my homeland Ithaca. I’ve faced many obstacles along my journey but all with great morals. I started off my journey when Menelaus and Agamemnon asked me to go with them to Troy to retrieve Helen. The other islands I visited came along unexpectedly. The decision to leave my homeland […]

Ashley Literature and Composition 1 8 March 2010 “The Odyssey” by Homer What is a hero? One who holds a proud countenance or obtains a strong build? Different cultures and ethnicities may have their own, unique definition of a hero. Although the Greeks believed that such a principled individual is someone that people look up to, and a title such as this cannot be bestowed […]

Chapter 5 All the gods except Poseidon gather again on Mount Olympus to discuss Odysseus’s fate. Athena’s speech in support of the hero prevails on Zeus to intervene. Hermes, messenger of the gods, is sent to Calypso’s island to tell her that Odysseus must at last be allowed to leave so he can return home. In reply, Calypso delivers an impassioned indictment of the male […]