Poseidon and Odyssey Essay
Poseidon and Odyssey Essay
The characters who develop this theme are Poseidon and Odyssey. Poseidon does this by ensuring that all the people who sail with Odyssey die on the way while Odyssey kills all suitors and disloyal servants in his household. Thirdly, the theme of appearance versus reality is also developed. Athena keeps on changing the appearance of Odyssey to get some things, like on his journey.
The stylistic devices that have been employed in the Odyssey are the same styles applied in epic poems. They include similes, metaphors, and elevated language. The high language aspect is mostly observed in the original version since translations cannot present it in the best way. Another device employed is the use of similes. Examples of these are; “as a blacksmith plunges a glowing ax or adze / in an ice-cold bath and the metal screeches steam / and its temper hardens.(9.438-41) Penelope’s joy is expressed as;”joy, warm as the joy that shipwrecked sailors feel / when they catch sight of land.(23.262-63 in Fangles). Poseidon and Odyssey Essay.
Homer has presented the poem very well. He has used his characters to develop the thematic concerns. Odyssey has been to develop the theme of hospitality. In his home, the suitors are taking advantage of his people’s hospitality and misuse his wealth. Because of this he murders them when he gets home. Also, Poseidon has also been used by the author to develop the theme of vengeance. He revenge for his daughter by making sure Odyssey suffers on his journey though his fate was decided by the gods.
ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER NOW
Also, the author used the setting to develop the plot of the story. Without the geographical shifts, the plot of the story would not be developed (Tompkins, Jane P, 1980). Thus, the setting has helped the author develop the plot of the story and the story as a whole.The Odyssey, however, has its shortcomings. The story has many exaggerations that are clearly seen as exaggerations. The gods changing people’s form is not normal and cannot happen in the ordinary circumstances. The story will not be well understood by people of the modern day because it has a lot of the past in it. Many of these experiences like what conspired between the population and the gods will be seen as anti-religious happenings. The many suitors thing will also make less sense to today’s literature students since they are not happening in today’s world.
In conclusion, The Odyssey is an epic poetry book that is crucial in the ancient literature. It has all the features of epic poetry and is well presented. Also, the thematic concern has been well explored and presented. The characters have been used well to explore the themes. Also, arguments have been used to develop and express different character traits. The setting has also been used to develop the plot seen above. Poseidon and Odyssey Essay. In short, the book is well written and easily understandable. This author has presented the work well, and this is beneficial to literature.
Works Cited
Tompkins, Jane P., ed. Reader-response criticism: From formalism to post-structuralism. JHU Press, 1980.
After the events of the Trojan War, Odysseus and his men headed back home to Ithaca. En route, they unknowingly stopped at the island of the Cyclopes to gather supplies for their long journey home. Unfortunately, the inhabitants of the island were not very friendly – particularly one Cyclops named Polyphemus. In an attempt to hide from the other giants, Odysseus and his men hid in Polyphemus’s cave. Polyphemus then trapped the men inside with a massive boulder blocking the only way in and out. One by one, Polyphemus ate Odysseus’s crew.
Odysseus, keeping a level head, came up with a plan to escape. Odysseus had some undiluted wine on his person, and cleverly offered it to Polyphemus without telling him how strong the wine was. Polyphemus eagerly took the wine, became drunk, and promptly fell asleep. Odysseus and his remaining men heated a wooden stake in a fire, and proceeded to blind Polyphemus’s one eye. After howling in pain, the men hid under the giant’s sheep, where they could not be felt and eaten. Poseidon and Odyssey Essay. The next morning, when Polyphemus let his sheep out to graze, Odysseus and his men snuck out underneath the sheep’s wooly bellies, and escaped to their ship. Polyphemus realized that the men had escaped after Odysseus was already at sea. Polyphemus threw a (poorly-aimed) boulder at the ship, and called out to his father Poseidon for vengeance. Poseidon, in his rage, destroyed Odysseus’s ship, as well as his entire crew, over a ten-year journey back to Ithaca. Odysseus only survived because he had Athena’s favor and protection.
Odysseus’s Argument:
Odysseus was acting out of self-defense. As captain and king, he had a duty to protect himself and his men at all costs. He used his wits to escape a life-threatening situation. He also did not know that Polyphemus was son of Poseidon. Regardless of who Polyphemus was, Odysseus did not kill him, despite the threat against Odysseus and his crew; it would have been just as easy to kill him while drunk or asleep. Poseidon, being a god, acts out of extreme emotion, and decides that the injury of his son warrants mass-murder. Odysseus thought rationally and spared the man-eating Polyphemus; Poseidon acted irrationally, and eradicated Odysseus’s crew. Poseidon could have been more merciful and wiped out Odysseus and his crew quickly. Instead Poseidon extended Odysseus’s punishment and caused him to suffer as he watched his entire crew die over the course of ten years. Furthermore, this extended journey caused turmoil in Odysseus’s Kingdom of Ithaca.
When Odysseus left for Troy, his son, Telemachus, was too young to take the throne. This left Penelope running the entire country. While Odysseus was gone, suitors came to court Penelope, raiding his palace while they were there. Since there was no proof that Odysseus survived the Trojan War, the suitors constantly pressured Penelope to remarry. Poseidon and Odyssey Essay.She did not want to, instead stalling the suitors until Odysseus returned because she believed that he was still alive.
Poseidon’s Argument:
Before Poseidon did anything to Odysseus, he had to get his idea approved by Zeus, king of the gods. Furthermore, Odysseus was in Poseidon’s domain, the ocean, for most of his journey, which puts Odysseus in a precarious position already. Poseidon’s intended target was Odysseus; the rest of the crew was collateral damage, but also emotionally hurt Odysseus. Odysseus knew he was in the domain of a deity that could wreck him on every level; he had plenty of opportunities to brace himself in case things went wrong.
ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER NOW
Poseidon, as a deity, demands more respect than a typical human. In Poseidon’s mind, this special treatment extends to his son. Injuring his son Polyphemus was considered a personal insult. Unknown to Odysseus, he had divine protection from Athena – a rival deity to Poseidon. Therefore, Poseidon already did not like Odysseus; stabbing Polyphemus in the eye just added to Poseidon’s hatred. Poseidon did not harm Odysseus, but made him suffer, just like his son, by killing his men slowly. Let the punishment fit the crime.
Moreover, there are times when Odysseus was not only selfish, but genuinely irreverent. While Penelope was upholding her marriage vows, Odysseus had an affair with Circe, a sorceress who had turned his men into pigs while he had his fling. He also deliberately went past the island of the Sirens, just because he wanted to hear their song for himself. Finally, he allowed his men to eat sacred cattle of the god Helios for a week. This one act condemned his entire fleet, ship and men, to destruction. Zeus struck the ship with lightning, forcing Odysseus to swim to an island and live with a Calypso, a sea nymph, for seven years. The rest of his men drowned. This shows that Odysseus did not always respect the gods, and acted selfishly whenever it suited him. Poseidon and Odyssey Essay.
Once they have successfully blinded the Cyclops, they ride out on the goats bellies to safety. It is here that Odysseus truly angers the Cyclops, by taunting him from safety on the deck of his ship; this causes the Cyclops to fire rocks at the ship, missing every time. When the Cyclops reaches his breaking point, he raises his arms up to the sky and prays to his father “Hear me Poseidon … if I really am your son and you claim to be my father grant that Odysseus, raider of cities, Laertes son who makes his home in Ithaca, never reaches home.” (Homer 228). Charles Segal states, “The spoken word of the prayer, the invisible and distant fulfillment, proves, after all, the more effective instrument of revenge.”(504). This highlights the fact that, with the wrath of the Poseidon placed upon him, Odysseus will have much more to overcome than just plain brute force of the Cyclops himself. Stavros Frangoulidis infers that it is this prayer that, “Marks the beginning of Odysseus’s troublesome journey back home and, therefore, his odyssey.” (45). It is at this point in the epic where the anger of Poseidon is unleashed on Odysseus, and from then on, the journey is nothing but a struggle. He is trapped by the goddess Circe, who turns some of his men into pigs. Then, he is forced to make a trip to speak to the. Poseidon and Odyssey Essay.
