Homer Essays (Examples)

Homer/Dante

Return of the Rings: Nordic Mythology co-created the epics of Tolkien and Wagner

Tolkien and Wagner are among the most influential artists in their respective fields. Tolkien has been (deservedly or no) been credited with being the founding father of the modern fantasy genre, and Wagner's mythic explorations not only created a new expression for opera but have also been credited (almost certainly undeservedly) for having inspired the Jewish holocaust. oth Tolkien and Wagner sought to (re)create the myths of an ancient era, giving to their audience a sense of history which transcended the momentary. Tolkien and Wagner both seem to believe that myth is necessary to the soul of the modern romantic; Tolkien approaches it as a sort of religious and linguistic door to truth, which opens vistas of hope in men's minds, while Wagner approaches myth as a metaphor for the evolution of culture, in which one…

Bibliography

Dubois, Tom & Mellor, Scott. "The Nordic Roots Of Tolkien's Middle Earth" The American-Scandinavian Foundation.  http://www.amscan.org/tolkien.html 

Henning, Jeffrey. "On Tolkien/Emulating Tolkien." Model Languages, Vol. 1 Is. 8 Jan-Feb, 1996. http://207.36.37.9/ml0108.htm

The Nibelungenlied. Trans. Daniel Bussier Shumway, 1909. http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/OMACL/Nibelungenlied/

Pekonen, Osmo. "Kalevala inspired Tolkien." Dreamcatcher Productions. http://www.6d.fi/starters/kalevalainspired_Tolkien

Fagles' translation uses punctuation to create dramatic emphasis. For example, the dash in the opening line creates a momentary pause for drama, "Rage - Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus' son Achilles," (Book I, line 1). A more subdued pause is created by ellipsis during a speech by the seer "Achilles, dear to Zeus... you order me to explain Apollo's anger" (Book I, lines 86-87). Later, an explanation point marks both the end of a short syllable, and creates a feeling of drama and emphasis, as the runner says, "Courage!" (Book I, line 99).

Similes are used frequently throughout Homer's Iliad. In using similes to compare on object to another, Homer illustrates much of the action throughout the poem. During the Battle of Achilles, in Book I, he describes the god Phoebus Apollo's descent from the peaks of Olympus, in these terms: "and down he came like night" (Book I,…

Works Cited

Bookrags. The Iliad. 24 October 2005. http://www.bookrags.com/notes/il/BIO.htm

Dunkle, Roger. 1986. The Classical Origins of Western Culture, The Core Studies 1 Study Guide. Brooklyn College Core Curriculum Series. Brooklyn College, The City University of New York. Accessed October 25, 2005. http://depthome.brooklyn.cuny.edu/classics/dunkle/studyguide/homer.htm.

Homer. 1990. The Iliad. Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin Classics.

Virgil and Homer -- orld Literature

The Trojan Legacy: Textual Similarities in the Epics Iliad by Homer and Aeneid by Virgil

In the study of world literature, it is essential that one must know about the earliest forms of literature, especially the works of Homer and Virgil. Homer, considered one of the greatest literary writers of Greek literature, was said to have composed his great epic poems, Iliad and Odyssey, during 8 B.C. He is well-known for his effective depiction of early Greek life, where the interplay between mortals and immortals and the inevitable Fate were discussed. Homer's legacy as chronicler of Greek history, society, and culture helped influence Virgil, who composed the Aeneid in 19 B.C. Using some of Homer's themes, characters, and some parts of the plot in the Iliad and Odyssey, Virgil created the Aeneid, which also gained popularity and acclaim as Homer's epic works.

This paper…

Works Cited

Homer. Iliad. Translated by Samuel Butler. Available at  http://www.uoregon.edu/~joelja/iliad.html .

Virgil. Aeneid. Available at  http://www.uoregon.edu/~joelja/aeneid.html .

Moral Perfidy in the Odyssey

In The Odyssey, Homer utilizes the lie as a motif, and in so doing, he establishes a moral dichotomy. The Odyssey is populated with lies and with liars, but the liars operate differently from one another. Indeed, when vocalized by some liars, the lies become virtuous necessities or demonstrate superior intelligence. Other liars prove themselves to be base and without morals as they lie to manipulate, to increase their own wealth or to take advantage of hospitality.

The lies themselves act as methods of characterization. In particular, Odysseus' lies contribute to Homer's characterization of the hero as wily and cunning. Ironically, when Odysseus uses lies strategically, they become weapons, and he is often able to establish important truths about the individuals to whom he lies. In total, Odysseus' use of lies in the second half of The Odyssey, while seemingly cruel to his wife and…

Works Cited

Homer. The Odyssey. Trans. Samuel Butler. 2000. The Internet Classics Archive. 13

April 2004  http://classics.mit.edu/Homer/odyssey.html .

afterlife in two philosophers' representations. Specifically, it will explain and compare conceptions and representations of the afterlife in Homer and Virgil.

Homer and Virgil

Homer and Virgil both described Hades and their versions of the afterlife in their works, and they were far different views. In Homer's Hades, the area looks much like Earth, but it is barren and twisted, the geography is definitely warped and there is little scenery, it is more like a dreamland. Homer sees suffering far differently than Virgil. His residents of Hades do not really seem to suffer much, although he does indicate some tortures inflicted on some poor souls. Mostly, his Hades is filled with people who are there because of personal trials and tribulations, and the Devil does not deem it necessary to place them on display as a warning to others. Virgil's view of Hades is more traditional, with fire erupting out…

References

Thuleen, Nancy. "Interaction and Reaction in Virgil and Homer." Personal Web Page. 1992. 18 Dec. 2003.  http://www.nthuleen.com/papers/L10virgil.html

Troublemakers

Though an audience trained by the principle of chivalry and Christian sentiment might expect an epic hero to be a paragon of virtue, the ancient epic heroes were quite often more what the postmodernists have created in the modern antihero. So one can compare the protagonist of John Gardner's antiheroic Grendel -- in which the monster of an old dawn-of-Christianity epic becomes the hero of a postmodern tale -- not so much with the villains of older epics but with their heroes. In particular, one can compare the character of Grendel with Odysseus (particularly as he is seen in the Odyssey, though it is important to remember that both the Iliad and the Odyssey are written by Homer and as companion pieces function as elements of the same epic). Both Grendel and Odysseus are somewhat antiheroic: Grendel is a murderer and a trickster whose villainy defines a people, while…

Homer

What is the proper relationship between the Gods and Humans according Homer?

"These are not poems about Gods, but about human beings. These human beings inhabit a world of which the gods are an unquestioned part."[footnoteef:1] For Homer, the gods are indispensible parts of literary structure and narrative form. It impossible to imagine a Homeric world without gods. From a purely cosmological standpoint, the gods add structure, meaning, and order to a universe that might otherwise prove to be too chaotic to sustain life. From a literary standpoint, the gods add a moral dimension as well as key characters -- often antagonists but always catalysts. It therefore becomes the central function of the storyteller to elucidate the relationship between the gods and humans. The roles that gods play in Homeric epics are multifaceted. They are advisors on the one hand, and saboteurs on the other. Gods intervene and assist…

References

Homer, Illiad. Online version:  http://classics.mit.edu/Homer/iliad.html 

Homer. Odyssey. Online version:  http://classics.mit.edu/Homer/odyssey.1.i.html 

Kearns, Emily. "The Gods in the Homeric Epics." Chapter 5 in The Cambridge Companion to Homer, edited by Robert Louis Fowler, 59-73. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.

Legacy of Homer

Modern best sellers' books could never compare to the great ancient writings of Homer. Homer has become a household name and is considered one of the most important and influential writers in history. Little is known about Homer's life yet his poetry, including the Iliad and the Odyssey, has gained recognition as some of the greatest literary works ever written.

According to research, Homer was born sometime around 700 .C. And lived for approximately 70 years. According to historians, Homer was born on the island of Khios but traveled throughout Greece. During his travels, he was notorious for singing poetry to aristocrats and commoners in the islands he visited. Homer's best-known tales were those he told of the Trojan War in the Iliad and the homecoming of a war hero in the Odyssey. He was well-known amongst the Greeks for his stories.

However, scholars do not know…

Bibliography

Homer (Preface by Stanford, W.B.). (1967). The Odyssey. New York: St. Martin's Press

Finley, M.I. (1954). The World of Odysseus. New York: The Viking Press.

Lefkowitz, Mary R. (1981). The Lives of the Greek Poets. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.

Scott, John. (1963). Homer and His Influence. New York: Cooper Square Publishers, Inc.

CPA Advice for Homer Simpson

Homer Simpson

FROM: CPA & Associates

Economic Substance and Moe's Business Plan

Mr. Simpson:

I appreciate your contact regarding economic substance and my recommendations as to if you should enter Moe's business plan. With such a large amount of cash taxed on your latest success, it is only obvious that you would want to protect and profit off of what remains. However, one must do so in good ethical standing. he rest of this memorandum serves the purpose of educating you into making the proper decision for yourself.

First and foremost, before entering any business transaction, one must understand the definition of "economic substance," which defined by the United States reasury Department, means that one "gains tax benefits from a transaction that does not meaningfully change a tax payer's economic position." he IRS has set up protections against such uncalled for reduction in tax liability…

The federal government has been tightening the laws about unethical profit for some time now. You may recall Martha Stewart's insider-trading scandal, or the accounting fraud of Enron that resulted in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Though both do not directly relate to your situation, it is clear that one should not attempt to fool the United States government. Once in court, Martha Stewart and the accounting staff of Enron were found guilty. Martha Stewart was convicted of conspiracy and served time in jail, while guilty Enron staff served jail time for fraud.

It is to my recommendation that you receive the advice of your wife as more justified than the advice of Moe. Unethically selling an investment in time for a large reported loss will surely trigger a red flag to the IRS, and your defense will be weak. On top of this, every business venture has some risk, so returns are not even guaranteed, and thus might not end up in your favor anyways.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have further questions.

Overall, the destruction that occurs during this homecoming suggests that war is so destructive to the world and family order that it rends the cosmos. The pre-war home cannot be reconstructed.

In contrast, Homer shows a home that can be rebuilt. Unlike "Agamemnon," Odysseus returns to an Ithaca that does not appear to be happy on the surface. But while Agamemnon's home appeared to be happy to the general, it was a fiction created by his wife so she could avenger her daughter. Odysseus' palace is overrun with suitors, vying for the hand of Penelope, his wife. But while Clytemnestra uses her cleverness to trick her husband, Penelope uses her cleverness to trick the suitors. Throughout much of the first few books of the "Odyssey," Odysseus' son Telemachus is shown, trying to find out information about his father's mysterious absence. The wife and son of Odysseus never give up on…

Works Cited

Aeschylus. "Agamemnon." From The Greek Tragedies. Edited by David Grene and Richmond Lattimore. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992.

Homer. "The Odyssey." Translated by Richmond Lattimore. New York: Perennial Classics, 1999.

Homer was a legendary Greek poet who is traditionally credited as the author of the major Greek epics the "Iliad and the Odyssey," as well as the comic mini-epic "Batracholmyomachia" (The Frog-Mouse ar), the corpus of Homeric Hymns, and various other lost or fragmentary workd such as "Margites" (Homer pp). Some ancient authors credited him with the entire Epic Cycle, which included other poems about the Trojan ar as well as the Theban poems concerning Oedipus and his sons (Homer pp). According to legend, Homer was blind, and aside from several Ionian cities claiming to be his birthplace, there is nothing else known about him (Homer pp). Aristotle and Pindar believed that Homer was born in Smyrna, on the coast of modern-day Turkey, and enjoyed years of fame on the Aegean island of Chios (Tolson pp). Although the great scholar-librarians of Alexandria scrutinized the epics for historical and geographic errors,…

Work Cited

Tolson, Jay. "Was Homer a solo act or a bevy of bards?"

U.S. News & World Report; 7/24/2000; Tolson, Jay

Boorstin, Daniel J. "The reign of the spoken word; Homer spun epics that survived while marble temples fell to ruin." U.S. News & World Report; 8/31/1992; pp.

Due, Casey. "Homer and the Papyri: Center of Hellenic Studies."

Homer -- Was the Blind Bard a Poetic Activist for War or Peace?

Homer is a poet of war, namely the war between the Greeks and Trojans, and later in his "Odyssey," of the war between Odysseus and the gods whom would bar him from his trajectory homeward. He is a poet of war in the sense that war provides the narrative structure of how he outlines how a moral human being lives in a violent, conflict-based society. However, Homer also chronicles in his works with what might seem to the modern reader, a distinctly anti-war literary sentiment and tone. This is perhaps best embodied in the example of Odysseus himself as a character. Homer's most famous anti-hero initially attempted to simulate madness to avoid being a participant in the Trojan wartime events, because they were far away from his beloved home of Ithaca and wife Penelope.

However, Homer's anti-war…

The Guilt and Shame In Heroes

Sometimes, there is a misconception that heroes do not feel shame and guilt. For instance, in a movie, when heroes eliminate their adversaries, the viewers are happy because they just think of the good result that such action can bring to everyone. The viewers do not care of how the hero may have felt about his action of getting rid of the enemies and the viewers may think that the hero will feel happy and proud for what he did. However, in the Iliad of Homer, it is apparent that even heroes do feel shame and guilt. The best example of which are revealed in the characters of Achilles and Hector.

Achilles was a great Greek fighter. His passion was to fight and become well-known for his fighting skills. He was known to be the greatest fighter in Greece, thus despite Menelaus and Achilles…

Bibliography

Homer, The Iliad.  http://www.bopsecrets.org/rexroth/cr/1.htm#Homer,%20The%20Iliad 

Homer and the Oral Tradition.  http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/ckostopo/GreeceY&T/Homer.rtf 

Olesker, Katie. The Conflicting Views of Helen. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/classes/KOp.html

Shay, Jonathan. Review of Achilles in Vietnam.

Homer

Will the Real Greek Homer Please Stand Up?

Homer is the name by which the legendary Greek poet of great fame is known. He is credited with the Greek epics The Iliad and They Odyssey, as well as with the authorship of the mini-epic Batrachomyomachia, the corpus of the Homeric Hymns, and also the Margites. (Docu) Nothing about Homer's actual biographical information is known, (though he is commonly assumed to have been blind) and there are many theories that speculate Homer himself may have been completely mythological, or that he may have been more than one person. It is assumed, however, that Homer's works originated from the Greek settlements on the west coast of Asia Minor in the 9th century BC (Helenism), and several Ionian cities claim to be the birthplace of Homer. (Docu) Although Homer's works great works The Iliad and The Odyssey have shaped a great deal…

There it is called the underworld and truly reminds one of the subconscious in many ways. For the Greeks, this is just one aspects of life after death.. In some sense it seems more closely associated with the Christian idea of limbo. Heaven has its counterpart in the Elysian fields. In the Inferno hell is again representing the subconscious, but in it's more visceral and active and judgmental aspect. In general the "nature" of man to be violent, deceiving, etc. is found in hell in varying degrees. Yet one has some pity for many of its inhabitants, the same as in the Odyssey.

But why these visions of gods and hell by these authors? Jung points out that the introversion necessary to look within is the common factor:

The visionary phenomena, produced in the first stages of introversion, are grouped among the well-known phenomena of hypnagogic vision. They form, as…

Works Cited

Alighieri, Dante. Dante's Inferno. Trans. Henry Francis Cary. New York: Cassell, Petter, Galpin,

Dougherty, Carol. The Raft of Odysseus: The Ethnographic Imagination of Homer's Odyssey.

New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.

Dulles, Avery Cardinal. "The Population of Hell." First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life May 2003: 36

Achilles, in effort to match his personal loss on a national level, strives to kill Hector, again fueling the economy of revenge, but this time in a far more 'high stakes' manner. Now, the loss of a man will result in the loss of Troy's greatest warrior. But even though Achilles emerges victorious from this struggle, his is an empty victory. He knows that his own death will follow shortly after the death of Hector. He does not care; revenge means everything to him in the heat of the moment, just like sacrificing the Greek advantage was worth upholding his honor at the beginning of the poem.

Although Achilles' sudden loyalty to his friend may seem honorable to some degree, perhaps more honorable than Menelaus' obsession with Helen, it also shows how the dynamic of loss leading to more and greater losses has spiraled out of control. The one real…

Homer, Herodotus, and the coverage of the Iraqi war reveal a great deal about the gradual loss of mythology in modern estern culture. Herodotus' recording of history was the first movement towards the end of oral mythology, and marked the beginning of a move toward modern methods of recording history. Today, the immediacy of modern media's telling of the war in Iraq further eliminates the possibility for the development of mythology in our culture. Immediacy destroys the potential for event to turn into mythology, by removing the need for stories to be told and retold, thus leading to embellishment and the ultimate creation of mythology from fact.

Herodotus was the world's first known historian. In recording written history, he broke from the long tradition of oral storytelling used by the Greeks. Herodotus' aim was ambitious and remarkable for its time: He aimed for no less than to record the history…

Works Cited

CNN.com. U.S., Iraqi police dispute death toll in ambushes.

01 December 2003. http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/12/01/sprj.irq.main/index.html

Herodotus website. 01 December 2003. http://www.herodotuswebsite.co.uk/essays/Homer.htm

Herodotus. The History of Herodotus. Written 440 B.C.E. Translated by George Rawlinson. 01 December 2003.  http://classics.mit.edu/Herodotus/history.html

441-3). Here we can see that he is at least compassionate enough to explain to his wife what he is feeling and why. Achilles is also a hero but he is very different fro Hektor in that he does not have a strong sense of family ties. He has "swift feet" (I.148) and a swift temper as well. Achilles is bloodthirsty and prideful, two characteristics that can lead to trouble if one is not careful. Achilles also gives into acts of revenge, allowing his heart to be clouded and he never lets his anger go long enough to be content.

The experiences of both of these men are significant because they reveal to us that man rarely changes over the centuries. Circumstances and names may change but the nature of man rarely does.

ork Cited

Homer. "The Iliad." Mack, Maynard, ed. The Norton Anthology of orld Masterpieces. Vol. I. 5th…

Work Cited

Homer. "The Iliad." Mack, Maynard, ed. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Vol. I. 5th ed. New York W.W. Norton and Company. 1985. pp. 106-208.

Homer and Caliban

The development of the theories of art education by various theories has been influenced by the various artistic works, especially poetry. In the past few centuries, poetry has become an important element in the development of English literature and various theories on the art of education. Notably, these poetry and theories are developed by various philosophers who have contributed in the growth of the field of education and the teaching practice. Apart from contributing to the development of education and teaching practice, these works of poetry helps in understanding medieval societies and the modern society in light of the changes that have taken place. This is achieved through portrayal of cultural stereotypes, heroic traits, treatment of women, and portrayal of inhabitants of the New orld among others.

Homer's Heroic Traits and Chaucer Fashion Heroic Traits

Homer valorizes the single hero who becomes a cultural stereotype as expressed…

Works Cited

Dan. "Qualities of a Hero and Odysseus." Teen Ink. Emerson Media, n.d. Web. 15 Jan. 2015. .

O'Toole, Michael. "Shakespeare's Natives: Ariel and Caliban in The Tempest." Columbia University in the City of New York. Columbia University, n.d. Web. 16 Jan. 2015. .

Stuber, Leann. "The Contradiction of Masculinity in the Middle Ages." The Delta 4th ser. 3.1 (2008): 5-23. Illinois Wesleyan University. Digital Commons at ILU, 2008. Web. 18 Jan. 2015. .

Vaughan, Alden T., and Virginia Mason. Vaughan. Shakespeare's Caliban: A Cultural History. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1991. Print.

Comparing the divine world in the Iliad and the Odyssey, olfgang Kullmann emphasizes that unlike in the Iliad, in the latter, "men themselves, not the gods, are responsible for their sufferings beyond their destined share. Gods, on the contrary, guarantee "poetic justice" when they warn men against doing evil."

As Kullmann points out, the mortals in the Odyssey are less likely to act as mere objects of higher powers that manipulate them as they wish, but their actions, although still coordinated by gods at times, are more inclined to be the result of their own actions. Kullmann places Zeus' introductory discourse that reveals the basic principle he is using when leading the world at the origin of the whole development of the epic. Injustice, in this case, is not tolerated in the human world and the repercussions are pointed out by Zeus as merciless towards those who dare to disobey…

Works Cited:

Homer, The Odyssey, Houghton Mifflin, 1921. Original from the University of Virginia, available at:  http://books.google.com/books?id=ezJJAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false 

Rutherford, R.B. The Philosophy of the Odyssey. The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 106 (1986), pp. 145-162. Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/629649

Kullmann, W. Gods and Men in the Iliad and the Odyssey. Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, Vol. 89 (1985), pp. 1-23. Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/311265

Clay, J.S. The Wrath of Athena: gods and men in the Odyssey. Rowman & Littlefield, 1997

Gradually the Greek hero recognizes (peripeteia) that his visitors are the hated Greeks who once abandoned him, in disguise. Philoctetes denounces the foul plot and demands back his bow, realizing once again he is alone in the world. (anagnorisis)

In Euripides, "Hippolytus," pity and fear (pathos) is evoked by Phaedra's unbridled passion for her stepson Hippolytus. The recognition element of the drama (peripeteia) comes when both Phaedra and Hippolytus see that their mutually incompatible desires both for others (in the case of Phaedra) and also to be removed from others (as expressed in the character of the young, title son of Theseus) are inescapable. This recognition is shortly followed by the terrible peripeteia of Theseus that his wife has lied to him and he has cast off his son as nothing, for nothing. The final tragic anagnorisis comes with Athena's visit. Athena exposes Theseus' folly of his love for his…

Nevertheless, both heroes are very similar in their characterizations: they are both human and are subject to the whims of the gods. Odysseus confides his most troubling mistake: "From the start my companions spoke to men and begged me to take some of the cheeses, come back again, and the next time to drive the lambs and kids from their pens, and get back quickly to the ship again, and go off sailing across the salt water; but I would not listen to them," (Homer, 143). Despite the fact that Odysseus is responsible for the deaths of many of his men, once he manages to get them out of the predicament he still revels in his victory. So much so that he ends up exposing his identity to the Cyclops and opening himself and his men up to the retribution that the Cyclops' subsequent prayers to Poseidon incur. Similarly, Juno's…

Works Cited

Homer. The Odyssey: translated by Richard Lattimore. New York: Harper and Row, 1967.

Virgil. The Aeneid translated by Allen Mandelbaum. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1971.

Nevertheless, I want to get home, and can think of nothing else" (Homer, 2000). Thus, Penelope serves as the catalyst for bringing Odysseus home, and shows that beauty is not all a man looks for in a wise and loving mate. A literary critic writes of her, "Penelope is famous in myth as the waiting wife, faithful -- or otherwise. Odysseus' return will end that phase of her existence and her fame rivaling that of famous women of the past" (Ahl & oisman, 1996, p. 31). However, that does not stop her from longing for Odysseus' return and their reuniting. She is a good, decent woman, who raises a good son alone, makes a living, and never gives up hope. In that, she is an engaging heroine and a fine match for Odysseus, who deserves a woman who respects and trusts him, as well as loves and cherishes him.

Penelope…

References

Ahl, F., & Roisman, H.M. (1996). The Odyssey re-formed. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

Homer. (2000). The Odyssey. Retrieved from the University of Oregon Website:  http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~joelja/odyssey.html6  Oct. 2006.

Odyssey

Homer's Odyssey is a classic epic poem, demonstrating all the hallmarks of epic poem structure and the epic journey cycle. The narrative of the Odyssey follows the return on Odysseus from Troy, a journey that takes ten years and spans many locations and setbacks, until he finally reaches his home in Ithaca. Even then, Homer must deal with one final setback before being successfully reunited with his family. This paper will focus on three central themes that define the epic poetry genre -- an epic hero

There are several elements of an epic poem. An epic poem should have an epic hero and in this case that is Odysseus. He is the focal point of the action (no author, 2012). His journey is entirely about him, to the point where his actions dictate the fate of all those around him. The key supporting characters are in his and his…

Works Cited:

Downes, J. (2005). Epic, epic formula, epic smile. Auburn University. Retrieved February 15, 2012 from  http://www.auburn.edu/~downejm/epicbasics.html 

No author. (2012). A story of epic proportions: What makes a poem an epic? National Endowment for the Humanities. Retrieved February 15, 2012 from  http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/story-epic-proportions-what-makes-poem-epic

Tomorrow when War began: Homer's perspective

Writing a few years after the event when I am quite an elderly man and musing about the account that somehow or other made its way back into the past and interested an exceptionally large audience (many of them young I understand), I have to remark that Ellie's account was super-exaggerated.

Possibly, readers like stories where everything works out well for young individuals and where, given our alleged immortality we remain unscathed by incidents. It makes me wonder how Ellie could deceive herself into thinking that the readers would be so gullible as to believe her, and, indeed, this is just what they seem to do. Australia has never been invaded, and never likely well (God-bless our national home!), but Wirrawee was, indeed, totally destroyed and its citizens captured by the enemy.

It was not so easy -- as Ellie -- implied to turn…

Odyssey

Much of Homer's epic poem The Odyssey deals with the trouble the titular character finds himself in, and the suffering he and men must endure as he makes his way home over the course of ten years. Upon cursory examination, one might think that suffering in the Odyssey has some actual value, in that Odysseus is ultimately rewarded for his long-suffering efforts by being able to go home and murder everyone who wanted to marry his wife. However, this does not take into account the majority of the play, in which Odysseus' men suffer with no reward, being brutally killed and tortured for no reason other than to fulfill Poseidon's curse against Odysseus. This is most clear when Odysseus and his men visit the island of the lotus eaters, and by examining this scene in conjunction with the conclusion of the story, it becomes clear that the suffering in…

Works Cited

Homer. The Essential Odyssey. Trans. Stanley Lombardo. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing

Company, 2007.

O rother, Where Art Thou?

Homer in Hollywood: The Coen rothers' O rother, Where Art Thou?

Could a Hollywood filmmaker adapt Homer's Odyssey for the screen in the same way that James Joyce did for the Modernist novel? The idea of a high-art film adaptation of the Odyssey is actually at the center of the plot of Jean-Luc Godard's 1963 film Contempt, and the Alberto Moravia novel on which Godard's film is based. In Contempt, Prokosch, a rich American dilettante film producer played by Jack Palance, hires Fritz Lang to film a version of Homer's Odyssey, then hires a screenwriter to write it and promptly ruins his marriage to rigitte ardot. Fritz Lang gamely plays himself -- joining the ranks of fellow "arty" German-born directors who had earlier deigned to act before the camera (like Erich von Stroheim in Wilder's Sunset oulevard, playing a former director not unlike himself, or…

Bibliography

Peter Biskind, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock'N'Roll Generation Saved Hollywood. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1999. Print.

Cavell, Stanley. Pursuits of Happiness: the Hollywood Comedy of Remarriage. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1984. Print.

Connors, Catherine. Petronius the Poet: Verse and Literary Tradition in the Satyricon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998. Print.

Doom, Ryan P. The Brothers Coen: Unique Characters of Violence. Santa Barbara, Denver and Oxford: Praeger / ABC-CLIO, 2009. Print.

In his last moments, Hektor realizes he can never persuade Achilles because "in his breast is a heart of iron" (XXII.357). Achilles reveals his cold nature when he says, "Die: and I will take my own death at whatever time" (XXII.364) moments after Hektor dies. Again, we see the stark contrast between these two heroes.

Achilles is another face Homer attaches to the notion of war and kleos. Achilles is noble and popular for his "swift feet" (I.148). he is swift on his feet and he is swift to anger and this anger will surface to be the one thing that plagues him through The Iliad. It drives him through most of the plot and it is the bane of his existence. However, this flaw does not prevent Achilles from seeking glory or reaching fame. He experiences a different kind of kleos than Hektor does primarily because he becomes an…

Works Cited

Bloom, Harold. Introduction. Homer's The Iliad. New York: Chelsea House Publishers. 1987.

Homer. "The Iliad." Mack, Maynard, ed. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Vol. I.

5th ed. New York: W.W. Norton and Company. 1985. pp. 106-208.

Redfield, James. "Nature and Culture in the Iliad: Purification." Homer's The Iliad. New York:

Homeric Battle

The Iliad is a collection of poems by Homer describing the 10-year siege on Troy by Greeks in what is now famously referred to as the Trojan ar. Several Greek and Trojan characters are worth a special mention in these Homeric poems because of the roles they played in the battles before the war was won, how they conducted themselves to help eventually win the war for their side. This paper specifically investigates the writings in the Homeric poems to look are important in the overall text.

The author, Homer, portrays a society utilizing poetic fiction. He describes how humans directly talked and interacted with divine beings (Raaflaub 469), an act that can be seen in page forty six of the Iliad which starts by describing a dream that Zeus (god) had sent to Agamemnon. In the dream Zeus promises Agamemnon glory in when the war is finished.…

Works Cited

Homer. " The Iliad" n.d.: 46-419. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.

Raaflaub, Kurt A. "Homeric Warriors and Battles: Trying to Resolve Old Problems." The Classical World 101.4 (2008): 469-483. Web. 12 Nov. 2015.

Wees, Hans Van. "The Homeric Way of War: The 'Iliad' and the Hoplite Phalanx (I)." Greece & Rome, Second Series 41.1 (1994): 1-18. Web. 11 Nov. 2015

Wees, Hans Van. "The Homeric Way of War: The 'Iliad' and the Hoplite Phalanx (I)." Greece & Rome, Second Series 41.2 (1994): 131-155. Web. 11 Nov. 2015

Weaving Power of Athena and Penelope

omer's tale of the Odyssey is populated by many female characters, ranging in nature from the silent and submissive to the ferociously lethal. If one were to pick out two women who are most influential in the shaping of the story, however, the choice would certainly linger on the strange dyad of Athena and Penelope. Athena serves as the direct initiator of much of the action, and it is her force of will that drives the return of Odysseus and the death of the suitors. Penelope, on the other hand, is the inspiration which motivates the principle actors -- for herself, she takes precious little action and is deeply passive, even paralyzed, yet her very existence is enough to spur Odysseus from the side of his goddess-lover and to inspire the blind devotion of her suitors. There are certain ways in which Penelope and…

Homer. The Odyssey. trans. Samuel Butler. Available from The Internet Classics Archive.  http://classics.mit.edu/Homer/odyssey.mb.txt . 11 January 2005.

Homer. The Odyssey. trans. Samuel Butler. Available from The Internet Classics Archive.

According to Griffin, the Odyssey is a didactic poem that delights precisely in its own lesson about human fate and its own rhetoric. Thus, as Griffin emphasizes, the Odyssey teaches its reader that the end of human life and of all the disasters, misfortune and happiness that accompanies it is to provide a theme for a beautiful song like that of Ulysses: "From the narration of suffering we are to draw serenity: the gods devise disasters, Odysseus is told, that there may be song among men (8.579), and to listen to that sad song gives delight. Listen and learn, Penelope was told: the gods bring unhappiness on many others besides you (1.353-5). In the end Odysseus and Penelope have learned that hard lesson. Life is full of unhappiness, but that is what is transmuted into song. They achieve harmony with that process and learn, as we are to learn, the…

Works Cited

Griffin, Jasper. Homer: The Odyssey. Cambridge University Press, 1987, pp 47-98

Halkin, Hillel. "Sailing to Ithaca." Commentary 120.4 (Nov 2005): 69(8).

Homer. The Odyssey. New York: Oxford Classics, 1973

Jones, Peter V. "Introduction," in the Odyssey, by Homer, translated by EV Rieu, Penguin Classics, 1991

That argument - to die young as a hero or to live a long, uneventful life - is at the core of the Iliad. By Book XI, Homer has firmly established Odysseus as a hero for all time, but one whose failings made him distinctly human. Heroes such as Achilles, who had previously been accorded godlike status, are also brought to this level. In particular, the point in the interaction between Odysseus and Achilles where the latter declares "I'd rather live working as a wage-laborer for hire by some other man...than lord it over all the wasted dead." (480-500) reveals much about this concept of human nature. Achilles, having previously chosen to die a hero, now as a shade regrets that choice.

Book XXII illustrates the slaughter of the suitors. This chapter reveals not only the superiority of Odysseus in the ease with which he and his men conduct the…

Richard III and the Odyssey

The focus of both, Shakespeare's "Richard III" and Homer's "The Odyssey," is the struggle between good and evil. Each work shows the consequences of following temptations and how in the end good triumphs over evil.

Richard is evil personified. Due to his lack of any compassion or humanity there is no other conclusion to draw except that Richard is psychopathic. He is basically a serial killer with a self-promoting plan (Shakespeare 1996). His every intention is to be in complete control at any cost, nothing and no one is going to stand in his way. Although in the beginning Richard might easily be taken as simply a jealous cripple out to take revenge on his older brother, by the end of the play, he has become a monster, the epitome of evil, feeding on power and death in a mad frenzy to obtain his goal…

Bibliography

Homer. The Odyssey. Noonday Press. November 1998.

Shakespeare, William. Richard III. Washington Square Press. 1996.

However, when the Greeks reach their boats, Odysseus cannot help but once again proving his devotion to achieve glory wherever he goes, informing Polyphemus in regard to his true identity and thus infuriating the gods. This is Odysseus' biggest mistake, since it is because of this act that Poseidon is reluctant to let the Greek hero live, with the god of sea constantly stressing Odysseus and making his journey even longer.

3. Poseidon is obviously Odysseus's biggest enemy, given that he is in control of the waters and that Odysseus has no choice but to travel by water in order to reach his homeland. As Polyphemus' father, Poseidon is determined to punish Odysseus and struggles to prevent the Greek hero from achieving his goal. Poseidon's wrath could have been avoided if Odysseus had not insisted in revealing his identity to the Cyclops, who was thus enabled to inform his father…

Bibliography:

Homer, "The Odyssey of Homer," Ingram, Cooke, 1853.

Eumaeus heard the discussion and said: "Don't listen to this girl, she has gone mad after having lost her father, the queen is not ready to pick a suitor yet!" I couldn't tell Eumaeus about my arrangement as he could have ruined it all.

After all the suitors had gathered in the great hall, I've locked all of the doors so that none could escape my father's revenge. My father appeared, and, as if he knew what my plan had been, he asked me for his armor and for his weapons. Soon enough, the great hall boiled as my father murdered every single one of my mother's suitors.

The story of Aeneis pretty much resembles that of Odysseus and like the Greek hero, the Trojan goes through great efforts until reaching his destination. Homer's influence on the Aeneis is seen clearly across the epic.

However, in an attempt to give…

Works cited:

1. Homer. "The Odyssey."

2. Virgil. "The Aeneis."

In humans, the critical period for language acquisition is thought to be from late infancy to adolescence. After that critical period, it is much more difficult to learn language. Feral children rescued before puberty can generally learn language much better than individuals rescued after puberty for this reason.

9) Metaphor is seldom used outside of poetry and other forms of creative writing.

a) True

b) False (

10) According to the Principle of Compositionality, "The meaning of a sentence is determined by the meaning of its component parts and the manner in which they are arranged in syntactic structure."

Consider the following two sentences. Does the Principle apply equally well to both? Or does it apply more effectively to one than to another? If so, which? Justify your answer in either case.

a. Steve gave Mark the cold chicken.

b. Steve gave Mark the cold shoulder.

The Principle of Compositionality…

For Aristotle, true freedom and liberty consists in ruling and being ruled in turn and not always insisting on fulfilling one's own personal desires at the cost of others. Thus, for dysseus, true freedom can only come about when one is allowed to contribute to society for the betterment of everyone involved, a sure sign of moral correctness and rational thinking.

In addition, Aristotle stressed the importance of justice and goodness, for he believed that people possess a sort of inborn knowledge concerning what is right and what is wrong; however, irrational desires often overrule such knowledge and leads people to commit wrong acts or behave inappropriately. This conflict of desires in human beings could be overcome by achieving self-control via training the mind to win out over primitive instincts and passions. Thus, intelligence is the finest human quality and the mind is the true self, the god-like aspect of…

One special dramatic festival was devoted to Dionysus, the Greek god of wine, and featured what were known as satyr plays, so-called because the actors portrayed half-human, half-animal roles, often in the form of a goat. The term tragedy is derived from the words "goat" and "song" and refers to plays with plots involving fierce conflicts and characters which symbolized powerful human and divine forces. Certainly, Homer's Odyssey could be viewed as one of these types of plays, due to the conflicts encountered by Odysseus on his way home to Ithaca and the will of the gods who often attempted to complicate his journeys through sorcery and magic, such as Odysseus and his troubles with Circe, the beautiful female witch that turned his men into pigs as a form of punishment.

A the ultimate example of a democratic social system with freedom, personal responsibilities and moral direction. However, although Odysseus the man was not without his faults and failures, he does symbolize the true Greek hero and citizen elite, due to his unfaltering goal to return home to his wife Penelope and to bring peace and tranquillity to Ithaca.

Connolly, Peter. The Ancient Greece of Odysseus. UK: Oxford University Press, 2003.

" (Book XXIV)

C. Throughout the story, Odysseus uses his wits rather than sheer physical strength to accomplish his goals. At the end of the story, he disguised himself so that he could do this once again. He patiently waited for his opportunity to reveal his true identity to the suitors.

IV. Penelope and some of the servants were faithful to Odysseus, even though he did not return home immediately after the war and was presumed dead.

A, It was not only Penelope who was faithful to Odysseus. Euryclea, sometimes called the nurse and sometimes called the housekeeper, was also faithful.

B. "Nurse, draw me off some of the best wine you have, after what you are keeping for my father's own drinking, in case, poor man, he should escape death, and find his way home again after all." (Book II)

C. Telemachus has little hope that his father is…

Is it a sign of inconsistency in Athena that at the end of the Odyssey she echoes the sentiment of Zeus and sues for peace whereas in Book 4 of the Iliad she is all too eager to ignore the sentiment of her father and manipulate the warriors into shedding more blood? Again -- not necessarily. hile, were it up to Zeus he would gladly see men work out their problems in a peaceful way, and, if he can help it, only sends strife and war when men need to be punished. The relationship between war and peace is complicated by the fact that he is not the only god (even if he is king of the gods). The gods seem to have just as many quarrels and disagreements among themselves as men do on Earth -- a point Zeus knows quite well. That is the reason he presides over…

Works Cited

Homer. The Iliad. (Trans. By Richmond Lattimore). IL: University of Chicago Press,

1951. Print.

Homer. The Odyssey. (Trans. By Robert Fitzgerald). NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux,

1961. Print.

However, when Achilles touches Priam as token that he should have no fear; both gods and mortals are said to be asleep. There is a sense of will in Achilles' gentleness towards the man, and his willingness to touch Priam's sleeve that night. In other words, human and divine reconciliation and pity is not simply a law, humans must accept the will of the gods, but they are also capable of choosing to add or subtract the misery of the world by showing pity to their fellow humans. Odysseus' cleverness, although aided by the gods, is also partly drawn from his own resourcefulness and character, as well as merely because Athena helps him.

Achilles makes what is said to be the greatest gift to Priam, that of Hector's body. In Greek custom, gifts were customary to give to visitors. ith such a gift, Achilles gives up his determination to mourn…

Works Cited

Homer. "The Iliad." Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin, 1990.

Homer. "The Odyssey." Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin, 1996