The Odyssey :: essays research papers

The OdysseyThe Odyssey is one of the two great epic poems written by the ancient Greek poet Homer. Due to its antiquity, it is not known when or where it was first written, nevertheless, the approximate date and place is 700 BC Greece. Later publications are widespread as the text is set down in modern English with no deviation from the original story.The story is set in the lands and seas in close proximity to Greece changing by books as Odysseus, the protagonist whizz, recounts of his many massd adventures and misfortunes in a series of flashbacks. Odysseus, a survivor of the bloody Trojan War that left many Greek heroes stillborn and a city plundered, yearns to chip in Ithaca and his wife Penelope, who is solicited by countless suitors, yet due to an accidental grievance done to the God of Sea, Poseidon, Odysseus is plagued by misfortunes and spend some ten years traveling the seas searching a path home.The Odyssey is written in the third person omniscient perspective, per haps the only voice open(a) of integrating Homers usage of the Gods and the supernatural. This perspective shifts as necessary to give the reader a full understanding of Odysseus journeys. In fact, without incorporating the supernatural forces, there would be no way of understanding why Odysseus is met with such inhospitality from certain Gods or constructing a majestic recount of the actions in the plot.Odysseus is the classic Greek hero by all standards. He is a hardened warrior who has fought against the Trojans, a dutiful husband who would journey years to return home, a cunning wayfarer who fares wholesome with any host hostile or amicable, and a mortal in bipolar relation with the Gods. He may be the protagonist, yet as a mortal, he is only a servant to the Greek Gods. Poseidon has a bitter grudge against Odysseus for blinding the Cyclopes Polyphemus, yet Homer balances Odysseus fate by giving him the aid of the Goddess Athena. Thus, Odysseus fortunes and misfortunes are a ll the deeds and misdeeds of the Gods, and the protagonist is subject to his fate as determined by the supernatural. Homers implications about the life and fate of a man could be easily recapitulated as uncontrollable. Though the Greek Gods do not exist, mans fortunes and misfortunes still contain unexplainable entropy, go forth mortals with no precise knowledge or grasp of their future yet mortals do have an unfailing sense of hope, just as Odysseus is determined to return home despite his foes and hardships.