Odyessus

Question: Can you give me character traits of Odysseus in the Odyssey? its very Urgent

Answer: Athene, in Book XIII of the Odyssey, says to Odysseus: "Hardy man, subtle of wit, of guile insatiate..." and listed his character traits.

Question: I was wondering what customs, traditions or values the Odyssey shows the reader. I already have libations, hospitalty, and dependence on the Gods. please email me back with any info you have! THANKS SO MUCH!

Answer: You have only scratched the surface. When you read the Odyssey the first time you get so wrapped up in the adventure that you glide right over the many idiosyncracies. Life was really different then. Homer hints at the difference but he has managed to be very subtle. You have to dig this information out, but when you dig you come up with real treasure. Let us look at the first page, the first sentence even. Who is Pallas? Athena, of course, but why reference Pallas here and Athene later? Why were there wooers to complain about? Of all the adventures why does he only mention the oxen of Helios Hyperion? Is this the same as Apollo or different? Why would a goddess like Calypso want to hold a mortal like Odysseus? Notice that the gods had ordained that he should return home. Now Odysseus has a chance because Poseidon is out of the country. Even on the first page there are many customs and traditions to consider.

The Greeks needed many deities because there were many aspect to life, and each deity incoporated a separate aspect or realm. As time passed some merged and some separated. Pallas Athene is probably the result of the merger of two separates Pallas and Athena. By studying when the different words are used you might figure out the separate aspects that each represents.

Penelope was important to woo because whoever married her was king. They were not wooing because Penelope was lovely. Wooers were considered guests, and guests should be treated well as was customary. These wooers were being treated like guests, but they did not act that way.

If you eat the wrong oxen, you die. Is this a custom or a historical fact. The oxen of the sun may be days of the year and if you waste your days you may be dead. Apollo is the god of reason, but if you follow your reason do you eat the oxen or sacrifice them to the gods.

Is Calypso really a task or a passion. Do we conquer her by going down the straight and narrow or is success the more circuitous route. Does this say someting about how we have to organize our lives.

How do we know what the gods have ordained? Should we cast lots to know? Or can we find a friendly deity to interrogate. Both methods are used.

We can overcome what a god has ordained by getting them on a distant mission and going against their commands. Could we set up a festival to accomplish this?

I have tried to point out opportunities. You, now need to look at the details.

Questions: Could you please give me more information about Odyssey being an allgory of a heroic journey through life?" Can you lists all the life forces Odysseus confronted and what forces each character represents (in detail please)? Thanks.

Answer: The Odyssey has a bit more generality because Odysseus is not always viewed as a hero. The notion of the allegory of life is well developed in the Odyssey in Book IX where Odysseus says: " Verily Calypso, the fair goddess, would fain have kept me with her in hallow caves, longing to have me for her lord; and likewise too, guileful Circe of Aia, would have stayed me in her halls longing to have me for her lord. But never did they prevail upon my heart within my breast. So surely is there nought sweeter tha a man's own country and his parents, even though he dwell far of in a rich home, in a strange land, away from all that begat him." The scenes and their interpretations are as follows:

Ð'* With the Cicones Odysseus' crew attacked simply to plunder and spoil so they would have something to show for their efforts when they got home. At first it seemed easy but later they found that the Cicones had friends that were powerful and eventually they were punished and driven away.

Ð'* The lotus-eaters demonstrated that the alternative to plunder was to forget one's home.

Ð'* In the adventure with the Cyclops he progresses from being "No man" to being "Odysseus"--"giver of pain". One must pass from anonymity to crying one's name in the face of a hostile universe.

Ð'* This seems necessary because later when Aeolus suspends nature's contrariness, Odysseus can make no headway home.

Ð'* Odysseus does not defy the cannibal giants Laestrygones with the result that his fleet is destroyed.

Ð'* Odysseus turns Circe from a menace to sweetness just by a show of force.

Ð'* The visit to Hades is about the pain and humiliation one must endure on the path to success for Hercules says: "I was the son of Zeus Cronion, yet had I trouble beyond measure, for I was subdued unto a man far worse than I."

Ð'* The Sirens are a threat because they give the choice of hearing about life instead of experiencing it.

Ð'* Scylla and Charybdis provide a symbol of life's usual choices, face certain trouble from a monster or be swallowed by a maelstrom.

Ð'* The cattle of Helios Hyperion suggest the days of the year. You risk oblivion if you use up those days just to satisfy your hunger.

Question: what is an Odyssey

Answer: An odyssey is a long wandering or series of travels like the journey the Odysseus took on his way home from Troy. An Odyssey does not have an interesting destination; the interest lies in the adventures along the way.

Question: how long a go did homer right these stories?

Answer: The works of Homer were written about 750 BCE. They were for a long time the oldest complete works ever written. Now there may be some works from the Near East that are older.

Question: can we have some pictures of homer

Answer: There were no pictures of Homer mad during his lifetime. Any pictures are merely fantasies. Rembrant painted Aritotle contemplating a bust Homer which is visible at: Click here

Question: What characters in the odyssey reveal greek cultural values?

Answer: It is a peculiarity

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