... , wisdom ). The character is described by title i.e. hero, wife of hero, god, and the reader simultaneously gains knowledge for the reason that the character inherited the given title. "I am Odysseus, Laertes" son. The whole world talks of my stratagems, and my fame has reached the heavens. My home is under the clear skies of Ithaca." (9. 19-20) Meanwhile the rest of ... gives away his identity to Polythemus. "Cyclopes, if anyone ever asks you how you came by your blindness, tell him you eye was put out by Odysseus, the son of Laertes, who lives in Ithaca." (9. 502-505) With that Polythe...

• Word Count: 1884
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... loyalty is at times tested by the doubt and skepticism that he may never return, yet her virtue does not waiver. Penelope weaves a shroud for her father in law, King Laertes. This act is taken very seriously in the Greek tradition and must be done when person of high order dies. "Young men, my suitors, now my lord is dead, let ... me finish my weaving before I marry, or else my thread will have been spun in vain. It is a shroud I weave for Lord Laertes, when cold death comes to lay him on his bier." (222) The suitors must let Penelope finish weaving the shroud in order for her to pick a...

• Word Count: 622
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

Odysseus, of Homer's Odyssey, is an appropriate hero and ruler of Ithaca. He does not act irrationally but contemplates his actions and their implications. Odysseus is an appropriate hero because he embodies the values of bravery, intelligence, astuteness, and competency. Odysseus is an appropriate ruler for Ithaca by virtue of his hereditary right to kingship as well as his diplomatic skills, familiarity with his male subjects, discipline, and his impartiality and compassion. However, he is a character that does make a foolish decision. There is a rare instance when his pride supersedes his i...

• Word Count: 704
• Approx Pages: 3

The importance of clever characters in book XIX of The Odyssey Odysseus is repeatedly described as being wily and astute. In Book XIX, other characters come into their own as similarly wily and astute. Identify them, and explain the importance of (and need for) such cleverness at this point in the story. In book XIX of The Odyssey, Penelope, Euricleia, and Telemachus are clever or do things that are very smart. In book XIX of The Odyssey, the main characters are Odysseus, Telemachus, Penelope, Euricleia, the suitors, and the maids. In book XIX of The Odyssey, Athena inspires Odysseus, Telemach...

• Word Count: 690
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... boat, Odysseus says, "Kyklops, if at any point mortal man ask/how you were put to disgrace and blinded, let him know/Odysseus, pillager of urban areas, took your eye:/Laertes' child, whose home's on Ithaka! Because of the way of the Odyssey as a "notes" story, a story of homecoming and the tragedies of war, this demonstration of heavenliness looking for is ... ...

• Word Count: 1055
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... them. In order to maintain her faithfulness to Odysseus, she tricks the suitors by saying that she would pick one of them to marry once she finished a burial shroud for Laertes, her father-in-law. However, at night Penelope unwound the weaving she had done for the day in order to expand the time for Odysseus's return. Her perseverance allows her ... ...

• Word Count: 1591
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography

... ; 'Cyclops---if any man on the face of the earth should ask you who blinded you, shame you so--say Odysseus, raider of cities, he gouged out you eye, Laertes' son who makes his home in Ithaca!'" (227). Odysseus shows his hunger for glory by instructing the Cyclops to reveal his identity to those who ask and by providing ... ...

• Word Count: 943
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... Land he dies in the land of Moab. Another prominent difference would be that they both came to royalty in different ways. For Odysseus, it was inherited from his father, Laertes, who had been the king of Ithaca. For Moses, royalty came after he was adopted by the daughter of the Pharaoh, after she had saved him from a basket floating down ... ...

• Word Count: 623
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... , his reputation is that of Godly standards. He is Odysseus: raider of cities, master of landaways and seaways, and skilled in all ways of contending. He is Odysseus, son of Laertes and the gods of old. He will forever remain a hero because he is a survivor.     ...

• Word Count: 797
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... he could have burst into his hall and fought the suitors within, although this would likely not have gone well. We can see this as a victory for the Son of Laertes over his own mind, and eventually the suitors. Through the long campaign of Troy, men died in a various assortment of ways. Arrows through the throat, bodies sliced to pieces, spears ... ...

• Word Count: 1177
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... that are believed to be not possible for women. In book 19, the clever side of Penelope is revealed when she tells all the suitors she is weaving a shroud for Laertes, Odysseus's father, and once it is finished she will pick a suitor to marry. Working on the shroud during the day, and then unweaving it at night by candlelight to further ... ...

• Word Count: 1806
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... come from Arthur's court and that his name was Gawain (Raffel 76). Odysseus announces his name to the Cyclops after stabbing the Cyclops in the eye. Odysseus says, "I am Odysseus, Laertes" son" (Homer 110). Odysseus says this in order to let the Cyclops know who it was that stabbed his eye. The last trait of an adventure hero is to return ... ...

• Word Count: 1233
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... establishes dominance over the suitors by keeping them at bay for almost four years. She told the suitors that it would be dishonorable not to have a shroud to bury Lord Laertes, Odysseus's father in when he died and that she must finish it before she can choose a suitor to marry (II, 103-107). Everyday she would work on a loom weaving the ... ...

• Word Count: 1064
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... word in to the Cyclops. "Cyclops, if anyone, any mortal man, asks you how you got your eye put out, tell him that Odysseus the marauder did it, Son of Laertes, whose home is on Ithaca."" (p. 139) Because he says this, Cyclops prays to his father, Poseidon. "Grant that Odysseus may never reach his home on Ithaca. But if he is ... ...

• Word Count: 1410
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... boat by launching rocks into the sea. "Kyklops, if ever mortal man inquire how you were put to shame and blinded, tell him Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye: Laertes son whose home's on Ithaka!"(315). As you can see, Odysseus almost brings death to his men from his growing ego of blinding the giant, however that is not it ... ...

• Word Count: 1743
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... , Odysseus exclaimed, "Cyclopsif any man on the face of the earth should ask you who blinded you, shamed you so 'say Odysseus, raider of the cities, he gouged your eye, Laertes'son who makes his home in Ithaca!?(Book 9, lines 556-562) In saying this, Odysseus brought the wrath of Poseidon down upon himself. Much of the trouble he encountered could ... ...

• Word Count: 1670
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... suitors are hounding Penelope during Odysseus" absence. She devises a plan to tell the suitors that she will pick someone to marry when she is done weaving a cloth as a shroud for Laertes. Penelope indulges the disguised Odysseus in her trickery, "I weave my own wiles. First the divinity put the idea of the web in my mind, to set up a great loom in ... ...

• Word Count: 880
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... & Berns pg 5). Odysseus was chosen because of his rank as a great warrior in the Greek days. He was born to be a leader and a great warrior. The traits of his father Laertes, have been passed down to him; and the gods see that he will be a leader one day. A leader sets the occasion or provides a stimulus for the evocation of the follower ... ...

• Word Count: 1746
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... reader) start to forget that Odysseus was once a great hero. Odysseus also has a heroic side to him. He doesn't let fear get in the way of his actions. "Son of Laertes, versatile Odysseus, after these years with me, you still desire your old home? Even so, I wish you well. If you could see it all before you go- all the adversity ... ...

• Word Count: 631
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... cleverly decides upon a plan where she can put off marrying any of the suitors: she tells them that she will marry one when she finishes weaving the funeral shroud for Laertes, but all the while is unraveling her day's work every night. "Prudent Penelope- also has a good view on what is right or wrong. For example, she never goes anywhere alone ... ...

• Word Count: 751
• Approx Pages: 3

... makes her an equal partner for Odysseus. She achieves this by telling the suitors that she will marry one of them when she completes the shroud she is weaving for Laertes. She works on the shroud during the day, but during the night she unravels the work she has done that day. Not only does Antinoos report this to Telemachos, but ... ...

• Word Count: 1272
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... for him, warding off her many suitors with various tactics. Telling them that she will choose one of them to marry when she finishes a shroud for her father-in-law, Laertes, Penelope simply undid all her weaving every night. (446) She planned this in order to wait for her husband Odysseus, whom she believes will return for her. Penelope also utilizes ... ...

• Word Count: 704
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... god's Cyclops son Polyphemus and boasted, "If anybody asks who robbed you of your eye, you may tell him that it was Odysseus the sacker of cities, the son of Laertes, King of Ithaca!" (Green, p. 314-315) And so, with that foolish announcement, Odysseus brought upon himself a curse from Poseidon, who was avenging his son's blindness. This curse would prove to ... ...

• Word Count: 860
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... vengeful when he escaped from the Cyclops. "Cyclops, if ever mortal man inquire how you were put to shame and blinded, tell them Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye: Laertes" son, whose home is on Ithaca." Odysseus is not wise for telling Polyphemus his real name and where he is from. He is also boastful because he thought of the ... ...

• Word Count: 423
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... goodly Ulysses perceived it, and went forth from the living room, past the great wall of the court, and stood before her, and Athena spoke to him, saying "Son of Laertes, sprung from Zeus, Ulysses of many devices, even now do you reveal your word to your son, and hide it not, that when you two have planned death and fate ... ...

• Word Count: 1043
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School