... Homer admired characters who exhibit bravery, loyalty and nobility of heart. Throughout the story, the main character, Hector, demonstrates all of these virtues. His undying loyalty to Troy, his beloved country; his efforts to maintain peace in his homeland; his boundless counter-attacks on the Achaean army; and his focus on his wife and only son all demonstrate his integrity. Homer, however, makes a ... point of showing Hector's faults as well, revealing his foolishness, cruelty, impulsiveness, pride, and rare acts of cowardice. In spite of his imperfections, Homer's Hector remains a st...

• Word Count: 1579
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... to come home. First, Odysseus declares that there is nothing better than domesticity and that the best thing is a home that is harmonious and where the husband and wife are in agreement. Second, we can compare at the ratio of the books of the Odyssey that focus on the adventures of Odysseus to the books of the Odyssey that focus on his interactions with his family and see that ... your own heart how many hardships you were fated to undergo before getting back to your own country, you would stay here with me and be the lord of this household and be an immortal, for all your longing once ...

• Word Count: 2055
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

... order to return home to his wife. "Are you, Odysseus, man of many wiles, Laertes" godly son, still keen to leave Straightaway? Is it your native land you need, Your dear home? Though you go, I wish you well. But if your mind were to divine the trials That fate will have you meet before you reach Your country, you would choose to stay ... , to keep This house with me - and live immortally. This you would do, despite your longing for Your wife, for whom you yearn each day. And yet I"m sure that I am not inferior ... possessed. But of course, Odysseus stays true to his heroic traits and de...

• Word Count: 1327
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• Grade Level: High School

... -day Greece) and its shores in the Aegean Sea to the island of the Lotus-eaters; Polyphemus, a Cyclops; to the island of King Aeolus, God of the Wind; island of the beautiful sorceress, Circe; to the island of Persephone- Erebus- an earthly doorway to the underworld; to the island of the Sun; the place of the nymph Calypso; and the Kingdom of the Phaeacians. Some parts of the epic also took place in Pylos, Nestor ... expedition being afraid that Odysseus might not return and that, suitors might try to court her. Odysseus assured her in reply, "No matter what, you will always be my wife."...

• Word Count: 2482
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• Grade Level: High School

... nothing is worth more than for a warrior to return home, or more importantly his family. Despite that Odysseus has lived lavishly with Calypso for the past seven years, he still longs to see his family once again and complete his journey by returning home. A deeper meaning that Homer may be ... By god, I'd rather slave on earth for another man-some dirt-poor tenant farmer who scrapes to keep alive-than rule down here over all the breathless dead."(Book 11, P.265, Lines 555-558). Achilles is pointing out that although he had died an honorable death in battle, ... failed to do this with h...

• Word Count: 1331
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• Grade Level: High School

... and he feels as though he has no purpose for living any longer. Odysseus, on the other hand, is stuck on an island with Calypso for seven years with almost no hope of returning home. He longs to return home to his wife and son, but he has no ship and no crew to help him get there. ... Both Odysseus and Gilgamesh are able to overcome this unbearable loneliness with help from their gods. To keep Gilgamesh out of trouble and less lonely, the gods Anu and Aruru create Enkidu as a rival ... home turns out to be a temptation for him. Calypso is infatuated with Odysseus and tries to bribe him ...

• Word Count: 1410
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• Grade Level: High School

... Odysseus reaches Ithaca to reclaim his title of King. The success of his journey has led several to argue whether or not Odysseus is an epic hero. An epic hero is someone who does not possess supernatural powers, embodies the goals and virtues of an entire nation or culture, is faithful to family, country, and gods and goddesses, is brave, intelligent, and physically ... strong. Odysseus proves he is an epic hero throughout the Odyssey, and especially shows his intelligence, lack of super powers, and extreme bravery. Throughout ... him out and kill him before he had a chance to return ...

• Word Count: 1091
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... which was worked into a longer narrative by a later poet whom we know as Homer and his primary concern was not with the adventures of Odysseus but with his relationship with his wife and son. This later poet undoubtedly had to deal with the character of Odysseus as it was then current in folk lore - - that of a shrewd and unscrupulous man who lives by ... that is on the folkic rather than the individual level. Howard W. Clarke has written: "The materials of the Homeric poem are myths and the history that finds it way into myths is usually alienated and idolized, the projections of a peo...

• Word Count: 2705
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... these sacred customs and have disrespected him and his station. They are not only trying to steal his wife and murder his child, but also they have consumed a great deal of his livestock and other products. These guests have overstepped their bounds in the sacred trust between host and visitor and should be punished. Not only have they disrespected Odysseus, but they ... would return and claim this vengeance. Over the course of the piece, several prophecies are made on Odysseus" return and that the day of reckoning for the suitors would come soon. These men who were supposedly loyal to ...

• Word Count: 473
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... and came down to throw her arms around her son" (Homer p.432). This adds to the glorification of women in The Odyssey. The beautiful Nausicaa is also hailed as a goddess. "Daughter of great Alcinous, Nausicaa, may Zeus the lord of thunder, Hera's consort; grant me daybreak again in my own country! But there and all my days until I die may I invoke you as I would a goddess ... , princess, to whom I owe my life" (Homer p.307). Odysseus prays to her as he would a god and she is a mortal and no god-like power. The women in The Odyssey are never presented as individuals, but as dependents. Th...

• Word Count: 747
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• Grade Level: High School

... has many different themes. Among them is Telemachos' own journey from a child to a young man. In the book, Homer shows Telemachos' change from a child who, lacking his father's guidance, is not ready to rule a country to an adult who is prepared to take the crown passed down by his father. To better understand Telemachos, some general background of his life much be given ... at Ithaca. Their aim is to convince Penelope, Odysseus' wife, that her husband is dead and she must remarry. They also have wild parties every night, eat the livestock and food in the palace, and leave Odysseus' hom...

• Word Count: 1330
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... are supposed to be made of. But long before we came to know him as the legendary U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon . . . James Arness was a young man who had served his country well. After suffering serious injuries to his right leg during the 1944 invasion at Anzio, Italy, Arness received the Purple Heart. (Sepelak 44) Heroes are ordinary people who find themselves faced with an emergency ... that he is a "regular guy" when he "was filled with laughter to see how like a charm the name deceived them." (Homer 329) Odysseus reveals his "regular guy" side when he was speaking to Penelope under disg...

• Word Count: 1839
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... and himself, to come home and find his friends trying to covet his wife. The only feeling I can imagine describing this is betrayal. I found this quote on a website about Vietnam vets and the question asks to the vet was: What was the worst thing about Vietnam? Having my old friends from high school telling me ... was and how wrong we "baby killers" were - that hurt! By far, this was the worse thing about being in Nam for me. I can forget about the bugs, the rats, the physical wounds and the VC - but being betrayed by your own country, hurt more than any thing else. No other wound hurt...

• Word Count: 754
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... . When asked to tell more of his journey, Odysseus becomes discontent with King Alcinous and is asked to be returned to Ithaca immediately, where his wife and first born live. On Odysseus trip to the Halls of Hades, he is told by the Theban prophet, Teiresias, "You will find trouble too in your house-insolent men eating up your livelihood, courting your royal ... wife and offering wedding gifts" (162). This gives Odysseus yet another goal to strive for. He realizes that he must try and get back to Ithaca to gain control of his country and rid his kingdom of ... chaos. Finally, the third...

• Word Count: 720
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... . When asked to tell more of his journey, Odysseus becomes discontent with King Alcinous and is asked to be returned to Ithaca immediately, where his wife and first born live. On Odysseus trip to the Halls of Hades, he is told by the Theban prophet, Teiresias, "You will find trouble too in your house-insolent men eating up your livelihood, courting your royal ... wife and offering wedding gifts" (162). This gives Odysseus yet another goal to strive for. He realizes that he must try and get back to Ithaca to gain control of his country and rid his kingdom of ... chaos. Finally, the third...

• Word Count: 720
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... and came down to throw her arms around her son" (Homer p.318).This adds to the glorification of women in The Odyssey. The beautiful Nausicaa is also hailed as a goddess. "Daughter of great Alkinoos, Nausicaa, may Zeus the lord of thunder, Hera's consort; grant me daybreak again in my own country! But there and all my days until I die may I invoke you as I would a goddess ... lay close in Zeus's arms; and Megare, high-hearted Kreons's daughter, wife of Amphitrion's unweary son" (Homer p.333). Most of the descriptions given to the many women that Odysseus sees in the land of the dead mere...

• Word Count: 1272
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... , learns from a prophecy that he will take a final sea voyage after killing the suitors of his wife Penelope. The details of this sea voyage are described by Dante in Canto XXVl of the Inferno: Ulysses finds he is restless in Ithaca and driven by "the longing I had to gain experience of the world." Since Ulysses re-emerges so often in western history, he becomes a medium ... theme of "pursuit of knowledge" that closes the poem (ll. 67-70). During Tennyson's Britain under the rule of Queen Victoria, the country had become the world's leading industrial power. Industrialization is similar t...

• Word Count: 1975
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• Grade Level: High School

... of society and could lead to chaos among the kingdom. Therefore, if the U.S. doesn't "punish" Iraq, other countries may get the idea that they too can attack the U.S. In Iraq's defense, Creon regretted sentencing Antigone to death because chaos broke out in his own home when his son and wife died as a result of Antigone's death. In other words, there may be more consequences to ... "striking back against" or wiping out Iraq than we know right now. However, wiping out all of Iraq isn't the U.S.'s only option. The history of the Peloponnesian War as told by Thucydides provides another ide...

• Word Count: 1280
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• Grade Level: High School

... to leave and apparent utopia in favor of a former home, however flawed. This is comparable to Odysseus who wanted to leave the utopian island of Kalypso to return home to Ithaca and his wife. The British youth Mallinson is similar to Odysseus in this respect. While Conway, Barnard and Miss Brinklow find Shangri-la a satisfying place to live, Mallinson intensely desires to ... leave and return home to his family, friends, and country. The other characters" lack of connections to the outside world causes the difference in their attitudes toward a potential eternity ... in Shangri-la. Mal...

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... like a bullet by them selves, without an Airplane. But then there are also heroes who are warriors who kick butt forr their cities and countries. But the heroes that really exist to us in this life time are the ones who fight for their country, those who save people from Men who are monsters, saving people from falling buildings, and this goes all ... the way down to a man or even a kid saving the little cat out of the tree. But in "All Quiet on the Western Front" our hero is a war hero. A man who put himself on the line and made a sacrifice, a sacrifice to leave home and fight for his ...

• Word Count: 1698
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... , friendships, love, and wisdom. If a person can claim that he has not lacked any of these, he would have to be Odysseus, from Homer's, "The Odyssey." Although fictitious, Odysseus's character has served as model for everything I strive to be, and has been a significant influence in my life. If I could ... the ones who loved him the most, because he is the one who delivered them their salvation from death. It would be the greatest thing in the world for me to know that I was loved and classified as a person of such excellence by an entire crew, let alone an entire country. Odysseus also h...

• Word Count: 566
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• Grade Level: High School

... learns that doing this gives his enemies a chance to seek revenge against him. In one case, after leaving Troy, Odysseus attacks the land of the Cicones and instead of leaving after his victory, he instead stays to celebrate. Meanwhile, an army gathers against him, and forces ... to regain his kingdom. After spending years with the goddess Calypso, Odysseus is offered a choice of either living on the island with Calypso and becoming immortal like the gods, or returning to his wife and country and be mortal like the rest. He chooses to return home. This shows ... that despite his deterio...

• Word Count: 1266
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School