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In the novel The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus ventures on a life-changing journey where he comes to realize the things and people that make his life so special. The people who are loyal to Odysseus, including Penelope, Eumaeus, and Eurycleia, always believe he is coming home, and they never stop thinking about him. Their actions show their commitment to him throughout his journey, which they maintain no matter which hardships arise in their own lives. Through the loyalty of those who waited for Odysseus, he is able to maintain a place in the community, and complete his odyssey.
Penelope, Odysseus’ wife, is one of the many characters in this novel who is faithful to Odysseus, which she shows by not marrying anybody else. In Book 2, Penelope tells suitors that she will marry one of them once she finishes weaving the shroud. Every day, she weaves more of it, “and every night she would unweave by torchlight.” (2.114) Because Penelope purposefully never completes the shroud, she never marries any suitors, and that shows her devotion to Odysseus. Likewise, in Book 21, Penelope comes to the storeroom in order to talk to her suitors, telling them that “whoever bends this bow and slips the string on its notch...with him will I go,” (21.71,74). Penelope tricks the suitors into thinking they have a chance of marrying her; she knows that only Odysseus can work the bow and arrow, so none of the suitors will succeed. In another case, Penelope is not sure if the person in
Odysseus, king of Ithaca, loves his wife, as well as the power he has over the island. However, while he is journeying back to his city, suitors begin to swarm his home. These men aspire to wed Penelope, who is still married to Odysseus. This threatens Odysseus’s marriage and sense of control. Odysseus is afraid of losing all that is important to him, causing him to challenge and kill all of the suitors.
The Odyssey is a 3,000-year-old epic poem organized into 24 books by the Greek poet Homer. This poem entails the long journey home of Odysseus, the King of Ithaca, after the Trojan War. During Odysseus’ absence, his son Telemachus and his wife Penelope are greatly affected since Odyssey is presumed dead. Throughout Books 1 and 2 of The Odyssey, Telemachus helplessly watches suitors plague his mother and home as Poseidon, the God of the Sea, delays Odysseus’s journey home because he angered him by blinding his son Polyphemus. While Odysseus remains absent, suitors devour his goods and urge Penelope to remarry.
Every day, Penelope would undo her work in order to not have to marry anyone other than Odysseus. When Penelope realizes that the beggar is actually Odysseus himself, she comes up with an idea. Whoever can string Odysseus’ bow and shoot through twelve arrows will be her new husband. She also raised Odysseus’ son as a single mother and tends to her kingdom at the same
Penelope, his wife, is greatly affected; as many greedy suitors disrespect her and move into their home to try and win her hand in marriage. Throughout ‘The Odyssey’, the greed and folly of men play a huge part in increasing the difficulty and severity of Odysseus’s situations and ultimately change his fate and the directions of his journey. The greed and folly of men are largely represented by Penelope’s suitors. In the very first book of The Odyssey, the disgusting actions of the suitors were introduced to the readers.
What is the purpose of a quest? We see people going on quests everyday in the news, at school, even in the books we read. Every human has gone on at least one quest in their lives, but why do we do it? What is the purpose? What do we get out of it?
During Odysseus’ decade-long journey to his home, he encounters many forms of suffering, the most prevalent being transformative in nature. Transformative suffering, which is typically caused by mortals, themselves, alters a mortal being; albeit physically, mentally, or emotionally. In the first few years of his journey, Odysseus suffers the loss of much of his crew. He loses men while plundering a small island; he loses some to the lotus esters; and a few to Polyphemus. Throughout all these sufferings, Odysseus learns that he should listen to the advice of others; thus, transforming him mentally and emotionally through these sufferings.
From Odysseus’ time with Calypso in Ogygia up until the moment he takes back his home and wife from the suitors in Ithaca, the struggles he faces help answer what makes for a good life. Homer uses Odysseus’ journey throughout “The Odyssey” to identify four aspects of a good life: mortality, honor, hospitality, and experiences. Homer reveals that mortality is necessary for a good life when Odysseus denies the opportunity for immortality that Calypso offers, he shows the significance of honor in his description of Odysseus’ bravery in the Trojan war and the consequent respect that Odysseus’ crew has for him, Homer reinforces the importance of hospitality in each city Odysseus travels to, and he conveys that experiences, good or bad, define a good life. The Greeks held their gods in high esteem and therefore when Homer or other characters in the epic refer to Odysseus as being “godlike,” this is one of the highest compliments he could receive.
Every day she sows a death shawl for her father in law, and each night she unwinds her progress, telling the suitors that she will choose a husband when she is done sowing. She tricks the cunning Odysseus into revealing himself. Penelope knows that as a woman in her own right, she has no political or economic power. It is, ultimately, her father’s decision whom she will marry, and her own son pressures her into remarriage so he can inherit his father’s land. If Penelope had been able to be a powerful single woman, would she have remained loyal to Odysseus?
However, for a woman in Homer’s society, who belongs to either her father and her husband, she is the head of the household for 20 years in the absence of Odysseus. She does not preserve peace in the household, but she takes actions to prevent the destruction of ranks of the household by delaying her marriage so that when Odysseus come back home, he can reclaim the kingship, or when Telemachus is old enough, he can take the throne which is rightfully his. In the position where women have no power, she uses her intellectual strength to control the suitors. Penelope promises the suitors that she will choose one of them to marry after she finishes weaving the shroud for Laertes because it is shameful if she does not do anything for her father-in-law. The suitors eagerly comply to her request without knowing what Penelope plans to do.
“Now I will bring them on as a trial for my suitors. The hand that can string the bow with greatest ease, that shoots an arrow clean through all twelve axes- he’s the man I follow, yes forsaking this house where I was once a bride,” (Od. 19.648-652). As soon as Penelope utters these words Odysseus urges her and assures her that her once lost husband will be home in time before the suitors can complete this task. This reassures Penelope that the beggar indeed is Odysseus.
However, Penelope still loves Odysseus and remains loyal to him by stalling the marriage. She still continues to persist in being hopeful and refuses to believe that Odysseus will never return to her, so she creates several excuses to help her evade marriage for as long as possible. She presents tasks to keep the
Penelope comes up with a lot of ways to say no to the suitors about having affairs with her. By these actions the reader can infer that Penelope will not have affairs with the suitors because she loves Odysseus and no one
Penelope states, “So every day I wove the great loom,/but every night by torchlight I unwove it;/and so for three years I deceived the Achaeans (19.1332-1334). Penelope tells the suitors that she wouldn’t marry one of them until she finished her weave because she still believed Odysseus would return. She tries to stall as much as she could, and in the end it was just enough. Odysseus is able to kill all of the suitors with the help from his son, Telemachus. Both Telemachus and Penelope stay loyal to Odysseus after being separated from him for 20 years.
Almost every student has read “The Odyssey” by Homer at one point in their school career. The story the odyssey is still very much relevant to the modern world. This entire essay will be about how “The Odyssey” is still relevant today. The point of proving this is till is because it provides every helpful or imaginary thought to influence people. The odyssey is important and still relevant in the 21st century because it shows facts about the Trojan war, it could inspire people to become historians, and help educate people.
(5. 277). In contrast, Penelope is powerless without the presence of her husband by her side, even begging to “be blown out by the Olympians!/ Shot by Artemis” so that she “still might go and see amid the shades/ Odysseus in the rot of underworld” (20. 89-92). She also becomes emotionally unstable in the wake of Odysseus’ disappearance, becoming easily swayed by her son’s words and reaching brief moments of clarity, before regressing back to “weeping/ for Odysseus, her husband”... when she mount[s] to her room again” (1. 410-412). But despite Penelope’s fragile state, she is still seen as being preferable over Kalypso due to the belief that it was good for women to depend on men.