Essays on Homer

The Odyssey by Homer is one of the most well known epic poems ever. This story takes place in ancient Greece after Odysseus fought in the Trojan War in Troy. It was written around 700 BCE and tells the story of Odysseus’ journey home to…

Ancient Greek culture values having moral virtue and living up to one’s potential in order to bring the most fulfillment to one’s life as well as the lives of whom they interact with as seen in Homer’s, The Odyssey. Greeks deem morality and excellence as…

Challenges are what make life interesting, and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful. In the epic, The Odyssey written by Homer is about a heroic leader named Odysseus, who struggled to return back to his homeland Ithaca, after fighting for 10 years in the…

 Homer develops Odysseus’s character by showing him as intelligent and valiant. Odysseus is smart because he is a fast thinker in pressuring situations and as we know he is always in intense situations . For example,”But I brought them back, back to the hollow ships,…

Telemachus, one of the main characters in The Odyssey, endures a series of events that shape him into a different character than at the beginning of the poem. As an infant, his father, Odysseus, left to go to war. After many years of being away…

While Sparta and Athens were both city-states they had different views on life and what valuable character traits were. Sparta was known as the most militaristic city-state. The people who lived in Sparta were tough and valued strength and war above everything else. It is…

The Odyssey illustrates how the ancient Greeks worshiped the god/goddesses and how some didn’t. The people worshiped the gods by praying to them, making sacrifices, and obeying them. Telemachus prays to the gods to help him get rid of the suitors. Penelope also prays to…

Penelope exhibits several identical traits to Hesiod’s Pandora, which is shown by her immense physical charm, renowned weaving ability, and through her cunning method of deceiving the suitors for three years. By using her immense feminine charm and cunning intelligence, Penelope perfectly fits the model…

While Odysseus was the central hero in The Odyssey, a case can be made for his wife Penelope being a hero as well. One heroic characteristic that stands out with Penelope is her protective demeanor in caring for the household while Odysseus was away from…

In contrast to other characters within Homeric poems, Achilles’s traits do not improve much over the course of The Iliad. The untimely death of Patroclus (a close friend) persuades him to seek out a resolution with Agamemnon, after the incident with Briseis. This however does…

Homer’s The Odyssey is filled with so many clues to what ancient Greek life was like and what the culture valued. One thing that stood out in this historic work was the amount of hospitality that was shown to Odysseus and his men while they…

In Homer’s epic poem, “The Odyssey,” the story of heroes and triumph are continued after the Trojan War. It resumes with the adventures of Odysseus and his crew on their way back home to Ithaca. Throughout his 20 year journey, he faces many challenges such…

Epic stories and poems have been passed down through generations. Some are written down in book form, some are oral accounts, and some are even transmitted in the form of songs. A heroic epic is a type of poem that is described as “a heroic…

Odysseus leaves home for 19 years to fight in the Trojan War and to get back home, and the significance of home clearly pertains to the three main characters. Odysseus leaves on the same day when his son, Telemachus is born. He suffers through another…

In the painting “Penelope and the Suitors”, the artist John William Waterhouse uses the example of the suitors trying to get to Penelope and receive her love, but Penelope ignores them to show loyalty to her husband Odysseus who is out at war, while in…