Report on The Odyssey
Uploaded by BigC08 on Apr 03, 2006
The Odyssey
Homer’s epic, The Odyssey, is the story of Greek hero Odysseus’ journey home after the Trojan War. Odysseus’ voyage takes him all over the Greek world. Throughout his adventures, the gods play an important role in his passage. Many of the gods do not like Odysseus; his journey is an issue of argument between many of the gods. The story, The Odyssey, was believed to be historically accurate and very influential to the ancient Greeks.
Many ancient Greeks believed The Odyssey to be historically accurate. This story seems hard to believe in present times, with all the scientific knowledge we now have, but the Greeks believed that the gods were responsible for everyday things, such as the weather and the change in the seasons (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Odyssey). On this journey, Homer writes that the gods are arguing over Odysseus’ fate and this is the reason why his return voyage took so long. Every bad and good thing that happened to Odysseus was the gods’ wills. This is very true to the beliefs of the ancient Greeks. They strongly believed that their lives were directed by the wills of the gods. Anything unfortunate that occurred in their lives would have been attributed to an upset god. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_greek_religion).
The story is one of the best pieces of information about this time period and the Trojan War, although Homer was not alive at the time of the Trojan War. Homer’s epics are believed to be based on true facts and the religious beliefs of the Greeks at the time. The truth in these stories was questioned until the city of Troy was uncovered in present-day Turkey. The archaeologist who discovered Troy was the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann. He did this in two campaigns: first in 1871 to 1873 and second in 1878 and 1879. After that, the stories were accepted as factual information (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy).
The story starts out ten years after the fall of Troy and Odysseus has still not returned to his home in Ithaca. Suitors have overrun Odysseus’ palace and land. Many suitors try to marry Penelope, Odysseus’ wife. She has remained true to Odysseus. Telemachus, Odysseus’s son, wants to throw them out but is afraid to fight them. One of the suitors, Antinous, wants to kill Odysseus' son, Telemachus, and take away his only opposition to taking over the palace (Book II, pgs. 22-31). The homeland of Odysseus, Ithaca, is an actual island in...