Heroes

I believe we create the mental idea of a hero as a person to look up to and live by their moral values. When you think of a hero you think of a great warrior or saviour that has given back to his community and more through his certain deeds. The tragic flaws show that there are limits to what we can achieve and tells us it is OK to make mistakes. This kind of explains why each hero has one weakness or multiple to remind us that he or she is still mortal. I have also perceived Penelope and Telemachus as heroes. This is due to the fact that both have to undergo extreme mental pressures of their craving for in this case Odysseus and the need to calm their anger towards the suitors, which anger and mistreat them.

Journeys

Almost all societies contain myths/stories of "The Journey." Why? What is the attraction we have to journeys? What are some of the American Journeys? What lessons, what themes, what values do we see played out in the stories of journeys? (Specific to 'The Odyssey: What was the difference between Odysseus' journey and Telemachus' journey?)

Please respond in the comments section with a brief paragraph. Be sure to read your classmates comments so that yours is not too similar or repetitive, and be sure to include example or line numbers from the epic if appropriate.

Heroes!

In the Introduction to Fagles translation of the Odyssey, he writes that Odysseus differs from Achilles as a hero, because aside from his skills as a warrior and his command for respect, he "has the talent necessary for the deceiver; he is a persuasive speaker" (37). In the Odyssey, we see the definition of hero shift from a value for mere physical strength to an appreciation for the power of words, cleverness, and storytelling as well.

Why do you think societies create heroes? What values do we expect our heroes to represent? What values did the Greeks expect their heroes to represent? How does the idea of the "tragic flaw" change the way we look at our heroes? Do we look for tragic flaws today? Is Odysseus the only hero in the epic? What about Telemachus or Penelope?

Please post your response to these questions in the comments. You do not need to write more than a few sentences or a short paragraph--just your immediate thoughts, and perhaps an example to support them from the book.

Epic Similes

Partners: Zully Hasnain, Coleman DuCharme

-Page 162, Book 5: Lines 360-361

-Relation: Odysseus' ship in the storm of Poseidon at sea, to a thistle/weed in the wind

-Page 167, Book 5: Lines 540-545

-Relation: Someone snuffing out their red hot poker in ashes, to Odysseus finally falling asleep under the power of the Goddess Athena

-Page 175, Book 6: Lines 255-260

-Relation: The Goddess Athena and her blessing over Odysseus, to a master craftsman and his work

Twenty Years to Get Home?

Odysseus' Secret
by Stephen Dunn

At first he thought only of home, and Penelope.
But after a few years, like anyone on his own,
he couldn't separate what he'd chosen
from what had chosen him.
Calypso, the Lotus-eaters, Circe;
a man could forget where he lived.
he had a gift for getting in and out of trouble,
a prodigious, human gift. To survive Cyclops
and withstand the Sirens' song --
just those words survive, withstand,
in his mind became a music
he moved to and lived by.
How could govern, even love, compete?
They belonged to a different part of a man,
the untested part, which never had transcended dread,
or the liar part, which always spoke like a citizen.
The larger the man, though,
the more he needed to be reminded
he was a man. Lightning, high winds,
for every excess a punishment.
Penelope was dear to him,
full of character and fine in bed.
But by the middle years this other life
had become his life. That was Odysseus' secret
kept even from himself. When he talked about return
he thought he meant what he said.
Twenty years to get home?
A man finds his shipwrecks,
tells himself the necessary stories.
Whatever gods are -- our own fearful voices
or intimations from the unseen order
of things, the gods finally released him,
cleared the way.
Odysseus boarded that Phaecian ship, suddenly tired
of the road's dangerous enchantments,
and sailed through storm and wild sea
as if his beloved were all that ever mattered.

Personification

(Eos, or the Goddess of Dawn)

This is our list!

Book 1:

Book 2: Lines 1-2, 428,

1-2: "When young Dawn with her rose-red fingers shone once more..."

428: "The sun sank and the roads of the world grew dark."

Book 3: Lines 1-2, 376, 414, 550-551, 553

1-2: "As the sun sprang up, leaving the brilliant waters in its wake climbing the bronze sky to shower light on immortal gods."

376: "High time- the light;s already sunk in the western shadows."

414: "... trained to race the wind."

550: "When young Dawn with her rose-red fingers shone once more they yoked their pair again, mounted the blazoned car and out through the gates..."

Book 4: Lines 343-344,

343: "When young Dawn with her rose-red fingers shone once more the lord of the warcry climbed from bed and dressed..."

Book 5: Lines 1, 134, 252, 431

1: "As Dawn rose up from bed by her lordly mate Tithonus..."

134: "So when Dawn with her rose-red fingers took Orion..."

252: "When young Dawn with her rose-red fingers shone once more..."

431: "Then when Dawn with her lovely locks brought on the third day..."

Book 6:

Book 7: Lines 98

98: "A radiance strong as the moon or rising sun came flooding through the high-roofed halls of generous King Alcinous."

"Odyssey" Songs

The Train Song- Feist and Ben Gibbard

Calypso- Suzanne Vega

Home at Last- Steely Dan

The Journey Home- Sarah Brightman

The Odyssey- Symphony X

I Need a Hero- Jennifer Saunders

Homeward Bound- Maita Keen

Home By the Sea- Genesis

Homeward Bound- Paul Simon

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For- U2