In Act IV, Scene II of William Shakespeare’s King Richard II, King Richard II states, “my grief lies all within; / And these external manners of laments / Are merely shadows to the unseen grief / That swells with silence in the tortured soul; /...

“Poor things, why did I give you to King Pêleus,

a mortal, you who never age nor die,

to let you ache with men in their hard lot?

Of all creatures that breathe and move on the earth

none is more to be pitied than a man.”

——Iliad Bk17: 497-501

Of mortal...

Mortals: The Playthings of Zeus

Odysseus escapes the island of Cyclops unharmed. He manages to avoid death at the face of Scylla and Charybdis. And he brings the witch Circe under his control and saves his companions… Though The Odyssey is an epic...

Readers of the Odyssey could certainly find frustration in crafting a judgment of Odysseus’ decision to depart from life alongside the goddess Kalypso. Some might point to a yearning for his day of homecoming. Others might argue precisely the...

Nietzsche’s short work Homer’s Contest is part of his attempt to develop an axiology that reinstates morality within the realm of aesthetic existence, grounding lofty ideas like “good” and “evil” within a naturalistic framework. In this essay, he...

Erich Auerbach describes a model for a hero from the Hebrew bible that he believes is nearly all inclusive. Joseph and the story of his journey through slavery and imprisonment up to royalty exemplifies the journey from the deepest humiliation to...

Gods and goddesses played significant roles within the literature in the everyday lives of the ancient Greeks. Homer's The Odyssey was certainly no different. Divine figures appear throughout the epic, interacting with characters on both physical...

In describing the characters of Odysseus and Oedipus, Homer and Sophocles both avoid defining these men by typical physical characteristics such as stature or distinctive facial features. Instead, these authors focus on detailing specific bodily...

As long as history has been recorded, a woman’s role in society was dictated by man, for a long time women accepted this patriarchy. This arrangement can be seen in different societies and cultures throughout history; after all, the great...

For centuries, Homer’s epic Iliad was taken as literal interpretation of the Trojan War. Only rather recently has the reliability and accuracy of the Iliad in terms of depicting the war come into question. Modern historians and scholars have come...

The portrayal of women in classical Greek literature is varied but points towards underlying attitudes regarding their status. Within The Odyssey there are countless representations of women with different motives and personalities, but these...

In The Odyssey, Homer conveys themes of loyalty, authority, and reverence to the gods as he tells the story of Odysseus’ journey back to his home in Ithaca. All of these themes are exemplified in the disguised Odysseus’ encounter with Eumaeus, the...

In the Odyssey, Homer uses architecture and landscape as metaphors for the personalities of the people to which each respective architectural description relates. For this reason, a strong emphasis is placed on explicit details when depictions of...

Piety was an important concept in ancient Greek civilization, as it shaped the culture and actions of Greek citizens. What exactly piety means has varied over time, and the definition differs throughout Greek literature. Characters such as...

Considering divinity, destiny, and the existence of free will is not a concept that is exclusive to Greek Literature; in fact, whenever there are predetermined, all-powerful entities that guide the actions of lesser beings, it is quite natural to...

The Coen Brothers' 2000 adventure film O Brother, Where Art Thou? is an American adaptation of Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey. This recent comedy follows three escaped convicts as they search for a hidden treasure. Despite the considerable gap...

Have you eaten today? If not, then perhaps it is best that you do, before continuing with this essay. The reason for caution lies in the overlying theme discussed from here on. Both Dante’s Divine Comedy and Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey are...

The nature of a civilized society or person, rather than an uncivilized one, depends on perspective. Mores that one culture holds dear potentially offend others. Wise travelers remain aware of location before flashing a casual thumbs up or blowing...

One of the most valued skills one can possess is the art of storytelling. Man can express himself through means of song, art, dance, and poetry—but he must have a story to express himself. After the Trojan War ended, Odysseus journeys home facing...

The first four books of Homer’s The Odyssey depict Telemachus’ transformation from an immature, frightened child into an intelligent adult as he comes to encompass qualities that the ancient Greeks sought in heroes: an adherence to the rules of...

Virgil’s The Aeneid and Homer’s the Odyssey share several structures such as the Epic Exordium and Homeric Epithets, yet the movement and organization of time tie them together by grounding the stories in the real world as much as possible. This...

The oral tradition is the oldest and most archaic manner of human discourse. The Odyssey of Homer is an example of a literary work that emphasizes the importance of such oral tradition. In it, the hero, Odysseus, is faced with the tasks of...

Homer’s Odyssey and Margaret Atwood’s “Siren Song” each depict the great power of the Sirens of Greek mythology; on a deeper level, the two works explore the destructiveness of women through the archetype of the femme fatale. Both Homer and Atwood...

In the first chapter of his novel, How to Read Literature like a Professor, Thomas C. Foster discusses the idea of a quest narrative. "They [protagonists] go because of the stated task, mistakenly believing that it is their real mission. We know,...