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Greek Gods In The Odyssey

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The citizens of ancient Greece lived a life depending on the pleasing of the gods and believing the gods would help guide them in the right direction towards a successful fate. In The Odyssey by Homer, we find Odysseus who is returning home from a decade long war with the now fallen city of Troy. While traveling along with Odysseus in his travel, we find some of the Greek gods put effort into his travels, some helping Odysseus and one major god plotting against him. While Odysseus is traveling home and in his return home, we see the characteristics of what a Homeric human olds, which involves a warrior type culture and a person trusting in the fate the gods have given them. The story also reveals what truths and values these characters reflect …show more content…

The story was originated around the end of the eighth century along the seaboard of Greek “Ionia,” what is today Turkey. The story began as an oral told story, told to for countless hours and even had to be broken off into sections. The story was believed to be exclusively for royal palace events, such as dinner parties for guest entertainment. When Homer first told of the story, it was told in-between 750 to 650 B.C., while the stories are set in twelfth century B.C. The setting of the story would line up with what that age is known as the Bronze Age. In this time of Greece, epics that were being told were being shared along the coastline and not in the mainland by Greeks who had a soft spot for epics concerning triumphs of Greek soldiers and their returns home (Introduction.33). The themes and tones inside the story reflect that Homer seems to be putting forth an idea that the return of Odysseus comes challenging for him to make his life normal again. With the conflict between Odysseus and the gods, some people in the audience can relate with the feeling the gods may be conflicting with their lives as well, even though it may not be as serious as Odysseus’ …show more content…

From Odysseus, we find his intellectual mind being used well to help him succeed in situations of conflict, even with the help from Athena. The major goal of a woman at this time was to breed a man of glory, and that is what is found in Odysseus. He spends the whole journey, and in the war prior to our knowledge of the book, working towards the ultimate goal of having complete glory through his great deeds and his homecoming to his family and kingdom. With the aspect of glory and Greek culture, mostly, if not all, Greeks seeked glory through pleasing the gods with their many deeds such as Odysseus did. The characteristics of seeking glory in a Homeric culture doesn’t change and it stays that way throughout the whole journey, unlike some stories found today with conflicting emotions and visions. With these attitudes and cultural aspect of characters, connections can be made to audiences listening to the story when this was composed. The Greek society and culture shines fairly well through this epic and can help show what can be learned from life as a glory seeking, fate wondering Greek citizen, also what we can learn from that society from an intellectual and theoretical

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