godody Free Essays on Homer's Odyssey: The Gods:
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The Gods of the Odyssey
Do the Gods in the Odyssey represent the Good and Evil sides of everyone, are they actually there to either help the person, or make their life worse?
In the Odyssey, the Gods seem to have a very huge part in the play. However, are the Gods actually real? Or are they just their sub-conscious telling everyone what to do. However if that?s true, then how could Odysseus?s and his ?sub-conscious? spend 7 years on an island thinking that he was somewhere else? Anyways, in this thesis paper, ill be talking about how the Gods were portrayed and if they might actually be real or not. Ill also be discussing the role in which the Gods took in Odysseus life. So, with out further blabber talk....
The depiction of the roles the gods played in the Odyssey is both presented in good and evil. The Greeks portrayed their gods as powerful and merciful. However, in the Odyssey the gods play a role in a savior and tormentor like. The savior of the Odyssey is of course Athena, Telemachus refers to her as a ?Mentor? (page 37, line 239) or ?goddess? as the narrator refers to her (page 37, line229) The tormentor will most likely be portrayed through Poseidon, Lord of the Earthquake. Although no solid evidence has shown that this God is Evil, any God that requires sacrifices (?where they found the people of the seashore sacrificing jet-black bulls? page 30, line 5) can not be that good.
With the present role in the story of Odyssey, the gods can be seen as an important role in Odysseus life. Odysseus alone cannot have escaped the treacherous Trojan War without the aid of the gods. However, can it be reconcile that the gods were truly the ones who controlled our lives? In Odysseus?s case, the gods played a vital role. Through the treacherous paths Odysseus travels, it?s the hope of seeing Penelope and his son Telemachus will bring him his strength and wisdom. Without the help of Athena, and her wisdom and devotion to Odysseus, his challenges would be help with no boundaries. With the most gods in favor of Odysseus return, all he has to fight are the challenges Poseidon throws at him. With the water being the only road back to his home this challenge is fare more difficult then the Trojan War itself. Even though Athena plays a key role in Odysseus life, she is unable to protect him from the challenges he faces with Poseidon, Calypso, and Helios.
The gods can be seen as Odysseus?s sub-conscience also. Athena being Odysseus?s wisdom, Helios the jealousy hidden in our curiosity, Calypso the temptation we face, and Poseidon the challenges in life we face everyday. These main Gods play an essential role in Odysseus?s life. ?The goddess spoke and the next moment she was gone, vanishing like a bird through a hole in the roof. In Telemachus's heart she had implanted spirit and daring, and had brought the image of his father to his mind even more strongly then before?(page 13, line 319). This segment could have easily been a ?daydream? or some other type of hallucination; that with almost all hope gone, Telemachus?s mind brought forth the image of a God to give him more hope and encouragement. Thus Homer portrayed human nature with the gods and goddesses. We are our own enemy. We are the ones who lay the path in our life and destination. However, there are bumps in the word that slow us down and break us down. With hope we resist temptation and fight evil off. The gods in the Odyssey portrayed the good and evil in human nature.
So in conclusion I would have to say that after reading through books 1-4, it seems to me that the Gods are almost at a 50-50 split on whether or not they like Odysseus or not. That represents the Good and Evil part of my thesis. Either they are trying to kill him or they are trying to help him get home. The part about the Gods being sub-conscience is very interesting to me. It?s hard for me in today?s culture to accept that the Gods could actually be real. It makes more logical sense that the Gods in the Odyssey are actually hallucinations or ?inner voices?.
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