argumentative essay about the odyssey

The Odyssey

Introduction to the odyssey, summary of the odyssey, major themes in the odyssey, major characters of the odyssey, writing style of the odyssey, analysis of the literary devices in the odyssey, related posts:, post navigation.

“The Odyssey” by Homer Essay

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The Odyssey is the story of an old man (Odysseus) returning home and a young man (Telemachus) venturing out in search of himself. Telemachus, throughout the story, considered the heroic Odysseus as his model.

Throughout the story, there is a constant struggle of the growing Telemachus to imitate the actions of his father and then eventually become like him that he comes to an end of his journey. In the beginning of the poem, Homer does not give any indication to the readers that Telemachus will eventually go on a journey like his father.

Telemachus’s headway towards this goal actually shows how difficult were the goals and ventures of Odysseus. The text of The Odyssey presents a single framed narration of the hero, Odysseys, and the journey of a child, Telemachus, into manhood. This essay will demonstrate the comparisons and contrasts the tale draws between the two central characters of father and son.

There are distinct similarities between the character of Odysseus and Telemachus. The resemblance are so close that in one account Penelope had to reverse the procedure in identifying the true identity of her visitor as Odysseus.

In Odysseus 4, Helen’s description of Telemachus actually shows the close physical resemblance between the two characters. However, as a character in the book, Telemachus is often found to move under the shadow of his father’s heroic feats.

Odysseus is hailed a hero for his heroic adventures and conquests in the battle of Troy. Telemachus too tries to emulate his father, and like him, goes out on a voyage, but fails to attain full respect like his father. Therefore, a continuous struggle is observed in the text wherein there is continuous comparison between the two characters.

The writer, the readers, does it and even by Telemachus himself who felt that, he could never match up to his father’s valor. In Odyssey 2 , the episode in which Telemachus leaves a sword in unlocked room that helped the suitors to possess arms to combat the former.

Odysseus, though had made mistakes, could not be expected of making such a careless mistake. Eurymachus states that Telemachus could never muster the courage and conviction to face the threats of the suitors. In another instance, Leocritus points out that Telemachus may not venture out in a journey even after continues encouragement from his elders.

Homer’s epic poem portrays the character of Telemachus as a son who takes change of situation due to an absent father. Only till the father returns to take back the reigns. Therefore, to a great extent the character of Telemachus and his adventures hs been belittled in the text. However, Telemachus does show a sense of pride in his family and blood when he says that he will not shame his family.

Odysseus is critical of Telemachus when they reunite after the former’s return to Ithaca. Telemachus expresses his doubt on their reunion if the man who had transgressed from a beggar to the state of a hero could really be his father, to which Odysseus answers with impatience that had he not been the real father he would not have returned to Ithaca after twenty years of toiling.

In general, the characters of telemachus and Odysseus reflects on that of an obedient son tied by his duties and a gentle father happy to reunite with his family.

The poem stresses on equality and a cordial relation between Telemachus and Odysseus. However, it cannot be overlooked that the poem is more about Odysseus, who fought at Troy, and his grand heroic adventures and that of a mediocre son who lived a mundane life in the island of Ithaca encompassed by his family duties.

• Short Summary
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• Questions & Answers
• Homer: Biography
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• Importance of the Book "The Odyssey" by Homer
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• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2018, May 23). "The Odyssey" by Homer. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-odyssey/

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1. IvyPanda . ""The Odyssey" by Homer." May 23, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-odyssey/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . ""The Odyssey" by Homer." May 23, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-odyssey/.

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What is the Odyssey ?

Did the odyssey actually happen.

• Was Homer a real person?
• Did Homer write the Odyssey ?

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• Classical Literature - The Odyssey – Homer – Homers epic poem – Summary
• Internet Archive - "The Odyssey"
• The Internat Classic Archive - "The Odyssey"
• World History Encyclopedia - Odyssey
• Perseus Digital Library - A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology - Pene'lope
• Livius - Odyssey
• The Theoi Project - Greek Mythology - Homer, Odyssey 1
• Table Of Contents

The Odyssey is an epic poem in 24 books traditionally attributed to the ancient Greek poet Homer . The poem is the story of Odysseus , king of Ithaca , who wanders for 10 years (although the action of the poem covers only the final six weeks) trying to get home after the Trojan War .

Where does the Odyssey take place?

The majority of the Odyssey takes place on and around the Aegean Sea before concluding in Odysseus’s kingdom of Ithaca .

How was the Odyssey originally performed?

The Odyssey was intended for oral performance. The poem was likely transmitted through generations of oral poets well before it was written down. It’s been suggested that oral poets performed epics such as the Odyssey in song form.

What are the most popular English-language translations of the Odyssey from the 20th century?

Among the most notable English-language translations of the Odyssey produced in the 20th century were those by Robert Fitzgerald (1961), Richmond Lattimore (1965), Albert Cook (1967), Allen Mandelbaum (1990), and Robert Fagles (1996).

While there is no conclusive evidence supporting the historicity of the Odyssey ’s story and its characters, it has been proposed that geographic elements of Homer ’s poem were real and have persisted into the present. In particular, scholars and ancient-history enthusiasts have suggested a possible location for the Ithaca of the poem, and it’s not the Greek island now named Ithaca.

Odyssey , epic poem in 24 books traditionally attributed to the ancient Greek poet Homer . The poem is the story of Odysseus , king of Ithaca , who wanders for 10 years (although the action of the poem covers only the final six weeks) trying to get home after the Trojan War . On his return, he is recognized only by his faithful dog and a nurse. With the help of his son, Telemachus , Odysseus destroys the insistent suitors of his faithful wife, Penelope , and several of her maids who had fraternized with the suitors and reestablishes himself in his kingdom.

The Odyssey does not follow a linear chronology. The reader begins in the middle of the tale , learning about previous events only through Odysseus’s retelling. The first four books set the scene in Ithaca. Penelope, Odysseus’s wife, and their young son, Telemachus, are powerless before her arrogant suitors as they despair of Odysseus’s return from the siege of Troy . Telemachus is searching for news of his father, who has not been heard from since he left for war nearly 20 years earlier. He journeys secretly to the Peloponnese and seeks out two men who fought with Odysseus in the war at Troy, Nestor and Menelaus , and discovers that his father is indeed still alive.

The second four books (V–VIII) introduce the main character, Odysseus, as he is being released from captivity by the nymph Calypso on the island of Ogygia. He suffers a shipwreck and lands on the shore of Scheria, the land of the Phaeacians. In Books IX–XII Odysseus tells the Phaeacians of the harrowing journey he and his crew endured as they tried to find their way home—including their encounters with the lotus-eaters, Laestrygonians , and the sorceress Circe , their narrow escape from the cave of the  Cyclops  Polyphemus, their ordeal navigating between Scylla and Charybdis , and the final shipwreck in which Odysseus is washed ashore on Ogygia alone.

Finally, Books XIII–XXIV, the second half of the poem, find Odysseus back in Ithaca, facing unexpected obstacles and danger. He meets with his protector-goddess Athena and reveals himself first to his faithful swineherd Eumaeus and then to Telemachus before developing a complicated plan to dispose of the suitors. During Odysseus’s absence, Penelope resisted the importuning of more than a hundred suitors—who have stayed in Odysseus’s house, eating, drinking, and carousing while waiting for her to decide among them. In order to reunite with his wife, Odysseus kills them all, with the aid of Telemachus, Eumaeus, and Philoetius (a servant and cowherd).

Scholars date the writing of the Odyssey to about 725–675 bce . The poem was intended for oral performance. It was composed of 12,109 lines written in dactylic hexameter (sometimes referred to as “Homeric hexameter”)—that is, each line consisted of six feet , or metrical units, and each foot consisted of a dactyl (a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables). The original work may not have been constructed into the 24 books known to the contemporary reader, and the parts were certainly not in codex form. In the ancient world, the poem was likely written in columns on rolls made from papyrus , or possibly some kind of animal skin (such as vellum and parchment ). Given its extraordinary length, the poem may have actually occupied 24 individual rolls. Homer’s role in the writing of the poem and whether he was literate have been a source for rich scholarly debate, commonly referred to as the “Homeric Question.”

Until the 15th century all volumes of the Odyssey in circulation were in handwritten Greek. In 1488 the first printed version (still in Greek) was produced in Florence . The earliest vernacular translations of the Odyssey from its original Ionic Greek dialect began to appear in Europe during the 16th century. Applying the ancient Greek metre to contemporary vernaculars , especially to words meant to be spoken aloud rather than read privately, posed a particular challenge, forcing translators to add and invent words in order to make the metre work. Some have translated it into prose and some into verse.

Home — Essay Samples — Literature — The Odyssey — Examples of Ancient Greek Values in The Odyssey

Examples of Ancient Greek Values in The Odyssey

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Published: Jun 13, 2024

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Hospitality: xenia, loyalty and honor, the importance of family.

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The Odyssey

The odyssey essay questions.

Argue against the claim that The Odyssey ought to be read as a tragedy because of all the pain inflicted upon its protagonist, Odysseus.

Although Odysseus' name means "Son of Pain" and he is made to suffer greatly before achieving his nostos (homecoming), the fact remains that he ultimately does achieve nostos. When he returns to Ithaca, he finds that his immediate family has remained faithful to him, and is able to reclaim his rightful place as the king of Ithaca. Although the amount of hardship he has had to endure may make such an outcome seem implausible, the implausibility is better explained by the epic nature of the work, rather than by calling it a tragedy.

Works like The Odyssey offer us insight into the customs and beliefs of the ancient cultures that produced them. Describe one such custom that The Odyssey makes clear was important in ancient Greece.

One example of such a custom is that of hospitality: it was thought that guests might always be gods in disguise, and therefore ought to be treated with the utmost respect. To this end, guests were often fed, clothed, and so forth, prior to the host asking after their lineage and purpose in their land.

Is Odysseus a just man? Provide evidence to support your answer.

Although Odysseus has character flaws and may not hold what we consider a modern conception of justice, he does seem to act justly in most regards. He only deceives Polyphemus after Polyphemus has rejected the custom of a guest-gift and eaten several of Odysseus' men; he only disguises himself in Ithaca in order to test his family and the suitors. And, perhaps the most important piece of evidence in favor of his being just, he only punishes those servants and suitors who wronged his household while he was away; he lets the innocent live.

Discuss fidelity in the poem. Was Odysseus faithful to his household?

Although Odysseus has many affairs on his journey home, the implication is always that he had to do so in order to progress towards home; there were many moments when it would have been easier for him to give up or surrender, but he never truly lost sight of home. (The year he spent with Circe might be seen as a counterexample to this; nonetheless, the fact remains that he returned to his quest and did not forsake his homeland). At minimum, it is evident that the text's notion of fidelity is not reducible to something as simple as sexual relations.

Discuss fidelity in the poem. Was Odysseus' household faithful to him?

Many servants of Ithaca betrayed Odysseus and sided with the suitors, but the "principle players" of his homeland -- the Swineherd, Telemachus, Penelope, Argos, and Laertes -- remained faithful to him despite his absence. This fidelity is symbolized best by Argos, who seemingly staved off death until he could see his master home safely. Penelope, too, could easily have remarried, and was under tremendous pressure to do so; yet she employed every possible means of keeping the suitors at bay in order to continue waiting for her true husband to return to her.

The Odyssey Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for The Odyssey is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

What universal themes does Homer explore in the Odyssey?

Check out these themes below:

What do you learn about the character of Odysseus through the poet's introduction in Book 1?

In Book I, we learn that Odysseus fought in the Trojan War, that he has been on the island of Ogygia for eight years, that Poseidon is planning to make his journey home extremely difficult because Odysseus blinded his son, and that his Odysseus'...

summarize terisias' prophecy in the odyssey?

In the Odyssey, Circe sends Odysseus to Tiresias to advise him how to get home. The prophet tells him that he will survive the trip, but if his crew touches the cattle of Helios, they will not. His crew ends up eating the cattle and subsequently...

Study Guide for The Odyssey

The Odyssey study guide contains a biography of Homer, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About The Odyssey
• The Odyssey Summary
• The Odyssey (Part One) Video
• Character List

Essays for The Odyssey

The Odyssey essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Odyssey by Homer.

• The Underworld in The Aeneid Versus The Odyssey
• A Musing Contrast
• Homeric Formalism
• The Evolution of Civil Justice
• Modus Operandi - The Ways of Greek Literature

Lesson Plan for The Odyssey

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to The Odyssey
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• The Odyssey Bibliography

E-Text of The Odyssey

The Odyssey e-text contains the full text of The Odyssey by Homer.

• Books 13-16

Wikipedia Entries for The Odyssey

• Introduction

• Online poetry

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Eileen Myles

Dans Le Cabinet de Toilette, 1907

Lorraine Mariner

Summer Departure #3

Virgil Suarez

from The Odyssey

A made-up / true story

Sam Winston

La Suite De L'Historie : metaphysique 90

Henri Chopin

'There is no such thing as the state', from September 1, 1939

We Vanish Into One Another As Needed (for Dara Wier)

The bee mother.

Pascale Petit

Impossible Glove

Cecilia Vicuna

The Adulterous Citizen

Tishani Doshi

Jacob Sam La-Rose

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