There are six codes of behavior in The Odyssey, and each play an important role in Ithaka’s society. The most prominent codes in the first half ofthe book are hospitality and reverence to gods. These two codes stood out the most.
The hospitality code associated with the god of Zeus. Those who follow this code show loyalty to Zeus. The code involves the host and its guest. They both have specific tasks that need to be completed for this code of behavior to be accomplished. The host has to provide shelter,protection, entertainment, food and gifts to the guest. The guest his or shemust provide information about him or herself during their stay to the host. Penelope shows hospitality to the suitors throughout the poem. Even though she despises them, it’s her duty as a good wife to obey the code. Penelope is not excused from her duty when her husband is not to take his place as the host. Her situation is difficult because she has more pressure on being a good wife and a good mother her son as well as a good host to the suitors; she also has the responsibility to choose her new husband from the group of suitors that are in her palace.
Another code of behavior is the reverence to gods. This code is a relationship between the gods and mortals. The way this code works is that the mortals give sacrifice to the gods such as animals and share wine by pouring it into the soil. The mortals also build temples, pray and obey the codes. In return, the gods give advice, guidance and help to the mortals for their reward in obeying the codes. There are consequences from the gods when the codes are disobeyed. The punishment or consequence could be anything the gods decide to torment the people with. An example of gods giving advice to mortal is the conversation between Athena and Telemachus. Athena’s first advice is to get rid of the suitors in Odysseus’sestate. She wants Telemachus to assemble the suitors to announce they are being banished from his father’s estate and from Ithaka.
Tomorrow, summon the Achaian warriors into assembly
and publish your word to all, let the gods be your witnesses.
tell the suitors to scatter and go back to their own holdings,
and as your mother, if the spirit urges her married,
let her go back to the palace of her powerful father,
and they shall appoint the marriage and arrange for the wedding presents (I. 271-78).
This is one of few examples of a goddess giving advice, helping a mortal with the situation he is in that he couldn’t get out of.
Another example of god giving advice to mortal would be when she tells him to go on a journey to find news of his father’s whereabouts.
Find out a ship with twenty oars, the best you come by,
and go out to ask about your father who is so long absent,
on the chance some mortal man can tell you, who has listened to rumor
sent by Zeus. She more than others spreads news among people.
First go to Pylos, and there question the great Nestor,
and from there go to Sparta to see fair-haired Menelaos,
since he came home last of all the bronze-armored Achaia
Thus if you hear your father is alive and on his way home,
then, hard pressed though you are, you should still hold out for another
year. But if you hear he has died and lives no longer,
then make your way home to the beloved land of your fathers,
and pile up tomb in his honor, and there make sacrifices
in great amount, as is fitting. And give your mother to a husband.
Then, after you have made an end of these matters, done them,
next you must consider well in your heart and spirit
some means by which you can kill the suitors who are in your household,
by treachery or open attack (I.280-96).
This is another example in which Athena guides Telemachus. She goes into great detail explaining to him what he should do when he finds out his father’s faith.
In conclusion, out of the six codes of behavior in The Odyssey, the two most prominent codes are hospitalityand reverence to gods. All of the codes of behavior play an important role inIthaka’s society and all must follow those codes to show loyalty to the gods.The gods reward the mortals whenever they feel like it with what the mortalsneed to survive.
Essay 2
Considering this question brings me back to the years of watching superman, batman and Spiderman ways of heroism. All of these characters have the qualities of saving lives and powers normal people would not have. Revisiting this question now puts a different spin on what hero really stands for. Odysseus, main character in The Odyssey, meets my standards of heroism.
The qualities I see in people that make them heroes are having a fire burning inheart, intelligence, and control. People have different qualities for heroes and heroism that others do not know what the word real definition for this wordis. Qualities like these fit to most standards of heroism. There are qualities that disqualify a person from heroic status and some of them are losing control,coward and no intelligence.
In The Odyssey, the main character Odysseus shows qualities of heroism throughout the poem. He may not seem a hero until he returns home and destroys the suitors, but the journey back home have proven that he has heroic qualities. Odysseus went through a lot during his travel that he hasn’t complained as most peoplein his situation would have. He remained constant with the fire burning in his heart; he had that determination to return home for his wife, son and kingdom. Odysseus also had control over his decisions that coast his man’s lives. He had amission in mind and made sure nothing gotten in the way, emotions where on track during his travel to other islands to seek help.
Odysseushad the quality of intelligence that helped him stay alive during the roughest times of his journey. He used the quality when escaping the Cyclopes in book four,also warning his crew about what they shouldn’t touch even though they couldn’t control their curiosity. Odysseus received help from many people in different islands that in the end his ship was the last one standing when he returned home. Odysseus had to make one decision that coast a lot of man’s lives instead of losing all the ship in one swoop. Circe advised Odysseus when he returned from Hades to bury crew member, to pass through the obstacles that faced him upahead.
Halfwayup the cliff there is a cave, whose howling terror.
Hervoice indeed is only as loud as a new-born puppy
could make, but she herself is an evil monster. No one,
not even god encountering her, could be glad at that sight.
She has twelve feet, and all of them wave in the air. She has six
necks upon her, grown to great length, and upon each neck
there is a horrible head, with teeth in it, set in three rows
close together and stiff, full of black death. Her body
from the waist down is holed up inside the hollow cavern,
but she hold her heads poked out and away from the terrible hollow,
and there shef ishes, peering all over the Cliffside, looking
for dolphins or dogfish to catch or anything bigger,
some sea monster, of whom Amphitrite keeps so many;
never can sailors boast aloud that their ship has passed her
without any loss of men, for with each of her heads she snatches
one man away and carries him off from the dark-prowed vessel (12. 85-100).
Circe goes into great detail explaining and describing the one of two monsters Odysseus will pass through. She warns him to take this monster instead of the other, six lives he could moan about than all his ships destroyed by other monster.
The word hero and heroism has different meanings depending on how an individual views hero or heroism in general. People would have different qualities depending on the situation they are viewing. Fire burning in heart, control and intelligence are my qualities I consider in The Odyssey. The qualities follow the entire poem of Odysseus’s journey back home, the aftermath and during problems that he faced.
Essay 1
There are six codes of behavior in The Odyssey, each play an important role in Ithaka’s society. The most prominent codes in the first half ofthe book are hospitality and reverence to gods. These two codes stand out themost in the first few books of the Odyssey.
The hospitality code associated with the god of Zeus. Those who followed this code showed loyalty to Zeus. Connection for this code is between the host and its guest. They both have specific tasks that need to be completed for this code of behavior to be accomplished. Thehost has to provide shelter, protection, entertainment, food and gifts to the guest. The guest his or she must provide information about themselves duringt heir stay to the host. Penelope shows hospitality to the suitors by offering them to stay at the palace and giving them food, wine and entertainment. She despises the suitors but it’s her duty as a good wife to obey the code even though her husband is not around and make her guests comfortable as possible. Penelope’s situation is difficult because until her husband return, she has topick one of the suitors to marry including show hospitality to them at all time.
Another code of behavior is the reverence to god. This code is a connection between the gods and mortals. Theway this code works is that the mortals give sacrifice to the gods such as animals, share wine by pouring it into the soil. The mortals also build temples, prey and obey the codes. In return, the gods give advice, guidance and help to the mortals for their reward in obeying the codes. There are consequences from the gods when the codes are disobeyed. The punishment or consequence could be anything the gods decide to torment the people. An example of gods giving advice to mortal is the conversation between Athena and Telemachus. Athena advices a plan to get rid of the suitors in Odysseus’s estate, she wants him to assemble the suitors to announce they are being banished from his father’s estate and from Ithaka.
“Tomorrow, summon the Achaian warriors into assembly
and publish your word to all, let the gods be yourwitnesses.
tell the suitors to scatter and go back to their own holdings,
and as your mother, if the spirit urges her married,
let her go back to the palace of her powerful father,
and they shall appoint the marriage and arrange for thewedding presents” (I. 271-78).
This is one of few examples of a goddess giving advice, helping a mortal with the situationhe was in that he couldn’t get out of.
Another example of god giving advice to mortal would be when Athena tells Telemachus togo on a journey to find news of his father’s whereabouts.
“Find out a ship with twenty oars, the best you comeby,
and go out to ask about your father who is so long absent,
on the chance some mortal man can tell you, who haslistened to rumor
sent by Zeus. She more than others spreads news among people.
First go to Pylos, and there question the great Nestor,
and from there go to Sparta to see fair-haired Menelaos,
since he came home last of all the bronze-armored Achaians.
Thus if you hear your father is alive and on his way home,
then, hard pressed though you are, you should still hold out for another
year. But if you hear he has died and lives no longer,
then make your way home to the beloved land of yourfathers,
and pile up tomb in his honor, and there makesacrifices
in great amount, as is fitting. And give your mother toa husband.
Then, after you have made an end of these matters, donethem,
next you must consider well in your heart and spirit
some means by which you can kill the suitors who are in your household,
by treachery or open attack” (I. 280-96).
This is another example in which Athena guides Telemachus. She goes into detail when he finds out that Odysseus is dead and alive. He should stay another year at sea if father is alive and on way home, also tell news to mother and have a tomb in his honor if father is dead.
In conclusion, out of the six codesof behavior in The Odyssey, the two most prominent codes are hospitality andreverence to god in the first half of the poem. They stand out the most in the first few books of the poem. All of the codes of behavior play an important role in Ithaka’s society and all must follow those codes to show loyalty to the gods. The gods reward the mortals whenever they feel like it with what the mortals need to survive.
Essay 1 Revision
There are six codes of behavior in The Odyssey, and each play an important role in Ithaka’s society. The most prominent codes in the first half ofthe book are hospitality and reverence to gods. These two codes stood out the most.
The hospitality code associated with the god of Zeus. Those who follow this code show loyalty to Zeus. The code involves the host and its guest. They both have specific tasks that need to be completed for this code of behavior to be accomplished. The host has to provide shelter,protection, entertainment, food and gifts to the guest. The guest his or shemust provide information about him or herself during their stay to the host. Penelope shows hospitality to the suitors throughout the poem. Even though she despises them, it’s her duty as a good wife to obey the code. Penelope is not excused from her duty when her husband is not to take his place as the host. Her situation is difficult because she has more pressure on being a good wife and a good mother her son as well as a good host to the suitors; she also has the responsibility to choose her new husband from the group of suitors that are in her palace.
Another code of behavior is the reverence to gods. This code is a relationship between the gods and mortals. The way this code works is that the mortals give sacrifice to the gods such as animals and share wine by pouring it into the soil. The mortals also build temples, pray and obey the codes. In return, the gods give advice, guidance and help to the mortals for their reward in obeying the codes. There are consequences from the gods when the codes are disobeyed. The punishment or consequence could be anything the gods decide to torment the people with. An example of gods giving advice to mortal is the conversation between Athena and Telemachus. Athena’s first advice is to get rid of the suitors in Odysseus’sestate. She wants Telemachus to assemble the suitors to announce they are being banished from his father’s estate and from Ithaka.
Tomorrow, summon the Achaian warriors into assembly
and publish your word to all, let the gods be your witnesses.
tell the suitors to scatter and go back to their own holdings,
and as your mother, if the spirit urges her married,
let her go back to the palace of her powerful father,
and they shall appoint the marriage and arrange for the wedding presents (I. 271-78).
This is one of few examples of a goddess giving advice, helping a mortal with the situation he is in that he couldn’t get out of.
Another example of god giving advice to mortal would be when she tells him to go on a journey to find news of his father’s whereabouts.
Find out a ship with twenty oars, the best you come by,
and go out to ask about your father who is so long absent,
on the chance some mortal man can tell you, who has listened to rumor
sent by Zeus. She more than others spreads news among people.
First go to Pylos, and there question the great Nestor,
and from there go to Sparta to see fair-haired Menelaos,
since he came home last of all the bronze-armored Achaia
Thus if you hear your father is alive and on his way home,
then, hard pressed though you are, you should still hold out for another
year. But if you hear he has died and lives no longer,
then make your way home to the beloved land of your fathers,
and pile up tomb in his honor, and there make sacrifices
in great amount, as is fitting. And give your mother to a husband.
Then, after you have made an end of these matters, done them,
next you must consider well in your heart and spirit
some means by which you can kill the suitors who are in your household,
by treachery or open attack (I.280-96).
This is another example in which Athena guides Telemachus. She goes into great detail explaining to him what he should do when he finds out his father’s faith.
In conclusion, out of the six codes of behavior in The Odyssey, the two most prominent codes are hospitalityand reverence to gods. All of the codes of behavior play an important role inIthaka’s society and all must follow those codes to show loyalty to the gods.The gods reward the mortals whenever they feel like it with what the mortalsneed to survive.
Essay 2
Considering this question brings me back to the years of watching superman, batman and Spiderman ways of heroism. All of these characters have the qualities of saving lives and powers normal people would not have. Revisiting this question now puts a different spin on what hero really stands for. Odysseus, main character in The Odyssey, meets my standards of heroism.
The qualities I see in people that make them heroes are having a fire burning inheart, intelligence, and control. People have different qualities for heroes and heroism that others do not know what the word real definition for this wordis. Qualities like these fit to most standards of heroism. There are qualities that disqualify a person from heroic status and some of them are losing control,coward and no intelligence.
In The Odyssey, the main character Odysseus shows qualities of heroism throughout the poem. He may not seem a hero until he returns home and destroys the suitors, but the journey back home have proven that he has heroic qualities. Odysseus went through a lot during his travel that he hasn’t complained as most peoplein his situation would have. He remained constant with the fire burning in his heart; he had that determination to return home for his wife, son and kingdom. Odysseus also had control over his decisions that coast his man’s lives. He had amission in mind and made sure nothing gotten in the way, emotions where on track during his travel to other islands to seek help.
Odysseushad the quality of intelligence that helped him stay alive during the roughest times of his journey. He used the quality when escaping the Cyclopes in book four,also warning his crew about what they shouldn’t touch even though they couldn’t control their curiosity. Odysseus received help from many people in different islands that in the end his ship was the last one standing when he returned home. Odysseus had to make one decision that coast a lot of man’s lives instead of losing all the ship in one swoop. Circe advised Odysseus when he returned from Hades to bury crew member, to pass through the obstacles that faced him upahead.
Halfwayup the cliff there is a cave, whose howling terror.
Hervoice indeed is only as loud as a new-born puppy
could make, but she herself is an evil monster. No one,
not even god encountering her, could be glad at that sight.
She has twelve feet, and all of them wave in the air. She has six
necks upon her, grown to great length, and upon each neck
there is a horrible head, with teeth in it, set in three rows
close together and stiff, full of black death. Her body
from the waist down is holed up inside the hollow cavern,
but she hold her heads poked out and away from the terrible hollow,
and there shef ishes, peering all over the Cliffside, looking
for dolphins or dogfish to catch or anything bigger,
some sea monster, of whom Amphitrite keeps so many;
never can sailors boast aloud that their ship has passed her
without any loss of men, for with each of her heads she snatches
one man away and carries him off from the dark-prowed vessel (12. 85-100).
Circe goes into great detail explaining and describing the one of two monsters Odysseus will pass through. She warns him to take this monster instead of the other, six lives he could moan about than all his ships destroyed by other monster.
The word hero and heroism has different meanings depending on how an individual views hero or heroism in general. People would have different qualities depending on the situation they are viewing. Fire burning in heart, control and intelligence are my qualities I consider in The Odyssey. The qualities follow the entire poem of Odysseus’s journey back home, the aftermath and during problems that he faced.
Essay 1
There are six codes of behavior in The Odyssey, each play an important role in Ithaka’s society. The most prominent codes in the first half ofthe book are hospitality and reverence to gods. These two codes stand out themost in the first few books of the Odyssey.
The hospitality code associated with the god of Zeus. Those who followed this code showed loyalty to Zeus. Connection for this code is between the host and its guest. They both have specific tasks that need to be completed for this code of behavior to be accomplished. Thehost has to provide shelter, protection, entertainment, food and gifts to the guest. The guest his or she must provide information about themselves duringt heir stay to the host. Penelope shows hospitality to the suitors by offering them to stay at the palace and giving them food, wine and entertainment. She despises the suitors but it’s her duty as a good wife to obey the code even though her husband is not around and make her guests comfortable as possible. Penelope’s situation is difficult because until her husband return, she has topick one of the suitors to marry including show hospitality to them at all time.
Another code of behavior is the reverence to god. This code is a connection between the gods and mortals. Theway this code works is that the mortals give sacrifice to the gods such as animals, share wine by pouring it into the soil. The mortals also build temples, prey and obey the codes. In return, the gods give advice, guidance and help to the mortals for their reward in obeying the codes. There are consequences from the gods when the codes are disobeyed. The punishment or consequence could be anything the gods decide to torment the people. An example of gods giving advice to mortal is the conversation between Athena and Telemachus. Athena advices a plan to get rid of the suitors in Odysseus’s estate, she wants him to assemble the suitors to announce they are being banished from his father’s estate and from Ithaka.
“Tomorrow, summon the Achaian warriors into assembly
and publish your word to all, let the gods be yourwitnesses.
tell the suitors to scatter and go back to their own holdings,
and as your mother, if the spirit urges her married,
let her go back to the palace of her powerful father,
and they shall appoint the marriage and arrange for thewedding presents” (I. 271-78).
This is one of few examples of a goddess giving advice, helping a mortal with the situationhe was in that he couldn’t get out of.
Another example of god giving advice to mortal would be when Athena tells Telemachus togo on a journey to find news of his father’s whereabouts.
“Find out a ship with twenty oars, the best you comeby,
and go out to ask about your father who is so long absent,
on the chance some mortal man can tell you, who haslistened to rumor
sent by Zeus. She more than others spreads news among people.
First go to Pylos, and there question the great Nestor,
and from there go to Sparta to see fair-haired Menelaos,
since he came home last of all the bronze-armored Achaians.
Thus if you hear your father is alive and on his way home,
then, hard pressed though you are, you should still hold out for another
year. But if you hear he has died and lives no longer,
then make your way home to the beloved land of yourfathers,
and pile up tomb in his honor, and there makesacrifices
in great amount, as is fitting. And give your mother toa husband.
Then, after you have made an end of these matters, donethem,
next you must consider well in your heart and spirit
some means by which you can kill the suitors who are in your household,
by treachery or open attack” (I. 280-96).
This is another example in which Athena guides Telemachus. She goes into detail when he finds out that Odysseus is dead and alive. He should stay another year at sea if father is alive and on way home, also tell news to mother and have a tomb in his honor if father is dead.
In conclusion, out of the six codesof behavior in The Odyssey, the two most prominent codes are hospitality andreverence to god in the first half of the poem. They stand out the most in the first few books of the poem. All of the codes of behavior play an important role in Ithaka’s society and all must follow those codes to show loyalty to the gods. The gods reward the mortals whenever they feel like it with what the mortals need to survive.