Agamemnon And Odysseus Analysis

The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to The Iliad, the other work ascribed to Homer. The epic raises questions about what an odyssey is for Odysseus and secondary characters who mimic Odysseus's progress throughout the story. In Zimmerman’s play viewers experience a simplified interpretation of Homer’s grand and verbacious text. As viewers experience secondary characters like Agamemnon, Telemachus and Calypso exhibit emotion through actors in Zimmerman’s stage direction. Homer is able to use epithets and figurative imagery. Homer’s story placed an emphasis on the descriptive language that made Zimmerman’s actors successful, as his character development is there as her stage directions.

Readers experience many substories that mimic the thematic tales of The Odyssey. In Book I the metaphorical stage is set "in medias res" as the Greek Gods discuss Odysseus’ predicament. The story starts twenty years after Odysseus has left his infant son Telemachus with his patient wife Penelope. As he goes to fight against Troy in Homer’s previous tale The Iliad. Both Agamemnon and Odysseus, have wives besieged by suitors and a son who, logically, dislikes them. The story of Agamemnon parallels that of Odysseus. But Agamemnon's story turned negative: the suitor killed him and married his wife, though his son, Orestes, avenged his death. This foreshadowing effect is only a brief statement by Zeus in Zimmerman’s interpretation as time is a vital resource in a play while in an epic it is held in excess. Homer’s ability to enhance the epic with secondary characters came from years of oral history and time but pays off tenfold. As the relationship between Agamemnon and Odysseus is a well developed short story within this epic. The depth and symbolism are lost in Zimmerman’s attempt, for she would have needed to devote more costs for scenery and time for a story that is secondary. Zimmerman’s play is an abridged version of Homer’s epic. As a result of limited resources like time Zimmerman sacrificed Agamemnon’s substory. This oversight by Zimmerman is the first of many

He is a man who is treated like a boy. Zimmerman’s script of The Odyssey informs actors’ dialog. She interprets her stage direction and dialog from Homer’s oral tradition. Zimmerman interprets Telemachus’ disrespect in Homer’s text by using overlapping dialog. Viewers and readers of Zimmerman’s text are able to see verbal disrespect as “the Suitors make loud disturbances” while he talks to Athena. In many ways, The Odyssey is about Telemachus’s homecoming as much as Odysseus, especially in Book I. As throughout Book I,the demeanor towards “young Telemachus” who is the “prince of the house” as his “god-like” father is assumed dead all while the suitors continue to take advantage of his required hospitality. Zimmerman’s dialog attempts to mimic Homer’s original characters’ dialog that is dense with imagery. Yet, epithets such as “thoughtful Telemachus” (Homer) are lost in translation as her dialog would seem interrupted by this addition. For example, the term “grey-eyed Athena” is more of a figurative ideal than a stage direction for Zimmerman’s interpretation. These epithets that are a vital component of Homer’s genius do not translate to this modern adaptation. When Telemachus is tasked with interacting with the suitors in Zimerman’s play his awkwardness and naivete is highlighted as the suitors demean him with