Building Tension In Homer's The Odyssey

Homer’s The Odyssey follows Odysseus and his journey home from the Trojan War. Although he anticipates a short journey, Odysseus is cursed by Poseidon to suffer ten additional years at sea. On the way home, Odysseus and his crew stop at the Cyclops’s island and encounter Polyphemus, Poseidon’s son, who kills crew members by tempting them with food, and then crushing them. Odysseus tricks the Cyclops by using the pseudonym of Nobody and stabs him in the eye; however he reveals his true name at the last second, thus giving Poseidon someone to blame.

Author, David Foster Wallace, in his research essay, “Consider the Lobster,” states how the MLF or Main Lobster Festival is committing an act of animal genocide due to the fact that lobsters have nerve endings and can feel pain. Wallace’s purpose of writing this essay is to make the public aware of the Lobster’s pain while they are being boiled alive. Wallace provides an informative but somewhat demeaning tone in parts of the essay to provoke his argument and have his readers attempt to side with him. Wallace attempts to utilize a lot of pathos in his essay to evoke our feelings for these amazing crustaceans. He bombards the reader rhetorical questions as he’s questioning his cab driver about the MLF, “at the World 's Largest

Reading through the book, it’s not so easy to grasp onto

Odysseus then, with his men and wine, marched onto the island and went to talk to the Cyclops. He asked for assistance and hospitality, which is a major Greek value. The obstacle was that the Cyclops was not a refined beast; after Odysseus politely requested aid the Cyclops out of a fit of anger ate two of his men. After the Cyclop’s outrageous actions, Odysseus knew he had to formulate a plan to escape the beast’s lair.

The difference with Poseidon’s children is, when he has a child with a nymph, the child is born as a Cyclope. Cyclopes are lawless man-eating savages. Most live on an island together, Kyklopes, living as shepherds eating whatever man or creature comes to their shores. Since Poseidon can control the sea, he made Odysseus’s ship go off course forcing him into sea to find whatever land they could. Of course, landing on Poseidon's sons’ island.

Polyphemus on the other hand, intentionally kills and intentionally eats other humans, making him more liable. Furthermore, to highlight the savagery, Homer goes to great lengths in order to iterate Polyphemus’s transgressions. In Visser’s essay she claims, “As social beings cannibals must inevitably have manners. Whatever we may think to the contrary, rules and regulations always govern cannibal society and cannibal behavior” (6). However, Polyphemus does not appear to abide by this assertion.

FANCY TITLE "Gluttony kills more than the sword." -George Herbert. “Gluttony: over-indulgence and over-consumption of food, drink, or wealth items to the point of extravagance or waste”(Dictionary.com). Homer uses food to show hospitality in ancient Greek culture, however, food is also used to represent temptation. (I need a hook)

Homer opens with Penelope, Odysseus wife and their son, Telemachus showing hospitality to Penelope’s suitors. Despite this kindness, the suitors began overrunning their home, eating all their food, and drinking everything as if it was their own. This type of hospitality was expected, however. No one was turned away and beggars were considered to be from Zeus, sent to test the host. Telemachus finally admits his irritation with the suitors’ misuse of the hosts’ hospitality “But if you decide it is more profitable and better/ to go on, eating up one man’s livelihood, without payment,/ then spoil my house” (I. 376-382).

The Odyssey, food means more than its literal representation, it is also a symbol of temptation. The beginning scenes in the epic poem discuss the importance of food when it is shown that many of Odysseus’s men did not return home from war after giving in to the temptation of a luxurious meal. The text states that “Children and fools, they killed and feasted on the cattle of Lord Helios, the Sun, and he who

The Odyssey is an age old classic read around the world. In the Odyssey, Homer tells the story of the wayward Odysseus. The story follows the protagonist as he makes his way back home, dealing with man-eating Cyclopes, a vengeful god, and a possessive nymph. During the story, the reader sees many sides of Odysseus as he dealt with his tribulations, such the cunning and witful side, but also the pompous and indulgent side. To begin with, Odysseus is trapped on an island with the nymph, Calypso.

Second, Odysseus and I show that when faced with peer pressure, isn’t always the right decision. In the Odyssey, Odysseus chose three men to search an island and “they [fall] in, soon enough, with Lotus Eaters, who [show] no will to do harm, only offering the sweet Lotus to [their] friends” (897). The Lotus Eaters pressure the men to try the Lotus, which in the story is like a drug. It is addicting and makes you want to stay on the island. It pressures Odysseus to try them because all of his crew try the Lotus.

The Odyssey of Homer is about the hero Odysseus who starts an adventure to return to his home and kill the suitors who woo his wife and squander his wealth. Meanwhile, his son Telemachus searches for news of his father from his father's friends, and teams up with his father to kill the suitors. All the suitors are killed and Athena protects Odysseus and Telemachus from the suitors' parents. Honor and pride are the most important aspects of life and hubris leads to destruction. Honor and pride are considered important and must be defended.

A trickster is “someone who tricks or deceives people especially in order to get something” (Merriam-Webster). Examples of the trickster archetype can be found in the Odyssey by Homer. For example, while Polyphemus has trapped Odysseus and Odysseus’ crewmates in his cave, Odysseus tells the Cyclops “Here, Cyclops, try this wine-to top off the banquet of human flesh you’ve bolted down” (Homer 222 lns. 388-389)! Enjoying the wine, the Cyclops demands for more, just as Odysseus anticipated he would.

In The Odyssey, Odysseus and Telemachus are two heroes that go through tests to try and complete their quests. At the beginning of the book, Odysseus is a Trojan war hero who has been away from home for a war that lasted ten years. It takes him another ten to get back home. Telemachus is Odysseus’s son. Telemachus believes that his father will never come back until Athena tells him to go and try to find any information about Odysseus’s whereabouts.

Everyone has their own definition of a hero. Many people think of superheroes who fight for the good of humanity. Others think of great warriors in ancient Greece and Rome. While it's nice to know what heroes might look like, it's more important to understand what makes someone a hero. Odysseus is one of these important heroes whose actions should be explained.