Friday, December 3, 2010

Odyssey writing paper

Theme: One main theme that is reoccurring in the OOdyssey, is the lesson of trusting and respecting others exspessially your elders in order to live a life of happiness.

To begin, you must listen and obey the rules people have given you or else you will be punished for your actions.  In book 12 there is a great example of this, it says " The mast itself went crushing into the stern,it struck the helsman's head and crushed his skull to pulp and down from his deck the man flipped like a diver- his hardly life spirit left his bones behind.  Then, then in the same breath Zeus hit the craft with a lighting-bolt and thunder." (pg.284, lines:443-448).  Circe warned Odysseus not to eat the cattle, but because his crew did they were all punished by Zeus and all of them died except for Odysseus.  That is why you should all ways obey to rules you have been told.

My second point that relates to the theme is that you should all ways listen and trust your elders because most of the time they are right.  In book 16 it says "all my life I've heard of your great fame-a brave man in war ans a deep mind in counsel- but what you say dumbfounds me, staggers imagination!  How on earth could two men fight so many and so strong."  (pg.346 lines:271-275).  When Telemachus finally sees his father again, Odysseus wants to make a plan for killing the suitors, but Telemachus thinks he is crazy.  But as you find out later in the story they are successfully able to do it.  That is why you all ways listen to your eleders, because they know what there talking about even if it seems crazy.

My last point is all ways respect the authority for where you live. In book 21it says " So they mocked, but Odysseus mastermind in action, once he had handled to bow and scanned every inch." (pg.437 line:454-454.  The suitors think Odysseus is some loser of a stranger so they would make fun of him and harass him, but went came time to shoot the bow he showed them who he really was and then punished them for what they did.  So even if you don't recognize someone all ways respect them because they could come back and get you.  All three of these points illustrate the theme in the Odyssey of trusting and respecting others to live a happy life.  

1 comment:

  1. Your quote in paragraph 1 describes the consequences of not listening to Odysseus, but it does not speak toward the actual lesson. Likewise, in paragraph 2, you quote the skepticism of Telemachus, but do not show the actual lesson of listening to your elders.

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