Name Who it is What he/she did in The Odyssey Who would play him/her in a movie and why?
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Description of character traits
Odysseus King of Ithaca Protagonist Denzel Washington
Polyphemus The cyclops who imprisoned Odysseus Odysseus called out to Polyphemus, laughing at him and telling him that it was not "No Man", but he, Odysseus, who had blinded him and fooled him Jack Black
Athena The goddess of wisdom, skills and warfare Odysseus’ strongest supporter out of the gods- wants to help Telemachus while disguised as a friend of the prince’s grandfather- prepares Telemachus for his journey to Pylos and Sparta.- saves Odysseus from Poseidon’s storm Halle
Zeus King of the gods Sends Hermes to rescue Odysseus from Calypso
Poseidon God of sea,
Polyphemus asks Odysseus and his crew about their identity before providing them with proper meals and treatment. Another example is when Polyphemus tells Odysseus and his crew, “You must be a fool . . . telling me to fear the gods or avoid their wrath!” (9.307-309).
‘Cyclops you ask my noble name, and I will tell it; but do you give the stranger’s gift, just as you promised. My name is Noman. Noman I am called by mother, father, and by all my comrades’” (86). Odysseus tells Polyphemus his name is Noman to ruse him. Odysseus soon gets Polyphemus drunk. Odysseus takes the staff and blinds Polyphemus. Polyphemus removes the boulder and asks for help from the other Cyclops. “Then in his turn from out the cave big Polyphemus answered: ‘Friends Noman is murdering me by craft. Force there is none.’
In The Odyssey, many major events and relationships occur in Odysseus’ life. Odysseus is an epic hero in the epic poem The Odyssey, which details his dangerous travels from Troy back to his kingdom in Ithaca. Throughout his journeys, Odysseus demonstrates characteristics of leadership and bravery. There are many important relationships Odysseus has to reveal these traits. Relationships such as his bond with the goddess Athena and his son Telemachus. There are many events where Odysseus’ characteristics and relationships are helpful.
In lines 377 through 450 of book 9, Odysseus devises and enacts his plan to escape Polyphemus’ clutches and deliver his men to safety. He inebriates Polyphemos until he passes out, and follows up by stabbing him in the eye, permanently blinding him. To ensure no others come to help the blinded cyclops, Odysseus tells him he goes by “Nohbody”, and therefore Polyphemus calls out, “Nohbody’s tricked me, Nohbody’s ruined me!”. This brilliant case of Odysseus’ craftiness leads Polyphemus’ fellow kyklopes to ridicule him, instead of running to his aid. Furthermore when the sirens threaten his soldiers with their velvety songs, Odysseus plugs his men’s ears with beeswax (lines 199-258, book 12).
Contrast to the modern American view of evil, Odysseus' blinding of Polyphemus is not an evil act, but rather one that is praised for its cleverness. Odysseus' "nobody" trick has proved to save his life. Although his goal was to survive, Odysseus abandoned his morals of honesty to accomplish the feat. By identifying himself as "nobody", he fooled Polyphemus, but he also hid his true identity, which is lying and deceiving. He actually degraded his manhood by disguising himself mentally. Ironically, Odysseus escapes not as a manly warrior, but rather as a sheep. After leaving the cave, he wants to redeem himself and his manhood. Revealing his name to Polyphemus almost cost the crew members their lives, but the fame that Odysseus would obtain from tricking Polyphemus will be everlasting and was worthwhile to him. Showing a lack of good judgement, Odysseus again reveals his position in the water, but luckily, they do escape
Odysseus is known for being a great war hero and leader who must go through many obstacles to reach his homeland of Ithaca. Many of the obstacles are caused by the gods, however Odysseus is the cause of his own troubles. He does not learn from his mistakes and his main flaw is pride.
In our world of advanced technology, we love to watch movies more than we love to read. Sitting in front of a flat-screen TV while eating popcorn and drinking soda would sound much more appealing than reading a book by the fire at night while drinking a frappucino from Starbucks. Now, producers and directors would take successful and famous stories and adapt it into a movie. Sometimes, they would succeed, with examples being the Harry Potter series, which received mainly positive reviews from both critics and the audience. However, most of the time these people would unknowingly butcher the book based movie by taking out many important characters and events, with good examples being The Lightning Thief and Eragon. Then another example of a
Odysseus wanted to take his sword to Polyphemus, but he know that he could not move the boulder blocking the door without him being alive. Odysseus devises a plan to get Polyphemus drunk and then stab him in the eye with a flaming hot stick. When Polyphemus asks Odysseus name he tells him “‘Nobody, thats my name. Nobody, so my mother and father call me, all my friends’”(223). When Polyphemus is calling out that “Nobody’s killing me” his neighbors think he is fine and they leave.
In the Odyssey, Odysseus is quite the legend known to people, whether you are high up in the sky with Zeus, or deep in the ocean with Poseidon, everyone knows Odysseus. In the epic poem, the Odyssey told by the one and only Homer, the brave, the godlike human, Odysseus is finding his way home after the big battle victory against the Trojans. This story is about his travels home and how he got caught up in other business. Let’s just say he stabbed Poseidon’s son, had his crew turned into pigs, faced a six-headed monster and whirlpool, and that is to say the least. He may as well be on America’s most wanted list with all the trouble he was causing. Even though Odysseus is a troublemaker, he has multiple great characteristics of a leader. Odysseus, when it comes to his crew and family, is confident, compassionate, wise, and always knows a way to get out of any problem.
Long-tried royal Odysseus is tested for devotion and trust through the absence of his loved ones. His character can be seen through the actions and voice of his very own son Telemachus. Since Telemachus and Odysseus have been away from each other
Odysseus tends to use strategy over strength to be a hero when it comes to challenges. Instead of beginning with fighting the Cyclops, he takes his time and sets up a plan. Everytime he enters a new island, he does not start telling everyone that he is Odysseus, king of Ithaca. Instead, he charms the people he meets and uses his wise words that cause them to help and pity him. Odysseus represents what being a hero is actually all about. Throughout the novel The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus continuously shows his personality of being an admirable hero to everyone by using strategy instead of strength.
Sing I me, Muse, and through me tell the story of the lady nymph goddess Calypso. Oh so beautiful and immortal who lives in the sea- hollowed caves on the island Ogygia. She craved the hero of Troy, king of Ithaka, son of Laertes, a mortal and took him as her own. Nine long years they spent on the island together.
When Odysseus is in trouble he always shows that he is depending on the gods by praying to them. The fact that the gods usually listen to him shows that he is well liked by the gods. In order to be a Greek hero you had to be liked by the gods since religion was such a big part in their lives. Odysseus, with the help of the gods, can survive adventures that kill most other men. Odysseus travels to the island of the Cyclopians. The Cyclopians are giants that have one eye, they don't fear the gods because they believe that they are better than the gods and they eat people. They represent the opposite of what Greek men should be. Odysseus and his men meet Polyphemus the Cyclops. Polyphemus being a Cyclops eats some of Odysseus' men. Odysseus with the help of the gods figures out a plan to escape and he does. Scylla is a ferocious monster with six heads that kills most men that pass by her island. She kills six of Odysseus' men. Odysseus prevents her from killing himself and more men. There is another ferocious monster named Charybdis. Charybdis sucks in water from the sea and creates a whirlpool that kills any ship that passes by. Odysseus passes by her. His crew is killed and his ship is destroyed in the whirlpool but Odysseus alone survives. There is an island that Odysseus passes by with monsters called Sirens on it. The Sirens sing beautiful songs that lure ships toward them. The ships then crash into the island and the people are killed.
The movie, O’ Brother, Where Art Thou, is an old-timey film based on Homer’s The Odyssey. The plot and characters are all loosely drawn from the ancient Greek myth, but is set in Mississippi during the Great Depression. The result is an original film filled with adventure, interesting characters, and side-splitting comedy. The George Clooney stars as the main character, Ulysses Everett McGill, with his two man crew, Pete and Delmar, as they trek across Mississippi in search of “treasure” and encounter many of the same trials and troubles that are told about in the myth of Odysseus.
The book The Odyssey by Homer and the 1997 movie The Odyssey portrayed many real world learning aspects into each take of the story. The book and the movie both had many big ideas that were expressed as the same but had many detailed and specific ideas that were different.