In What Way is 'Odyssey' by Homer an Epic?

Throughout the epic poem “The Odyssey”, the protagonist Odysseus is viewed as a very strong person and an amazing leader. However, Odysseus displays many flaws and weaknesses that helps us connect to him. The biggest flaw represented by Odysseus is that he cannot control his men very well, which is shown in various parts of the epic poem. Since Odysseus demonstrates this weakness, it causes him to have many more obstacles and problems that he has to deal with in order to reach his goal. Odysseus needs his men in order to succeed so without them he cannot defeat his enemies and obstacles that await him. In the epic poem “The Sirens”, Odysseus’ men butchered and ate the Cattle of the Sun God. In the “Land of the Dead” which is

The monster then curses Odysseus in the name of his father, the god of the seas. It is now when Odysseus’s cocky nature sends him on a path to hit rock bottom; Poseidon hears his son’s plea and plots to ensure Odysseus can never return home. Now within the tale, which is chronologically before the point at which he is telling the story, Odysseus proves himself clever

Odysseus

In The Odyssey, the god Poseidon chases Odysseus, constantly trying to punish him for his disrespect to him. Odysseus spends almost his whole journey home running away from Poseidon, though Odysseus eventually recognizes that the gods deserve respect, and the conflict is resolved. In O Brother, Sheriff Cooley, the lawman in charge of tracking down the three escaped criminals, plays the role of Poseidon. He has devoted himself to following them on their trek home, and does not give up until he is drowned when the valley floods. Secondly, Polyphemus, Poseidon’s son the cyclops in The Odyssey, is replaced by Daniel “Big Dan” Teague in O Brother. They both have one eye, first of all, but they also try to kill the protagonists. Polyphemus wants to eat Odysseus, and Dan Teague wants to kill them for interrupting a KKK rally, and also because they might reveal his identity as a member of the KKK. Polyphemus ends up getting killed by Odysseus, and Dan Teague is killed by Ulysses and his men. Third, there are many seductresses in The Odyssey that Odysseus must challenge himself to ignore. When he arrives on Circe’s island, she drugs some of his men and turns them into animals. The nymph Calypso wants to keep him on her island as well, wishing to make him immortal and marry him. Lastly, there are the sirens, who Odysseus can listen to safely while his men keep him tied to the mast of his ship,

The Odyssey is an epic composed by Homer, an early Greek storyteller. This epic was the basis for Greek and Roman education. Epics are long poems marked by adventure. The main character in an epic is an epic hero.

One of the greatest poems of Greek culture is the Odyssey from the unsighted great poet Homers, which is described as being an epic poem, and one of the most important for the Greeks. Furthermore, the word epic has many definitions that differ from each other, yet it can be the only word that encircle many adjectives within its definition making it the perfect fit to describe such an important and valuable poem in literature. According to dictionary.reference.com, there are six adjectives among other forms of speech that defines the word epic. For these six adjectives assertively describe in detail the epic poem of the Odyssey, it is exclusively important to explain why the word epic makes such a perfect fit.

In The Odyssey, monsters like the Sirens, Scylla, and Polyphemus provide “new and interconnected methods” of defining what it means to be human (Cohen 7). The Oxford English Dictionary defines a monster as a “creature which is part animal, part human.” According to this definition, Odysseus becomes monsterous when he gives into the animalistic part of himself. When Odysseus meets the Sirens in Book 12, they immediately sense his presence and knew everything about him. They know how to draw on his insecurities and how to tempt him to come closer. He is also distracted by his sexual desires when he is first introduced to Circe. She draws out more sensual and carnal qualities of him, which is arguably more animalistic. All along the way, Odysseus is hesitant to explore new places because of his inherent biases and fear of the unknown. The monsters in this epic help reveal all of these aspects through Odysseus, As a human, he is always subject to weaknesses like fear, distractions from women like Circe, and bias which causes him to have preconceived notions of the foreign.

The Odyssey is a story about a man named Odysseus and his difficult journey back home from the Trojan War. Throughout the Odyssey, the main character Odysseus, faces numerous obstacles such as fighting Polyphemus the Cyclops, Scylla a six-headed monster and Charybdis, a whirlpool. During these trials, the author Homer uses diction to create a tragic and mournful tone.

Throughout the Odyssey, the struggles of Odysseus are revealed to the reader through the well written epic. His journey is very difficult and he is haunted with the loss of his entire crew and seemingly impossible task of getting home to his family. While journeying homewards, Odysseus makes the mistake of harming the Cyclops, who happens to be Poseidon's son. Poseidon is so angry at Odysseus for the harm he inflicted on the Cyclops, that through the influence of all powerful Zeus, he punishes Odysseus along with his other children, the Phaeacians, who can be seen to parallel as well as contrast with the Cyclops.

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.

An epic is an extensive narrative poem celebrating the feats of a legendary or traditional hero. There are several main characteristics that make up an epic as a literary genre. First is that, it contains an epic hero, its hero searches for immortality (but doesn't find it physically, only through fame), it delivers an historical message, it is a long poem that tells a story, and the gods or other supernatural beings are interested and involved. The Epic of Gilgamesh is classified as an epic because it fits all the characteristics of an epic as a literary genre.

"Epic traditionally been considered so monumental and grand a mode of poetic expression that literary authorities have dare make few official additions over the years to fix Homer-Virgin Milton pantheon" (Cowan, 1) Cowan believes to think that an epic story is to be thought as a cosmopoesis ,which means world making, and is so grand that even as the years have gone by the stories alone

An epic is an extended narrative poem in elevated or dignified language, celebrating the feats of a legendary or traditional hero.   The main characteristics of an epic as a literary genre is that it is a long poem that tells a story, it contains an epic hero, its hero searches for immortality (but doesn't find it physically, only through fame), gods or other supernatural beings are interested and involved, and it delivers an historical message.  The Epic of Gilgamesh is classified as an epic because it fits all the characteristics of an epic as a literary genre.

An epic poem is a long, narrative poem that is usually about heroic deeds and events that are significant to the culture of the poet. These poems tell tales of intense adventures and heroic feats. They often include cultural references to the time it was written and was a way for the people to spread their ideas and beliefs. Epic poems are very important when a person is trying to learn more about a certain culture or era in which the poem was written. Two of the most famous epic poems are Beowulf and The Odyssey. Although no two poems are exactly them same, Beowulf and The Odyssey do share a few similarities. Between Beowulf and The Odyssey, the most salient similarity they share is the way the monsters from the epics are symbolic and challenge

Epic: A lengthy narrative poem in grand language celebrating the adventures and accomplishments of a legendary or conventional hero.