Examples Of Motifs In The Odyssey
11/24/12
Concealed Within The Odyssey
Plenty of things in the world are tangible. It’s the things we can’t touch like love, loyalty, freedom, friendship, and imagination that are concealed within everyone’s lives. These universal ideas can also be motifs; a motif is a dominant idea or distinctive feature in an artistic or literary composition. Motifs are used to teach a lesson to others throughout out dance, art, or literature. Motifs have been around and hidden in literature for a very long time. Almost 3,000 years ago there was a tale told by Homer, his story is now translated into an epic poem called The Odyssey. The story is based around king Odysseus and his 20 year voyage home …show more content…
Poseidon seeks revenge involving Odysseus. In order to escape from the cave of the Cyclops Odysseus blinds Polyphemus. Unfortunately, Odysseus blinded Poseidon’s son. As a result, “But now Poseidon, god of the earthquake, saw him- / just returning home … it made his fury boil even more … with that he rammed the clouds together- both hands / clutching his trident- churned the waves into chaos.” (5. 309-322). This represents after Odysseus is released from Calypsos Island onto his voyage to Phaeacia, Poseidon ship wrecks him. This is important because Poseidon is Odysseus’s worst enemy. He cannot kill Odysseus, but will help fulfill his blinded sons wish that he come home to Ithaca late and alone. Odysseus is lucky because his fate is returning to Ithaca, but on the other hand he’s one of the unluckiest men alive considering all the horrible events he went through. Revenge is a tricky concept because say holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the idea to throw is at someone, who gets burned? In other words, revenge is almost like a temptation something you shouldn’t give into because it’s simply not worth the
Concealed Within The Odyssey
Plenty of things in the world are tangible. It’s the things we can’t touch like love, loyalty, freedom, friendship, and imagination that are concealed within everyone’s lives. These universal ideas can also be motifs; a motif is a dominant idea or distinctive feature in an artistic or literary composition. Motifs are used to teach a lesson to others throughout out dance, art, or literature. Motifs have been around and hidden in literature for a very long time. Almost 3,000 years ago there was a tale told by Homer, his story is now translated into an epic poem called The Odyssey. The story is based around king Odysseus and his 20 year voyage home …show more content…
Poseidon seeks revenge involving Odysseus. In order to escape from the cave of the Cyclops Odysseus blinds Polyphemus. Unfortunately, Odysseus blinded Poseidon’s son. As a result, “But now Poseidon, god of the earthquake, saw him- / just returning home … it made his fury boil even more … with that he rammed the clouds together- both hands / clutching his trident- churned the waves into chaos.” (5. 309-322). This represents after Odysseus is released from Calypsos Island onto his voyage to Phaeacia, Poseidon ship wrecks him. This is important because Poseidon is Odysseus’s worst enemy. He cannot kill Odysseus, but will help fulfill his blinded sons wish that he come home to Ithaca late and alone. Odysseus is lucky because his fate is returning to Ithaca, but on the other hand he’s one of the unluckiest men alive considering all the horrible events he went through. Revenge is a tricky concept because say holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the idea to throw is at someone, who gets burned? In other words, revenge is almost like a temptation something you shouldn’t give into because it’s simply not worth the