Themes, motifs & symbols in the Odyssey Themes: Nature and role of the gods
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| Themes, motifs & symbols in the Odyssey Themes: Nature and role of the gods The structure of the gods somewhat mirrors the social order of Homeric society. While all gods had powers superior to man, they are under control of a king, i.e. Zeus. The gods can control the outcomes of men’s lives, and fate/destiny dictates this. The Olympian goddess Athena plays a major role in the Odyssey and she moves among men in all sorts of guises and disguises. Revenge The graphic description of the Suitors’ violent deaths reflects the acceptance by Homer’s readers that this revenge is deserved and fitting. Odysseus will accept nothing less than the total annihilation of the Suitors; he will never forgive nor give dispensation to anyone who acted wrongly towards his family and home. The Suitors were killed when feasting, which is fitting because they violated the symbol of social conventions (the feast). Torture of the disloyal goatherd Melanthius shows that he got his just reward for helping the Suitors. “And now their own transgressions have brought them to this ignominious end” (Odysseus to Eurycleia, Book 22). Directory: file -> fetch fetch -> Germany: Establishment of the Nazi Dictatorship fetch -> Al Capone Does My Shirts fetch -> Alice Paul’s Testimony: Quaker Activism and Female Suffrage fetch -> Comparative Colonialism fetch -> Unit 6 Test: Age of Revolutions Name fetch -> Soapstone Worksheet, example fetch -> Prehistoric Britain fetch -> Brave New World of Food Objectives fetch -> The New World This four-week unit, the first of six, allows students to experience the earliest American literature and note the contemporary endurance of some of its themes. Rate this Unit Show All Download 20.57 Kb. Share with your friends:
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