Analysis of the Odyssey
From the book Odyssey, the play genre is an epic poem. An epic poem is a long, narrative work of poetry. These lengthy poems typically factor in extraordinary accomplishments and adventures of characters from a distant past. The poem uses different approaches to explain previous events in the timeline of the plot. In the book, this is often via recollections from characters or explanations from the gods.
The Odyssey begins in a time of crisis in Odysseus’s hometown of Ithaca, where suitors are running amok in Odysseus’s house and annoying his wife, Penelope, to remarry. As Odysseus’s son, learns what happened to his father during the Trojan War, we can hear about events that are not directly related to the story of Odysseus. This is an example of an epic convention as we learn that Odysseus was a person of national importance as he fought during the Trojan War for ten years. While outside of the main action of the poem, these interims fill in the details of the story that come before the commencement of the poem, allowing the writer to tell a lot in the story in a really short time.
In an epic poem, the plot often revolves around the hero of the story. The hero is seen to be of Godly stature as he or she is the only one able to perform in something difficult to the rest. For the Greeks of Homer’s time, hospitality was a paramount virtue. Their most powerful god, Zeus, is described by Odysseus as the god of strangers, who protects all guests and beggars. Odysseus adjudicates the various communities that he comes across at sea by whether they are violent, uncontrolled or friendly to strangers, god-fearing men? Throughout his journey, Odysseus receives hospitality in the form of food, shelter, and gifts from the Phaeacians. He assumes Cyclops will extend him the same goodwill when he eats all of Cyclops’s cheese. Meanwhile, back at Ithaca, the suitors exploit Odysseus’s hospitality by slaughtering his livestock and drinking all his wine. Through Odysseus’s adventures, Homer describes the heroic values of hospitality, cunning, and bravery prized by the Greek society that was the original audience of the poem.
The use of a vast setting is a characteristic of an epic poem which is also described in the Book. Odysseus is seen to be a vast traveler by traveling from Ithaca to Troy from Troy to the Island of the sirens than the Land of the lotus-eaters, the island of the Cyclops, the island of Aeolus, Circe’s island, and the underworld that is how he showed the trait vast traveler through the vast setting the story is based on. Moreover, the presence of ungodly and supernatural force in the setting shows its epic characteristics The gods, goddesses with supernatural powers affected the lives of Odysseus. For instance when Zeus lord of the cloud rose in the North as a storm leading to the colliding of the Odysseus ships and killing many of its men
In conclusion, the Odyssey is an epic story as seen from the example above. The epic characters add humor to the story and give a broad description of what was happening in those times. These characters help us understand the events of the past better.
