Argos And Odysseus Analysis

Christian Gonzalez Gonzalez 1 World Literature 10 2 August 2015 The Odyssey Summer Reading Assignment Book I. 1. Where is Odysseus?

As the days went past still no Odysseus my master I will not die without seeing him until then I will hold on to the grass and be the brave Odysseus dog and try to take the pain of these suitors not feeding me abusing me . I will hide under a mass of dung until I wish to see my Odysseus so I can let go. At last I see Odysseus and no it is ok to go when I see him from 20 years and about to die I finally let go as Odysseus walks past trying not to cry because of how I wasn 't taken care of and died. Argos still knows what he was feeling inside so he feels at peace at last and lets the grass go.

Artist Theodor Van Thulden and poet Alexander Pope explain this tale in more detail by showing the loyalty and heroism that Argos has and that the other people from Ithaca never cared to stay loyal to Odysseus like they should have. In the painting Argos Recognizes Odysseus, by Theodor Van Thulden uses the myth

Argos was the first to recognize Odysseus when he came home when no one else could, and it was Argos’s loyalty that touched Odysseus' heart leading him to shed a tear, and while they could have grown old together they didn’t have the opportunity to due to the long separation. This moment made Odysseus realize that he has missed out and a numerous amount of memories and experiences with his family and his dog that he can never get

Here his final transformation takes place and his true character is revealed. Taking Tiresias advice, Odysseus, after twenty years away from home, is forced to humble himself even before a lowly swineherd and take the swineherd’s advice. Odysseus demonstrates this great change of heart when he purposely lets his own dogs attack him so that his beggar identity will be concealed. “Suddenly—those snarling dogs spotted Odysseus, charged him fast—a shatter of barks—but Odysseus sank to the ground at once . . . but here and now, on his own farm, he might have taken a shameful mauling” (Homer, 302).

Two of the themes are loyalty and homecoming. Loyalty is important in this story because Penelope, Argos, Eumaeus, and Philoetius were loyal to Odysseus the whole time that he was fighting and trying to get back home. Homer writes, “but death and darkness in that instant closed the eyes of Argos, who had seen his master, Odysseus, after twenty years…” (Homer 1249) This shows us that Argos wanted to see Odysseus one last time before he passed away.

In Homer’s The Odyssey Odysseus goes on a journey to get back home from war. Along the way he goes through monsters, challenges, and obstacles that he has to face to make it back to reach his goal in the end. He has difficulties that change him as a person and how he reacts to events and points. This relates to me because even though both of our lives are different we have similarities.

In the epic The Odyssey, the epic hero Odysseus shows many hero like traits, in my opinion the most important trait would be loyalty. Odysseus, the hero of The Odyssey, first shows the trait loyalty on the Land of the Lotus Eaters. Odysseus sends three of his best men to check out this island, but bad luck has them and they run into Lotus Eaters who are addicted to the Lotus Plant. The next they know is the three men become addicted also.

In Greek society, there are many valued characteristics of the hero Odysseus which are still valued today. These traits may not be as important in today’s modern world, but there is no doubt that Odysseus is an epic hero. In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus proves that he is an epic hero through divine intervention in the Call, where he blinds Polyphemus in the Challenges, and the Atonement, where he goes through a transformation. Odysseus reveals the help of the gods as he plots with Telemachus against the suitors who are plaguing his home to take back what is rightfully his in the Call.

People judge the dog by his background and company, not by who he is. The dog response to the people’s thoughts is fear, showing a defensive position appealing to his survival instincts. Because of this fear he is not able to interact with the people, as they also think that he is the devil, provoking more fear. “Some said he was hunting with the spirit of his lost master; some, that he was a devil incarnate.” (Paragraph 7).

The concept of hero has been interpreted in many ways throughout the ages. Hero have gone from knights slaying dragons and rescuing the princess, to heroes who save the world with their supernatural-like powers, to a modern day hero who is someone who has noble qualities and is regarded as a role model. In the epic, The Odyssey, by Robert Fagles, the heroic Odysseus is a well known in Greek mythology. However, although Odysseus is the most respected, honorable hero of Greek mythology he is not a modern hero. A modern day hero is someone who puts their life on the line to save the lives of other innocent people.

In part one of Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus uses his epic hero qualities to help him out on his quest to get back home to Ithaca. He’s shows superb intelligence when fighting the cyclopes in “Book 9.” That’s a quality of superhuman intelligence that Odysseus possessed all throughout his entire journey. Another epic hero quality that helped Odysseus was help from Greek gods and goddesses. In part two of Homer’s Odyssey, Athena helped out Odysseus when he got back to his home land.

Heroes are, “People who take risks despite fear”(Source 2). In The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus faces many challenges that make him a hero. He battles monsters, goddesses, and enchantresses. Odysseus is a hero in the way that he uses his brain to think about and approach dilemmas. When he and his men are on the Cyclops’ island, Odysseus tells the cyclops that his name was Nobody.

In the poem it first is talking about Odysseus, how he was alone and forgotten. The poem exclaims,

Odysseus the Hero According to mythologist and professor Joseph Campbell, “A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself” (Hero Quotes-Brainy Quotes).This applies to Odysseus because he risks his life to keep his family and soldiers safe. For Odysseus, being a hero is not by his effort, but by his wisdom bravery. When Odysseus stands up to a Cyclops, he exhibits bravery, and he also is a good leader in this position because of his ability to inspire his soldiers. By doing this he demonstrates heroic behavior when he acts courageous and uses his wits.