All about history book of myths and legends. ( PDFDrive )

THE ODYSSEY

DIVINE INTERVENTION
The gods of Mount Olympus not only influenced the Trojan War, but
also had an impact on the adventures of Odysseus. Whenever the hero
ofended a deity, his journey home was delayed. Poseidon, Helios,
and Zeus himself, all hampered the progress of the
voyage. After blinding Polyphemus, Odysseus
shouted out his real name to the Cyclops as
he sailed away. Polyphemus told Poseidon that
Odysseus had blinded him, and the sea god
unleashed a series of storms to wreck his ships.
When Odysseus’s men slew the cattle of Helios,
Zeus punished them. Though Hermes saved Odysseus
from the magic of Circe, the one deity who consistently
protected and advised the cunning hero was Athena.

MODERN ODYSSEYS

The adventures of Odysseus are immensely popular. Because Homer’s

epic is a powerful tale with an open-ended conclusion, its material

has been used in new ways. One of these “modern Odysseys” is The

Odyssey: A Modern Sequel (1938), a

long poem by Nikos Kazantzakis

(1883–1957), describing Odysseus’s

new adventures. Ulysses (1922), a

novel by James Joyce (1882–1941),

also uses the idea of an odyssey in its

story about Leopold Bloom, a native

of Dublin, who makes a meandering

journey around his home city.

Joyce’s Ulysses

Bloom’s wanderings take place in the course

of a single day. The characters and encounters

allude to episodes from the Greek myth.

Helios on his chariot

The sun god (referred to as Hyperion

by Homer) exerted his power when the Greeks ate the meat

of his cattle, making the beef bellow as if it were alive.

Homer

Poseidon

HOMER

Both the Odyssey and the Iliad are attributed to Homer, a

blind poet who probably lived in the 8th century BCE. Little

is known about Homer, and some scholars believe the epics

were actually the work of earlier poets,

who handed down the narratives by

word of mouth, adapting and

modifying them before they were

written down by Homer himself.

The two epics combine story,

character, and poetic language

so efectively that Homer is

considered even today as one

of the world’s greatest writers.

Divine protector
Athena was Odysseus’s benefactor. She persuaded Calypso to
release him, set up his meeting with Nausicaa, and advised
him to disguise himself before confronting his wife’s suitors.

SOME WORK OF

NOBLE NOTE, MAY

YET BE DONE,

NOT UNBECOMING

MEN THAT STROVE

WITH GODS.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Ulysses, 1842

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