History And Politics In The Odyssey After The Trojan War

History and politics in the Odyssey after the Trojan War

The Odyssey is an epic poem, composed of 24 songs and that tells Ulysses’s adventures on his return to the island of Ithaca after the Trojan War.

The author who is attributed to this work, in addition to the Iliad, is Homer, who was born in the S.VIII in one of the Jonic cities. Homer was an Aedo, in ancient Greece the aedos were artists who were dedicated to singing epic accompanied by a zitara, a musical instrument.

The Odyssey has been considered many times as one of the most important works, and it is so for different reasons. The fact that it is a written work is already a revolutionary, since it takes the oral tradition to writing. On the other hand, the style of the work and the way in which it is narrated and structured is an important reference of this work, it is not like the account, but what counts. In the Odyssey, Homer not only narrates the adventures of Ulysses, but also tells several myths, the character of the gods, the relationship between the gods and men, and how they lived in ancient Greece. This is why this work is as important, because it helps us to know and understand Greek mythology and how was the life and culture of ancient Greece.

Previously the great importance of the Odyssey has been mentioned, for this reason it is not surprising that it has been a great influence for later authors and artists. Both the Odyssey and the Iliad, both works by Homer, are the first literary works of the West, and that is why, either to a lesser or greater extent, all literary works have been influenced by these epic.

And not only in literature, but we also find references or similarities to this work both in the little one and on the big screen, in art and even in video games. We find references to recent odyssey and others not so much, as for example Virgil’s enemy, which evokes the figure of Ulysses and recreates the structure of the Odyssey. Ulises appears in reference form in the divine comedy of Dante or in the songs of Ezra Pound, and J. Joyce writes an ironic work called Ulysses, with a modern Ulysses that drunk tries to get home. On the other hand, we also find an infinity of adaptations of this work. On the other hand, we find a wide number of film adaptations and/or that take this classic work as a reference or inspiration. Among them are Ulysses (Mario Camerini, 1954), an adaptation of Homer’s work, in which Ulysses (Kirk Douglas), after finishing the Trojan War, will start a long trip until he reached Ithaca 10 years after having split fromTroy. Or Brother, where art thou? (Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, 2000) is an ironic adaptation of the Odyssey, which tells the story of three inmates who escape from prison to recover 1.2 million dollars that one of them had hidden before entering prison. During their search they cross people and situations that in an ironic way represent the different conflicts faced by Ulysses in the Odyssey. But perhaps, the best known of all is Troy (Wolfgang Petersen, 2004), for having a great cast, among which Brad Pitt, Orlando Bloom and Sean Bean, among others, among others. It is true that he does not nar. On the other hand, in art we find an infinity of works that illustrate the adventures of Ulysses, such as Homer’s apotheosis (Jean-Auguste-Dominique Input, 1827), Circe offering the Cup to Odysseus (John William Waterhouse, 1891) orUlysses and Las Sirenas (John William Waterhouse, 1891), among others.

The Odyssey was written during the S.VIII a.C, in that period in Greece the archaic period was developed, characterized by developing after finishing the dark age (XII-VIII A.C). In the archaic period, the lost during the dark age is resumed, thus, economic exchanges, productive activities, such as agricultural, an increase in demographic growth are re -produced, and urban nuclei and urban nuclei and places of worship are developed and formIn addition, writing is resumed, which had been removed during the dark age. However, the Odyssey develops during the Mycenaean period, when the Achaeans dominated Greece. The origin of the Greeks is found in 4 villages: eolios, dorios, jonios and those, the latter are the mycenaean.

Mycenaean culture develops between 1600-1150 to.C, they were organized by small cities-stood with a palatial model. They were not part of a Mycenaean Empire, but it was a system of dominant kingdoms and dependent kingdoms. This system had a king (Wánax), a military chief (Rawaketa) and various officials, in addition, had a provincial and a military system. The Achaeans occupied continental Greece, but around 1400 they occupied the island of Crete and expanded their influence by the anatolic coasts and the Aegean. The Mycenaean period is divided into 4 phase, the Odyssey takes.C), after the Trojan War.

The Trojan War was a war conflict in Greek mythology, reported by Homer in the Iliad. The events begin when Helena, woman of Menelao (brother of Agamemnon, king of the Achaeans), is kidnapped by Paris (son of Priam, king of Troy). Both were in love due to the spell that Aphrodite had put on Paris, because he had chosen her as the most beautiful. After the march of Helena, Menelao and Agamemnon gathered all the Achaeans to invade Troy, a city located in Asia Minor. After 10 years besieging the city of Troy without getting the walls, Ulysses, king of Ithaca, it occurred to himTrojan doors. The Trojans believing victorious when they saw the enemy move away, introduced the horse in the city and celebrated their victory without skimping in the drink. Taking advantage of the situation, the Achaeans hidden in the horse opened the doors of the city, which meant the end for Troy and its inhabitants. The Odyssey will be developed at the end of the war, when Ulysses victorious begins its back to return to Ithaca.

The Odyssey consists of 24 songs and has a very clear structure. From singing I to IV the Telémaco trip is narrated, who leaves in search of his father, the "Telemaquia". From V to XII, the marine adventures of Ulysses are narrated, from his arrival on the island of Nymph Calipso, his stay in Feacia, until his arrival in Ithaca. Finally, from song XII to XXIV, it is Ulysses’s revenge against Penelope’s suitors.

The Odyssey begins with a council among the gods, in which a muse is chosen to tell Ulysses’s fate after the destruction of Troy. Atane. In addition to advocating the return of the hero, Athena takes the figure of Mentor (King of the Tafios) to advise Telemachus and give him the idea of going in search of his father. With this idea in the head, Telemachus summons the citizens of Ithaca in an assembly, and thanks to the help of Athena, transformed into a mentor, manages to expel the suitors of Penelope, the woman of Ulysses. Telemachus is made with a ship and sails towards piles, in search of his father and news about this. Upon arriving in Pilos, King Néstor invites Telemachus and Mentor to participate in a hecatombe, a religious sacrifice with a large number of victims, for Poseidon. King Néstor tells how it was the death of Agamemnon and the return of other Achaean heroes, but he had no news of Ulysses, so he suggests Telemachus to visit Sparta and ask Menelao about his father’s whereabouts. Néstor asks Telemachus to have his son, pisstrate, accompanied Sparta, because he had impressed to discover that a goddess accompanied that young man. In Esparta, Menelao and Helena receive Telemachus, and it is Menelao who informs him of his father’s fate, aware of the whereabouts of this thanks to Proteo, tells Telemachus that Ulysses is captive on the island of Calipso. On the other hand, in Ithaca, Penelope’s suitors, connoisseurs of Telemaco’s intentions, prepare an ambush for when he returns from his search.

While Ulysses is captive on the island of Calipso, a new assembly of the gods is carried out, and Zeus decided to leave Ulysses free, so he sends Hermes to the island so that Calipso Libere him. Calipso offers immortality, but the hero prefers to leave, it takes four days to build a boat that is sunk by Poseidon, angry with Ulysses. The Nereida, Ino, helps Ulysses giving him a blanket with which he must swim until he reaches Feacia. Upon arrival, Ulysses sees Princess Nausicaa, who asks for help, is welcoming Ulysses and provides food. Ulysses arrives at the Palacio de Alcínoo (King of the Feacios), and he invites him to participate in a banquet, Ulises counts for what has happened and the impressed king offers to marry his daughter, offering that Ulysses rejects. The feacios impressed by the adventures of their guest celebrate a party in their honor, in which the Aedo Demódococo sings a song about the Trojan War. When he reaches the ingenious plan of Ulysses, the wooden horse, the hero begins to cry, so the king, intrigued asks his true identity. Ulises reveals who he is and begins to narrate all his adventures since he left Troy. Ulises numbers the lost companions in the city of ímaro, where the cyclones were, on the island of the Lotafagos, where those who ate the lotus forgot their identity, and on the island of the cyclopes, where Polyphemus devoured several colleagues fromUlysses, he left him blind in order to escape hidden between the wool of the sheep. The island of Eolo, who helped Ulysses return to Ithaca and handed him a bag that contained the winds of the west, his colleagues, curious, opened the bag, moving away from the coast of Ithaca and disembarking on the island of Lestrigones, whereMany Ulysses companions served as food for those cannibal giants. They arrived on the island of Circe, who fell in love with Ulysses and informed him that he should go to the underworld before returning to Ithaca. Ulysses, following the advice of Circe, under Hades, where the fortune teller, Tiresias, predicted a hard return. Ulysses continued their trip, they managed to escape from the sirens, thanks to the wax they placed in their ears so as not to hear their songs, they also escaped from the Marine Monsters Escila and Caribdis. They arrived in Trinacria, the island of Helios, where the companions of Ulysses sacrificed several of the cows of the God despite their warnings, so it enraged. Zeus, after Ulysse. Ulises arrived on the island of Calipso, in which he was captive for years. The Feacios, amazed by Ulysses’s story, helped him reach Ithaca.

On his arrival on the island, Ulysses was disguised as a vagabond by Athena, to hide his identity. The hero went to Eumeo’s house, who offered food and shelter to Ulysses without recognizing him. Meanwhile, Athena advises Telemachus that it is time to return home, when you arrive in Itaca manages. Once on land he goes to Eumeo’s house, where Ulysses reveals his identity and both begin to plan their revenge. The next day, Ulysses goes to the palace, still disguised, there is a victim of the humiliations of the suitors and challenged a fight against another beggar, iro, which easily expires. After his fight, Ulysses maintains a conversation with Penelope, who does not recognize him, and sends his slave, Eurict, to bathe Ulysses. The slave recognizes Ulysses for a scar and he orders him to remain silent. One day, Penelope organizes a contest and the winner will be the one who marries her, the test consisted of passing an arrow through the eye of twelve aligned axes. None of the suitors manages to overcome the test and Ulysses asks to participate, after Telemachus insistence, they allow it, then, with great ease, it passes the arrow for each of the eyes. Telemachus awaits his father’s sign to start revenge, after crossing the throat of one of the suitors, the fight begins, one by one all the suitors fall and those who had been unfaithful to the hero. At the end of the fight, Ulysses presents where Penelope who does not recognize him until he tells how he did his conjugal bed with an olive tree. Ulysses tells his adventures and informs his wife that he must return to his father’s house, Laertes, there he shows his scar to recognize him. Meanwhile, relatives of dead suitors claim revenge and come to Laertes house. There, both Ulysses, and his father, accept the fight, and it is Athena who stops them and invites them to reach an agreement, so that they all live in peace.

In the Odyssey we find a large number of characters, but perhaps the most remarkable are:

Athena is the daughter of Zeus and Metis, goddess of war and wisdom, it is precisely this quality that makes it captivated by the ingenuity of Ulysses and becomes protector of this and her son. The continuous signs of ingenuity and creativity of Ulysses are well received by the goddess, who is transformed into different figures to help the hero in his adventures.

Calipso is a nymph, daughter of the Titan Atlas, who is held on the island of Ogigia, where Ulysses arrives after the shipwreck of her ship. Calipso care of Ulysses and entertains it with all kinds of delicacies. In love with him, he held him seven years, until by order of Zeus he had to let him go.

Circe is a beautiful witch and knew that she lives on the island of Eea. Converts in pigs to the companions of Ulysses, although by order of this it returns to their original human form. It retains Ulysses for a year, although then helps him on his trip.

Penelope is Ulysses’s wife, she is described as beautiful and faithful, we can affirm that this last feature is true because her husband’s return for 20 years, despite having a large number of suitors. To those who cheat telling them that the day he finishes weaving will choose one, wearing at night what he weaves for the day.

Polyphemus is the son of Poseidon and a nymph, it is a cycle, so it is a giant creature with one eye. Inhabits the island of the cyclopes, where he lives in a cave like shepherd. It shows lacking great intelligence, because Ulises manages to blind and escape.

Poseidon is the god of the seas, son of Cronos and area. It is the main cause of Ulysses misfortunes, because this not only blinded his son, but used the figure of a horse to deceive the Trojans and win like this (the horses are creatures created by Poseidon, so they are one ofits symbols).

Telemachus is the son of Ulysses and Penelope, part in search of his father and when he returns he helps him end the suitors. You can see the evolution of Telemachus throughout the poem, because when he goes in search of his father he lacks courage, but at the time of carrying out revenge against the suitors, he demonstrates to be stronger and more brave.

Ulysses is the protagonist of the epic, son of Laertes and Anticleta, king of Ithaca and father of Telemaco. He is an ingenious person as he demonstrates throughout the work, he is also a good warrior and is faithful to his wife, because he rejects the offer of Calipso. His idea of the horse that makes the Achaeans win the war costs him expensive, because it causes the wrath of Poseidon, who a cake that this does not reach Ithaca.

Zeus is the supreme god of Olympus, father of gods and men. We can observe a varied attitude and opinion about Ulysses, because as soon. Does not adopt a clear position, as did athena and posidon.

As for personal opinion, I consider that it is a work of great literary and historical importance. The fact that he speaks and reflects the life of an ancient civilization as important as Greek seems of the utmost importance. The story itself has seemed entertaining and thrilling, the adventures of Ulysses through the Mediterranean, if it is true that the way in which this written is sometimes heavy, since it contains many and very extensive descriptions. However, I consider this very relevant fact, because thanks to those descriptions and clarifications we can know better the Greek world and its mythology. So, to me, I like Greek mythology, it seems to me an essential and recommended work for anyone, because it not only tells a good story, but has also influenced all Western literature.