Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Was the character of Odysseus from the Odyssey killed in real life?

The Odysseus of Homer's Odyssey is a mythologized figure. Even if a real Odysseus existed in the time period Homer sings about in his epic poem, and even if the real Odysseus were the king of an island called Ithaca, there is very litttle evidence in the historic records to prove it. 


The Odyssey ends with happiness--Odysseus is finally home in Ithaca after twenty years, reunited with his wife Penelope and his son Telemachus. However, earlier in the epic, during Odysseus's trip to the underworld, he met the blind prophet Tireasis, who told him that he would die a "death from the sea." What this means is unknown. It could refer to an adventure out on sea again, or it could refer to the death described in the Telegony, because his son with Circe comes from the sea in order to find him. 

No comments:

Post a Comment

Discuss at least two characteristics of Romanticism in John Keat's poem "Ode toa Nightingale".

The poet in Ode To A Nightingale  is an escapist .He escapes through imagination .On his way the bower of the bliss wher the nightingale is ...