The Odyssey :: essays research papers fc

When one ponders the classic mythology and literature, powerful images invariably come to mind. One relives the heroes struggles against innumerable odds, their battles against magical monsters, and the gods occasional intervention in mortal affairs. Yet, a common and often inseparable portion of a heroic epic is the heros source with an oracle or divinity. This prophecy is usually critical to the plot line, and to a fault to the well being of the main natures. Could Priam have survived in the Achaean camp out if not at the gods instruction (200-201)? Could the Argos have run the gauntlet of the Prowling Rocks if not for the gods advice of using a sacrificial bird (349). Moreover, prophecy can be negative as well as positive. Achilles was prophesied to die gloriously in battle if he chose his lifes way as a warrior. Oedipus was exiled and condemned by his own words, after he slew his sire and adopt his mother. This type of prophesy can blind even the gods themselves Chronos was fated to be defeated and his throne stolen by his son. Demeter loses Persephone periodically every year because her girlfriend ate Hades pomegranates. Prophecy plays an important role in the all in all of Greek folklore. Something this ever-present bears further examination. In The Odyssey, prophecy in its unnumerable forms affects nearly every aspect of the epic. Prophecies ar seen in the forms of omens, signs, strict vaticination of the future, divine condemnation, and divine instruction. Though conceptually these forms are hard to distinguish, they are clearly separate in the Odyssey. Moreover, prophecies can be interpreted not only on the "plot device" level, but also on the level of characterization. Whether a character accepts or denies the gods prophecies tells the reader something about the character himself. Omens are brief prophecies intimately connected to the action at hand, which moldiness be interpreted in terms of that action. Halitherses comments on the eagle combat after Telemakhos condemns the suitors (463-464) he correctly interests it to mean that if the suitors keep feeding away Odysseuss possessions they will be destroyed. Yet the suitors ignore the omen, inviting their eventual destruction. This imperative treatment of a divine omen is a justification for their deaths. When genus Penelope says if Odysseus had returned he would, with his son, surely slay the suitors, Telemakhos let loose a cracking sneeze (429). This omen reinforces the previous one, and simultaneously prepares the reader for the carnage to follow.