Wednesday, April 9, 2014
The Real Couples of the Odyssey
By the time we encounter Odysseus in Books 5 and 6, we are introduced to several couples in the story: We meet Odysseus and Penelope, although they are apart; Odysseus and Calypso, although Odysseus is held against his will; Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, although not directly; Menelaus and Helen, and, potentially at least, Odysseus and Nausicaa. What is the significance of these couples? Do some of these couples show the ideal of love and marriage while others show flawed and problematic relationships? According to the story, what should you look for in a relationship and what should you avoid? Do you agree?
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In the Greece Bronze Age, relationships were a key component to lives because they portrayed your qualities as a human, carried on your legacy by creating children, and brought happiness. Saying this, there are things you should seek for and avoid in a relationship. Characteristics you should look for in a partner is that they love you for who you. If your wife or husband does not show compassion for you, then that could be a sense that he or she could possibly cheat on you with someone else. For example, in the story of Menelaus and Helen, Helen is perceived as very sneaky, later being caught by her husband Menelaus for cheating on him with another man. This relationship was not persistent and lead to arguments also leading to anger which is never right. In addition, the relationship between Odysseus and Penelope is very consistent. You can perceive from the story that Penelope really does love Odysseus and is not going to marry another man in the city until she knows that Odysseus is dead. A way to understand this is that she would weave a web and told the men when she was finished with the web she would pick someone to marry, but at night when everyone ventured off to sleep, she would unravel that web and start over the next morning. She did this constantly for the next three years until the men realized becoming greatly furious and upset, but she still loyal to her husband Odysseus, even though he could be dead. “She set up a great loom in the royal halls and she began to weave, and the weaving fine-spun, the yarns endless, and she would lead us on: ‘Young men, my suitors, now that King Odysseus is no more, go slowly, keen as you are to marry me, until I can finish off this web…” (Book II, Page 96, 100-109) This was an ideal marriage of that time because neither Odysseus nor Penelope was known for cheating and they stayed loyal. I would have to agree with the Bronze Age Greeks and The Odyssey with what is right and wrong in marriage. If you stay consistent with your partner, do not lie, love them, and do not cheat, that is the right marriage and you two are meant to be together forever.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the Odyssey, there are many relationships that represent love between two people. These couples show compassion and loyalty and the crave to be near one another. The main relationship is Odysseus and Penelope, in the beginning Odysseus is far from Penelope. Odysseus is living with calypso having the best sex, food and treatment but it’s the same thing every day. One day Odysseus is sitting out by the lake weeping to be home with Penelope and calypso sends him off. Odysseus is a smart man and he knows exactly what his future will come to and what either relationship means. At home Penelope will give him nothing except real love and the real connection of two people fate to be together. If he stays with calypso it is fake love just with all the benefits. He would rather have the feeling of something special and real then something that is repetitive with no feelings involved. Odysseus has a special connection with Penelope that brings out strong emotions. “The sweet lifetime was draining out of him, as he wept for a way home, since the nymph was no longer pleasing to him. By nights he would lie beside her, of necessity, in the hollow caverns, against his will, by one who was willing, but all the days he would sit upon the rocks, at the seaside, breaking his heart in tears and lamentation and sorrow as weeping tears he looked out over the barren water.” (5.152-158) Odysseus belongs with Penelope for which she is the one he longs for. Menelaus and Helen have just married off their children and have settled down their marriage themselves showing true compassion. While Agamemnon and Clytemnestra are not ideal because Clytemnestra is a two timer and a liar. The key to a relationship is finding the one that will long for you no matter how close or far you are and If they fit each other’s comfort.
ReplyDeleteIn the story of The Odyssey, there are multiple relationships that portray different concepts and styles of relating to each other. In the example of Odysseus and Penelope, they have a true connection and share love and deep commitment toward one another. Although Odysseus is trapped on an island with Calypso, another beautiful woman who has romantic interest in Odysseus, Odysseus still remains connected and devoted to Penelope despite the distance and time between them. Calypso values sex and uses manipulative seduction to obtain whatever she wants. For instance, Calypso and Odysseus are sexually involved every day and Odysseus is getting special treatments, such as better food and daily sexual activity. Although this might seem like a great life, Odysseus is still devoted to his true love, Penelope. Despite being satisfied physically, Odysseus is driven to get back to his real companion, Penelope. “Look at my wise Penelope. She falls far short of you, your beauty, stature. She is mortal after all and you, you never age or die . . . Nevertheless I long – I pine, all my days– to travel home and see the dawn of my return” (5.239 – 243). Like Odysseus, Penelope feels an undying connection and love for her spouse. At her home in Troy, Penelope is expressing her loyalty by putting off the suitors as long as possible as she hopes Odysseus will return home. The relationship between Agamemnon, the king of Argos, and Clytemnestra is very complicated because there is tension between them because he sacrificed their daughter. Clytemnestra is determined to kill him to seek revenge for his actions. Menelaus and Helen have a very different relationship that neither of these couples. Helen was unfaithful and had an affair with another man. This relationship is not satisfying because there are constant arguments and anger between the two.
ReplyDeleteIn the Odysseus we were introduced to several different couples. These couples outlined what you should be looking in for in a relationship. For example Odysseus’s and Penelope is what people should look for in a relationship. This relationship embodies the meaning of true love. It embodies the meaning of true love because even though Odysseus is gone for an extended period of time she still stays fateful. While Odysseus keeps trying to get home to her. While a relationship like Menelaus and Helen is something you don’t want. This is a relationship someone wouldn’t want because Helen is not fateful. When someone’s wife is not fateful it leads to a lot of mistrust in the relationship and can cause problems. For example Helen started the Trojan because she left her husband for the prince of Troy. Even when her husband was trying to get her to come home she tried to get his men killed because she thought that Troy was the stronger country and wanted to stay with them. This is why someone shouldn’t want a relationship like this because if someone with more power comes along, she will go with him.
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