Ben Runchey May 9, 2012 Book 13 Journal Entry 5 Pay very close attention to the speech of Poseidon complaining of the success of Odysseus in Phaeacia (lines 165-170). What is the meaning of the transformation of the Phaeacian ship into stone? What is the meaning of Odysseus’ meeting with Athena upon his arrival to Ithaca? What does she advise? Poseidon turns the Phaeacian ship into stone to punish the Phaeacians for their obligations of assisting travelers and wayfarers.
As a reward, he was given the throne to the city, and married the widowed queen. Oedipus ruled as a good king, but a second plague, in the form of disease, has been brought upon the city. To end the people’s suffering, Oedipus consults the Delphic oracle, and it tells him to rid Thebes of the murderer of King Laios, the former king, by execution of banishment. In a search to find the true murderer, Oedipus discovers that he is not really the man that he has thought himself to be; he was not originally from Corinth, but from Thebes, he was not the child of Polybus and Merope, but of King Laios and Queen Iocaste. When a young man, Oedipus had heard a drunken man at a feast cry out that he was not the natural son of Polybus and Merope.
Aayush Verma Professor Denis COLI 11/5/2011 PALINURUS: AN UNJUSTIFIED HELSMAN I believe that the helmsman of Aeneas fleet has been wronged by being sacrificed to the gods for his fleet to reach safely to Italy. He was sacrificed to god Neptune when Venus, urges Neptune to safeguard Aeneas and his fleet to reach Italy safely, to which Neptune demands a sacrifice and sends the god of sleep (Somnus) to kill Palinurus. When they, set out from Carthage, there is storm and huge ways obstructing their course, so palinurus suggests that they set out for the nearest shore. This was an indication of a bad omen on the narrators part, as to something horrible was about to occur. As soon enough, after the storm had passed and the fleet had set cource for Sicily, the god of sleep goes to Palinurus and offers him to take rest off his duty , but Palinurus being a good Helmsman, refuses.
Romulus became the prominent figure of the beginnings of Roman history when he killed the tyrant Amulius, and with the help of his brother, Remus, allowed his grandfather Numitor to seize the throne of the ancient kingdom of Alba once again. Both brothers decided to build cities in the areas in which they had been raised as kinds. Livy says, “But at this point…developed and ugly fight” (Livy 1.3-5, pg. 10) which means that their family curse lead to an “ugly fight” and this was considered as being immoral because of the use of the word “ugly”. With this phrase, Livy foreshadows the events that followed this “ugly fight” between Romulus and Remus.
Accepting the fact that one day, we all must face our own death is part of being human. By seeking immortality Gilgamesh tries to escape the fact that he is human, in response he is society rejects him. The barmaid, Siduri, is scared of Gilgamesh when he first knocks on the tavern door. When Gilgamesh gets a hold of the plant that will give him his youth back, the serpent takes it away from him. Utnapishtim tells Gilgamesh to wash himself after at the end of his failed quest, he once again joins society.
He expatriated from his home and went to Thebes. To express his patriotism for the country he freed Thebes from the turmoil of the Sphinx by solving the riddle. After defeating the Sphinx she offered her hand in marriage. He received many congratulations and become there king; and avoided being repatriated back to his home. Before he became king he killed Laius, a patrician and the previous king of Thebes.
The Amduat was the sacred book of the Ancient Egyptians, which was reserved only for the Pharaohs. This book was based on the beliefs of the Egyptians that the deceased Pharaoh would undertake the dangerous journey in order to become reborn. United with the sun god, he travels in the boat of the sun from dusk to dawn. The main purpose of the Amduat is to give the names of gods and monsters to the spirit of the dead Pharaoh, so he can call upon them for help, or use their name to defeat
Poseidon and Odysseus are the most noticeable representatives of the theme of vengeance. In order to escape from the cave of the Cyclops (Polyphemus), Odysseus blinds the one-eyed giant (Book 9). Unfortunately, the Cyclops is the sea god Poseidon's son; Odysseus has engaged a formidable enemy. Poseidon can't kill Odysseus because the Fates have determined that he will make it home. However, the sea god can help to fulfill his son's wish that Odysseus should arrive in Ithaca late, broken, and alone, his shipmates lost, and his household in trash.
Cabrera, 1 Hannah Cabrera Block 4 Awp 9/21/11 Life Death is only the beginning. In “The Epic of Gilgamesh”, translated by Stephen Mitchell, the meaning of life is mainly death. Gilgamesh goes searching for eternal life and discovers something better the meaning of life, in “The Epic of Gilgamesh” the book portrays the meaning of life to be that death is inevitable. The thought that life can be restored after death leads Gilgamesh into the quest for everlasting life. For an example, when Gilgamesh’s friend Enkidu dies he is left broken hearted and thinks, “If my grief is violent enough perhaps he will come back to life” (Mitchell, 445).
If failed to do so, their spirit will not rest in peace properly and as said in the Odyssey: “[to have one’s soul] tempt the gods’ wrath” (Homer 49). As demonstrated in book 11 when Odysseus travels down to the land of the dead (following the instructions of Circes in book 10) he encounters his crew-mate Elpenor’s soul whose body lay unburied and unkempt still on the island of Aeolus. Speaking to Odysseus, Elpenor says “When you make sail and put these lodgings of dim Death behind, you will moor ship, I know, upon Aeaea Island; there, O my lord, remember me, I pray, do not abandon me unwept, unburied, to tempt the gods’ wrath, while you sail for home; but fire my corpse, and all the gear I had, and build a cairn for me above the breakers- an unknown sailor’s mark for men to come. Heap up the mound there, and implant upon it the oar I pulled in life with my companions.” (Homer 44-54). Here Homer has demonstrated that the soul of Elpenor is suffering and grieves very much, as its body lie without proper burial.