The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Samuel Coleridge’s poem, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” describes a lamenting story about a sailor who, for no good reason, shoots down an albatross that was following his ship while sailing. The sight of an albatross is a considered a good omen to sailors. When the Ancient Mariner shot it down, killed it, and therefore placing a curse upon the crew for his awful deed. The telling of this story could possibly be as a result of an opium-induced stupor, instead of a morality lesson. It is well known that Coleridge began a drug habit as a child and severely debilitated him later on in life ("Poetry Foundation").
Statement of Intent Homer’s epic poem, “The Odyssey” is irrefutably a story of an archetypical hero, Odysseus’, journey home. The poem begins ten years past the fall of Troy in Ithaca where a mass of aggressive suitors continue to pillage Odysseus’ resources and court his wife. Nevertheless with Telemachus’ departure from Ithaca and Odysseus release from Calypso’s island, Ogygia, the situation takes a turn for the better. Subsequent to fighting countless battles Odysseus finally lands in the safety of the Phaeacians’ island. Here, he recounts his adventures, including the occurrence involving Helios’ cattle in Trinacia.
Richard Rodriguez RN102 Due 12-19-2010 From “City Sacker” to “Great Hearted”: The Transformation of Odysseus The purpose of an ancient journey, especially that of an ancient hero, is to conduct the hero across difficult thresholds of transformation that demands change in the pattern of the hero’s life. In The Odyssey, the protagonist and hero, Odysseus is returning from a 10-year war in Troy and thus embarking on his own great journey. As Odysseus progresses along his journey he faces conflict externally, however the key conflict he faces is internally. He is struggling to find himself between two identities; the “godlike” hero and “city sacker” and the “long suffering” hero with a “great heart”. Early on it is Oddyseus’ warrior persona that prevails, but ultimately begins to recognize his limits.
Ones who died from these toxic gases were in a painful and miserable death. The ones that survived will never forget these images they saw and horrific experiences they had went through. Through Wilfred Owen’s imagery and Irony’s in his poem we can detect the tone, “Dulce et Decorum Est” is a horrific battle scene from World War I. The strong use of figurative language helps to interpret the real meaning of war. In the first line, "Bent double, like old beggars under sacks”, shows us that the troops are so tired that they look like old beggars, slouching from being so drowsy.
Jake was willing to serve his country, and paid for it dearly. Jake was mutilated by the war, and because of his injury rendered impotent. In this sense the world broke Jake, and took his life from him. For a lot of men, losing something like what Jake lost is seen as a fate worse than death. After Jake was wounded, and was lying bandaged up in The Sun Also Rises the colonel gave him a speech saying, “you, a foreigner, an Englishman… have given more than your life!” (Ernest Hemingway, pg.
In The Myth of Sisyphus -Sisyphus stole the gods secrets and he was punished for this action. It was said that realizing that he was close to death that he wanted to see how much his wife really loved him, and he was granted that but fell for the scene of life and wanted to stay there. “But when he had seen again the face of this world, enjoyed water and sun, warm stones and the sea, he no longer wanted to go back to the infernal darkness.” (Camus The Myth of Sisyphus). This is somewhat similar to the emotions
But he's remains stubborn in his quest. Untapishtam is no more encouraging than Siduri; he lectures Gilgamesh on impermanence, ending with, “the sleeping and the dead, how alike they are, they are like a painted death.” How fitting that he then challenges Gilgamesh to resist sleep for six nights? Had Gilgamesh succeeded, he would have gained immortality. But he fell asleep. Utnapishtam gives the stubborn king a second chance – he told him of an herb at the bottom of the sea.
The battle between gods is also apparent in the Odyssey when Zeus sends Hermes to rescue Odysseys from the island of Calypso. Poseidon, the god of the sea, see’s this happening and wrecks Odysseus’s ship by way of sending a nasty storm. The wanderings of Odysseus bring him across many weird, but quite interesting creatures and lands. In book IX, Odysseus and his men were swept to the land named Ismarus, which is the
Part 1. Explication “If We Must Die” by Claude McKay “If We Must Die” was written almost a century ago, and it wouldn’t be unnecessary to refer to the history of that time for better understanding because the author leaves us guessing about the past events. Before digging into the background, it’s good to mention that this poem makes an impression of a hero, a Greek hero - brave strong man who fought the enemy for truth and honor. Jamaican-American writer and poet Claude McKay created “If We Must Die” during the “Red Summer” of 1919, a period of intense racial violence against black people in the American society. McKay has immigrated to the US just few years before that, and was shocked by the racism, which gave him an inspiration for new poems.
“Dulce et Decorum Est” By Wilfred Owen Critical essay – Callum Kaczynski “Dulce et Decorum Est” is a truly inspiring poem written by Wilfred Owen. As a former soldier, Owen’s poetic exploration conveys the shocking reality of war, and his anger towards the destruction and devastation it causes. The physical state of the soldiers after war creates a pitiful sense of despair. “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks.” This simile shows that they may be seeking desperate help, rest, peace and shelter. At one point they were young, fit men, and now they are worn and weak.