- Published: October 2, 2022
- Updated: October 2, 2022
- University / College: University of Leeds
- Level: Masters
- Language: English
- Downloads: 48
Peer reviews on prewriting work for the odyssey WORKSHEET FOR PREWRITING PEER REVIEW REVIEWER________________________________ MATE_______________________________
by Johnni Arnold
The style of writing I have chosen was free writing under the theme of tragedy portrayed in The Odyssey by Homer. What elements of the adventures caused death and pain or suffering for the main character; the mass homicide of the crews being eaten by the Cyclops?
The main character Ulysses together with his team constantly found themselves in many instances of mysterious adventures that inflicted great sufferings, pain and death to some members of the crew. They prevalent Greek wars, attacks by Cyclops and punishment by the gods led to the death and distress of many members of the crew.
Why would perilous adventures that cause sorrow be constantly pursued?
Heroism among the members of the Greek society and self interests among individuals such as Ulysses enhanced their pursuit for recognition. This led made the society warriors’ continually found themselves in dangerous pursuit that constantly led to their distress.
Do these adventures mean for a sense of pride that many men would risk their lives?
Being a societal hero made one become an icon of fame in the entire Greek society. For many warriors’, this was a risk worth taking due the greatness and pride that came with its eventual accomplishment.
Does Homer use the constant death of the crew as a way to keep the tragic sense of the Odyssey continuing and keeping the audience interested in the long poem?
I suppose that the author of the poem, the odyssey, creatively enhance the main themes of the poem using the effective use of tragic instances. This continuously makes the reader cling to the poem as he or she wants to know what would happen next.
I believe that the main theme is to convict intense sorrow and uphold the theme of tragedy to draw upon the audience, wanting to hear more of the strange and perilous journey that Ulysses endured to and from Troy and his issues with his men. Is there perhaps another reason behind it?
Another reason behind the intense use of tragedy, sorrows and strife by the author is to perhaps sustain the other major themes emanating from the poem such as infidelity and trickery. As Ulysses is in pursuit for greatness, he is continually worried that her wife might be unfaithful to her back at home. At the same time, her wife is in constant sorrows as a result of her husband’s prolonged absence. Ulysses trickery enhances tragedy when he found himself in conflict with Palamedes after tricking him during the recruitment process. This is further enhanced when he revenged the grudge between him and Palamedes.
References
Homer.(800 B. C). The Odyssey. Retrieved from: http://classics. mit. edu/Homer/odyssey. 10. x. html