Is Odysseus a True Epic Hero Essay Example

Is Odysseus a True Epic Hero? Essay How do you define a hero? Some may define a hero as someone with courage and bravery, someone who knows how to fight monsters and win historic battles, remain loyal to himself and or his or her men, or someone who has intelligence to overthrow an evil kingdom and make everything â€Å"right†. My definition of an epic hero is someone who can overcome passed mistakes and struggle to become a better person internally, while leading, staying loyal and sacrificing what needs to be sacrificed for the sake of his or her people. In the epic poem, The Odyssey, Odysseus, son of Laertes, is challenged to his true potential of being an epic hero. He is challenged to make decisions not only for his sake, but for his men’s sake. He was cursed to be lost out at sea by Poseidon, god of the sea, after the long Trojan War and travels for ten years on a dangerous journey to get back home to Ithaca. On Odysseus’ journey, he is challenged by the Cyclops, the giant with one eye, Circe, the goddess of witchery, the beautiful singing Sirens, Scylla, and more. They all challenge his true ambition of getting back home by temptation. Odysseus is easily tempted. With temptation being so easy, there’s no way this â€Å"epic hero† can really be classified as a true epic hero. Odysseus has strong focal points as well as weaknesses. He knows how to lead a big group of men, keep his composure and think of quick plans to help him and his men through obstacles, but Odysseus doesn’t know how to stay focused. He can easily be tempted to stay in one place on his journey for many years. We will write a custom essay sample on Is Odysseus a True Epic Hero? specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Is Odysseus a True Epic Hero? specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Is Odysseus a True Epic Hero? specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Even though he tries to get his ship load of men back home, he focuses on the obstacles that are happening at that time, he doesn’t think about the future until someone reminds him of their journey to get home. Odysseus reacts without thinking and that’s his major downfall. A true epic hero weighs out his or her options and thinks what would be best for his or her men. Odysseus on the other hand reacts to the obstacles at a quick pace, without thinking and analyzing the situation and doesn’t remain loyal to his men. Loyalty was very important back in The Odyssey’s time, because during the Trojan War, if you weren’t loyal to your men, you were to be killed. Odysseus knew he was returning home, but without the accompaniment of his men. They were all going to be killed, but Odysseus didn’t tell them, he just let fate take over and kept the death of all of his crewmen to himself. Not true epic hero quality. Being an epic hero does not mean you are the best and will forever hold the title as the best epic hero. Epic heroes make mistakes sometimes, but they learn from previous mistakes and learn lessons from them. Epic heroes remain loyal to their men no matter what the circumstance is. Only egotistical cowards withhold valuable information from their crewmates and make continuous mistakes. Odysseus’s character does not change from the beginning of the book to the end, which is a major reason why he is an egotistical coward. Epic heroes know they are epic heroes and their actions prove it. Odysseus is the king of Ithaca, but lacks the epic hero qualities like being loyal and learning from passed mistakes. These characteristics of Odysseus make him an epic failure.

Free Essays on Ligeia

A short story written by Edgar Allan Poe which fuses the themes of transcendence and lost love is "Ligeia,†. The narrator of this story meets and marries a woman of exquisite beautya woman named Ligeia. To the narrator, she is the perfect woman. She possesses classical beauty, expanded intellect, and spiritual purity. The narrator describes at length the strange attributes of this woman Ligeiaher raven-black hair; her low, musical voice; her ivory skin, lofty forehead; her delicate nose and radiant smile. However, Ligeia's most striking feature was the presence of her dark, large eyes, which the narrator is obsessed with. He seems to exert quite a bit of emotion when describing her eyes. By reading this story, you would realize that her eyes were the things that fascinated the narrator the most about Ligeia. The narrator describes his beautiful spouse almost like a ghost: "She came and departed as a shadow." He also thinks her beauty, more specifically her eyes, as a "! strange mystery." Her eyes make her seem unreal or superhuman because of her large "expressive" eyes that the narrator cannot explain except that they are "far larger than the ordinary eyes of our own race." Ligeia's unusual beauty represents a reoccurring theme throughout the story. The text portrays a rejection of the features that society would call "ordinary" beauty. One example of this is how Poe repeatedly points out how flaws in the classical appearance of Rowena, "the fair-haired, the blue-eyed," by comparing her to Ligeia whose "features were not of that regular mould which we have been falsely taught to worship in the classical labors of the heathen." Poe explains through the narrator how more exalted and meaningful Ligeia's beauty is specifically because she exhibits more natural features instead of the classical features. The rejection of the classical beauty and the welcoming of the unusual, mysterious beauty indicates Poe's bias towards Romanti... Free Essays on Ligeia Free Essays on Ligeia A short story written by Edgar Allan Poe which fuses the themes of transcendence and lost love is "Ligeia,†. The narrator of this story meets and marries a woman of exquisite beautya woman named Ligeia. To the narrator, she is the perfect woman. She possesses classical beauty, expanded intellect, and spiritual purity. The narrator describes at length the strange attributes of this woman Ligeiaher raven-black hair; her low, musical voice; her ivory skin, lofty forehead; her delicate nose and radiant smile. However, Ligeia's most striking feature was the presence of her dark, large eyes, which the narrator is obsessed with. He seems to exert quite a bit of emotion when describing her eyes. By reading this story, you would realize that her eyes were the things that fascinated the narrator the most about Ligeia. The narrator describes his beautiful spouse almost like a ghost: "She came and departed as a shadow." He also thinks her beauty, more specifically her eyes, as a "! strange mystery." Her eyes make her seem unreal or superhuman because of her large "expressive" eyes that the narrator cannot explain except that they are "far larger than the ordinary eyes of our own race." Ligeia's unusual beauty represents a reoccurring theme throughout the story. The text portrays a rejection of the features that society would call "ordinary" beauty. One example of this is how Poe repeatedly points out how flaws in the classical appearance of Rowena, "the fair-haired, the blue-eyed," by comparing her to Ligeia whose "features were not of that regular mould which we have been falsely taught to worship in the classical labors of the heathen." Poe explains through the narrator how more exalted and meaningful Ligeia's beauty is specifically because she exhibits more natural features instead of the classical features. The rejection of the classical beauty and the welcoming of the unusual, mysterious beauty indicates Poe's bias towards Romanti... Free Essays on Ligeia Two Portraits of women in Poe's tale Ligeia. Not only does Ligeia’s unusual beauty represents the main theme throughout the story, but the text reflects Poe’s rejecting the â€Å"ordinary†, a common theme in literature. The writter rejects classical values and welcomes supernatural through unusual, mysterious beauty. Ligeia was extremely beautiful, she knew a lot. A relationship with the narrator was a deep affection. He describes her very precisely as being afraid to omit any perfect feature: â€Å"I examined the contour of the lofty and pale forehead – it was faultless (†¦), the skin rivalling the purest ivory (†¦), the gentle prominence of the region above the temples†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ The speaker portrays his perfect spouse almost like a ghost : â€Å"She came and departed as a shadow. I was never made aware of her entrance into my closed study†. He also thinks her beauty, more specifically her eyes, as a â€Å"strange mystery†. The narrator sees a secret in his beloved eyes. Her eyes make her seem unreal because they are so â€Å"expresive† and the narrator cannot explain except that they â€Å"far larger than the ordinary eyes of our own race†. He even compares Ligeia’s eyes to the stars: â€Å"Those eyes! Those large, those shining, th! ose divine orbs! They became to me twin stars of Leda†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . The narrator is impressed by her voice also: â€Å"which at once so delighted and appalled me – by the almost magical melody, modulation, distinctness and placidity of her low voice.† At first it seems that the narrator is interested in Ligeia’s body only, because the largest part of her portrait consists of her physical appearance. But later it appears that the narrator is also impressed by her knowledge, she was the first woman met by him who was so intelligent. And in some spheres she knew even much more than her husband: â€Å"In the classical tongues was she deeply proficient and as far as my own acquin...

Beowulf as an Epic Hero in Burton Raffel’s Translation of the Story Beowulf

He continuously portrays features that no ordinary human being could acquire including eternal fame, extraordinary skill, and heroic courage. It is interesting to read about all his extraordinary hero qualities. In Anglo-Saxon culture, immortality was believed to be attainable through the gain of fame and glory by the act of doing noble deeds (HubPages). It was also possible by spreading one’s personal name throughout the land. In this epic, the concept is played quite well by the deeds Beowulf portrays as an epic hero; he not only saves the day, but spreads his name through the land. He introduces himself to Hrothgar, King of Danes, speaking of his bouts with five giants leading to his single handed removal of the giant race from the earth. He also leads to speak of fighting and defeating many sea monsters underwater at the deep depths of the darkest oceans (Beowulf 31). These deeds show the characteristics in Beowulf that many epic heroes seem to possess like defeating demonic, and god-like foes saving the day and in turn adding to the notoriety of the heroes name, aiding to their belief of immortality. Beowulf further pursues fame and glory by aiding Hrothgar in defeating the demon Grendel which has ran amuck in the kingdoms mead hall Herot and killed soldiers of the crown. By ripping Grendel’s arm, Beowulf ensures his fame as keeping it as a trophy and mounting it over Herot for all to observe. But an epic hero like Beowulf never is sated with fame so throughout his lifetime he continues to defy odds and accomplish heroic deeds spreading his name and giving him his sense of immortality. In order for an epic hero to be an epic hero he cannot just achieve high notoriety, he must have the skill to defeat the demons bent to kill all mankind. But not just a regular warriors skill can defeat a demon conceived by Satan and evil, the heroes skill must match that of the gods. A good depiction of Beowulf’s extraordinary skill is the moment when he first battles Grendel choosing to fight bare-handed in order to give the opponent a â€Å"fair fight† (Beowulf 31). This feat shows that Beowulf believes he has the skill to defeat the monster Grendel and shows a sort of chivalry among him by honoring his opponent’s condition. Beowulf also has skill in strength and speed, catching and nearly breaking back Grendel’s clawed fingers on his hand as he slashed to swoop and eat a light sleeping Beowulf; later leading to Beowulf ripping of Grendel’s arm (Beowulf 33). Afterwards revenge is sought by Beowulf after Grendel’s mother abducts and eats the kings trusted noble and friend Aeschere leading him to use his incredible skill to swim for hours underwater to her lair at the bottom depths of a dark lake resulting in her death by Beowulf adding to his fame. Beowulf as an epic hero needed courage in order to make skill useful and be able to gain more fame. Many courageous acts are done by Beowulf firstly with the simple act of battling a huge demon like Grendel without the use of neither weapons, nor armor for protection. Going without weapons shows the courage in Beowulf and the lack of fear even after removing the little help given to provide a fair fight for Grendel. Afterwards, Beowulf continues to display great courage by gaining revenge from Grendel’s mom and battling her under water while sea creatures watched (Beowulf 39). These examples of courage show that Beowulf is willing to battle and defeat any foe, no matter the cost in order to save the day. Epic heroes through time have had the same characteristics. These include the ability to bring exceptional skill to battle against many demons and evil doers. These traits combined with the courage of a man which fears nothing aides Beowulf in being able to defeat many of his foes throughout the tale. To Beowulf, hearing of Grendel terrorizing the mead hall is more of a blessing than a problem for it allowed Beowulf the opportunity to slay a creature and build his name through the land of Danes. Ending in epic victory, these qualities are expressed throughout the stories and even though made king, Beowulf never ceases to reach his goal of the world’s greatest fighter having unmatched fame through the land, skill of many men, and the courage greater than that of any man or creature ever to be found.

Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education Local plagiarisms Essay

Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education Local plagiarisms - Essay Example Therefore many institutions have laid out guidelines and rules concerning these vices, and even stipulated the penalties for anyone who does not comply. The issue of intertextuality is addressed, which involves the author borrowing and transforming a text or a reader referencing one text in reading another one. Transgressive intertextuality involves the breaching of acceptable borrowing practices. The interpretation of the concept of improper intertextuality varies from one lecturer to another, according to interviews conducted on lecturers from various disciplines. The reasons for this disparity include the unique expectations and practices of each discipline. The results of these interviews showed certain areas where students experienced problems in citing sources. These include poor paraphrasing, students’ identities as the authors, improper understanding of common knowledge, information contained in many sources such that it is difficult to pinpoint its source, and the uni que expectations and practices of each discipline. Therefore it is suggested that there should be a different definition of inappropriate intertextuality for each discipline in order to address various disciplinary perspectives. This paper seeks to evaluate how the problem of plagiarism and collusion is viewed and attempts to curb it in various academic institutions. The paper mainly focuses on the lecturer’s views about transgressive intertextuality in various disciplines like the humanities, history, languages, engineering, law and fashion. The paper has successfully tackled a number of issues. The lecturers’ responses mostly comprised of their own personal interpretations of intertextuality and the experiences that they had encountered while dealing with their students, therefore they were able to give a picture of the real situation that was taking place in the institutions. The paper also highlights the opinions about transgressive intertextuality in various disci plines; therefore the students can get to know what is expected of them in writing academic papers in their respective disciplines (Worton and Still 1991). Suggestions are also given on how to deal with transgressive intertextuality. The lecturers who were interviewed gave details about how they had punished the culprits and other steps that they had taken to reduce the misconduct. The study also highlights the future repercussions of indulging in plagiarism and collusion. Some of the interviewees expressed the feelings of anger and sympathy for those students who were practicing plagiarism because they felt that they were jeopardizing their careers. Cases of plagiarism can also lead to termination of grants. According to Maier (2011), plagiarism tarnishes the professional reputation of an individual and may make it hard to secure a job in the future because the prospective employers may view you as dishonest and lazy, and therefore not fit to work for them. The study also clarifies that it is not possible to treat the issue of transgressive intertextuality in the same manner across all disciplines because different disciplines have varying demands. For instance, a history student is expected to come up with an account from an existing text while a literature student tries to interpret and react to written works. Therefore any copying in literature is not tolerated while historians do not deal with it severely because they understand that students will always use other peoples work in writing

American International Group (AIG) Research Paper

American International Group (AIG) - Research Paper Example This essay discusses that the CEO Greenberg ensured that he networked with everyone including the different presidents in power and hence built himself a fortress of support and built himself and AIG immunity from questions and outside auditing which would have discovered the fraud and illegal business deals that were taking place in the company and which led to the massive expansion of the company and its ultimate downfall. The rest of the executives offered their full support of the illegal Credit Default Swap (CDS) project which even though it brought in a lot of money than any other department in the firm, its activities and ethics were questionable. The executives even prevented external audit firms from coming to audit them as they did not want their grand fraud and illegal scheme to be discovered by outsiders even though that eventually took place. If only the firm had an organizational culture that necessitated external auditing, then they would not have initiated the program in the first place hence saving themselves embarrassment and government the bailout money. A stronger ethics program would have prevented Greenberg from calling in favors to prevent the firm from being scrutinized and the uncovering of the truth. The corporate executives were dishonest and harbored business deals that were not illegal but unethical. They also jeopardized the lives of millions of Americans through the unethical deal with CDS as many people whose money was lost in one way or another would have suffered. Their unethical conduct also out at risk the jobs of all their employees some of whom even had no idea what really that financial department that dealt with CDS was all about or that it even existed and hence were caught in the spur of the moment at the discovery of the truth. If the executives were ethical and honest in the company, the bailout would not have been necessary. A stronger ethics program would have prevented even the illegal department officials to carry out these illegal deals. The corporate executives should be the ones to set a perfect example to their employees and not aid in turning them criminals if they had put in place a stronger ethics culture within the organization. 3. What could AIG have done differently to prevent its failure and subsequent bailout? AIG should never have set up that department and the CDS financial dealings in the first place. This would have prevented the whole meltdown as it was. Even after its creation, they would have allowed external auditors or even external scrutiny to be carried out which would have unveiled the problem as early as possible hence preventing the government from having to spend over $180 billion bailing it out and preventing it from being fully bankrupt hence preventing other businesses and individuals in America from the already bad economic recession of 2008. The employees who were aware of the deal should have refused to participate in an unethical deal and even taken the init iative and report the firm to securities and exchange if the corporate culture had taught them how to be ethical. 4. Provide your thoughts/opinion about the importance of Corporate Culture in the Business world? Corporate culture provides guidance to all the employees in an organization starting from the top executives to the downright bottom employee in the chain of command (Flamholtz and Yvonne 3). This therefore ensures that no unethical behavior goes unreported to the necessary authorities hence preventing an embarrassing situation later on. A business has many stakeholders and a good corporate culture helps to define the roles of each of these stakeholders

Women are portrayed as powerful Essay Example for Free

Women are portrayed as powerful Essay William Shakespeares play Macbeth is set Scotland in the eleventh century. The play is about the protagonist Macbeths, bloody rise to power, through the murder of the Scottish king, Duncan. Macbeths ambition is to become king. In the play there are both powerful, manipulative and unnatural women portrayed by the likes of Lady Macbeth and the witches and the not so powerful and more traditional portrayal of females such as we see in Lady McDuff. The witches are portrayed as having ultimate power over Macbeth and the way in which they make potions, mixtures and use magic which makes them quite unnatural as this is not something an ordinary human would do. Lady Macbeth is shown as the more dominant figure with lots of power and is manipulative and a unnatural character. However after the murder of King Duncan she is overwhelmed by the guilt and begins to lose power, and is less manipulative over Macbeth. Lady Macduff on the other hand is the complete opposite of Lady Macbeth and the witches and is portrayed as being a stereotypical women from the eleventh century. She has very little power and perceived as being a normal female of the time. At the beginning of the play Lady Macbeth is a strong, powerful and manipulative person and she is more controlling than her husband Macbeth. Generally in the eleventh century, males are more domineering and powerful over females but that was not the case in Macbeth. Lady Macbeth seems to have more power than Macbeth as she successfully changes Macbeths mind to kill king Duncan through her manipulation Look like th innocent flower but be the serpent under it. Lady Macbeth is very unnatural as she want to be filled with cruelty to go through with the deed. Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts! unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe, top-full of direst cruelty. Lady Macbeth receives a letter from Macbeth where he states he is having thoughts of killing Duncan but he does not say that he will. Lady Macbeth decides to take the matter into her own hands because she wants a better title for herself. She is stronger minded than Macbeth as she knows that although Macbeth is an ambitious person he is too noble to be able to go through with the deed himself. She manipulates his self-esteem by playing with his manliness and his bravery. However towards the end of the play and after the killing of King Duncan she is overwhelmed by guilt and losses all her power and Macbeth appears to be the more dominant character. She becomes more natural and less manipulative after her guilt catches up with her. Throughout the play the 3 witches are portrayed as having ultimate power and are very unnatural in the way they use magic and prophecy to control and manipulate characters such as Macbeth whom they control through addicting him through prediction of his future which he completely believes they have the power to do. At the beginning of the play the witches greet Macbeth as Thane of Glams, Thane of Cawdor and as King of Scotland. This prophecy leads Macbeth to genuinely think about being in control and having power. After Macbeth received the news that he was Thane of Cawdor he built a trust with the Witches as he now believes they were right about everything. Macbeth continued seeing the witches to see what his future will hold, speak, I charge you. The witches are portrayed as being unnatural and unhuman like as they make all different kinds of potions and eat unusual mixture. in the cauldron boil and bake; eye of newt and toe of frog. The Witches therefor are very powerful, in the way they control Macbeth and manipulate him in his desperation for power. They are also very unnatural and demonstrate unhuman like behaviours in the way they eat unnatural things. Lady Macduff is the complete opposite to Lady Macbeth and the witches and is portrayed as being a stereotypical women from the eleventh century. Lady Macduff has no power, is submissive and is portrayed as a natural female. Lady Macduff cares about her son and has maternal instinct, to leave his wife to leave his babies from whence himself does fly? She is protective of her son and is a traditional mother figure. Lady Macduff is loyal to Duncan and Scotland and cares about the welfare of the country. In a conversation with Ross Lady Macbeth says, His fight with madness. When our actions do not, out fears do make us traitors. She is so loyal to Scotland that she considers her own husband a traitor for leaving the country and believes that every traitor should be hanged. Everyone that does so is a traitor and must be hanged. Lady Macduff is the opposite to being powerful, manipulative and unnatural as she lets her husband take the lead and essentially needs him for living.

Michelangelos David :: Arts Paintings Art History

Michelangelo's David Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) was a Florentine Sculptor, painter, poet, and architect. Based in Florence he started out as painter at the age of thirteen, apprenticed to Domenico Ghirlandaio, the leading fresco wall painter in Florence. But eventually his ambitions led to sculpture. Michelangelo had an ideal based on the physical expressiveness of the male nude.[1] Michelangelo sculpted in a Naturalistic style, its main characteristic being the depiction of subjects in a realistic manner. His sculptures, like David, often depict the mastery of anatomy; this can be shown by the structure of every muscle and sinew in the sculptures. For David, Michelangelo had taken up the theme Donatello and Andrea del Verrocchio had used successfully in their David sculptures; Michelangelo’s version was from a political point of view.[2] David is the largest free standing marble statue since classical times. The narrative derived about this sculpture speaks of the shepherd boy who defeated the giant Goliath. Michelangelo has transformed David into an ancient hero of unrivaled grace and beauty. Interestingly David’s sling is barely visible which may tell us his strength is derived from his moral courage. The hands of David also are shown exceptionally large signifying a sense of power. David stood as a symbol of Florence’s supremacy. [3] David was constructed in 1501 but not completed until 1504, and towered over the people at the entrance to the Palazzo Vecchio. Now it stands at the Galleria dell’ Accademia, Florence. This sculpture was an influence to other sculptor’s of the Renaissance because of how Michelangelo pushed the boundaries and artistic ideals of his generation to their physical and stylistic extremes. David is a large sculpture, measuring 13’ 5† high, and is a sculpture of marble. Michelangelo’s sculptures were often larger than life.[4] --------------------------------------------------------------------- [1] Alison Cole.