Homer's "The Odyssey": An Overview

Paper Summary:

This paper relates that the plot of "The Odyssey" dealt with the question of the significance of a mortal life and the last half of the plot introduces the question of the significance of an anonymous human life. The author emphasizes that the scale and ambition of "The Odyssey" is astonishing because the absence of writing did not allow the Homeric poet any means of cross-checking his own references from other parts of the work; yet somehow, he constructed a work that ranges across all the known and unknown world. The paper stresses that Homer's use of narrative techniques, such as flashbacks, has never been seconded and his characters live and breathe to an extent rivaled only by those of Charles Dickens, Emily Bronte and Mark Twain.

Table of Contents
Introduction
The Plot Analysis
The Beauty of the Plot
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"The Odyssey is not a "novel". Had it been one, it would not be the "first novel in history", since it was predated by the Iliad, which was also not a novel. The Odyssey is a work of primary epic, such as Beowulf, Chanson de Roland and the Norse sagas. It was composed in the 8th Century B.C. before the written alphabet had been introduced in Greece. As these facts are grasped, the way is clear for a true appreciation of exactly why this writing has gone on to become the most influential work of literature in all human history."

More papers on Homer's "The Odyssey": An Overview:

• Poem Review # 127032 : "Homer's "The Odyssey"
• Essay # 86921 : "Homer's "Odyssey"
• Book Review # 74929 : "Aeschylus' "Agamemnon" and Homer's "Odyssey"

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