Themes Of The Odyssey
Theme is defined in Perrine�s Literature as �� the controlling idea or the central insight of a piece of literature.� The theme is the unifying generalization about life stated or implied by the story. To get the theme of a poem, the reader must determine what the central purpose is: what view of life it supports or what insight into life it reveals. Sometimes the theme of a poem is explicitly stated somewhere in the poem, but in most cases the theme is just implied. Some readers often think that they understand they poem when actually they have misunderstood it. The readers understand the events, but not what the events mean or lead up to. One of the best approaches of discovering ...
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themes of hospitality, loyalty, vengeance, appearance vs. reality, and spiritual growth to one degree or another.
Having hospitality as a major theme in a literary work may seem odd to modern readers. In Homer's world, however, hospitality is essential. Fagles and Knox (p. 45) refer to hospitality as a dominant part of "the only code of moral conduct that obtains in the insecure world of The Odyssey."
Arriving strangers may be dangerous or harmless, and residents are wise to be prepared for trouble. Often, however, strangers are but wayfarers, probably in need of at least some kind of help. Similarly, the residents themselves � or their friends or kin � may, at some time, be wayfarers. Civilized people, therefore, make an investment in hospitality to demonstrate their quality as human beings and in hopes that their own people will be treated well when they travel. Furthermore, communications are very primitive in Homer's world, and strangers bring and receive news. It was ...
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Themes Of The Odyssey. (2011, April 30). Retrieved June 22, 2025, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Themes-Of-The-Odyssey/98659
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"Themes Of The Odyssey." Essayworld.com. April 30, 2011. Accessed June 22, 2025. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Themes-Of-The-Odyssey/98659.
"Themes Of The Odyssey." Essayworld.com. April 30, 2011. Accessed June 22, 2025. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Themes-Of-The-Odyssey/98659.
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