English Essay The Odyssey

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Throughout books eight and nine of Gareth Hinds’ graphical recreation of Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey, the panels of images and text reflect on many poetic devices and dialogues used to illustrate the story of Odysseus and his ten year journey to Ithaca from the Trojan War. Gareth Hinds not only perfectly demonstrates the extreme importance of hospitality to guests, but also shows the consequences that come with the belief that everyone shows generosity towards strangers.

There are many themes that tie between books eight and nine. Honour and grief is an example of two major themes not only in book eight, but The Odyssey itself. In The Odyssey, grieving and shedding tears was the proper way to honour the memories of fallen comrades or absent family and friends. Throughout the tales of Odysseus' journey, it is known for him to admonish his crew for sobbing in grief for their fear of death. As the blind bard, Demodocus sings about the tales of Odysseus and Achilles during the Trojan war, Odysseus’ tears give him away to king Alcinoos. Although Odysseus thought it would be wiser to keep his identity secret, he chose to honour his dead comrades and show grief.

Although Odysseus shows many masculine traits, his most prominent characteristic is his cunning. In book one, Mentes, one of Athena's many alias' compliments Odysseus' cunning, "Your father had no equal for cunning, and a few for strength or skill in battle". Odysseus' skill at improvising and devising plans was amazing and is incomparable to anyone in modern days. His two most known accounts of his cunning is during the Battle of Troy when Odysseus developed the idea of creating the Trojan horse to infiltrate the city of Troy, furthermore with Odysseus outwitting and outsmarting the Cyclops Polyphemus when being trapped in his cave with an unmoveable stone door blocking the exit.

Both of these examples ultimately relate to another theme also prominent within book 9 which is disguise. During the Trojan War, Odysseus and the soldiers disguised themselves inside the body of the Trojan Horse, allowing themselves to enter the city of Troy unnoticed. The second account is when Odysseus and his remaining men disguise themselves as rams by lashing them together in threes and holding onto them by digging into their wool on the rams stomach, allowing them to pass unobserved by the blinded Cyclops.

Books eight and nine show a large contrast in the colour palettes used. During Odysseus' stay at Phaeacia during book eight, the colours used in each image illustrate an atmosphere where everything is perfect. The clear, blue and sunny skies during the day, the olive green of the surrounding forests, the deep blue of the calm ocean, and the light reds, oranges and blues the citisens of Phaeacia wear.

From pages 96 to 104, the shades of red illustrated in the images metaphorically represent danger that is imminent to Odysseus and is crew whilst hiding in the Cyclopes' cave. Previous to Odysseus entering the giant's home, the colours outside and around the island give an emotion that there is no danger when approaching the island, which is what Odysseus and his crew thought before they docked at a nearby isle.

During books eight and nine, there are many language conventions used, however, the main two shown are metaphors and onomatopoeia. Examples of metaphors are shown throughout The Odyssey, but the most descriptive metaphors are in: page 91: "They attacked with a force so numerous, they were like the leaves in Autumn."
This analogy is expressing how forceful the enemies attacked the Greeks in hope they can seek revenge for them plundering their native land of Cicoones. The second case of a descriptive metaphor is on page 99: "...Then he drove his sheep outside and replaced the stone across the entrance as easily as a an might cap a quiver of arrows." In this metaphor, Odysseus explains the strength of the Cyclops when he moves the giant stone that blocks the entrance with one
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