Common Theme Digital Poster
Works we have read throughout the course.
How is strength demonstrated in the literature works from this course?
Examples of how strength is considered a common theme in "The Odyssey".
1. Odysseus has a strong build. He has many muscles. He is even described in the story as, "His build is impressive enough, his thighs and calves, his arms and stout neck. This man is strong!"
2. Odysseus also shows his strength when he defeats the different monsters that he is faced with on his journey. One monster in particular that he defeated with his strength was the Cyclops. "My men lifted up the sharp point right into his eye, while I, putting my weight behind it, spun it around the way a man bores a ship's beam with a drill." He used his strength in muscles to blind the Cyclops so not only he could escape, but also his men.
3. Another way that Odysseus shows strength is with his mind. He's very intelligent, and doesn't let the pain and suffering of wanting to be home destroy him. He stays strong, ad continues to fight his way home. "Of the cunning hero, the wanderer, blown off course time and again after he plundered Troy's sacred heights. Of all the cities he saw, the minds he grasped, the suffering deep in his heart at sea as he struggled to survive and bring his men home but could not save them, hard as he tried." This goes to show how his mind stayed strong throughout all of his hardships.
Odysseus shows his phyical strength.
Odysseus and his men challenge the Cyclops.
Odysseus showed strength for his men.
Examples of how strength is considered a common theme in the "Book of Job."
1. In the "Book of Job", Job is just an average mortal. He has no super powers, and he's not part god. Job chooses to live his life by God. He does no wrong, and obeys God to the fullest. God claims that Job is a blameless and upright man. Satan tries to convince God that Job isn't as loyal as God thinks. Satan then begins to punish Job to try and get him to curse God and turn on him. Job wouldn't do it. He had more strength in his mind and heart, and held on to his strength. He lost that strength one time. "Annul the day I was born and the night that said 'A man is conceived.' That day, let it be darkness. Let God above not seek it out nor brightness shine upon it." He only cursed the day he was born. The strength he had to stay faithful to God is remarkable!
2. Job had three friends named Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. The three friends came to Job's side when Satan was punishing him. They tried to get Job to curse God so that the suffering would stop. Job refuses too. "My whole being loathes my life. Let me give vent to my lament. Let me speak when my being is bitter. I shall say to God: Do not convict me. Inform me why You accuse me." He never cursed God. He only cursed himself, and blamed himself for the reason why he was being punished. Even after he had his three friends pressuring him, and all the while in pain, he remained strong and true to his belief in God.
3. Another time that Job showed his inner strength was at the end of the story. His friends were trying to persuade him to curse God, and he stayed strong and didn't. Instead of his friends supporting him to do the right thing, and what he believed in, they did the opposite. Job could have been mad at them for them not supporting him. Instead Job asks God to forgive his friends and prayed for them. "Job My servant will pray on your behalf. To him only I shall show favor, not to do a vile thing to you, for you have not spoken rightly of Me as did my servant Job." Job had enough strength for not just himself, but also his friends.