Elements of an Epic "The Odyssey"
Hunter Patterson
Plot centers around the Unbelievable Hero
The hero in Homer's "The Odyssey" is Odysseus. He achieves many great accomplishments throughout this story with his strength and his wisdom, also during the story the god Poseidon is summoned to make Odysseus have a long and hard journey home.
Deeds of Superhuman Strength and Valor
Many times throughout "The Odyssey" Odysseus displays his strength, such as when he takes the cyclops's one eye away by ramming a log into it's eye while sleeping. Also throughout the story Odysseus displays valor, such as when he and his shipmates sailed through the "Sirens" territory. The "Sirens" are creatures disguised as women who call and compliment the person who is around to trap them and eventually kill them. Odysseus displays valor by having his mates tie him to the main sail and no matter what to not untie him when they pass the sirens. The mates also take precaution to not fall for the trap by putting beeswax into their ears so they cannot hear them.
Vast Setting
There are several different places where events occur throughout "The Odyssey". A few of these are; inside cave at Cyclopia, the Ocean, and the "Land of the Dead."
Supernatural Forces
While Odysseus was escaping Cyclopia he "added fuel to the fire" by telling the cyclops blinded his name and where he was from, and from doing this the cyclops prayed to the god Poseidon to either kill him or give him a long and hard road home, which ends up taking Odysseus twelve years to get home.
Sustained Elevation of Style
There are many examples of a sustained elevation, but there is one I like in particular, "I drew it from the coals and my four fellows gave me a hand, lugging it near the Cyclops as more than natural force nerved them; straight forward they sprinted, lifted it, and rammed it deep in his crater eye, and leaned on it turning it as a shipwright turns a drill in planking, having men below to swing the two-handled strap that spins it in the groove."
Poet is Objective and Omniscient
In Homer's book "The Odyssey" he presents Odysseus as the narrator telling a story of his past, that goes all the way to his current situation, as though he had to provide the reader with his backstory.
Works Cited
"Six Elements Of The Epic." Sis Elements Of The Epic. N.p,n.d Web 07 Dec. 2015
"Writeworld." WRITEWORLD. Web. 12 Dec. 2015
Homer. "The Odyssey." Prentice Hall Literature. Upper Saddle River: Pearson, 2013. 1089- 1114.