Navigating the Odyssey: Exploring Place and Character in Homeric Epic
Loading...
Date
2022-10-04
Authors
Van De Laarschot, Kelsey
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
Homer’s Odyssey is a tale about many things: adventures, the importance of hospitality, returning home. However, it is ultimately a tale about place and all the ways in which it defines its inhabitants. Through the travels of Odysseus, we see how the entities Odysseus encounters and even himself are defined by their environments, resulting in each of their unique values, customs, and lifestyles. What we also see is how each of these lands and characters exist in contrast to the Greek world as exemplified by Ithaca, and in doing so, provide a map for the Greek imagination to explore its various fears and anxieties regarding the unknown beyond the Greek world. In this thesis, I shall endeavor to analyze how place creates identity, for Odysseus, as a Greek, as well as for the foreigner.
Description
Keywords
geography, Homeric epic, identity, Odyssey, place