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Pages:
2 pages/≈550 words
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Style:
MLA
Subject:
Literature & Language
Type:
Essay
Language:
English (U.S.)
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MS Word
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Total cost:
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Topic:

Odysseus as a Boy and His Experiences and Characters

Essay Instructions:

This project is divided into two parts:
First Part (at least 275 words):
Prompt: His old nurse, Eurycleia, recognizes Odysseus (19:443-538) when bathing him with a distinctive scar on his leg. How did Odysseus get the scar? What was Odysseus like as a boy? Has Odysseus changed much since boyhood? What about you? Have you also experienced a similar rite of passage from innocence to experience? As you have made the journey into adulthood, have you changed? If so, how? If not, why not?
Second Part (at least 275 words)
Prompt: Here, at the peak of the story’s climax, take a final look at the character of Odysseus. Thus far, we’ve analyzed him by examining his character traits and inferring his motivations. Now let’s narrow our study of him to his archetypal role of an epic hero. List and explain Odysseus’ exemplary qualities. How do they benefit him? What are his less admirable characteristics, and how do these qualities cause him harm? And you? How do you stack up as the hero of your own life? What are your exemplary qualities? Do you have any characteristics that seem somewhat less than heroic? Odysseus was on a journey homeward. What is the nature of your quest?
Reading Book: The Odyssey translated by Robert Fagles, Books 19, 20, 21, 22

Essay Sample Content Preview:
Student’s Name
Course
Professor
Date
Odyssey 19-22
First Part
When Eurycleia recognized Odysseus, it was because she recognized the scar he had since he was a child. Odysseus got the scar on his leg when he was young, during hunting when was impaled on a boar’s tusk when he was hunting with his grandfather, Autolycus (Homer 21.245-247). As a boy, Odysseus was athletic and thrill-seeking. He liked going on adventures and hunting trips, and in his spare time, he also enjoyed practicing archery. It was in Odysseus’ very nature to don the usual characteristics of a mythical hero, and his traits since he was a boy only flourished when he went into adulthood, and even through his journey. He became more proficient in his skills and he was more adventurous than ever, even if he got injured for it.
As I child, I have always liked to get lost into the alternate worlds provided by books. As I grew up, I got to experience having more access to different kinds of books that opened my mind to many more possibilities. I was able to go from reading books such as Harry Potter and Percy Jackson to reading more “serious” books like the original versions of the classics, as well as other more cerebral books. I also found that rereading books that we were made to read back when we were in middle school or high school to be more enlightening. As adults, we gain more experiences that opens our minds to different perspectives. For example, as a younger me, I have read George Orwell’s Animal Farm. I remember enjoying it, even though it had peculiar qualities that children don’t often understand. Re-reading the book when I matured opened my eyes to the actual message of the book, as well as the various perspectives of other people who read through and picked on and analyzed the book. I think this is a good indication that like Odysseus, I still retained my childhood passions, but as I matured, I was able to make something more out of it, because now, reading is not only for entertainment for me, but also a way to amass knowledge that I can apply in my life in many ways.
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