Menelaos And Odysseus example essay topic

Comparison Between Tale of Proteus and Odysseus's Adventure to the Underworld "Now draw back from the pit, and hold your sharp sword away from me / so that I can drink of the blood and speak the truth to you" (Odyssey 11.95). This quote, taken from Teiresias as he is confronted by Odysseus' request to learn of his way home and the evils occurring in his palace, can very well be a climatic moment in the tale of the Underworld (Don Nardo 121). After Odysseus learns of the happenings in Ith ika and the fate the Gods have bestowed upon him, he is forever changed. This change is part of the metaphorical "death" Heros endure as a result of the wisdom and maturity they gain in Death and Rebirth Myths.

In Homer's The Odyssey there are two comparable tales that fall under this category, Tale of Proteus and Odysseus' Adventure to the Underworld. These two myths can easily be compared by analyzing the similarities and differences of essential characters, the use of sensory imaging to describe the settings and create a tone, and the metaphorical death and rebirth of the Hero as a result of his attained knowledge and experience. First, in order to have an accurate comparison between these two myths it is necessary to acknowledge the similarities and differences of catalytic characters. The first two characters are The Old Man of the Sea, Proteus and the prophet Teiresias. Proteus and Teirisias both enlighten Menelaos and Odysseus on how they will get home and the fate the Gods have for them. Although they both serve basically the same purpose, there is a difference in which they each deliver the information.

Proteus, because he is a God, wants to clearly indicate to distinction between him and Odysseus b being blunt and rude, he is proud and not as willing to give Odysseus information as the Prophet is to Menelaos. This is evident in the first words Proteus speaks to Odysseus, "Which of the gods now, son of Atreus, has been advising you / to capture me from ambush against my will. What do u want" (Odyssey 4.462). Teirisias has a very different attitude towards Odysseus, he does not belive he is greater in away way but instead is very willing to answer any of Odysseus' questions. The second pair of characters serve as "Guiding Goddesses", Eidothea and Circe. In Death and Rebirth Myths, the Hero is always told of a passage to another world or advised to speak to a god that holds a more respectable place in the divinity in order to learn what the Hero seeks for (Harris 121+), these two Goddesses serve this perouse.

In Tale of Proteus, Menelaos describes "Eidothea, daughter to Proteus, the Old Man of the Sea" as a kind soul who aided him when he was desperate and did not know how he could possibly get home; "for it was her heart that moved mostly / when she met me wondering by myself without my companions" (Odyssey 4.365). Eidothea advises Odysseus to seek her father, but in order to do so must know how to bind him. The Goddess is very willing to show Menelaos how to prove himself to her father as he asks her, "Show me the way to lie in wait for this devine ancient" (Odyssey 4.395). Circe also plays this vital roll in Odysseus' Adventure to the Underworld.

Before Odysseus leaves Circe's Isa lnd, the Goddess tells him, "first there is another journey you must accomplish / and reach the house of Hades and revered Persephone, / there to consult with the soul of Teiresias the Theban" (Odyssey 11.490). The distinction between the two roles these Goddesses play is first, Odysseus knew Circe for almost a year and she had probably known for some time that when he left he would first have to venture to the land of Hades. Menelaos situation was different, he was hopeless and was pitied by a Goddess. A second distinction is the amount and value of information each goddess provided. Circe gave Odysseus very valuable information regarding routes and "creatures" he should avoid, even after it was explained by the Prophet. She also told him of the sacrifices he had to make in order to invoke Teirisias.

On the other hand, Eidothea helped Menelaos in binding her father, but did not repeat or give them any more valuable information other than how to receive her fathers help. Another comparable and essential part to these myths is the sensory imaging used by Homer to describe and create the settings and tones of these two tales. In Tale of Proteus, the setting is a beach shore in the Egyptian Island of Pharos where Proteus is King (Sherwood 261) and the story begins to unravel "at the time when the sun has gone up to bestride the middle of Heaven (Odyssey 4.400). This image of the sun rising upon the middle of heaven contrast with the "uncanny atmosphere of darkness and distress" presented in the underworld (Luce 31). There are some descriptions in Tale of Proteus, however, that create a tone of darkness such as the apparition of Proteus described by Eidothea, "the Old Man of the Sea will come out of the water / under the bast of the West Wind, circled in a shudder of darkening water and when he comes out he will sleep, under hollow caverns (Odyssey 4.401), but in a whole, the beach setting is very similar to paradise. On the other hand, The underworld in not a desirable place to be, "it is a vague, shadowy place in habited by shadows.

Nothing is real there. The Ghosts' existence if it can be called that, is like a miserable dream (Hamilton 42-3). The grim shoreline of Oceanus where the Underworld is located (Sherwood 9), is described by Circe as a dark place"; you will find there a thickly wooded shore, and the groves of perso phone, / and tall black poplars growing, and the fruit-perishing willows; / then beach your ship on the shore of the deep-eddying Ocean / and yourself go forward into the moldering home of Hades" (Odyssey 11.509). This discription may indirectly imply the dark and dreary place that is the home of Hades, but Teiresias' opinion is first hand and very direct when he says, "how is it, unhappy man, you have left the sunlight and come here, to look on dead men, and this place without pleasure" (Odyssey 11.93). Finally, the most important factor to compare between these myths is the metaphorical death and rebirth both Heros endure as a result of the wisdom they gain. There is a great difference between the fate the Gods have planned for Menelaos and Odysseus, thus there is a greater impact or change on Odysseus when he learns of the hardships he still has to endure.

On the other hand, Menelaos' fate is "much easier to swallow". Although his fortune was not as bad as Odysseus', when Menelaos is aware he is obligated to journey back to Egypt and accomplish holy hecatombs in honor of the Gods, he says, "the inward heart in me was broken / because he [Proteus] ordered me to go back on the misty surface / of the water to Egypt again, a long way and a hard one" (Odyssey 4.482). Other than learning about their fates and of their way home, both either visualize or learn of the deaths of their comrades and family members. Once again, Odysseus has to deal with the death of his loved ones on a harder level than Menelaos, he witnesses their sufferings and interacts with them in the Underworld. Although Odysseus' experience with the death of his loved ones is harder, the knowledge of having their family and / or friends dead deeply changes both heroes forever. While they had been gone on their journeys to Troy, both did not know of the happenings at their households or if the Achians they had fought along side with had come back home.

When Menelaos asks Proteus if the Achians he and Nuestro left behind come back, Proteus answers, "why did u ask me that You should not learn it, nor know what my mind knows, and I think you will not be free of tears for long, once you have heard the whole story" (Odyssey 4.492). The inexplicable sorrow and emptiness Meneloas and Odysseus bear with due to the effects of the difficult journeys they learn they must continue to endure along with the deaths of their loved ones, causes them to lose their will to live and sink into hopelessness and de spare. A similar quote is repeated in both Books eleven and four that capture the sorrow and pain both Heros feel", So he spoke and the inward heart in me was broken, / and I sat down on the sand and cried, nor did the heart in me wish to go on living any longer nor to look on the sunlight" (Odyssey 4.538). These two heroes experience and over whelming amount of hardships, but because of their God-like qualities, they are able to pull themselves up from their depression and pain and become stronger beings, thus the metaphorical death-and-rebirth of the hero occurs. In The Odyssey, Because the two myths Tale of Proteus and Odysseus' Adventure to the Underworld are both Death and Rebirth Myths, they can easily be compared by analyzing similarities and differences in essential characters, the usage of sensory imaging to describe and create the settings and tones, and the metaphorical death and rebirth of the Hero as a result of their attained knowledge and experience. Although their are some differences in cabalistic character traits, setting and tone, the essence of these tales are the same.

Both Heros, Menelaos and Odysseus, through another adventure, prove themselves worthy of receiving wisdom and are forever changed by its affects, giving birth to a new Hero. Harris, John. "Proteus Surrenders: the life and death of death-and-rebirth". Renascence., vol. 49. (Winter 1997). p. 121-138. Hamilton, Edith.

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