Analysis of Calypso

In the Odyssey, Calypso's main goal and purpose is wanting Odysseus. She keeps him on an island away from the rest of the world, and he suffers greatly, as he misses his family. She shows how great a man he is, because such a beautiful goddess would want a mortal. Also, she shows his virtuousness as he is not happy with a beautiful goddess, but instead wants to return to his wife and son. He misses them and is not thrown off by Calypso, so is seen as faithful, even though he shares her bed, as "she compelled him too". He is easily forgiven of this to show his sadness over his loss of family.

Analysis of Circe

In the Odyssey, Circe mainly represents giving into temptation. For a hole year, Odysseus and his men stay on the island of Aeaea, and live in luxury. Odysseus easily permits their respite, even though his wife is waiting for him. The crew is less happy, as they have went through the humiliation of being turned into pigs, and they get no benefits comparable to Odysseus's (the love of Circe). Odysseus has a lapse of will and strength in this section that is evident as he does not wish to even leave Aeaea until his crew cajoles him into leaving. As he has been steadfast in his valor and hard work, this shows a time to relax without duties. Homer is probably then trying to differentiate between Odysseus and a god, as Odysseus is so often compared with gods and immortals, but is still a mortal. This section clearly shows his fallibility.

Analysis of The Cyclops

As a minor part in the Odyssey, the cyclops is mainly a foil to Odysseus's cunning and trickery. When he traps them in his cave, Odysseus quickly thinks up a plan and executes it brilliantly. From first getting the Cyclops drunk on wine, then telling him his name is Nobody, then blinding him. He is then able to escape and avoid being attacked by other Cyclopes, but also carries away sheep with him. Polyphemus is portrayed as simple and easily tricked, because of Odysseus's cunning. This also sets up a foil, but weighs the two for their merit: being deceitful, intelligent, and dishonest, or being ignorant, kind and somewhat tenderhearted. It it first appears that the Cyclops is far from "tenderhearted", but once he is blinded, we see his relationship with his sheep, and how much he loves them, his dejected prayer to his father, and all this casts him in a sympathetic light. Odysseus has however been criticized for his trickery as it is lying and deceitful oftentimes.

Analysis of the Suitors

At the beginning of the epic, we see the suitors as one faceted characters all exhibiting a single trait: rudeness. They steal, drink and fight, all at the expense of Telemachus. They have no compassion, and no intelligence either, as they do not wish to reason or even listen to Telemachus when he tells them to leave. As Telemachus is gone, they turn worse and plan to kill him by ambush. They remain as one group and have the same traits. But when Odysseus returns, they change their whole image. Amphinomus exemplifies this, as he is kind to Odysseus, even dressed as a beggar. Homer is showing a compassionate side to the suitors, making it all the more difficult for Odysseus to kill them all later. This is really talking about the human condition, as it is easy for the reader to be frustrated by the suitors early on, and even maybe support their deaths, but as we see flaws and good character, that becomes harder and harder to support, and shows that the more human someone is, the more people sympathize with them.

Analysis of the Gods

The gods of the Odyssey are no doubt powerful, but as individuals they differ in their uses of their power. Athena is most proactive about helping mortals, namely Odysseus and Telemachus, but she can only do it with the will of her father, Zeus. This shows the hierarchy the gods have as a society. And not only does Athena help them, she does it simply because she wants too. She takes the task upon herself and leads them to success. It is also important to note that the mortals hardly ever succeed without the help of the gods. Odysseus needs Athena and Hermes's help to escape Calypso's island, and also needs the help of Hermes again to outsmart the goddess Circe. When Odysseus almost drowns at sea, Ino gives him a veil that protects him from the wrath of Poseidon. This suggests an extremely intertwined relationship between mortals and gods. It is almost taken as common knowledge that humans cannot do things without the help and bidding of the gods, as seen when Odysseus defeats the suitors of Penelope at the end of the epic, because Athena gives him the strength and helps him to do it. It is as if he could not do it on his own.

Segue Into Analysis

After collecting much raw data, I feel my time would be wasted not analyzing it. TO truly understand the cultures, I will make an analysis of my findings. Off I go!

Calypso's Genealogy

Calypso's father was Atlas, the titan who was punished into holding up either Uranus or Earth, depending on the story, for siding with the Titans in the Titanomachy, or the great war between the Olympians and the Titans. Her mother is Tethys, the Titaness of the water. She was also the mother of the main rivers known to the Greeks, like the Nile, the Maender, and the Alpheus.