Author: Lucas

Response to “The Odyssey”

What did you enjoy the most about The Odyssey, and why?

What I enjoyed most while reading “The Odyssey” would have to be the adventures that Odysseus had to go through, building his character and shaping my opinion of him. From the end of the trojan war through meeting shockingly beautiful women on deserted and not so deserted Islands. Resisting terrible urges to ask for help in returning back home and taking his rightful place as king. I was able to see his strengths, not just physically but also mentally resisting temptations, sometimes more than other times, however, always returning to the not so simple goal of returning home. Yet, he wasn’t always this strong. There had been moments where he had almost crumbled but managed to get back up.

What did you enjoy the least about The Odyssey, and why?

The least enjoyable part was probably the book itself. This may sound confusing, but what I’m implying is that it was not very interesting to read as it was hard to keep track of events. Throughout reading often I would have to restart the chapter completely as I noticed that what I had read and comprehended made no apparent sense and that I would not be able to understand unless I attempted it again. Although the writing was not difficult to understand, the structuring in itself most definitely was.

What surprised you the most about The Odyssey?

The most surprising thing to me was the relationships between the gods and ordinary human beings/mortals. Not only did the gods interfere when they saw necessary for the greater good, but they were personally invested. The Gods showed compassion, hatred, and support. Two great examples are Athena and Poseidon. Athena put in a lot of effort to support Odysseus’ son in an attempt to find Odysseus and for him to regain control of his home. Poseidon, on the other hand, did not want to help anyone. He was mad at Odysseus and attempted multiple times to end his life, presumingly only for personal gain.

 

Pastiches

Passage 1:
At a specific time, he found out that the pasture from his field had grown; it was like the field was filled with needles; the kid would play with all of his brothers; Alexander, Brandon, Lukas, Andrew, Coen, Silin, Michael, all the children of his father, who were playing and running, and that the sunny, and puffy sky allowed the soccer games to go on. A lake surrounded the field,

Passage 2:
A joyful kid, all in black and the air filled with mist, with long hair all across his head. A kid who plays all day, kicks the ball, helps dad stack hay, and at night he would pray; a kid who ran, stack, cheered, and sometimes jeered; whose eyes sparkled every time he saw a ball as he played in the field running with the wind.

Antigone, Personal Response

Antigone, one part of the three Theban plays, is a fascinating read to me personally. However, there seems to be a protagonist and an antagonist, neither belonging to the evil or wrong side. Both Antigone and Creon had their own beliefs, Antigone saying that all people deserve a burial and Creon believing that honoring a traitor’s death is a sin.

This raises the question if either Antigone or Creon is the protagonist throughout the play, who is the actual main character? Although they seem to have a large part to say during the story’s duration, it becomes clear that the narrative is shaped around Antigone, not Creon. Creon had set the lay line for Antigone to make her appearance and gather attention by only doing what she believes to be correct. Although Antigone is not the one in power, she is able to voice her opinion at all times and does as she pleases without facing any consequences by Creon, who is supposed to behead her for her crimes. In tragedy, however, Antigone causes another tremendous plot twist as she hangs herself on a rope, which leads to the change of the entire play and shows that the story evolved around her. With Antigone’s death, the story had reached a slow ending as she was the reason why Creon’s son then killed himself. Which in return then led to the decimation of Creon’s wife as the misfortune had dragged her along.

Oedipus the king personal response

While reading through Oedipus the king, the plot slowly began unfolding itself. In the beginning, nothing seems to be clear even though the story had already been told in the first pages. This was quite interesting as the author made it possible to not let you off the hook. It was somewhat confusing as the plot jumped certain parts of the story without informing the readers in any way yet was able to connect the setting and tone back into the storyline. This was also done by portraying Oedipus’s feelings as his emotions and literary choices seemed very fitting to the scene, with him carrying the reader’s mood. This put all the attention on Oedipus’s choices bringing up a lot of stress-causing his confusion to lead to aggression. Which makes me wonder if Oedipus now stops all together believing his choices are already set in stone and therefore, we all have no saying in our life’s future? This even we don’t know centuries later as science has evolved. Is Oedipus to blame or is he just a pawn chosen to be unlucky even if undeserving?

 

Summer Reading of Abraham and Isaac

God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac and to go to the region of Moriah. This was a test of his faith, but Abraham doesn’t know that yet. The next day Abraham takes Isaac and his materials to leave for Moriah with his servants. On the way to Moriah, Issa asks Abraham where he is going to get the animal. He responds and says God will provide the animal. As Isaac raises his knife to Isaac, angels approach him and stop Abraham from hurting Isaac. Then he provides a substitute animal as the sacrifice.