Essay on Iliad and Odyssey: Exploring Human Struggles in Epic Poetry

Introduction

Iliad is a book that is true in whatever it says concerning the state of being human beings and living in this world which makes it different from most other types of literature that people are used to reading. It tells the story of how Greek struggles to save a queen from her captors. Odyssey is a poem that depicts the struggles that are faced in the journey in war and rebuilding of an empire that is ruled by a queen. Both of these narratives show the material world to be experienced by certain characters who perceive it as something which contributes to the fiction displayed using moods and feelings that they are shown to display.

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Material Objects in The Odyssey and The Iliad

A range of material objects are displayed in the Odyssey and the Iliad and they help keep the past alive. The monuments are the first material objects that preserve the tomb memories with the material culture being considered as elements which make the characters in the poems to conduct the roles they are assigned instead of something that is studied in a certain right (Homer, 2015). The material culture plays a major role in the social life of the characters with the main characters using and manipulating material objects to create meanings and images of the world that surrounds them as well as images of themselves. A bow is introduced at the beginning of Odyssey and this object acts as an instrument that depicts the start of the war where the character Odysseus relates his life with the bow, the arrows, and the quiver.

Exchange and Value of Material Objects

Material objects are exchanged in ceremonies of giving gifts where Menelaos presents a krater to Telemakhos and this material gift is shown from the previous owners and the current owner as well as the life cycle it went through in making it. The feeling that is shown in this passage is brought out where the character that owns the object has to decide on either keeping the object or giving it away and telling the story of how it was made and who owned it (Homer, 2015). The characters in this passage of Odyssey feel the value of the object from the circulation of information they get from the current owner with the social functions of such objects being different. The transfer of the material object from one character to another brings out a feeling of prestige which enhances the owner's status. When an individual owns such an object, it shows that such a character is incorporated into the biography of that object making them feel a great connection to the preservation of posterity they are destined for. Through the use of such material objects, the physical contact of the past of the object lived in the characters and subjected them to change, the decay of morality or certain losses.

Material Objects and Cultural Landscapes

Material objects that cannot be moved are also displayed here and they are used to show the cultural landscapes that help to build the environment as well as a wider setting that is followed by a life story of the characters. A description of the city and the countryside show passages that comprise of stories which depict the colonial settlements (Rutherford, 2019). Such objects are also early testimonies of interests in the origin of certain things that lead to changes in the moods of several characters in the poems. Mounds are also brought out to be located in the plains that lead to the city and such mounds play a major role in the military and political affairs of the royal family. Material objects serve the purpose of structuring the social lives of the characters in the passages of both the Odyssey and the Iliad. They shape the identities of the characters and analyze the notion of the biographies of the artifacts providing certain insights into the lives of all characters.

In the Iliad, the goods which bring out the past stories are shown to have special features such as the boar tusk helmet that belongs to Meriones as well as the golden cups of Nestor and Diomedes. The way that the tusk helmet is brought out depicts how the characters behave where they take part in theft, inheritances, and gifts (Rutherford, 2019). The material object of the cup and how Nestor is able to lift shows the character to use this precious object in the storing of biography and reflection of commemoration. The heroes in the different passages use everyday goods to show their relationship between the future and the past. Nestor is the only character that is able to lift the cup and this item shows the superiority he has which he acquired from a past generation which was stronger than all others.

Material Objects in The Iliad and The Odyssey

The traditions which are fixed in the material objects in both the Iliad and the Odyssey reminds people of the heritage crusade that exists right now. These objects have helped the characters to understand their own heritage and value the objects have (Hunter, 2018). The environment that surrounds the characters in the Iliad is shown to be in the form of material objects such as the wine-dark sea and the rosy-fingered dawn. A war is happening but the characters come up with a contrast of the brutality that comes along with war with the physical world being brought out using objects such as the Greeks tents, strips of sand, the black ships they possessed and the Troy rooms. Just like in Odyssey, Iliad takes time to make a reflection of the past that the characters have and the futures that they are most likely to have or will get deprived of.

The abduction of the queen Helen marks the beginning of the war where she is seen weaving material objects in form of pictures which create a somber mood due to the fact that these soldiers died protecting her life and their futures were destroyed. The images that are brought out during the time of the war show that the Trojans as not similar groups with the heroes or the queen's people (Hunter, 2018). The material objects in war and the images portrayed show the men who are in the armies fighting in solidarity which is expressed using images, shields that form a wall and lines of spears.

Conclusion

Images and material objects have been used in the displaying of different thoughts, pasts, futures and moods in the Odyssey and the Iliad which are narrative poems that show how an army of soldiers fought to save their queen from people who had captured her. Both of these narratives show the material world as one that is experienced by several characters who perceive it to contribute to the fiction displayed in the future and the past. The material culture plays are important in the social lives of the characters where the main characters use and manipulate material objects to create meanings and images of the world that surrounds them. The use of such material objects shows the physical contact of the past of the object that is available in the characters which subjected them to change, or decay of morality.

References

Homer, H. (2015). The Odyssey. Xist Publishing. Retrieved from https://ryanfb.github.io/loebolus-data/L104.pdf

Hunter, R. (2018). The Measure of Homer: The Ancient Reception of the Iliad and the Odyssey. Cambridge University Press.

Rutherford, R. B. (Ed.). (2019). Homer: Iliad. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from https://www.planetebook.com/free-ebooks/the-iliad.pdf