Written play and film

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cMEMkAL1YY&feature=fvst

I both read the original play in the ancient Greek language and saw the film in English as well. Those two works are quite different but I can say that the movie illustrates the plot of the Odyssey in a nice and adventurous way. When I was reading the play, the details were more and the connections with the ancient Greek culture were more. The film surprised me in a nice way because I liked the acting and the setting. The events were chronologically correct and the representation of the cultural habits, the morals and the emotions were almost like in the written play. The ending in the film was dramatic as well which made the closing impressive.

Quotes

1) (Telemachos:) ‘My guest, since indeed you are asking me all these questions, there was a time this house was one that might be prosperous and above reproach, when a certain man was here in his country.’ (1.231-233)

Telemachos considers his bad luck the work of the gods. He feels that the gods who favored them so have vanished along with Odysseus. Being abandoned by the gods is, to the ancient Greeks, akin to being cursed.

2) By nights he would lie beside her, of necessity, in the hollow caerns, against his will, by one who was willing, but all the days he would sit upon the rocks, at the seaside, breaking his heart in tears and lamentation and sorrow as weeping tears he looked out over the barren water. (5.154-158)

Odysseus has everything he could possibly want with Kalypso: eternal youth, luxury, prosperity, and sex but still, he yearns for the trials of mortal life.

3) Telemachos: ‘For my mother, against her will, is beset by suitors, own sons to the men who are greatest hereabouts. These shrink from making the journey to the house of her father Ikarios, so that he might take bride gifts for his daughter and bestow her on the one he wished, who came as his favorite; rather, all their days, they come and loiter in our house and sacrifice our oxen and our sheep and our fat goats and make a holiday feast of it and drink the bright wine recklessly. Most of our substance is wasted.’ (2.50-58)

Telemachos basically accuses the suitors of dishonor. His anger at them is justified by the fact that they have violated basic Greek principles.

4) […] the sweet lifetime was draining out of him, as he wept for a way home, since the nymph was no longer pleasing to him. By nights he would lie beside her, of necessity, in the hollow caverns, against his will, by one who was willing, but all the days he would sit upon the rocks, at the seaside, breaking his heart in tears and lamentation and sorrow as weeping tears he looked out over the barren water. (5.152-158)

Odysseus’s desire for Kalypso has been trumped by his loyalty to Penelope.

5) [Antinoös] was to be the first to get a taste of the arrow from the hands of blameless Odysseus, to whom he now paid attention as he sat in Odysseus’ halls and encouraged all his companions. (21.98-100)

The poet shows us the gods’ intention for Antinoös – he will be the first to die at Odysseus’s hand for his insolence.

Protagonist

The protagonist of the play is Odyssey. His primary goal is to return to Ithaca, his home, but on the way he meets incredible difficulties. On the other side, the antagonists are located on the house of Odyssey in Ithaca. They are the suitors of Penelope, Odyssey's wife and they have conquered his residence. In the play there is shown the contrast of how the Odyssey lives through difficulties to make it to his love and on the other hand how the men in his house are enjoying.

Homer

Homer is the author of Odyssey and is consider as the greatest ancient Greek poet. His work is said to have had an enormous influence on the history of literature. Many scholars believe that the original poem was composed in an oral tradition by an aoidos (epic poet/singer), perhaps a rhapsode (professional performer), and was more likely intended to be heard than read. The motive of Homer writing this masterpiece was probably to give to the people a work that would entertain and enlighten the cultural life of the people and show the story of Odysseus.