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World Literature I Reflection Assignment « Homer and Odyssey From the Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces » The Greek literature impacted the western civilization from the eight century before the Common Era. It was and is among the most popular and well known literature. In this reflection assignment, we are going to talk first about the origin of Greek literature, then briefly about its different poems and finally we will end with the first six books from Odyssey. Who dares talk about western civilization literature without citing Homer who stands for Greek literature?
Myth of the Greek civilization, he is the one who created and developed the Greek literature. Blind, was he according to the Greeks and nothing except his name was known; historians made different assumptions about the place where he was born. Homer, master of the Greek literature came out with two different types of poems. The Iliad was the earlier and had for subject war, men in battle and women who fate depends on their outcome. I got that from Homer, page 101. Also, it raised profound questions about violence but also faced it directly, without sentimentality, as a basic aspect of human life.
It had a structural and emotional unity. The Odyssey was concerned with the peace that followed the war in particular with the return of the heroes who survived. Its subject was the return of one of the heroes, Odysseus according to the textbook. It celebrated return to ordinary life and made it seem a worthy prize after excitement, toil, and danger. Respectively, The six first books talk about Athena and the Prince, Telemachus, King Nestor, the King and Queen of Sparta, Odysseus and, the Princess and the Stranger. From those books we noticed while reading that the Odyssey offers a more positive editation on the nature of civilization and of the structures of daily political life as the Greeks experienced it. The society was well organized on basics and rules, for example Penelope refused to marry a second time because she was scared to be treated as an adulterer. But at the same time it was complex on issues resolution. Odysseus was still able to kill anyone in order to restore peace and order in the community. To conclude, I will say that the Greek literature was interesting, unique but complex and sometimes difficult to understand.