Anoth­er artist per­fect­ly suit­ed to the task, William Blake, whose own poet­ry braved sim­i­lar heights and depths as Dante’s, took on the Infer­no at the end of his life. While he didn’t live to com­plete the engrav­ings, his unset­tling, yet high­ly clas­si­cal, ren­der­ings of the poet the Ital­ians call il Som­mo Poeta—“The Supreme Poet”—certainly do jus­tice to the vivid­ness and hor­ror of Dante’s descrip­tions. Above, see Blake’s 1827 inter­pre­ta­tion of the thief Agno­lo Brunelleschi attacked by a six-foot­ed ser­pent in Can­to twen­ty-five, a scene reprint­ed many times in col­or.

Like the rest of us, artists have been drawn to Dante’s extra­or­di­nary images and exten­sive fan­ta­sy geog­ra­phy since the Divine Com­e­dy first appeared (1308–1320). In pro­lif­ic French artist Gus­tave Doré’s ren­der­ing of the ninth cir­cle scene, above, Satan is a huge, beard­ed grump with wings and horns. Doré so des­per­ate­ly want­ed to illus­trate the Divine Com­e­dy (find in our col­lec­tion of 700 Free eBooks) that he financed the first book in 1861 with his own mon­ey.

has had con­sid­er­able stay­ing pow­er, work­ing its way into pop cul­ture with a video game, sev­er­al films, and a bale­ful appear­ance on Mad Men.

the descent through Hell starting on Good Friday

the nine circles of Hell

Odyssey: A Reader’s Guide to Homer’s Epic epic by Homer Homework Help Written by Naomi Blumberg Naomi Blumberg was Assistant Editor, Arts and Culture for Encyclopaedia Britannica. She covered topics related to art history, architecture, theatre, dance, literature, and music. Naomi Blumberg Fact-checked by Britannica Editors Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... Britannica Editors Last updated Oct. 22, 2026 •History Britannica AI Ask Anything Quick Summary Table of Contents Table of Contents Quick Summary Ask Anything { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "FAQPage", "mainEntity": [ { "@type" : "Question", "name" : "<div> What is the <em>Odyssey<\/em>? <\/div><em><\/em>", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "The <em>Odyssey<\/em> is an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/art\/epic\">epic<\/a> poem in 24 books traditionally attributed to the ancient Greek poet <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Homer-Greek-poet\">Homer<\/a>. The poem is the story of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Odysseus\">Odysseus<\/a>, king of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Ithaca-island-Greece\">Ithaca<\/a>, who wanders for 10 years (although the action of the poem covers only the final six weeks) trying to get home after the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/event\/Trojan-War\">Trojan War<\/a>." } } , { "@type" : "Question", "name" : "<div> Where does the <em>Odyssey<\/em> take place? <\/div><em><\/em>", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "The majority of the <em>Odyssey<\/em> takes place in and around the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Mediterranean-Sea\">Mediterranean Sea<\/a> before concluding in Odysseus\u2019s kingdom of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Ithaca-island-Greece\">Ithaca<\/a>." } } , { "@type" : "Question", "name" : "<div> How was the <em>Odyssey<\/em> originally performed? <\/div><em><\/em>", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "The <em>Odyssey<\/em> was intended for oral performance. The poem was likely transmitted through generations of oral poets well before it was written down. It\u2019s been suggested that oral poets performed epics such as the <em>Odyssey<\/em> in song form." } } , { "@type" : "Question", "name" : "<div> What are the most popular English-language translations of the <em>Odyssey<\/em> from the 20th century? <\/div><em><\/em>", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Among the most notable English-language translations of the <em>Odyssey<\/em> produced in the 20th century were those by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Robert-Fitzgerald\">Robert Fitzgerald<\/a> (1961), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Richmond-Lattimore\">Richmond Lattimore<\/a> (1965), Albert Cook (1967), Allen Mandelbaum (1990), and Robert Fagles (1996)." } } , { "@type" : "Question", "name" : "<div> Did the <em>Odyssey<\/em> actually happen? <\/div><em><\/em>", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "While there is no conclusive evidence supporting the historicity of the <em>Odyssey<\/em>\u2019s story and its characters, it has been proposed that geographic elements of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Homer-Greek-poet\">Homer<\/a>\u2019s poem were real and have persisted into the present. In particular, scholars and ancient-history enthusiasts have suggested a possible location for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Ithaca-island-Greece\">Ithaca<\/a> of the poem, and it\u2019s not the Greek island now named Ithaca." } } , { "@type" : "Question", "name" : "<div> What are the major themes of the <em>Odyssey<\/em>? <\/div><em><\/em>", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "The <em>Odyssey<\/em> explores themes such as hospitality (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/xenia-sociology\"><em>xenia<\/em><\/a>), loyalty, divine intervention, and homecoming (<em>nostos<\/em>). It examines social values, religious beliefs, and cultural ideals of ancient Greece." } } , { "@type" : "Question", "name" : "<div> Are the <em>Odyssey<\/em> and the <em>Iliad<\/em> connected? <\/div><em><\/em>", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Yes, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Odyssey-epic-by-Homer\"><em>Odyssey<\/em><\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Iliad-epic-poem-by-Homer\"><em>Iliad<\/em><\/a> are connected deeply. Both are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/art\/epic\">epic<\/a> poems attributed to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/ancient-Greece\">ancient Greek<\/a> writer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Homer-Greek-poet\">Homer<\/a>, and are part of the cycle of myths surrounding the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/event\/Trojan-War\">Trojan War<\/a>, with the <em>Odyssey<\/em> succeeding the <em>Iliad<\/em> chronologically. The <em>Iliad<\/em> makes the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Greece\">Greek<\/a> warrior <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Achilles-Greek-mythology\">Achilles<\/a> and his part in the war its focus while the <em>Odyssey<\/em> details the wanderings of the hero <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Odysseus\">Odysseus<\/a> as he sails home to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Ithaca-island-Greece\">Ithaca<\/a> from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Troy-ancient-city-Turkey\">Troy<\/a>." } } , { "@type" : "Question", "name" : "<div> Who are the giants in the <em>Odyssey<\/em>? <\/div><em><\/em>", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "<a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Homer-Greek-poet\">Homer<\/a>\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Odyssey-epic-by-Homer\"><em>Odyssey<\/em><\/a> features two giant-sized races: the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Cyclops-Greek-mythology\">Cyclopes<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Laestrygones\">Laestrygones<\/a>. The Cyclopes are savage, lawless, gigantic shepherds. The most famous of these was&nbsp;Polyphemus, son of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Poseidon\">Poseidon<\/a>, whose encounter with the hero&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Odysseus\">Odysseus<\/a>&nbsp;is one of&nbsp;Greek mythology\u2019s&nbsp;best-known episodes. When Polyphemus traps Odysseus and his companions in his cave, he dismisses the hero\u2019s appeal to the sacred custom of hospitality (Greek:&nbsp;<em>xenia<\/em>), declaring that the Cyclopes fear no gods. Odysseus escapes by blinding Polyphemus with a heated olive-wood stake. Odysseus then encounters the Laestrygones. They sink his fleet by flinging huge boulders at the ships and eat the sailors after dragging them to shore. The surviving ship, with Odysseus on board, escapes the&nbsp;carnage&nbsp;by quickly sailing away.<\/p><p>Both plot lines are featured in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Christopher-Nolan-British-director\">Christopher Nolan<\/a>\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/The-Odyssey-film-by-Nolan\"><em>The Odyssey<\/em><\/a> (2026), though some details were changed. Notably, he omits the famous dialogue between Odysseus and Polyphemus, making the giant mostly silent. In the encounter with the Laestrygones, Odysseus and his crew first meet them on land, where a battle ensues. When the Greek warriors flee back to the shore, the Laestrygones capture and destroy two of the ships, and only Odysseus\u2019s craft escapes to the open sea." } } , { "@type" : "Question", "name" : "<div> Does Odysseus die at the end of the <em>Odyssey<\/em>? <\/div><em><\/em>", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "<a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Odysseus\">Odysseus<\/a> does not die in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Homer-Greek-poet\">Homer<\/a>\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/\"><em>Odyssey<\/em><\/a>. In the epic poem he returns home and is reunited with his wife (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Penelope-Greek-mythology\">Penelope<\/a>) and son (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Telemachus-Greek-mythological-character\">Telemachus<\/a>). In later accounts,&nbsp;Odysseus is killed by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Telegonus\">Telegonus<\/a>, his son by the sorceress&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Circe-Greek-mythology\">Circe<\/a>. Telegonus arrives in&nbsp;Ithaca&nbsp;searching for his father, who had left Circe\u2019s island, Aeaea. He encounters Odysseus and, failing to recognize him, accidentally kills him with a spear tipped with the point of a stingray, thus fulfilling the prophecy in the <em>Odyssey<\/em>&nbsp;that death would come to Odysseus \u201Cfrom the sea.\u201D Telegonus later marries Penelope.<\/p><p>In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Christopher-Nolan-British-director\">Christopher Nolan<\/a>\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/The-Odyssey-film-by-Nolan\"><em>The Odyssey<\/em><\/a> (2026), Odysseus returns to Penelope and Telemachus. Although Odysseus is seriously injured while battling Penelope\u2019s suitors and she briefly fears that he will die, he survives. Nolan then invented a new ending, in which Telemachus is crowned king, and Odysseus and Penelope sail away." } } ] } Top Questions What is the Odyssey? The Odyssey is an epic poem in 24 books traditionally attributed to the ancient Greek poet Homer. The poem is the story of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, who wanders for 10 years (although the action of the poem covers only the final six weeks) trying to get home after the Trojan War. Where does the Odyssey take place? The majority of the Odyssey takes place in and around the Mediterranean Sea before concluding in Odysseus’s kingdom of Ithaca. How was the Odyssey originally performed? The Odyssey was intended for oral performance. The poem was likely transmitted through generations of oral poets well before it was written down. It’s been suggested that oral poets performed epics such as the Odyssey in song form. What are the most popular English-language translations of the Odyssey from the 20th century? Among the most notable English-language translations of the Odyssey produced in the 20th century were those by Robert Fitzgerald (1961), Richmond Lattimore (1965), Albert Cook (1967), Allen Mandelbaum (1990), and Robert Fagles (1996). Did the Odyssey actually happen? While there is no conclusive evidence supporting the historicity of the Odyssey’s story and its characters, it has been proposed that geographic elements of Homer’s poem were real and have persisted into the present. In particular, scholars and ancient-history enthusiasts have suggested a possible location for the Ithaca of the poem, and it’s not the Greek island now named Ithaca. What are the major themes of the Odyssey? The Odyssey explores themes such as hospitality (xenia), loyalty, divine intervention, and homecoming (nostos). It examines social values, religious beliefs, and cultural ideals of ancient Greece. Are the Odyssey and the Iliad connected? Yes, the Odyssey and the Iliad are connected deeply. Both are epic poems attributed to the ancient Greek writer Homer, and are part of the cycle of myths surrounding the Trojan War, with the Odyssey succeeding the Iliad chronologically. The Iliad makes the Greek warrior Achilles and his part in the war its focus while the Odyssey details the wanderings of the hero Odysseus as he sails home to Ithaca from Troy. Who are the giants in the Odyssey? Homer’s Odyssey features two giant-sized races: the Cyclopes and the Laestrygones. The Cyclopes are savage, lawless, gigantic shepherds. The most famous of these was Polyphemus, son of Poseidon, whose encounter with the hero Odysseus is one of Greek mythology’s best-known episodes. When Polyphemus traps Odysseus and his companions in his cave, he dismisses the hero’s appeal to the sacred custom of hospitality (Greek: xenia), declaring that the Cyclopes fear no gods. Odysseus escapes by blinding Polyphemus with a heated olive-wood stake. Odysseus then encounters the Laestrygones. They sink his fleet by flinging huge boulders at the ships and eat the sailors after dragging them to shore. The surviving ship, with Odysseus on board, escapes the carnage by quickly sailing away.Both plot lines are featured in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey (2026), though some details were changed. Notably, he omits the famous dialogue between Odysseus and Polyphemus, making the giant mostly silent. In the encounter with the Laestrygones, Odysseus and his crew first meet them on land, where a battle ensues. When the Greek warriors flee back to the shore, the Laestrygones capture and destroy two of the ships, and only Odysseus’s craft escapes to the open sea. Does Odysseus die at the end of the Odyssey? Odysseus does not die in Homer’s Odyssey. In the epic poem he returns home and is reunited with his wife (Penelope) and son (Telemachus). In later accounts, Odysseus is killed by Telegonus, his son by the sorceress Circe. Telegonus arrives in Ithaca searching for his father, who had left Circe’s island, Aeaea. He encounters Odysseus and, failing to recognize him, accidentally kills him with a spear tipped with the point of a stingray, thus fulfilling the prophecy in the Odyssey that death would come to Odysseus “from the sea.” Telegonus later marries Penelope.In Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey (2026), Odysseus returns to Penelope and Telemachus. Although Odysseus is seriously injured while battling Penelope’s suitors and she briefly fears that he will die, he survives. Nolan then invented a new ending, in which Telemachus is crowned king, and Odysseus and Penelope sail away. News • Inflation at the movies: Runtimes are longer, from 'The Odyssey' to 'You Can See Everything' • Oct. 22, 2026, 1:13 PM ET (AP) Show less The Odyssey is an epic poem in 24 books traditionally attributed to the ancient Greek poet Homer. The poem is the story of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, who wanders for 10 years (although the action of the poem covers only the final six weeks) trying to get home after the Trojan War. On his return, he is recognized only by his faithful dog and a nurse. With the help of his son, Telemachus, Odysseus destroys the insistent suitors of his faithful wife, Penelope, and several of her maids who had fraternized with the suitors and reestablishes himself in his kingdom.Epics such as the Iliad and the Odyssey emerged from an oral tradition in which poets, or bards, performed epic narratives before audiences, with fixed written texts appearing much later. The written texts employed various literary devices such as formulaic epithets and repetition which helped performers memorize the poem and adapt during their recitation. For centuries, Homeric epics formed part of the educational foundation of the Greek world throughout the classical age and helped shape a broader Panhellenic cultural identity. Plot summary { "sources": [ { "file" : "//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/A0NzuZOy.m3u8" } ], "image": "https://cdn.britannica.com/14/274714-138-3F6B3B24/the-story-of-homers-odyssey.jpg", "vertical": false ,"tracks": [ { "file" : "//assets-jpcust.jwpsrv.com/tracks/FVMhgxLu.vtt", "label": "English" } ] ,"adfile": "//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/kOK5jCEq.m3u8" } Telling the Story of Homer's Odyssey with Translator Emily Wilson“Tell me, Muse…”(more)See all videos for this articleThe Odyssey does not follow a linear chronology. The reader begins in the middle of the tale, learning about previous events only through Odysseus’s retelling. The first four books set the scene in Ithaca. Penelope, Odysseus’s wife, and their young son, Telemachus, are powerless before her arrogant suitors as they despair of Odysseus’s return from the siege of Troy. Telemachus is searching for news of his father, who has not been heard from since he left for war nearly 20 years earlier. He journeys secretly to the Peloponnese and seeks out two men who fought with Odysseus in the war at Troy, Nestor and Menelaus, and discovers that his father is indeed still alive. The second four books (V–VIII) introduce the main character, Odysseus, as he is being released from captivity by the nymph Calypso on the island of Ogygia. He suffers a shipwreck and lands on the shore of Scheria, the land of the Phaeacians, where he is welcomed by the princess Nausicaa and later received hospitably at the court of her father, King Alcinous. In Books IX–XII Odysseus tells the Phaeacians of the harrowing journey he and his crew endured as they tried to find their way home—including their encounters with the Lotus-Eaters, Laestrygonians, and the sorceress Circe, their visit to the underworld to consult the prophet Tiresias, their narrow escape from the cave of the Cyclops Polyphemus, their ordeal navigating between Scylla and Charybdis, the disastrous slaughter of the sacred cattle of the sun god Helios by Odysseus’s companions, and the final shipwreck in which Odysseus is washed ashore on Ogygia alone. Britannica Quiz Book-to-Screen Name Change Quiz { "sources": [ { "file" : "//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/bwPQRU2M.m3u8" } ], "image": "https://cdn.britannica.com/76/285576-138-9A5F1AED/how-to-pronounce-names-and-characters-in-homers-odyssey.jpg", "vertical": false ,"tracks": [ { "file" : "//assets-jpcust.jwpsrv.com/tracks/orO3QHC2.vtt", "label": "English" } ] ,"adfile": "//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/aSSJldJe.m3u8" } Who Are the Characters of Homer's Odyssey?And how do you really pronounce Telemachus?(more)See all videos for this articleFinally, Books XIII–XXIV, the second half of the poem, find Odysseus back in Ithaca, facing unexpected obstacles and danger. He meets with his protector-goddess Athena and reveals himself first to his faithful swineherd Eumaeus and then to Telemachus before developing a complicated plan to dispose of the suitors. During Odysseus’s absence, Penelope resisted the importuning of more than a hundred suitors—who have stayed in Odysseus’s house, eating, drinking, and carousing while waiting for her to decide among them. To avoid choosing a new husband, Penelope famously promises to decide once she has finished weaving a funeral shroud for Odysseus’s father, Laertes, but secretly unravels her work each night. In order to reunite with his wife, Odysseus kills them all, with the aid of Telemachus, Eumaeus, and Philoetius (a servant and cowherd), after successfully stringing his great bow in a contest that none of the suitors can complete. He finally proves his identity to Penelope through his knowledge of their marriage bed, which he had fashioned from a living olive tree. Major themes: Nostos, xenia, and more The Odyssey explores a wide range of themes—many of which are introduced in the first book—that reflect social values, religious beliefs, and cultural ideals of ancient Greece. Through Odysseus’s journey home, the poem examines concepts such as hospitality, loyalty, and more. One of the key themes of the epic is nostos, or homecoming. After years of conflict and displacement during the Trojan War, Odysseus and his companions set out together on their journey home from Troy, though he ultimately turns out to be the sole survivor. In Book I, Athena and her father, Zeus, agree that the time has come for Odysseus to be released from Calypso’s island so that he may resume his return to Ithaca. His difficult and prolonged homecoming is often contrasted with that of the Greek hero Agamemnon, who returns home swiftly from Troy only to be murdered upon his arrival. Unlike Agamemnon, Odysseus must suffer a long struggle not only to reach home but also to restore order to his household, reclaim his identity and kingship, and reunite with his family. During the course of Odysseus’s journey, the two heroes meet in the underworld, where Agamemnon warns Odysseus to act cautiously upon reaching home, advice that proves crucial when Odysseus finally arrives in Ithaca. .KUSTOM-MARKETING-INLINE_SUBSCRIPTION { container-type: inline-size; } .hermes-cta-paywall-overlay { position: relative; background: white; border: 2px solid #93c5fd; border-radius: 16px; text-align: center; box-shadow: 0 4px 8px 0px #bfdbfe; width: 100%; overflow: hidden; } .hermes-cta-paywall-content { position: relative; z-index: 15; padding: 40px 48px; } .hermes-cta-header { color: #14599d; } .hermes-cta-description { font-weight: 700; font-style: Bold; line-height: 20px; letter-spacing: 0px; color: #525252; max-width: 375px; margin: 20px auto; } .hermes-cta-decorative-left { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; height: 100%; } .hermes-cta-decorative-right { position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; height: 100%; } .hermes-cta-decorative-image { height: 100%; } .hermes-cta-decorative-mobile { width: 100%; display: none; } .hermes-cta-decorative-mobile img { width: 100%; } @container (max-width: 541px) { .hermes-cta-decorative-left, .hermes-cta-decorative-right { display: none; } .hermes-cta-decorative-mobile { display: flex; margin-bottom: -30px; margin-top: -30px; } .hermes-cta-paywall-content { padding: 48px 24px 0; } .hermes-cta-description { font-size: 14px; } } Explore Britannica Premium! The trusted destination for professionals, college students, and lifelong learners. SUBSCRIBE { "sources": [ { "file" : "//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/s8YHhKGj.m3u8" } ], "image": "https://cdn.britannica.com/05/286405-138-F4779B42/whats-real-and-fake-in-homers-odyssey-fact-vs-fiction-video.jpg", "vertical": false ,"tracks": [ { "file" : "//assets-jpcust.jwpsrv.com/tracks/DqP7VVJN.vtt", "label": "English" } ] ,"adfile": "//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/OrXehJFx.m3u8" } Is Homer's Odyssey a True Story?Fact or Fiction? This ancient Greek epic is less than historically accurate.(more)See all videos for this articleXenia, hospitality or guest-friendship, is also central to the plot of the Odyssey. This ancient Greek code that governed relationships between guests and hosts is said to have been a moral obligation protected by Zeus. Throughout Odysseus’s journey, characters are judged by how they treat visitors and outsiders. The Phaeacians generously welcome Odysseus, offer him food, entertainment, and gifts, and ultimately help him continue his journey. Similarly, the swineherd Eumaeus shows kindness to the disguised Odysseus before recognizing his identity. Telemachus, too, is received graciously by Nestor and Menelaus when he visits them in search of Odysseus. However, there are those who violate and abuse this principle. The Cyclops Polyphemus attacks and eats his guests, while the suitors in Ithaca exploit Odysseus’s household by overstaying their welcome and consuming his wealth. Their eventual punishment reinforces the poem’s idea that respect for hospitality was essential to moral and social order in ancient Greek society. Some of the other themes explored in the Odyssey include loyalty, divine intervention, divine justice, and human responsibility. Loyalty is exemplified by Penelope’s unwavering fidelity toward her husband during his 20-year absence, Odysseus’s determination to return to his family despite numerous troubles, and the faithfulness of the household staff such as Eumaeus and Philoetius, who remain devoted to their absent king. The poem also highlights the role that gods often play in human lives. Zeus orders Calypso to release Odysseus from her island so that his journey home may continue, and while Athena assists the hero time and again, an enraged Poseidon places hurdles in his way. However, the epic also suggests that humans are responsible for their own actions. Early in the poem Zeus complains that people often blame the gods for their sufferings, even when these are consequences of their own choices. This idea is reinforced through the theme of divine justice—those who violate moral and social norms of their own free will are the ones who ultimately face punishment. The suitors are killed for their prolonged abuse of Odysseus’s household and hospitality, while Aegisthus, who murdered Agamemnon and took his wife, is slain by Agamemnon’s son Orestes. Composition and early translations Scholars date the writing of the Odyssey to about 725–675 bce. The poem was intended for oral performance. It was composed of 12,109 lines written in dactylic hexameter (sometimes referred to as “Homeric hexameter”)—that is, each line consisted of six feet, or metrical units, and each foot consisted of a dactyl (a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables). The original work may not have been constructed into the 24 books known to the contemporary reader, and the parts were certainly not in codex form. In the ancient world, the poem was likely written in columns on rolls made from papyrus, or possibly some kind of animal skin (such as vellum and parchment). Given its extraordinary length, the poem may have actually occupied 24 individual rolls. Homer’s role in the writing of the poem and whether he was literate have been a source for rich scholarly debate, commonly referred to as the “Homeric Question.” Until the 15th century all volumes of the Odyssey in circulation were in handwritten Greek. In 1488 the first printed version (still in Greek) was produced in Florence. The earliest vernacular translations of the Odyssey from its original Ionic Greek dialect began to appear in Europe during the 16th century. Applying the ancient Greek meter to contemporary vernaculars, especially to words meant to be spoken aloud rather than read privately, posed a particular challenge, forcing translators to add and invent words in order to make the meter work. Some have translated it into prose and some into verse. Britannica AIchevron_rightOdyssey by Homer closeAI-generated answers from Britannica articles. AI makes mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. {"adLeg":"D","leg":"B","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Topic","articleId":102004,"articleTemplateType":"PAGINATED","gisted":false,"hasAiTopQuestions":false,"hasAskButton":true,"hasIndexSummary":false,"hasNews":false,"hasSimplifyButton":false,"isAIFactPage":false,"isAIQuestionStandalonePage":false,"topicId":425334} { "url": "/topic/Odyssey-epic-by-Homer/English-translations-and-legacy", "shareUrl": "https://www.britannica.com/topic/Odyssey-epic-by-Homer", "browserTitle": "Odyssey: A Reader\u2019s Guide to Homer\u2019s Epic - Epic Poem, Homeric, Greek Mythology", "firstTopicPage": false, "topicId":425334 } English translations and legacy Epic Action FilmWriter-director Christopher Nolan’s screen adaptation of the epic poem, titled The Odyssey, is set to be released on July 17, 2026. The film stars Matt Damon as Odysseus, Anne Hathaway as Penelope, and Tom Holland as Telemachus. The first translation into English based on Homer’s original Greek was by playwright and poet George Chapman, published in London in 1616. Other notable early translators include Alexander Pope (1725–26), William Morris (1887), and Samuel Butler (1900). Several English translations were published in the 20th century, notably those by Emile Victor (E.V.) Rieu (1945; revised and reissued by his son, D.C.H. Rieu, in 1991), Robert Fitzgerald (1961), and Richmond Lattimore (1965). A best-selling verse translation by Robert Fagles (1996) was praised for employing language both contemporary and timeless. In 2017 Emily Wilson became the first woman to translate and publish the Odyssey in English. The poem has also been adapted for children and young readers and has been issued by Marvel as a comic book. The Odyssey, and the telling of a journey home, has inspired many works of art and fiction such as James Joyce’s Ulysses (1922); Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad (2005), the tale told through the eyes of Penelope; and the Coen brothers’ film O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000). An everyman’s tale and a romance, the Odyssey is filled with adventure, longing and temptation, the struggle between good and evil, and hard-won triumph. It is an enduring classic because its hero, Odysseus, and his story, though centuries old, are remarkably human and continue to grip the contemporary imagination. The Odyssey is often cited by critics as being one of the greatest stories ever told. Despite being blander in expression and sometimes more diffuse in the progress of its action than Homer’s other well-known work, the Iliad, the Odyssey provides an even more complex and harmonious structure. The poem is built upon a series of conversations and speeches, in which individual characters emerge as they confront each other and the gods with advice, inquiry, request, resignation, and passion—and the struggle against the gods, nature, and monstrous forces is presented with the help of a poetical language of great simplicity and subtlety. The Odyssey has endured for more than 2,700 years not as the result of its antiquity and its place in Greek culture but rather because of its timeless ability to express on a massive scale so much of the triumph and the frustration of human life.

Homer Greek poet Homework Help Written by Geoffrey S. Kirk Regius Professor Emeritus of Greek, University of Cambridge. Author of The Songs of Homer and others. Geoffrey S. Kirk Fact-checked by Britannica Editors Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... Britannica Editors Last updated Sep. 21, 2026 •History Britannica AI Ask Anything Quick Summary Table of Contents Table of Contents Quick Summary Ask Anything { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "FAQPage", "mainEntity": [ { "@type" : "Question", "name" : "<div> Why is Homer significant? <\/div><em><\/em>", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Homer is the presumed author of the <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Iliad-epic-poem-by-Homer\">Iliad<\/a><\/em> and the <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Odyssey-epic-by-Homer\">Odyssey<\/a><\/em>, two hugely influential epic poems of ancient Greece. If Homer did in fact compose the works, he is one of the greatest literary artists in the world, and, through these poems, he affected Western standards and ideas." } } , { "@type" : "Question", "name" : "<div> Was Homer a real person? <\/div><em><\/em>", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Scholars are uncertain whether Homer existed. If real, he is believed to have lived about the 9th or 8th century bce and was a native of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Ionia\">Ionia<\/a>. A poet in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/art\/folk-literature\">oral tradition<\/a>, his works were likely transcribed by others. He is traditionally portrayed as blind, and some claim he was illiterate." } } , { "@type" : "Question", "name" : "<div> Did Homer write the <em>Odyssey<\/em>? <\/div><em><\/em>", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "The authorship of the <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Odyssey-epic-by-Homer\">Odyssey<\/a><\/em> and the <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Iliad-epic-poem-by-Homer\">Iliad<\/a><\/em> is disputed. While some scholars believe Homer is solely responsible, others claim that the poems were retold and revised by numerous people. This theory has led to various explanations for the use of the word <em>Homer<\/em>. Some speculate that it was a term meaning \u201Cwandering blind poet.\u201D" } } , { "@type" : "Question", "name" : "<div> Were the <em>Iliad<\/em> and the <em>Odyssey<\/em> composed orally? <\/div><em><\/em>", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "The <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Iliad-epic-poem-by-Homer\">Iliad<\/a><\/em> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Odyssey-epic-by-Homer\"><em>Odyssey<\/em><\/a> grew out of a centuries-old tradition in which singers inherited familiar phrases, diction, scenes, and plots and reshaped them in performance, thus composing the heroic poetry orally. Research by scholars such as Milman Parry was fundamental to establishing this oral background. Scholars have differing views, however, about how the surviving epics took their final form. Many think that writing\u2014through dictation, transcription, revision, or later editorial shaping\u2014helped transform fluid oral performances into the extensive and comparatively stable texts known today. The poems are therefore best understood as products of interaction between oral tradition and writing." } } ] } Top Questions Why is Homer significant? Homer is the presumed author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, two hugely influential epic poems of ancient Greece. If Homer did in fact compose the works, he is one of the greatest literary artists in the world, and, through these poems, he affected Western standards and ideas. Was Homer a real person? Scholars are uncertain whether Homer existed. If real, he is believed to have lived about the 9th or 8th century bce and was a native of Ionia. A poet in the oral tradition, his works were likely transcribed by others. He is traditionally portrayed as blind, and some claim he was illiterate. Did Homer write the Odyssey? The authorship of the Odyssey and the Iliad is disputed. While some scholars believe Homer is solely responsible, others claim that the poems were retold and revised by numerous people. This theory has led to various explanations for the use of the word Homer. Some speculate that it was a term meaning “wandering blind poet.” Were the Iliad and the Odyssey composed orally? The Iliad and the Odyssey grew out of a centuries-old tradition in which singers inherited familiar phrases, diction, scenes, and plots and reshaped them in performance, thus composing the heroic poetry orally. Research by scholars such as Milman Parry was fundamental to establishing this oral background. Scholars have differing views, however, about how the surviving epics took their final form. Many think that writing—through dictation, transcription, revision, or later editorial shaping—helped transform fluid oral performances into the extensive and comparatively stable texts known today. The poems are therefore best understood as products of interaction between oral tradition and writing. Homer (flourished 9th or 8th century bce?, Ionia? [now in Turkey]) was the presumed author of the Iliad and the Odyssey.Although these two great epic poems of ancient Greece and classical antiquity have always been attributed to the shadowy figure of Homer, little is known of him beyond the fact that his was the name attached in antiquity by the Greeks themselves to the poems. That there was an epic poet called Homer and that he played the primary part in shaping the Iliad and the Odyssey—so much may be said to be probable. If this assumption is accepted, then Homer must assuredly be one of the greatest of the world’s literary artists. { "sources": [ { "file" : "//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/A0NzuZOy.m3u8" } ], "image": "https://cdn.britannica.com/14/274714-138-3F6B3B24/the-story-of-homers-odyssey.jpg", "vertical": false ,"tracks": [ { "file" : "//assets-jpcust.jwpsrv.com/tracks/FVMhgxLu.vtt", "label": "English" } ] ,"adfile": "//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/kOK5jCEq.m3u8" } Telling the Story of Homer's Odyssey with Translator Emily Wilson“Tell me, Muse…”(more)See all videos for this articleHe is also one of the most influential authors in the widest sense, for the two epics provided the basis of Greek education and culture throughout the classical age and formed the backbone of humane education down to the time of the Roman Empire and the spread of Christianity. Indirectly through the medium of Virgil’s Aeneid (which was loosely molded after the patterns of the Iliad and the Odyssey), directly through their revival under Byzantine culture from the late 8th century ce onward, and subsequently through their passage into Italy with the Greek scholars who fled westward from the Ottomans, the Homeric epics had a profound impact on the Renaissance culture of Italy. Since then the proliferation of translations has helped to make them the most important poems of the classical European tradition. .KUSTOM-MARKETING-EMAIL_CAPTURE_INLINE_BIO { container-type: inline-size; } @scope (.today-in-history-inline-capture) { *, *::before, *::after { box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0; padding: 0; } :scope { --color-bg: #fbfaf5; --color-text: #0d0d0d; --color-orange: #eb5e00; --color-label: #6b7280; --color-placeholder: #bcbcbc; --color-disclaimer: #8e8e8e; --font-serif: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; --font-sans: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; display: block; max-width: 689px; margin: 15px auto 40px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; font-family: var(--font-serif); -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; } img { display: block; max-width: 100%; } input, button { font: inherit; } .branding-label { display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 6px; } .branding-label img { height: 15px; width: auto; } .widget { border-top: 4px solid var(--color-orange); background-color: var(--color-bg); overflow: hidden; } .inline-content { display: flex; align-items: stretch; justify-content: center; gap: 28px; padding: 32px 34px 0 44px; } .content-col { display: flex; flex: 1 1 auto; flex-direction: column; align-items: flex-start; gap: 16px; min-width: 0; } .logo { width: 167px; } .logo img { width: 100%; height: auto; } .description { font-size: 22px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.25; color: var(--color-text); text-wrap: pretty; } .form-section { width: 100%; max-width: 310px; padding-bottom: 32px; } .signup-form-wrapper { width: 100%; } .signup-form-wrapper.hidden { display: none; } .kustom-newsletter-subscribe-container { width: 100%; } .signup-form { display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: stretch; justify-content: space-between; gap: 0; width: 100%; padding: 0 0 0 24px; background-color: #ffffff; border: 1.1px solid rgba(221, 221, 221, 0.5); border-radius: 35px; box-shadow: 0 4.4px 6.6px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); overflow: hidden; } .email-input { flex: 1 1 auto; align-self: center; min-width: 0; padding: 10px 8px 10px 0; font-size: 14px; font-family: var(--font-serif); color: var(--color-text); background: transparent; border: none; outline: none; } .email-input::placeholder { color: var(--color-placeholder); } .submit-btn { display: inline-flex; flex: 0 0 auto; align-items: center; justify-content: center; gap: 8px; padding: 10px 16px; font-family: var(--font-sans); font-size: 12px; font-weight: 600; line-height: 20px; text-transform: uppercase; color: #ffffff; background-color: var(--color-orange); border: none; border-radius: 64px 0 0 64px; cursor: pointer; white-space: nowrap; transition: opacity 0.2s ease; } .submit-btn::after { content: ''; display: inline-block; flex-shrink: 0; width: 16px; height: 13px; background-color: currentColor; -webkit-mask-image: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' width='16' height='13' viewBox='0 0 16 13' fill='none'%3E%3Cpath d='M0 6.5H11.5M11.5 6.5L7 2M11.5 6.5L7 11' stroke='%23000' stroke-width='2' stroke-linecap='round' stroke-linejoin='round'/%3E%3C/svg%3E"); -webkit-mask-size: contain; -webkit-mask-repeat: no-repeat; -webkit-mask-position: center; mask-image: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' width='16' height='13' viewBox='0 0 16 13' fill='none'%3E%3Cpath d='M0 6.5H11.5M11.5 6.5L7 2M11.5 6.5L7 11' stroke='%23000' stroke-width='2' stroke-linecap='round' stroke-linejoin='round'/%3E%3C/svg%3E"); mask-size: contain; mask-repeat: no-repeat; mask-position: center; } .submit-btn:hover { opacity: 0.9; } .success-message, .success-message h3 { color: var(--color-text); text-align: left; font-size: 22px; line-height: 1.25; font-weight: 400; } .phone-mockup { flex: 0 0 157px; align-self: flex-end; width: 157px; height: 181px; overflow: hidden; } .phone-mockup img { width: 100%; height: 100%; object-fit: cover; object-position: center bottom; } .disclaimer { width: 100%; font-size: 9px; line-height: 1.5; color: var(--color-disclaimer); text-align: center; margin: 6px 0 0; } .disclaimer a { color: var(--color-disclaimer); text-decoration: underline; } @container (max-width: 560px) { .inline-content { flex-direction: row; align-items: stretch; gap: 14px; padding: 24px 24px 0; } .content-col { flex: 1 1 auto; align-items: center; gap: 12px; min-width: 0; padding-bottom: 16px; } .logo { width: 100px; } .description { font-size: 14px; text-align: center; } .form-section { max-width: 100%; width: 100%; padding-bottom: 0; } .signup-form { flex-direction: column; align-items: stretch; gap: 6px; padding: 0; background: transparent; border: none; border-radius: 0; box-shadow: none; overflow: visible; } .email-input { width: 100%; padding: 10px 12px; font-size: 12px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; border: 1.1px solid rgba(221, 221, 221, 0.5); border-radius: 35px; box-shadow: 0 4.4px 6.6px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); align-self: stretch; } .submit-btn { width: 100%; padding: 5px 16px; font-size: 12px; border-radius: 64px; } .success-message, .success-message h3 { font-size: 14px; text-align: center; } .phone-mockup { flex: 0 0 133px; align-self: flex-end; width: 133px; height: 153px; } } @container (max-width: 380px) { .inline-content { flex-direction: column; align-items: center; gap: 12px; padding: 24px 24px 0; } .content-col { display: contents; padding-bottom: 0; } .logo { order: 1; } .description { order: 2; } .phone-mockup { order: 3; flex: 0 0 auto; align-self: center; width: 133px; height: 153px; } .form-section { order: 4; width: 100%; padding-bottom: 16px; } } } Discover the fascinating events that shaped the world, straight from our editors. SIGN UP Thank you for signing up! By clicking “Sign Up”, you consent to the Britannica Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. It was probably through their impact on Classical Greek culture itself that the Iliad and the Odyssey most subtly affected Western standards and ideas. The Greeks regarded the great epics as something more than works of literature; they knew much of them by heart, and they valued them not only as a symbol of Hellenic unity and heroism but also as an ancient source of moral and even practical instruction. Early references Implicit references to Homer and quotations from the poems date to the middle of the 7th century bce. Archilochus, Alcman, Tyrtaeus, and Callinus in the 7th century and Sappho and others in the early 6th adapted Homeric phraseology and meter to their own purposes and rhythms. At the same time scenes from the epics became popular in works of art. The pseudo-Homeric “Hymn to Apollo of Delos,” probably of late 7th-century composition, claimed to be the work of “a blind man who dwells in rugged Chios,” a reference to a tradition about Homer himself. The idea that Homer had descendants known as “Homeridae,” and that they had taken over the preservation and propagation of his poetry, goes back at least to the early 6th century bce. Indeed, it was not long before a kind of Homeric scholarship began: Theagenes of Rhegium in southern Italy toward the end of the same century wrote the first of many allegorizing interpretations. By the 5th century biographical fictions were well under way; the Pre-Socratic philosopher Heracleitus of Ephesus made use of a trivial legend of Homer’s death—that it was caused by chagrin at not being able to solve some boys’ riddle about catching lice—and the concept of a contest of quotations between Homer and Hesiod (after Homer the most ancient of Greek poets) may have been initiated in the Sophistic tradition. The historian Herodotus assigned the formulation of Greek theology to Homer and Hesiod and claimed that they could have lived no more than 400 years before his own time, the 5th century bce. This should be contrasted with the superficial assumption, popular in many circles throughout antiquity, that Homer must have lived not much later than the Trojan War about which he sang. Britannica Quiz Poetry: First Lines The general belief that Homer was a native of Ionia (the central part of the western seaboard of Asia Minor) seems a reasonable conjecture for the poems themselves are in predominantly Ionic dialect. Although Smyrna and Chios early began competing for the honor (the poet Pindar, early in the 5th century bce, associated Homer with both), and others joined in, no authenticated local memory survived anywhere of someone who, oral poet or not, must have been remarkable in his time. The absence of hard facts puzzled but did not deter the Greeks; the fictions that had begun even before the 5th century bce were developed in the Alexandrian era in the 3rd and 2nd centuries bce (when false scholarship as well as true abounded) into fantastic pseudobiographies, and these were further refined by derivative scholars under the Roman Empire. The longest to have survived purports to be by Herodotus himself; but it is quite devoid of objective truth. Britannica AIchevron_rightHomer closeAI-generated answers from Britannica articles. AI makes mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. {"adLeg":"D","leg":"B","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Topic","articleId":106285,"articleTemplateType":"BIO_PAGINATED","gisted":false,"hasAiTopQuestions":false,"hasAskButton":true,"hasIndexSummary":false,"hasNews":false,"hasSimplifyButton":false,"isAIFactPage":false,"isAIQuestionStandalonePage":false,"topicId":270219} { "url": "/biography/Homer-Greek-poet/Modern-inferences", "shareUrl": "https://www.britannica.com/biography/Homer-Greek-poet", "browserTitle": "Homer - Epic Poetry, Iliad, Odyssey", "firstTopicPage": false, "topicId":270219 } Modern inferences The Homeric Question Classicists have long debated the uncertainties surrounding Homer’s true identity, the authorship of the two epic poems, and indeed, the poet’s existence—an academic discussion that formally came to be known as the “Homeric Question” from the 1830s. One of the first scholars in the early modern period who questioned the existence of Homer was French dramatist and critic François Hédelin, abbé d’Aubignac (1604–76), who not only dismissed the Greek poet but also made a disparaging assessment of the poems, concluding that they had been stitched together from several independent ballads. In 1795 German philologist and classical scholar Friedrich August Wolf published Prolegomena ad Homerum, which created the Homeric Question in its modern form. He, too, argued that the Iliad and the Odyssey were assembled over generations from many shorter songs by different hands, with their artistic unity imposed on them at a later date. This school of thought, advanced by critics often identified as the Analysts, proposed that the epics were created from multiple poems, layered together by many people. It has been countered by the Unitarian approach, which emphasizes the artistic unity of the poems and often attributes that unity to a single author, traditionally identified as Homer. Early 20th-century American scholar Milman Parry, whose ideas were further expanded by his student Albert Bates Lord, is associated with the oral-formulaic theory, which helped move the issue beyond the opposing propositions of the Analysts and Unitarians. In his early studies of the epics, Parry described the “traditional, almost formulaic, quality of Homer.” He used statistical analysis, scientific examination, and extensive fieldwork to study oral poetry traditions and the language of the Homeric epics, showing that Homeric poetry belonged to a living oral tradition, in which singers inherited familiar phrases, diction, scenes, and plots but could reshape them in performance. The oral poets of the epics could draw from traditional verses, expressions, and more, with the poems becoming an evolving composition that could still bear the mark of one single poet. Geographical clues to Homer’s world Modern scholars agree with the ancient sources only about Homer’s general place of activity. The most concrete piece of ancient evidence is that his descendants, the Homeridae, lived on the Ionic island of Chios. Yet an east Aegean environment is suggested for the main author of the Iliad by certain local references in the poem; that is, to the peak of Samothrace just appearing over the intervening mass of Imbros when seen from the plain of Troy, to the birds at the mouth of the Cayster near Ephesus, to storms off Icaria and northwest winds from Thrace. East Aegean coloring is fainter in the Odyssey, which is set primarily in western Greece; but the poem’s vagueness over the position of Ithaca, for example, is not incompatible with the idea of a poet in Ionia elaborating materials derived from the farther side of the Greek world. Same main author or not Admittedly, there is some doubt over whether the Iliad and the Odyssey were even composed by the same main author. Such doubts began in antiquity itself and depended mainly on the difference of genre (the Iliad being martial and heroic, the Odyssey picaresque and often fantastic), but they may be reinforced by subtle differences of vocabulary even apart from those imposed by different subjects. Aristotle’s conception of the Odyssey as a work of Homer’s old age is not impossible; but if the Iliad is the earlier of the two (as seems likely from its simpler structure and the greater frequency of relatively late linguistic forms in the Odyssey), then the Odyssey could have been created after its image, and as a conscious supplement, once the example of monumental composition had been given. In any case the similarities of the two poems are partly due to the coherence of the heroic poetical tradition that lay behind both. Dating the works The internal evidence of the poems is of some use in determining when Homer lived. Certain elements of the poetic language, which was an artificial amalgam never exactly reproduced in speech, indicate that the epics were not only post-Mycenaean in composition but also substantially later than the foundation of the first Ionian settlements in Asia Minor of about 1000 bce. The running together of adjacent short vowels and the disappearance of the semivowel digamma (a letter formerly existing in the Greek alphabet) are the most significant indications of this. At the other end of the time scale the development in the poems of a true definite article, for instance, represents an earlier phase than is exemplified in the poetry of the middle and late 7th century. Both stylistically and metrically, the Homeric poems appear to be earlier than the Hesiodic poems, which many scholars place not long after 700 bce. A different and perhaps more precise criterion is provided by datable objects and practices mentioned in the poems. Nothing, except for one or two probably Athenian additions, seems from this standpoint to be later than about 700; on the other hand, the role assigned in the Odyssey to the Phoenicians as traders, together with one or two other phenomena, suggests a date of composition—for the relevant contexts at least—of sometime after 900. A few passages in the Iliad may imply a new form of fighting in close formation, dependent on the development of special armor for foot soldiers (hoplites) after about 750, and references to the Gorgon mask as a decorative motif point in the same direction. It is true that the poems contain many traditional and archaic elements, and their language and material background are a compound of different constituents originating at different dates. It seems, nonetheless, plausible to conclude that the period of composition of the large-scale epics (as distinct from their much shorter predecessors) was the 9th or 8th century, with several features pointing more clearly to the 8th. The Odyssey may belong near the end of this century, the Iliad closer to its middle. It may be no coincidence that cults of Homeric heroes tended to spring up toward the end of the 8th century, and that scenes from the epic begin to appear on pots at just about the same time. Homer as an oral poet But even if his name is known and his date and region can be inferred, Homer remains primarily a projection of the great poems themselves. Their qualities are significant of his taste and his view of the world, but they also reveal something more specific about his technique and the kind of poet he was. It has been one of the most important discoveries of Homeric scholarship, associated particularly with Parry, that the Homeric tradition was an oral one—that this was a kind of poetry made and passed down by word of mouth and without the intervention of writing. Indeed Homer’s own term for a poet is aoidos, “singer.” The Odyssey describes two such poets in some detail: Phemius, the court singer in the palace of Odysseus in Ithaca, and Demodocus, who lived in the town of the semi-mythical Phaeacians and sang both for the nobles in Alcinous’s palace and for the assembled public at the games held for Odysseus. On this occasion he sings of the illicit love affair of Ares and Aphrodite in a version that lasts for exactly 100 Homeric verses. This and the other songs assigned to these singers—for example, that of the Trojan Horse, summarized in the Odyssey—suggest that ordinary aoidoi in the heroic tradition worked with relatively short poems that could be given completely on a single occasion. That is what one would expect, and it is confirmed by the habits of singers and audiences at other periods and in other parts of the world (the tradition of the poet-singers of Muslim Serbia has provided the most fruitful comparison so far). Whatever the favored occasion for heroic song—whether the aristocratic feast, the religious festival, or popular gatherings in tavern or marketplace—a natural limitation on the length of a poem is imposed by the audience’s available time and interest as well as by the singer’s own physique and the scope of his repertoire. Such relatively short songs must have provided the backbone of the tradition inherited by Homer, and his portraits of Demodocus and Phemius are likely to be accurate in this respect. What Homer himself seems to have done is to introduce the concept of a quite different style of poetry, in the shape of a monumental poem that required more than a single hour or evening to sing and could achieve new and far more complex effects, in literary and psychological terms, than those attainable in the more anecdotal and episodic songs of his predecessors. window.__CF$cv$params={r:'a53ef76bac7ff3e1',t:'MTc5MzU3ODc1Mw==',u:'01a154f16753741093b5b01c0c454abc',ut:'pK2.IJ8seU_eA1VjwCY.EAgVCPm9ytsm8Rxrsu799po-1793578753-1.2.1.1-Yd1_SA5Km3Y4hyxfD402Lcjwh0hHkUhu02sZDWkKn2_7rmAuSHqCm4qZ8PLxxX6UdetvfRFZNQEQDe.xIVkLLBJ7DbQvD_fVg_2Jxob.jts',i:60};(function(){if(!document.body)return;var l=window.location,o;try{o=new URL(l.origin).origin}catch(e){try{o=new URL(new URL(l.href).origin).origin}catch(e){o=''}}var u='/cdn-cgi/challenge-platform/scripts/precursor/main.js?ray=a53ef76bac7ff3e1',s=document.createElement('script');s.src=o?new URL(u,o).href:u;document.head.appendChild(s);})(); {"adLeg":"D","leg":"B","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Topic","articleId":106285,"articleTemplateType":"BIO_PAGINATED","gisted":false,"hasAiTopQuestions":false,"hasAskButton":true,"hasIndexSummary":false,"hasNews":false,"hasSimplifyButton":false,"isAIFactPage":false,"isAIQuestionStandalonePage":false,"topicId":270219} { "url": "/biography/Homer-Greek-poet/Poetic-techniques", "shareUrl": "https://www.britannica.com/biography/Homer-Greek-poet", "browserTitle": "Homer - Epic Poetry, Oral Tradition, Verse", "firstTopicPage": false, "topicId":270219 } Poetic techniques of Homer { "sources": [ { "file" : "//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/NlAqp72M.m3u8" } ], "image": "https://cdn.britannica.com/97/85497-138-20FC23CD/Gilbert-Highet-themes-production-expression-lesson-person-1965.jpg", "vertical": false ,"tracks": [ { "file" : "//assets-jpcust.jwpsrv.com/tracks/XaYC8N7m", "label": "English" } ] ,"adfile": "//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/6cZfXvPq.m3u8" } Examine Three Themes That Tie Together Homer's OdysseyLearn from classicist Gilbert Highet and these dramatizations about three themes that tie together Homer's Odyssey. This 1965 video is a production of Encyclopædia Britannica Educational Corporation.(more)See all videos for this articleIt can be asked how one can be so confident in classing Homer himself as an oral singer, for if he differed from Phemius or Demodocus in terms of length, he may also have differed radically in his poetic techniques. The very nature of his verse may provide a substantial part of the answer. The style of the poems is “formulaic”; that is, they rely heavily on the use not only of stock epithets and repeated verses or groups of verses—which can also be found to a much lesser extent in a literate imitator like Virgil—but also on a multitude of fixed phrases that are employed time and time again to express a similar idea in a similar part of the verse. The clearest and simplest instance is the so-called noun-epithet formulas. These constitute a veritable system, in which every major god or hero possesses a variety of epithets from which the choice is made solely according to how much of the verse, and which part of it, the singer desires to use up. Odysseus is called divine Odysseus, many-counseled Odysseus, or much-enduring divine Odysseus simply in accordance with the amount of material to be fitted into the remainder of the hexameter (six-foot) verse. A ship is described as black, hollow, or symmetrical not to distinguish this particular ship from others but solely in relation to the qualities and demands of the rhythmical context. The whole noun-epithet system is both extensive and economical—it covers a great variety of subjects with very little exact reduplication or unnecessary overlap. It would seem that so refined and complex a system could not be the invention of a single poet but must have been gradually evolved in a long-standing tradition that needed both the extension and the economy for functional reasons—that depended on these fixed phrase units because of its oral nature, in which memory, practice, and a kind of improvising replace the deliberate, self-correcting, word-by-word progress of the pen-and-paper composer. Admittedly, the rest of Homer’s vocabulary is not as markedly formulaic as its noun-epithet aspect (or, another popular example, as its expressions for beginning and ending a speech). Many expressions, many portions of sentences are individually invented for the occasion, or at least so it seems. Even so, there is a strongly formulaic and ready-made component in the artificial language that was used by Homer, including its less conspicuous aspects such as the arrangement of particles, conjunctions, and pronouns. It looks, therefore, as though Homer must have trained as an ordinary aoidos, who began (like most of the present-day Yugoslav guslari) by building up a repertoire of normal-length songs acquired from already established singers. The greatest heroic adventures of the past must already have been prominent in any repertoire, especially the Panhellenic adventures of the Seven Against Thebes, the Argonauts, and the Achaean attack on Troy. Some aspects of the Trojan War might already have been expanded into songs of unusual length, though one that was still manageable on a single occasion. Yet the process was presumably carried much further in the making of the monumental Iliad, consisting of more than 16,000 verses, which would take four or five long evenings, and perhaps more, to perform. This breakthrough into the monumental, which made exceptional and almost unreasonable demands of audiences, presupposes a singer of quite exceptional capacity and reputation—one who could impose the new and admittedly difficult form upon his listeners by the sheer unfamiliar genius of his song. The 8th century bce was in other respects, too, an era of cultural innovation, not least in the direction of monumentality, and huge temples (like the early temple of Hera in Samos) and colossal funerary vases (like the mixing bowls and amphorae in the so-called Geometric style from the Dipylon cemetery in Athens) may have found a literary analogue in the idea of a vast poetical treatment of the Trojan War. But in an important sense Homer was building upon a tendency of all known oral heroic poetry toward elaboration and expansion. The singer does not acquire a song from another singer by simple memorization. He adjusts what he hears to his existing store of phrases, typical scenes, and themes, and he tends to replace what is unfamiliar to him with something he already knows, or to expand it by adding familiar material that it happens to lack. Every singer in a living oral tradition tends to develop what he acquires. There is an element of improvisation, as well as of memory, in his appropriation of fresh material; and judging by the practice of singers studied from the middle of the 19th century onward in Russia, Serbia, Cyprus, and Crete the inclination to adjust, elaborate, and improve comes naturally to all oral poets.

THE ODYSSEY BOOK 12, TRANSLATED BY A. T. MURRAY [1] “Now after our ship had left the stream of the river Oceanus and had come to the wave of the broad sea, and the Aeaean isle, where is the dwelling of early Dawn and her dancing-lawns, and the risings of the sun, there on our coming we beached our ship on the sands, and ourselves went forth upon the shore of the sea, and there we fell asleep, and waited for the bright Dawn. [8] “As soon as early Dawn appeared, the rosy-fingered, then I sent forth my comrades to the house of Circe to fetch the body of the dead Elpenor. Straightway then we cut billets of wood and gave him burial where the headland runs furthest out to sea, sorrowing and shedding big tears. But when the dead man was burned, and the armour of the dead, we heaped up a mound and dragged on to it a pillar, and on the top of the mound we planted his shapely oar. [16] “We then were busied with these several tasks, howbeit Circe was not unaware of our coming forth from the house of Hades, but speedily she arrayed herself and came, and her handmaids brought with her bread and meat in abundance and flaming red wine. And the beautiful goddess stood in our midst, and spoke among us, saying: `Rash men, who have gone down alive to the house of Hades to meet death twice, while other men die but once. Nay, come, eat food and drink wine here this whole day through; but at the coming of Dawn ye shall set sail, and I will point out the way and declare to you each thing, in order that ye may not suffer pain and woes through wretched ill-contriving either by sea or on land.’ [28] “So she spoke, and our proud hearts consented. So then all day long till set of sun we sat feasting on abundant flesh and sweet wine. But when the sun set and darkness came on, they lay down to rest beside the stern cables of the ship; but Circe took me by the hand, and leading me apart from my dear comrades, made me to sit, and herself lay down close at hand and asked me all the tale. And I told her all in due order. [36] "Then queenly Circe spoke to me and said: `All these things have thus found an end; but do thou hearken as I shall tell thee, and a god shall himself bring it to thy mind. To the Sirens first shalt thou come, who beguile all men whosoever comes to them. Whoso in ignorance draws near to them and hears the Sirens' voice, he nevermore returns, that his wife and little children may stand at his side rejoicing, but the Sirens beguile him with their clear-toned song, as they sit in a meadow, and about them is a great heap of bones of mouldering men, and round the bones the skin is shrivelling. But do thou row past them, and anoint the ears of thy comrades with sweet wax, which thou hast kneaded, lest any of the rest may hear. But if thou thyself hast a will to listen, let them bind thee in the swift ship hand and foot upright in the step of the mast, and let the ropes be made fast at the ends to the mast itself, that with delight thou mayest listen to the voice of the two Sirens. And if thou shalt implore and bid thy comrades to loose thee, then let them bind thee with yet more bonds.

THE ODYSSEY BOOK 9, TRANSLATED BY A. T. MURRAY

Plato

Plato (born 428/427 bce, Athens, Greece—died 348/347, Athens) was an ancient Greek philosopher, student of Socrates (c. 470–399 bce), teacher of Aristotle (384–322 bce), and founder of the Academy. He is best known as the author of philosophical works of unparalleled influence and is one of the major figures of Classical antiquity.

As Plato expects, we feel deep sadness at the absence of any chance to understand anything, to achieve anything of value, or to experience anything of beauty.

What is the Allegory of the Cave?Plato’s "Allegory of the Cave" is a concept devised by the philosopher to ruminate on the nature of belief versus knowledge. The allegory begins with prisoners who have lived their entire lives chained inside a cave. Behind the prisoners is a fire, and between the fire and the prisoners are people carrying puppets or other objects. These cast shadows on the opposite wall. The prisoners watch these shadows, believing this to be their reality as they've known nothing else.Plato posits that one prisoner could become free. He finally sees the fire and realizes the shadows are fake. This prisoner could escape from the cave and discover there is a whole new world outside they were previously unaware of.This prisoner would believe the outside world is so much more real than that in the cave. He would try to return to free the other prisoners. Upon his return, he is blinded because his eyes are not accustomed to actual sunlight. The chained prisoners would see this blindness and believe they will be harmed if they try to leave the cave.

how humans perceive reality and whether there is any higher truth to existence.

Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” is one of the most well-known philosophical concepts in history.

The Allegory of the Cave

Journey To The Quest: The Path Of Self-Actualization In Paulo Coelho’s “The Alchemist”

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

oelho, who had recorded the trajectory of his return to the Catholic faith in The Pilgrimage and The Valkyries, continued to center both his fiction and nonfiction works on questions of faith and spirituality. O monte cinco (1996; The Fifth Mountain) retells the story of the Biblical prophet Elijah, and Manual do guerreiro da luz (1997; Manual of the Warrior of Light) couches a selection of spiritual exhortations from well-known religious figures in a fictional framework. Though Coelho’s novels continued to succeed

In 1988 Coelho published O alquimista (The Alchemist), a mystical account of an Andalusian shepherd boy’s journey across North Africa in search of treasure. After being dropped by its first publisher, the book was reissued to great success in Brazil and—in translation—abroad.

He rebelled against the conventions of his Roman Catholic upbringing and, as a result, was temporarily committed to a psychiatric hospital by his parents

Paulo Coelho (born August 24, 1947, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) is a Brazilian novelist known for employing rich symbolism in his depictions of the often spiritually motivated journeys taken by his characters.

Literary archetype: the literary critic is a constant in all of the Quixote, especially against the knight tales, the theatre of Lope de Vega and the pastoral novels.Love archetype: The main couple (Don Quixote and Dulcinea) aren't really together, so there are other love stories, mainly among younger people. Jealousy is also a topic, a very important one in all of Cervantes's works.Political archetype: An utopian archetype of politics, like when Sancho decides he wants to be Governor of an island.

This first part was published in four volumes and had a great success. It was translated into all the languages spoken in Europe, but it didn't give any economic benefits to the author because of the piracy copies: Cervantes only reserved printing privilege in Castile, and the surrounding provinces printed cheaper copies that they later sold in Castile.

Don Quixote was the first antirromance novel, because it demystifies the knightly tradition.

Don Quixote de la Mancha is a novel written by Miguel de Cervantes, the great Spanish writer. The first part was published under the name "El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha" at the beginning of 1605, and it's considered one of the great literary works of the Spanish and universal literature, as well as one of the most translated. In 1615 the second part was published under the title "El ingenioso caballero don Quijote de la Mancha".

On, then, as aforesaid, came Don Quixote against the wary Biscayan, with uplifted sword and a firm intention of splitting him in half, while on his side the Biscayan waited for him sword in hand, and under the protection of his cushion; and all present stood trembling, waiting in suspense the result of blows such as threatened to fall, and the lady in the coach and the rest of her following were making a thousand vows and offerings to all the images and shrines of Spain, that God might deliver her squire and all of them from this great peril in which they found themselves. But it spoils all, that at this point and crisis the author of the history leaves this battle impending, giving as excuse that he could find nothing more written about these achievements of Don Quixote than what has been already set forth. It is true the second author of this work was unwilling to believe that a history so curious could have been allowed to fall under the sentence of oblivion, or that the wits of La Mancha could have been so undiscerning as not to preserve in their archives or registries some documents referring to this famous knight; and this being his persuasion, he did not despair of fin

So saying, he advanced and posted himself in the middle of the road along which the friars were coming, and as soon as he thought they had come near enough to hear what he said, he cried aloud, “Devilish and unnatural beings, release instantly the highborn princesses whom you are carrying off by force in this coach, else prepare to meet a speedy death as the just punishment of your evil deeds.” The friars drew rein and stood wondering at the appearance of Don Quixote as well as at his words, to which they replied, “Señor Caballero, we are not devilish or unnatural, but two brothers of St. Benedict following our road, nor do we know whether or not there are any captive princesses coming in this coach.”

Finally they passed the night among some trees, from one of which Don Quixote plucked a dry branch to serve him after a fashion as a lance, and fixed on it the head he had removed from the broken one. All that night Don Quixote lay awake thinking of his lady Dulcinea, in order to conform to what he had read in his books, how many a night in the forests and deserts knights used to lie sleepless supported by the memory of their mistresses. Not so did Sancho Panza spend it, for having his stomach full of something stronger than chicory water he made but one sleep of it, and, if his master had not called him, neither the rays of the sun beating on his face nor all the cheery notes of the birds welcoming the approach of day would have had power to waken him

Don Quixote could not help laughing at his squire’s simplicity, and he assured him he might complain whenever and however he chose, just as he liked, for, so far, he had never read of anything to the contrary in the order of knighthood.

has turned these giants into mills in order to rob me of the glory of vanquishing them, such is the enmity he bears me; but in the end his wicked arts will avail but little against my good sword.”

So saying, and commending himself with all his heart to his lady Dulcinea, imploring her to support him in such a peril, with lance in rest and covered by his buckler, he charged at Rocinante’s fullest gallop and fell upon the first mill that stood in front of him; but as he drove his lance-point into the sail the wind whirled it round with such force that it shivered the lance to pieces, sweeping with it horse and rider, who went rolling over on the plain, in a sorry condition. Sancho hastened to his assistance as fast as his ass could go, and when he came up found him unable to move, with such a shock had Rocinante fallen with him.

At this point they came in sight of thirty or forty windmills that there are on that plain, and as soon as Don Quixote saw them he said to his squire, “Fortune is arranging matters for us better than we could have shaped our desires ourselves, for look there, friend Sancho Panza, where thirty or more monstrous giants present themselves, all of whom I mean to engage in battle and slay, and with whose spoils we shall begin to make our fortunes; for this is righteous warfare, and it is God’s good service to sweep so evil a breed from off the face of the earth.”

Grammaticus’ tale has many similarities to Shakespeare’s play, the most obvious and significant of which are: a villain who kills his brother, takes over the throne and then marries his brother’s wife a cunning young hero, the King’s son, who pretends to be mad to shield himself from his uncle three plots used by the King to uncover the young man’s secrets: a young woman, a spy planted in the Queen’s bedroom (who is uncovered and killed), and two escorts who take the prince to England (also outwitted and killed) a hero who returns home during a funeral and finally achieves his revenge through an exchange of swords. Character equivalents: old and young Hamlet, old and young Fortinbras, Claudius and Gertrude, Polonius, Ophelia, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern

Shakespeare’s Hamlet has become a story for the ages. The play, written sometime between 1599 and 1601, has been produced thousands of times on stage and has been adapted into countless musicals, films, ballets, and more over the past four centuries. That being said, the story behind Shakespeare’s Hamlet has been around for far longer than the play, predating it by more than 500 years!

Amleth, Prince of Denmark

The sagas are the collective memory of a people written down lifetimes after the events they describe. Therefore, one must be cautious in using them as a historical source. Some experts go so far as to label the sagas “historical fiction” or to warn us that using them as history would be like using John Wayne movies as a source for your college paper on World War II. Such criticism may be going too far. Certainly, the sagas vary in terms of historical accuracy and/or historical merit (i.e., how much truth they add to the historical picture). Yet, because of the detail one finds in sagas that one could not find anywhere else, they are essential to understanding what happened, why, and ultimately what it felt like to the people who lived it. The sagas are not necessarily history as facts and sequences, but rather history as experiences remembered.

The Prose Edda was written around 1222 by Snorri Sturluson, the "Homer of the North." Snorri was an Icelandic politician credited with Egil’s Saga and the Heimskringla (History of the Kings of Norway). Snorri seems to have deliberately written The Prose Edda as a guide for the preservation and continuation of Norse poetry. Modern readers should not let this “textbook” designation deter them, though: The Prose Edda is am extremely accessible, concise work of about 100 pages that offers the most complete survey of Norse lore available.

Even today, a thousand years later, the modern Icelandic language is very similar to Old Norse. Though some word meanings and pronunciation have naturally shifted, Icelandic college students can read the Medieval manuscripts without much difficulty. This retention of language is a tremendous testament to the cultural preservation that occurred in that island nation.

saga(s) / sah-guh /nounOne of many long stories of heroic achievement focusing on Norse, Icelandic and Viking related history and folklore, recorded in Iceland during in the 12th and 13th centuries.

Edda / ed-uh /nounEither of two 13th-century Icelandic books, the older 'Poetic Edda' (a collection of Old Norse poems on Norse legends) and the younger 'Prose Edda' (a handbook to Icelandic poetry by Snorri Sturluson). The Eddas are the chief source of knowledge of Scandinavian mythology.

Life has cycles.The end wasn’t really the end for the Norse world. Destruction was wrought, but out of the ashes arose a new world.

hree straight years went by with no hint of summer — a season of darkness and coldness which the prophecies had deemed The Great Winter.

As Ragnarok approached, the humans in Midgard disregarded their way of life, giving up the bonds of brotherhood and engaging in endless wars.

Calling it an apocalypse was actually a little misleading, though. You see, Ragnarok wasn’t actually the end of all things, but rather the end of a certain era. It was both the destruction and subsequent recreation of the cosmos.

It’s where gods and beasts alike meet their demise, and the world crashes into oblivion.

An axe-age, a sword-age, | shields shall be cloven; A wind-age, a wolf-age, | ere the world totters.

The first is this, that there shall come that winter which is called the Awful Winter: in that time snow shall drive from all quarters; frosts shall be great then, and winds sharp; there shall be no virtue in the sun. Those winters shall proceed three in succession, and no summer between; but first shall come three other winters, such that over all the world there shall be mighty battles. In that time brothers shall slay each other for greed's sake, and none shall spare father or son in manslaughter and in incest; so it says in Völuspá:

{p. 77}

All Quiet on the Western Front

All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque

“God is dead”: What Nietzsche really meant

3. Evaluating Nietzsche’s Critique Nietzsche is not merely atheist. He is anti-theist. Belief in God stifles flourishing. For Nietzsche, we should junk belief in God and focus on developing our own values, setting our own goals, and achieving personal excellence. There are important questions to consider. First, which is more plausible: Nietzsche’s view about the origin of the idea of God, or other accounts, such as that it’s true that there really is a God and that’s why people believe? Second, does belief in God indeed encourage weakness and sap self-reliance? Third, does morality require equality, and does belief in equality require belief in God? Finally, does belief in God indeed limit the development of excellence? Answers to these questions are necessary for a full evaluation of Nietzsche’s provocative claims.

2. Nietzsche’s Critique of Belief in God But, Nietzsche says, we don’t need to believe in God to address these challenges. Rather than try to escape suffering by embracing some otherworldly entity, Nietzsche thinks we should utilize suffering to better ourselves. A truly meaningful life turns on achieving personal excellence, and such excellence requires overcoming struggle. People like Nelson Mandela, Emma Goldman, and Ludwig van Beethoven achieved greatness by facing down hardship. Nothing truly exceptional in this world comes from peace and satisfaction. Nietzsche says, “The discipline of suffering, of great suffering—do you not know that only this discipline has created all enhancements of man so far”? (BGE 225). Moreover, belief in God sustains weakness: “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth” (Mathew 5:5). Walking with God, for Nietzsche, is walking with a crutch. If we face suffering on our own, we are stronger, and have greater potential for excellence. Interestingly, Nietzsche holds that many modern atheists continue to believe in God, though they don’t recognize it. “This deed [the death of God] is still more remote to them than the remotest stars—and yet they have done it themselves!” (GS 125). Atheists often fail to understand the true extent of atheism. How could this be? The answer is this: atheists continue to embrace traditional moral principles – e.g., that we should respect people or reduce suffering – and these principles imply that all people are morally equal. Nietzsche claims that belief in God is the only way to ensure moral equality.[1] If God were to exist, then we would all be equal as God’s children. But what makes us equal if God is dead? For Nietzsche: nothing. Why think a freedom fighter in Syria, for example, is morally equal to a Ku Klux Klan member in Wisconsin? Our capacities and abilities to respect others, to feel pain, to empathize, and so on, are vastly different. Thus, we lack universally shared characteristics necessary for moral equality. Atheists continue to believe in God as long as they believe that we are equal. Nietzsche also thinks belief in God binds excellence. Equality benefits the social order, invites mediocrity, and stamps out genuine individuality. The Judeo-Christian tradition values selflessness, humility, and weakness, and demands that everyone on Earth should embrace such values or suffer eternal consequences. But certainly not all individuals flourish while embracing Judeo-Christian values. Some individuals are exceptionally self-affirmative, prideful, and strong. What would happen to someone such as Beethoven, for example, if at a young age he were to accept that he should avoid feeling pride because it runs against God’s commandments? What if potentially excellent individuals were forbidden by some eternal order to feel self-affirmative, proud, and strong? Nietzsche’s worry is that they might not become excellent. If potentially excellent individuals get duped into believing that everyone is equal, such that they never prioritize their needs and interests over the needs and interests of others, they might not become great. Belief in God hinders greatness. God is dead, Nietzsche says, and advancing humanity requires defeating the vestiges of God found in traditional morality and moral equality.

1. Nietzsche on Why People Believe in God What is Nietzsche’s justification for claiming that God is a fiction? The answer lies in the function of the idea of God. According to Nietzsche, the idea of God was created to help people handle widespread and seemingly senseless suffering. The ancient Israelites, who brought forward the Judeo-Christian God, lived in horrible conditions: for many generations, they were enslaved, beaten, and killed. Under such immense duress, it’s perfectly reasonable for them to find some reason to explain suffering and hope that those responsible for suffering will be punished. The idea of God plays that role. The idea of God emerges to provide light in a dark world. From antiquity to today most people turn to God when awful tragedies happen – for example, when loved ones are gunned down by active shooters, trapped in cities bombarded by hurricanes, or diagnosed with cancer. For many, belief in God provides strength to endure such misery. Belief in God also provides hope that when our loved ones pass away we can live with them again for eternity. Belief in God ensures that no loss is inconsolable, no injustice unrequited, and that we can finally have everlasting peace, no matter the misery gone through to get there. For Nietzsche, then, there is a natural explanation for belief in God. God is a psychological fabrication created to soothe distress, ease trauma, and provide companionship in the face of suffering.

Nietzsche is perhaps most famous for making the striking claim that God is dead. He writes, “God is dead! God remains dead! And we have killed him!” (GS 125). What does this mean? Straightforwardly, it seems nonsensical. God is supposed to be eternal, and thus cannot die. Nietzsche’s claim, however, is that “God” is a fiction created by human beings. Thus, God “dies” when there is no good reason to believe that God exists. This essay will help us understand this claim, his arguments for it, and its potential implications for contemporary religious and ethical thought.

Thus Spake Nietzsche

ZARATHUSTRA’S PROLOGUE.

Excerpt of the Neverending Story.pdf

The Questionnaires of James Lipton, Bernard Pivot, and Marcel Proust

Use the Proust Questionnaire to Fine-Tune Your Characters

The Proust Questionnaire and Our Many Selves

Seek? More than that: create. It is face to face with something which does not so far exist, to which it alone can give reality and substance, which it alone can bring into the light of day. And I begin again to ask myself what it could have been, this unremembered state which brought with it no logical proof of its existence, but only the sense that it was a happy, that it was a real state in whose presence other states of consciousness melted and vanished. I decide to attempt to make it reappear. I retrace my thoughts to the moment at which I drank the first spoonful of tea. I find again the same state, illumined by no fresh light. I compel my mind to make one further effort, to follow and recapture once again the fleeting sensation. And that nothing may interrupt it in its course I shut out every obstacle, every extraneous idea, I stop my ears and inhibit all attention to the sounds which come from the next room. And then, feeling that my mind is growing fatigued without having any success to report, I compel it for a change to enjoy that distraction which I have just denied it, to think of other things, to rest and refresh itself before the supreme attempt. And then for the second time I clear an empty space in front of it. I place in position before my mind's eye the still recent taste of that first mouthful, and I feel something start within me, something that leaves its resting-place and attempts to rise, something that has been embedded like an anchor at a great depth; I do not know yet what it is, but I can feel it mounting slowly; I can measure the resistance, I can hear the echo of great spaces traversed.

I feel that there is much to be said for the Celtic belief that the souls of those whom we have lost are held captive in some inferior being, in an animal, in a plant, in some inanimate object, and so effectively lost to us until the day (which to many never comes) when we happen to pass by the tree or to obtain possession of the object which forms their prison.

In 1910, he had his bedroom lined with cork to block out the deafening noise of daytime Paris because he slept during the day and wrote through the night, after returning home from some of Paris's most exclusive salons. He was known as the city's most famous recluse, he even called himself an owl because he wrote while listening to his “nocturnal Muse.”

Marcel Proust was born on July 10, 1871 in the Paris suburb of Auteuil. His father, Dr. Adrien Proust, was one of France's most distinguished scientists. His mother, Jeanne Weil, was a well-educated woman who loved the great classic writers of the 17th century, especially Molière and Racine

We discover new planets that were not included in the book! So we will be able to share and commune with the French public around this unique work, but also discover the genesis of the work and recall the life of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, a life of commitment to the service of humanistic and positive values. He was at the same time a simple man, a hero and a visionary.

The discovery of the original watercolors of The Little Prince (for the first time in the world) in the Museum of Decorative Arts exhibition will be a moment of fantastic emotional intensity for the public

The Little Prince has the power of poetic seduction, enchantment and healing. It has the power to bring us serenity and hope. It is of capital use for each one of us. Therefore, it is useful and advisable to reread it frequently.

It is first and foremost a book that consoles the loss of a loved one; there are millions of testimonies in this sense. It is also a guide and a survival manual in this absurd world (in the Camusian sense of the term) for those who doubt or wonder about the meaning of life, death and relationships between individuals. It is an esoteric book that brings real answers to these questions if we know how to read between the lines.

The Little Prince, which was commissioned by his American publisher (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was in New York at the time, between 1941 and 1943, before going off to war in North Africa), started out as a nice project to pay the bills and became, through the miracle of my great-uncle’s inspiration and genius, the most universal, timeless and modern fable, which has spoken to people for nearly 80 years (1943-2023).

It is central because it is the best-known work. It is the most translated book in the world (480 languages) and the number of editions and copies sold worldwide (more than 200 million) has been countless. Unique because this literary object does not resemble a novel or the rest of his work. The form is rather like a tale, supposedly for children, but which is in fact addressed to adults (who have not forgotten their childhood). Its success is due as much to the watercolors painted by the author himself as the text.

In 1998, a French fisherman found Saint-Exupéry’s identity bracelet in the ocean off Marseille, and two years later divers found the remains of his aircraft in the same area. This led to the rediscovery of reports from August 1944, of the discovery of a body that could not be identified but was in French uniform washing ashore nearby at that time. Yet this location was far off Saint-Exupéry’s flight path. Although there were reports, never confirmed, that a German pilot had shot down an aircraft like a P-38 in the area on July 31, underwater archaeologists were unable to find any evidence of damage from enemy action in the remains of the aircraft.

He therefore returned to service in North Africa as a reconnaissance pilot in April 1943, flying an F-5B variant of the P-38 Lightning. A crash on his second flight boded ill for Saint-Exupéry’s future, but he was nevertheless ushered back into service after recuperating.

When World War II began in 1939, Saint-Exupéry was in the process of recovering from severe injuries he had received in yet another aircraft crash in Guatemala during the previous year.

From there he flew throughout the region, among other things rescuing pilots whose aircraft had gone down in the harsh and forbidding region. The skills he learned in this work would come in handy later on.

Early in 1923 he crashed his airplane and suffered a skull fracture. Undeterred, he began a career as a mail pilot, flying all over western Europe and North Africa.

he joined the French military in 1921. His first posting was to the cavalry, but ever since taking his first airplane flight in 1912 he had wanted to be a pilot.

lost his life under mysterious circumstances during World War II.

I still don’t know where that original book ended up, but I think I’m okay with not finding it. Maybe some things don’t need me to come back to them. Maybe moving forward once and for all is the best course of action. At the end of the day, maybe the point of The Little Prince isn’t that the Aviator and the Prince both go home at the end, but that they left in the first place. Maybe it’s less about being lonely and missing home and more about making the connections that will make us feel at home wherever we are. I know I’m still struggling to learn these lessons, but I know this book will find a way of showing up in my life whenever I need it.

To call The Little Prince anything but a bittersweet story would be a mistake. There’s an emotional depth to it that goes beyond what most children’s stories achieve.

The Little Prince is obstinately considered a book for children, but the story is one perhaps not fully appreciated until later in life.

The Little Prince, however, is one that keeps appearing in my life whenever I seem to need it the most. I am immensely grateful to whatever god of stories is out there for putting this book in my life.

All this evidence of my favorite book’s widespread popularity made me jealous: The Little Prince, I have always believed, was mine—as if it was a book uniquely meant for me.

he Little Prince has become, since its original French publication in 1943, one of the most frequently translated texts on planet Earth.

The Little Prince, a charmingly illustrated story of a small boy who lives on an asteroid and travels across the universe, discovering friendship, love, and loss, and gaining knowledge about adults and their peculiar interests.

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

In keeping with the spirit of the French writer and aviator, the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Youth Foundation carries out various actions around the world to improve the daily lives of young people.

Having rejoined the Free French Forces, Saint Exupéry was shot down on a mission on July 31, 1944.

His profession nourished his writing, and both earned him the Legion of Honor

military service in the air force and became a pilot.

Born on June 29, 1900 in Lyon into an old aristocratic family,

IV. THE CYLINDER OPENS.

The first written mention of Barbara Allen was made by Samuel Pepys who sang it with friends on New Year’s Eve in 1665, and since then hundreds of versions have been recorded by collectors over the years from all round the British Isles and across North America.

Barbara Allen is the story of a rather bossy man who on his death bed sends a servant out to get Barbara Allen, the woman he says he loves, saying that one kiss from her will save his life. When she refuses, accusing him of flirting with all sorts of women, he simply gives up and dies, but not before laying a guilt trip on her by giving her some of his most treasured possessions. Barbara Allen then, with a similar lack of resilience, also gives up the ghost as it turns out she can’t in fact face life without him after all.

Barbara Allen is considered the world's most-collected English language folk ballad

“O Mother, Mother, make my bed, O make it soft and narrow: Since my love died for me today, I’ll die for him a’morrow.”

Versions of “Barbara Allen” derive from Great Britain, Ireland, and the United States, a great swath of which are found in the Appalachian Mountains. The popular belief is that the ballad came from Scotland. The title has several different spellings from “Barbara Allen” to “Barbara Allan,” “Barbry Allen” to “Bawbie Allen,” etc. The male character seems to switch between “Sweet William” and “Sir John Græme.” This narrative song is arguably the most popular ballad of all time.

Barbara Allen

There’s the Robin Hood Festival, a celebration of the man, and his medieval way of life. We have guided walks from characters of the day who may have known him, even the Sheriff of Nottingham. Visit the Events page to find out more.

There are several candidates from history, but whoever he was, he remains an inspiration to this day

(“Robin Hood in Sherwood stood”) are taken from a poem dating back to around 1400. But there were references to the world’s most famous outlaw even before then.

When they had shot about, These archers fair and good, Evermore was the best, For sooth, Robin Hood. Him was delivered the good arrow, For best worthy was he; He took the gift so courteously, To green wood would he.

A right good arrow he shall have, The shaft of silver white, The head and the feathers of rich red gold, In England is none like.

Robin Hood and his merry men Dwelled still full many a day.

Never a word said Robin Hood, but he looked at the foresters with a grim face; then, turning on his heel, strode away from them down the forest glade. But his heart was bitterly angry, for his blood was hot and youthful and prone to boil.

So up he got and took his good stout yew bow and a score or more of broad clothyard arrows, and started off from Locksley Town through Sherwood Forest to Nottingham.

When Robin was a youth of eighteen

in merry england in the time of old, when good King Henry the Second ruled the land, there lived within the green glades of Sherwood Forest, near Nottingham Town, a famous outlaw whose name was Robin Hood.

Themes in English Ballads

This collection contains hundreds of traditional English and Scottish ballads, many of which remain popular in folk music today.

The Role of Instruments While some Irish ballads are performed a cappella, others are accompanied by traditional instruments such as the tin whistle, fiddle, and bodhrán (Irish frame drum). These instruments help to enhance the storytelling aspect of the ballads, grounding them in the cultural and musical traditions of Ireland

What is a Ballad? A ballad is a form of narrative verse that is typically set to music. Historically, ballads have been used as a means of oral storytelling, with each verse carrying a part of the tale. Ballads usually follow a simple, repetitive structure, making them easy to memorize and pass down through generations. While their forms may vary slightly between cultures, ballads are universally known for their storytelling, which often focuses on themes such as love, tragedy, heroism, and historical events.

Ballad singing is one of the most enduring forms of musical storytelling, its roots stretching across the rich folk traditions of Ireland, England, Scotland, and the United States

Finnegan's Wake

a globule of fat splattered from the fish to Finn’s finger. The young lad did as we might do, and he stuck his finger into his mouth to ease the pain. It was in this way that all the wisdom contained in the fish transferred to Finn.When the boy served the old man, Finegas could tell that Finn had the wisdom.

After much effort, Finegas finally caught the legendary salmon, and he was overcome with joy. “All right, Finn, here’s what you do. Are you listening? Good man. Look, you take this salmon, and you fry it up over there, but mind you that you don’t eat any of it. This salmon is for me. I’ve searched for it long and wide, and I’ve earned it. And once I eat it, I will have all the wisdom of the worold, which is a great thing for a seer to have. It’ll be the next best thing until Wikipedia. D’you got that?”

And so, the legend of the Salmon of Knowledge began. It was said that anyone who caught this salmon and ate it, would gain all the wisdom of the world.

annoyed with everyone calling him Old Man Fintan, he took a wild leap into the nearest stream, changed into a salmon, and swam away.

His name was Fintan mac Bóchra, but being as old as he was, folk just went around calling him Fintan the Wise.

“It represents wisdom, I’m told.”

It’s a replica of a Medieval depiction of a salmon.

Benandonner was shocked. He thought that if the baby of Finn MacCool is this big, his father, the giant Finn, must be huge.

However, Finn’s wife had a master plan to save her husband. Using bedclothes and some other material, she sowed some giant baby clothes together which she gave to Finn to change into.  She then made him step into a large cradle that was kept in the living room by the fire where he huddled up like a baby. At sunrise the following morning there was a loud knock on the door.

When Finn arrived and laid his eyes upon Benandonner he was stunned speechless. Benandonner wasn’t big – he was enormous.

Finn made his way out to the Antrim coast and began tearing up large chunks of coastline and firing them into the water.

Although Fionn had never laid eyes on Benandonner, he had heard a whisper that he was the largest and most fierce giant in all of Scotland. Enraged by Benandonner’s sheer cheek, Fionn immediately accepted the challenge, but there was a slight snag – how would he get across to Scotland?!

Benandonner wanted to challenge Fionn to a fight so that he could prove that he was bigger and stronger than any giant in Ireland.

he was the biggest and strongest giant in all of Ireland. It’s said that the Irish giant’s booming voice could be heard for miles and miles around.

consider using brains over brawn during times of potential conflict.

feature an Irish giant named Finn or Fionn. Both are the same and they are based on the warrior Fionn Mac Cumhaill.

led to the creation of the magnificent Giants Causeway.

It features a giant named Fionn Mac Cumhaill (aka Finn McCool) and it tells the story of his battle with a Scottish giant, named Benandonner.

. Fionn's wife dressed up her husband as a baby and when Benandonner arrived she said Fionn wasn't home and to be quiet not to wake up the baby. When Benandonner saw the ‘baby' he decided that if the baby was that big, Fionn must be massive. So he turned tail and fled back across the causeway ripping it up as he went. All that remains are the ends, here at the Giant's Causeway and on the island of Staffa in Scotland where similar formations are found.

The story goes that Fionn built the causeway to get to Scotland and battle with a rival giant called Benandonner.

the most famous legend of Fionn Mac Cumhail surrounds the Giants Causeway in Country Antrim.

the legendary Irish warrior/hunter who led the band of Irish warriors known as the Fianna and created the Giants Causeway.

Then, when they heard that it was Conor’s foster-son who was without, on the instant to one man they rose; and though the doors of the fort were thrown wide they could not wait for that, but out they stormed over the walls and ramparts of the fort to find the boy.” “Quick they were,” said Fergus, interrupting, “yet did I outstrip them, and at the rampart’s outer door I found the child, and the great hound dead beside him. Without a pause I picked up the boy and hoisted him on my shoulder, and thus, with all the heroes following, we came to Conor, and I placed him between the monarch’s knees.”

“‘It is only that I have an excellent watch-dog, fierce and strong; and when his chain is taken off, and he is set free to guard the house, no one dare come anywhere within the same district with him; he is furious with all but me, and he has the strength and savage force of a hundred ordinary watch-dogs. This dog was brought to me from Spain, and no dog in the country can equal him.’ ‘Let him be set loose, for all are here,’ said Conor; ‘well will he guard this place for us.’ “So Culain loosed the dog, and with one spring it bounded forth out of the court of the house and over the wall of the rath, making a circuit of the entire district; and when it came back panting, with its tongue hanging from its jaws, it took up its usual position in front of the house, and there crouched with its head upon its paws, watching the high road to Emain. Surely an extraordinarily cruel and fierce and savage dog was he.

“There he saw a sight so curious that he could not tear himself away. At one end of the green stood a group of a hundred and fifty youths, guarding one goal, all striving to prevent the ball of a single little boy, who was playing against the whole of them, from getting in; but for all that they could do, he won the game, and drove his ball home to the goal. “Then they changed sides, and the little lad defended his one goal against the hundred and fifty balls of the other youths, all sent at once across the ground. But though the youths played well, following up their balls, not one of them went into the hole, for the little boy caught them one after another just outside, driving them hither and thither, so that they could not make the goal. But when his turn came round to make the counter-stroke, he was as successful as before; nay, he would get the entire set of a hundred and fifty balls into their hole, for all that they could do. “Then they played a game of getting each other’s cloaks off without tearing them, and he would have their mantles off, one after the other, before they could, on their part, even unfasten the brooch that held his cloak.[35] When they wrestled with each other, it was the same thing: he would have them on the ground before all of them together could upset him, or make him budge a foot. “As the King stood and watched all this, he said: ‘’Tis well for the country into which this boy has come! A clever child indeed is he; were but his acts as a grown man to come up to the promise of his youth, he might be of some solid use to us; but this is not to be counted upon.’”

But he said, ‘I have no lands or store of wealth; I pray thee, therefore, to bring with thee but a few of thy prime warriors, because my house cannot contain a great company of guests.’ So the King said he would go, bringing but a small retinue with him.

Now the custom is, that every man of means and every owner of land in Ulster, should, once in a year or so, invite the King and his chiefs to spend a few days, it may be a week or a fortnight, at his house, that he may give them entertainment

And Cormac, Conor’s son, answered eagerly, “I will tell you that story myself, for I was present, and I know the way of it.”

Meave said to Fergus, “Just now you spoke of that little boy as Setanta, but I have heard him called Cuchulain, or Culain’s Hound; how did he get that name?”

n times of rage he took on the characteristics of the Scandinavian berserkers and would become monstrously deformed and uncontrollable.

he performed superhuman exploits and labours comparable to those of the Greek hero Achilles.

His prowess was increased by the gift of seven fingers on each hand, seven toes on each foot, and seven pupils in each eye.

He was the greatest of the Knights of the Red Branch—

Cú Chulainn, in medieval Irish literature, the central character of the Ulster (Ulaid) cycle

Events centre on the reign of the semi-historical King Conor (Conchobar mac Nessa) at Emain Macha (near modern Armagh) and his Knights of the Red Branch (i.e., the palace building in which the heads and arms of vanquished enemies were stored).

They reflect the customs of a free pre-Christian aristocracy who fought from chariots, took heads as trophies, were subject to taboo (geis), and were influenced by druids

a group of legends and tales dealing with the heroic age of the Ulaids

Ulster cycle

After serving in the Crimean War, he retired to his estate and devoted himself to writing, farming, and raising his large family. His novels and outspoken social polemics brought him world fame.

Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) was born in central Russia

Their subsequent affair scandalizes society and family alike and soon brings jealously and bitterness in its wake. Contrasting with this tale of love and self-destruction is the vividly observed story of Levin, a man striving to find contentment and a meaning to his life - and also a self-portrait of Tolstoy himself.

Anna Karenina seems to have everything - beauty, wealth, popularity and an adored son. But she feels that her life is empty until the moment she encounters the impetuous officer Count Vronsky

olstoy's epic novel of love, destiny and self-destruction

And his inner voice told him that he should not go, that there could be nothing here but falseness, that to rectify, to repair, their relations was impossible, because it was impossible to make her attractive and arousing of love again or to make him an old man incapable of love. Nothing could come of it now but falseness and deceit, and falseness and deceit were contrary to his nature.

he most unpleasant thing here was that it mixed financial interests into the impending matter of their reconciliation. And the thought that he might be guided by those interests, that he might seek a reconciliation with his wife in order to sell the wood, was offensive to him.

There was no answer, except the general answer life gives to all the most complex and insoluble questions. That answer is: one must live for the needs of the day, in other words, become oblivious. To become oblivious in dreams was impossible now, at least till night-time; it was impossible to return to that music sung by carafe-women; and so one had to become oblivious in the dream of life.

But what to do, then? What to do?' he kept saying despairingly to himself, and could find no answer.

`Oh, oh, oh! Ohh! ...' he moaned, remembering all that had taken place. And in his imagination he again pictured all the details of his quarrel with his wife, all the hopelessness of his position and, most painful of all, his own guilt.

was painfully felt by the couple themselves, as well as by all the members of the family and household.

The wife had found out that the husband was having an affair with their former French governess, and had announced to the husband that she could not live in the same house with him.

All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.

Once or twice her breathing turned into mild snores. Tomas felt no compassion. All he felt was the pressure in his stomach and the despair of having returned.

In languages that derive from Latin, compassion means: we cannot look on coolly as others suffer; or, we sympathize with those who suffer. Another word with approximately the same meaning, pity (French, pitie; Italian, pieta; etc.), connotes a certain condescension towards the sufferer. To take pity on a woman means that we are better off than she, that we stoop to her level, lower ourselves.

Tomas came to this conclusion: Making love with a woman and sleeping with a woman are two separate passions, not merely different but opposite. Love does not make itself felt in the desire for copulation (a desire that extends to an infinite number of women) but in the desire for shared sleep (a desire limited to one woman).

Tomas did not realize at the time that metaphors are dangerous. Metaphors are not to be trifled with. A single metaphor can give birth to love.

He himself was surprised. He had acted against his principles. Ten years earlier, when he had divorced his wife, he celebrated the event the way others celebrate a marriage.

Einmal ist keinmal, says Tomas to himself. What happens but once, says the German adage, might as well not have happened at all. If we have only one life to live,we might as well not have lived at all.

We can never know what to want, because, living only one life, we can neither compare it with our previous lives nor perfect it in our lives to come.

light/darkness, fineness/coarseness, warmth/cold, being/non-being. One half of the opposition he called positive (light, fineness, warmth, being), the other negative. We might find this division into positive and negative poles childishly simple except for one difficulty: which one is positive, weight or lightness? Parmenides responded: lightness is positive, weight negative.Was he correct or not? That is the question. The only certainty is: the lightness/weight opposition is the most mysterious, most ambiguous of all.

The heaviest of burdens crushes us, we sink beneath it, it pins us to the ground. But in the love poetry of every age, the woman longs to be weighed down by the man’s body. The heaviest of burdens is therefore simultaneously an image of life’s most intense fulfillment. The heavier the burden, the closer our lives come to the earth, the more real and truthful they become.

This reconciliation with Hitler reveals the profound moral perversity of a world that rests essentially on the nonexistence of return, for in this world everything is pardoned in advance and therefore everything cynically permitted.

note of it than of a war between two African kingdoms in the fourteenth century, a war that altered nothing in the destiny of the world, even if a hundred thousand blacks perished in excruciating torment.

Putting it negatively, the myth of eternal return states that a life which disappears once and for all, which does not return, is like a shadow, without weight, dead in advance, and whether it was horrible, beautiful, or sublime, its horror, sublimity, and beauty mean nothing.

BOOK II

BOOK I

In his major work, now called the Xunzi, he accused Mencius of misleading “the dim-witted scholars of the vulgar age,” letting them believe that Mencius’s own “aberrant” and “esoteric” doctrines are the “true words” of Confucius (Xunzi, Chapter 6, “Contra Twelve Philosophers”). Later Confucians, who made much of the differences between the two philosophers, pointed to their theories of human nature as the source of their disagreement. But the fixation on that subject tended to obscure their more important differences regarding such topics as education and self-knowledge, feelings and intellect, law and adjudication, and the moral risks of a political profession.

Confucius thought that the rites, or ritual (li)—encompassing and expressing proper human conduct in all spheres of life—could steady a man and anchor a government and that their practice should begin at home.

He found employment first with the Jisun clan, a hereditary family whose principal members had for many decades served as chief counselors to the rulers of Lu.

He said that, because he was “poor and from a lowly station,” he could not enter government service as easily as young men from prominent families and so had to become “skilled in many menial things”

Confucius’s father, Shu-liang He, had been a warrior and served as a district steward in Lu, but he was already an old man when Confucius was born. A previous marriage had given him nine daughters and a clubfooted son, and so it was with Confucius that he was finally granted a healthy heir. But Shu-liang He died soon after Confucius’s birth, leaving his young widow to fend for herself.

The common gentlemen of the late Zhou dynasty could boast of their employability in the army or in any administrative position—because they were educated in the six arts of ritual (see below Teachings of Confucius), music, archery, charioteering, writing, and arithmetic—but in the social hierarchy of the time they were just a notch higher than the common folk.

Confucius was born near the end of an era known in Chinese history as the Spring and Autumn Period (770–481 BCE). His home was in Lu, a regional state of eastern China in what is now central and southwestern Shandong province.

was China’s most famous teacher, philosopher, and political theorist, whose ideas have profoundly influenced the civilizations of China and other East Asian countries.

Although the relationship of the characters changed, this storyline was utilized for an early side quest in Dragon Ball, where Goku met the Ox King and his daughter Chi-Chi in their palace atop a fiery mountain. Despite the Ox King's fierce demeanor, the two became Goku's trusted allies before eventually becoming his family when Goku and Chi-Chi got married. A couple of minor plotlines in the series also had Goku and Chi-Chi attempting to find a tool called the Bansho Fan, which resembled Princess Iron Fan's item and could control the weather.

Dragon Ball Z onward, characters such as Yamcha and Oolong were extremely important to the early narrative of Dragon Ball. This is probably because of their resemblance to the characters for Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing from Journey to the West. These two figures originated as celestial beings who fell from glory and became demons, although they both ended up reforming and joining Sanzang and Sun Wukong on their quest.

The leader of the group in Journey to the West was a monk named Tang Sanzang, who recruited Sun Wukong after freeing him from isolation. In addition to being the spiritual pillar of the team, Sanzang was usually the most cerebrally minded of the party. Although Sanzang was originally male, as he was based on the historical monk Xuanzang, many depictions in Japan make the character a woman.

Sun Wukong was a supernaturally strong monkey born from a mystical stone in the mountains, which might sound familiar to fans of Dragon Ball. Although he earned a position as a member of the gods, he was cast back down to Earth and imprisoned as a result of his hubris and rowdiness. He ultimately joins the pilgrimage to earn his freedom and find enlightenment.

Journey to the West is a 16th-century Chinese novel following the exploits of a group of pilgrims on an exciting escapade to collect sacred Buddhist texts from across Asia. During this harrowing campaign, they face countless challenges in the form of demons, spirits and other magical creatures. Many of the characters in Journey to the West are eccentric and mystical in nature, be it the adventurous Sun Wukong or the shapeshifting Zhu Bajie. It's often considered one of the greatest works of Chinese literature and is well-beloved among Japanese audiences as well.

Updated by Timothy Blake Donohoo on September 24, 2024: Dragon Ball is easily one of the most iconic anime and manga franchises ever, with most also seeing it as especially influential. Ironically, it was itself inspired by a work of fiction that is a staple of Chinese culture. The connections between Journey to the West and Dragon Ball are fairly strong, especially in the latter's earliest chapters. As shown by a recent video game hit, however, it isn't the only form of modern entertainment inspired by Journey to the West.

In fact, many elements, themes and even characters from this story, known as Journey to the West, were borrowed and creatively adapted to serve as the basis for Dragon Ball.

Dragon Ball is one of the demographic's most important works.