Ilir Hasi

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After reading Don Quixote by Miguel De Cervantes, I came to the conclusion that Don Quixote was really a nutty old fool. I remember when I was little and my family used to tell me, “you’ve watched too many movies”, because I used to imitate things I saw in the movies. In Don Quixote’s case, he had read too many books. He lived his life according to his readings, thinking that everything had a happy ending. According to the story, “he spent whole nights from sundown to sunup and his days from dawn to dusk in poring over his books, until, finally, from so little sleep and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind” (Cervantes, 2681). This guy read so much that he could have literally become a walking and breathing anthology.

His madness is clearly depicted throughout his journey in fulfilling his destiny to become a Knight. At first, he stayed at an inn that he thinks was a castle. There he meets two lovely prostitutes which continuously mock him by playing along with his game. Clearly, this act shows that Don Quixote had become mad. Other instinct was when he fought the sheep’s thinking that they were actually men. After, in which he loses his self-respect and his teeth from the stones thrown by the farmers. Not saying that he had any form of dignity before this. All in all, Don Quixote is undoubtedly a crazy old fool that had entered a period in his life which was encompassed by childish and mentally unstable acts.

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The Odyssey is my text of choice to make into a modern-day movie. The Odyssey tells the tale of Odysseus and his voyage home. This epic best resembles the modern-day movie of “Rocky 3”. Rocky Balboa, the Italian stallion will play the role of Odysseus, being that they have similar qualities such as fortitude and courage. Apollo, the boxer, will represent Troy because after conquering Troy is when Odysseus becomes great. The new trainer will play the role of the Gods since it is the Gods who favor and help him get home. The setting would take in place in Philadelphia because just like hardships that were endured at sea, Philadelphia was also a city of hardship and high unemployment during the 80s. At the beginning of the movie, Rocky is praised by everyone for the courage and will he displayed by beating Apollo. As a result, Rocky became very arrogant and believes he is unbeatable. However, he is quickly challenged by a rookie fighter and is defeated. This rookie fighter will play the role of Poseidon because it is he who does not allow Odysseus to return home and posses as an obstacle. Thus, Rocky struggles because he loses everything such as his pride, respect and mostly importantly his true trainer, Mickie. Mickie will play the roles of the crewmen because they are important people on his voyage home who die unfortunately. Still, with the help of a new trainer, Rocky is able to regain focus and is determined to return back to the ring to reclaim his title. In “Rocky 3”, the trainer starts Rocky off by teaching him the fundamentals of foot work. Regaining the title belt for Rocky symbolize home for Odysseus. With the help of a new trainer, Rocky is able to overcome obstacles such as abnormal training techniques. As Rocky trains, he becomes modest and does not take things for granted anymore. Finally, Rocky gets back into the ring and is able to regain his title. “Rocky 3” is a great modern-day version of The Odyssey because it depicts a hero who at first seems to have it all but takes everything for granted and loses everything. However, with the help of outsiders and willpower as well as a great deal of courage, heroism is regained and humility is learned.

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As we have been told before or have read, the Trojan horse was the reason that led to the downfall of Troy. However, after reading Mythology by Edith Hamilton, I was able to understand why it was the horse and the events that led up to the outcome of Troy’s downfall. According to the reading, Achilles’ death saddened the Greek army as victory now seemed highly unlikely. However, one of the prophets gave them hope. A Trojan man was able to foresee the future. Thus, Odysseus was able to take captive this man who told provided the Greeks the secret of how to takeover Troy. Troy was not to be conquered unless Hercules’s bow and arrows were used against the Trojans. Therefore, Odysseus and a companion went and successfully were able to steal the bow and arrows. As Edith’s story continues, the Greeks realize that more must be done for Troy to be taken. As a result, with the help of Odysseus, Diomedes gets over the walls of Troy to steal an image of Pallas Athena called “the Palladium”. Surely now since the Greeks have stolen a sacred image Troy would be conquered, but that was not the case since the Greek army could not physically get into Troy. This is where Odysseus’s intelligent came into play with the idea of a Trojan horse. Odysseus’s plans were to built huge wooden horse and leave one single Greek behind. The single Greek was a sacrifice for the Greek army for stealing Pallas Athena sacred image. The wooden horse was for the goddess Athena. The reason for its immense size was so the Trojans would destroy it and could not bring it into the city, thus turning Athena’s anger away from the Greeks towards Troy. Nevertheless, the Trojans fell into the lies of the story and took in the wooden horse. With that, Troy was not the same the next day at sunrise. The city was destroyed and taken because the horse was full of Greek warriors. In the story of the fall of Troy, we see what the reason behind the horse truly was and the events that led to this outcome. This made me think as it seems that the Greeks had no other choice in conquering Troy. Let’s just say that if it wasn’t for the Trojan horse, what would the Greeks have done? I think that they wouldn’t have been able to take Troy if Greeks were not able to get around the walls.

Paradise Lost Book One was somewhat a difficult reading to comprehend. However, I think I was able to get the gist of the story. The main character of Book One was Satan. Satan was an angel who resided in the heavens but was defeated by God and eventually kicked out and sent to what became hell. There, Satan preached to other angels or “legions”, which like Satan were also defeated by God, to rebel against the heavens and defeat God once and for all. From my understanding the legions where not that thrilled about the idea of war because it seemed that they knew that God could not be defeated. Something in particular that caught my attention was that Satan would rather work and suffer in hell then be a servant to God. “Strongly to suffer and support our pains,/ That we may so suffice his vengeful ire/ Or do him mightier service as his thralls” (Book 1, 146-149).

In The Odyssey, Homer redefines Odysseus’s place in the universe by portraying him as almost a demi-god to a mortal man because of his arrogance and actions.

After reading the selection of stories in The Norton Anthropology of World Literature, from “The Thousand and One Nights”, I came to a conclusion that all the selections were similar to one another. Of course each story was different, but all the stories followed the same style. One common similarity which I noticed was that each story portrayed a sense of hope for the hopeless. Even if something seemed impossible, there was still hope and in the end the impossible became probable. Such as was depicted in the selection of the merchant and the demon. According to the demon, the merchant was going to be killed by him. It seemed that the merchant was going to die and excruciating death. However, three tales told by three different strangers were able to save the merchants life thus depicting hope.
Also, a sense of hope was portrayed in the fisherman and the demon. In this selection, the demon was going to kill whoever opened the seal to the jar and freed him. Thus, it seemed that the fisherman had no chance of escaping death. However, with a little hope, the fisherman was able to out wit the demon and seal the jar with him inside again. The reason that the Norton editors choose these particular selections were to show that there is always hope even though something seems impossible. As human beings, we should always strive for the impossible because in the end it may be achievable.

These past two month, I have read a variety of texts all appealing and exciting. Thus, it has been hard for me to choose a specific text to write a five page paper on. Finally, I was able to narrow my selection down and decide to write my paper on The Odyssey. The reason for choosing The Odyssey is because of Homer’s writing style. Homer’s writing is engaging because he was able to embellish to no ends Odysseus’s character. In The Odyssey, the character of Odysseus was portrayed by Homer to help bring out certain exaggerations and unrealistic elements. Odysseus is introduced as a man of strong and prudent character at start. Since Odysseus was able to overcome such great obstacles such as escaping from Kyklops’s in order to free himself and his men, Homer almost made me believe that Odysseus was not human but a instead a god. Thus, what I would like to examine in my paper is how Homer is able to portray Odysseus to the audience in a variety of different ways.

According to Aristole, a tragic hero is one of noble status and greatness. In Medea, Medea has noble status and has greatness because she is the princess of Colchis and the wife of Jason, son of Aeson, King of Iolcos. Medea is a tragic hero because she is able to achieve her goal but at the end still suffers. Medea’s goal is to make her husband Jason, undergo suffering for his doings towards Medea. According to Medea, “I pray that I may see him, / Him and his bride and all their palace shattered/ For the wrong they dare to do me without cause” (Euripides, 698, 161-163). Medea specifically states that she wants harm brought upon Jason and his new wife. Medea portrays heroism because she is able to prove her point by standing up for herself. Something which was unheard of for a woman during those times. However, in the process of making her husband suffer, Medea kills her own two children. Thus, making herself endure pain as well. Therefore, Medea is a tragic hero because although she displayed a sense of heroism in her decision makings, her decision to kill her children was a tragic one, one that she bears for the rest of her life.

The lack of Odysseus’s presence in Telemachos’s childhood negatively affects his growth. Due to the lack of a father figure during his growing years, Telemachos does not grow up to resemble the son of a heroic Trojan warrior. Instead of possessing traits of bravery, intelligence, and heroism, Telemachos displays traits of fearfulness and cowardice. In The Odyssey, according to Telemachos, “He’s gone, no sign, no word of him; and I inherit/ trouble and tears- and not from him alone,” (Homer, Ι, 279-80). Telemachos refers to his father, Odysseus, complaining that Odysseus left Telemachos and his mother to fight his fights. Telemachos believes that his father’s problems were innate and now he has to defend them. Also, he has more issues that the gods have put forth to him. This depicts how cowardly Telemachos is because he cannot defend his own home and puts the blame on Odysseus. He does not grow up to be a man but instead a lost young boy who does not even know if his father exists due to the lack of a father figure. In addition, Telemachos states that, “they use/ our house as if it were a house to plunder” (Homer, Ι, 285-86). Here, he refers to the suitors that have taken advantage of Zeus’s law of hospitality by over staying there welcome at his home. The suitors do as they please. Each of whom are there to attempt to marry Odysseus’s wife, Penelope. Telemachos is afraid of the suitors because during his growth no one was around to teach him how to become a warrior. Thus, he cannot get them to leave because no one pays attention to what he has to say. The lack of Odysseus’s presence affected Telemachos’s growth because no man respect Telemachos even though he is the son of Odysseus because his father was not there to teach Telemachos how to become like him.