Free Essays on Homers Odyssey: Scylla and Charybdis :: Odyssey essays

The Odyssey - Scylla and Charybdis   iodin of the roughly difficult tasks as a parent is to teach your child lifes lessons. umpteen a(prenominal) have tried, and m some(prenominal) have failed. But over the ages most in(predicate) ideas have come in a form of story or tale. Aesops Fables, nursery rhymes, and other tales of caution are used even today to teach this common knowledge one must have. In the Grecian civilization, thousands of years ago, many children were taught through these fun and interesting stories. The Odyssey is one of these tales. through the many inst onlyings telling the adventures of one man, Odysseus, numerous life lessons and morals were taught to the referee. One valuable episode in The Odyssey is Scylla and Charybdis. Not only does it provide convulsion and interest for the reader, but it is an effective part of The Odyssey because of its superb insight to Odysseus character, and the f on the whole life lesson that is taught.&nbs p Especially in todays world, one key to making a story interesting or exciting is to include action. For example many recent blockbuster hits are action packed.   Titanic, Independence Day, and Terminator 2, all are examples of these hits. The Odyssey is no exception to this trick or technique. In the episode Scylla and Charybdis the plot is filled with uttermost(prenominal) confrontations, a heroic leader, and more. Some of this suffer be easily identified, for example, when Homer writes   ... scarcely had that island faded in the sad air than I saw smoke  and white water with waves in tumult- a sound the men heard, and it terrified them. Oars flew from their hands the blades went knocking waste alongside till the ship lost way... (756-763)   What the author is doing is letting the reader foreshadow. A technique which creates suspense, a vital element in any action story. The author then explained what was being hinted at   ... we rowed into the strait- Scylla to our port and on our starboard beam Charybdis, dire gorge of the salt-sea tide. By heaven when she vomited all the sea was like a cauldron seething over intense fire... (796-800)   ... The dark sand raged on the bottom far below.