Throughout Odysseus' many adventures in his efforts to return home to Ithaca, Homer describes many various cultures that his title character meets along the way. Though many of these cultures could be identified as subcultures of the Greek world, each has unique qualities that separate it from t...

1. Odysseus's first stop, and purpose for his journey was Troy, for the Trojan War. He won the war by the skill of the Trojan horse. They gave the Trojans a wooden horse as a fake gift of surrender, but it was filled with soldiers and they killed all the citizens. 2. After the war, Odys...

Homer's The Odyssey is both a tale of a man's journey home after long years at war and a tale of a man's spiritual voyage through his own soul. Odysseus' role as an epic hero changed throughout this epic poem a bloodthirsty warrior when leaving Troy to a wiser man when arriving in Ithaka. Odysseus l...

Man is the measure of all things." -Protagoras What is the nature of humanity? This is one question that will never be definitively answered. How can one make that assessment? For thousands of years, one of the 'big questions' has always been related to the "nature of...

Hebrew and Greek attitudes toward killing are similar, but once religion is factored in a remarkable difference is revealed. Early Hebrew citizens were murderous people by nature, much like the Greeks, but had God looking down on them saying to them that killing was wrong. Greek citizens would en...

Life Based on Death and Rebirth In most cultures, death signifies the utter separation of the psyche and soma; it is entirely sacred and irreversible. Most societies see the act of defying death as involving supernatural phenomena. However, the concept of death and rebirth is found in many pieces o...

That fateful night, tending to my firelight, poking and prodding the rising flame, I heard a strange voice call my name. Milking my livestock since dawn that day, I had not expected a visitor today, especially a seafaring human who had been blown...