Wylie. P1. T2. Greek/Roman

Helen Lee, Miranda Gontz, Sara Patterson, and Tori Kause

Religion, Science, and Aesthetics were all key institutions the Greeks desired to study and develop. In The Odyssey, a renowned Greek epic poem written by Homer, Odysseus, the protagonist is swept away by the turbulent tides of war and becomes the subject and often the victim of various gods and goddesses. When Odysseus provokes Poseidon’s nephew the Cyclops, Odysseus receives severe retribution from Poseidon. He is lost at sea and all of his men are annihilated. He is once again incapable of escaping his fate when Calypso, the Goddess of the Sea seduces Odysseus and takes him captive in attempt to prevent him from returning home and reuniting with his family. Events like these which Odysseus had to endure demonstrate the ideology that fate was in the hands of the gods and goddesses and that humility, respect, and acknowledgement of the gods and goddesses were rudimentary aspects of ancient Greek life. Eventually science was derived from Greek literature such as The Odyssey as Greek philosophers began to question the practice of relying upon and giving credit to the gods for all occurrences in life. They began to hypothesize and investigate nature rather than giving credit or placing responsibility on the gods for occurrence certain events. The beauty and essence of human expression and emotion was also highly valued by the Greeks. Antigone by the playwright Sophocles portrays Antigone, the protagonist as the embodiment of grace and righteousness as she passionately strived for the dignified and proper burial of her deceased brother. In the end, she became a sacrifice for a justified purpose.