Sibala, Julie Ar E.

BA Communication/COM3A

TLA 2. Venn Diagram.

Using Venn diagram, compare and contrast the two works of Homer.

It describes the the It focuses on Odysseus

Trojan War. and his adventure after the
Epic Poems
Trojan War.
of Homer

Homer’s 1st Epic

There were
Divine Interventions A tale of Journey

A tale of War Consist of 24 books

in dactylic hexameter
A narrative of Hope
A narrative of Tragedy
Greek culture Odysseus (Protagonist)

Achilles (Protagonist)
AT 2. Reflection Paper
Write a reflection based on the adventures Odysseus. What characteristic/s of Odysseus do you
like and hate the most. Which of his adventures do you think is the most exciting?

The Adventure of Life

People act in various ways to achieve their goals despite the fact that they may encounter
different challenges along the way. In my life, I have been through rough roads and wrong
directions. Sometimes I think that I need stop from achieving my dreams and goals in life because
no matter how I use all of my energy, the results were the same…failure. Just like how Odysseus
of The Odyssey that only wanted to go home safely but instead of meeting his family he
encounters a lot challenges along the way that involves internal and external forces.

In this great epic poem, Odysseus was presented as hero given that they have won the
Trojan War but as the story progress, we can observed that he is somehow showing a bad traits
of being a leader. But aside from this, as I look on some other articles and supplemental videos I
have found out some characteristic of Odysseus and this will be my basis of how admirable he is
and isn’t. First is from what I like the most. His most distinguishing trait, however, is his sharp
intellect. Odysseus’s quick thinking helps him out of some very tough situations. In the real life, I
found the world as a world full of logical questions and in order to survive you have to really make
a wise decision because the result would really affect your life’s destiny. Just like what he did to
Polyphemus, the one-eyed giant. He created a strategy that would allow them escaped the land
of the cyclops. The next is his bravery. Odysseus demonstrates bravery by showing willingness
to attempt "impossible tasks", and successfully finishing them. Bravery is really important both in
the literature and reality. In the real life, challenges are the humans’ twin and it will really test our
patience. Just like Odysseus, we have to take the risk to also test ourselves regarding on our
weaknesses and strengths.

On the other side, Odysseus also displayed inhumane characteristics is selfishness and
one of which is when he sacrifice his own men for his safety and to escape a specific obstacle.
This alone shows a defective leadership skills. In my own view, Odysseus’s men should be
sacrificed because at the first place they were the reason why he faced these challenges. The
next thing is his unfaithfulness to his wife, he enjoys his luxurious life with Calypso in an exotic
land. Although his wife also did cheat in him but she is a woman and she needs a man that would
protect her and her family that is why she let these suitors stayed in their house.
 In the unfortunate adventures of Odysseus, the land of the Lotus eaters would be exciting
for me. It is because those who eat the lotus fruit forget about returning home, preferring instead
to hang out on the lotus island and eat lotus fruit. You know when life has been giving you a lot of
challenges every time and you’re tired and you need to take a rest, I will be excited to eat that
Lotus and forget things and make your mind get lost from thinking your problems.

In real life we make our own decisions, and some of those decisions lead to bad outcomes,
even though we don’t blame ourselves for many of our mistakes, we are to blame. We are Odysseus
and we have to face this challenges by being true to ourselves. Sometimes we need to be bad to
let the people know that we are strong and hide our vulnerabilities. We need to make sacrifices also
for own sake.