RACEL MAE P.

DELA RAGA BSE-3B

MYTHOLOGY AND FOLKLORE

MOVIE: THE ODYSSEY

(PLOT ANALYSIS)

The movie begins with Odysseus running to his wife Penelope who was
then giving birth to a baby boy. The story was set in the kingdom of Ithaca before
Odysseus, their king, went on a war with his men. The movie develops the exposition
further in the story when the hero set sail in a journey along with his companions
leaving his wife and his child behind. On his way to fight the war in Troy, he meets
Athena, the goddess of wisdom who ask him to continue his journey and defeat the
Trojans for this was his destiny. After on some later parts of the movie, Odysseus and his
army are shown victorious through an ingenious piece of deception devised by him. The
rising action took place 10 years after the trojan war when the hero had yet to return to
his home. By this time, his son Telemachus has grown up and his wife has been coveted
by the suitors. They started to take advantage of Odysseus’ absence by winning over
Penelope. This event became the rising action and it set into motion the next part of the
plot which is the Climax. In the Climax, the journey of Odysseus became the most
exciting part of the story because of the adversities that soon came his way and many
mythical and interesting creatures and characters were introduced. The Sequence of the
climax are as follows:
I. The Island of the Cyclopes
The first part was their arrival to the land of the Cyclopes, large and violent creature
with one eye. Odysseus and his crew were trapped in the cave of Polyphemus, one of the
cyclopes. They escaped by stabbing Polyphemus eye with a sharpened pillar that made
the Cyclops blind and unable to see them. Although this is not the first destination in the
actual story written by Homer, this was the first adversity shown in the movie.
II. Aeaea: Circe’s Island
The second encounter was with the enchantress Circe, his crew was turned into pigs and
other animals by Circe. He was able to remain a human by eating a flower given to him
by Hermes, the messenger God. With a love brief love affair for a full year, Circe reverses
the spell that she cast on the men and then soon leave the island.
III. Underworld: Land of the dead
The third journey was into the underworld, the land of the dead. He met with the ghost
of seer Tiresias who foretold him that he will be able to go home with his crew if he
restrains them from eating the sheep and cattle that belongs to Hyperion, the sun god.
 IV. Scylla and Charybdis
In the fourth journey, Odysseus and his men had to pass through Scylla, a monster of
the water. They decided to row by her cliff, unfortunately, some men were eating by the
monster Scylla and some were swallowed by Charybdis, a whirlpool that lives alongside
Scylla.
V. Ogygia: Calypso’s Island
The fifth was the meeting of the hero and Calypso, the goddess who fell in love with him
refuses to let him leave her island but Athena intervened allowing him to set sail once
again.
VI. Scheria: Island of the Phaeaians
Poseidon, the god of the sea who harbors hatred towards Odysseus for killing his son
Polyphemus, created a storm which led to the hero being washed up on Scheria, the land
of the Phaeaians. He met with Alcinous, the king of the land and upon telling the whole
story of his journey, Alcinous gives him a ship that will take him home.
The falling action in the movie starts when Odysseus finally arrives home and
reunites with his son Telemachus. Upon his arrival, he realized that there were many
suitors in his city who was trying to marry his wife while he was on a journey. With the
help of the goddess Athena, he was disguised as a beggar to observe what has become of
his wife and the suitors. Penelope then challenges her suitors that whoever can attached
the other end of the string of her husband’s personal bow shall be accepted as her
partner and the next king of Ithaca. However, not a single suitor can do so. Then the
beggar who was then the disguised Odysseus, step in and was able accomplished the
task. He revealed his identity and with an arrow and a bow, and with the help of
Telemachus, he started killing the suitors one by one. The resolution of the plot
happened when Odysseus successfully wipe out the suitors putting an end to his journey
and the movie was concluded with him reuniting with his wife who was proven to be
faithful to her beloved.