reflection

I chose to do a blog because I thought that because the book was so informative and didn’t go into much depth about emotions of all the characters it would give me an opportunity to do just this. By doing a blog I thought that I would be able to zoom in on one character and really put myself in their shoes an examine the way they were feeling in specific scenes.

I chose to do Telemachus because I think his life and upraising was extremely interesting. He was raised being taught that his dad was out there somewhere and could come home at anytime, or never at all. I think his life was also interesting because of the rollercoaster ride he went through. His childhood was a very low point in his life and then suddenly finding his father had come home, but not knowing if it was the real him or an imposter. Then he had to slaughter millions of people until he finally had his happy family together. The experiences that he went through were all very intense. He had a lot of weight on his shoulders throughout the book, knowing that he had to protect himself, his mother, and the palace from the suitors that would never leave.

I enjoyed writing a blog in the end because of the ways that it allowed me to focus in on one character and really examine his role in the book but I also found the blog difficult at times. Choosing the blog I had a hard time keeping myself from just reviewing the plot instead of adding insight. I also had a hard time making sure that I didn’t repeat myself because throughout the book Telemachus revisits many of the same feelings in different scenes but I had to make sure I brought something different to the table in each blog post or paragraph. Overall I think this project was very beneficial to me and helped me better understand the Odyssey and many of the characters within it. I think my strongest point in this blog is the insight i was able to incorporate to my journal entries. I think if i had a chance to go back and change something i might ass more cultural aspects from what it was like in his society back then such as the language.

For my blog page i chose the colors i did to represent something and the layout i did to show where telemachus might have been writing these things down. I chose the color purple as my background color because purple is the color for royalty and telemachus is prince of ithaca. I chose the lined paper as the design because i chose to have telemachus writing these entries in his journal,

Growing up Without Odysseus- 1

I have never remembered my dad. He left when I was a young baby I hear.  I have only ever known what it is like to have a single parent, my mother, queen of Ithaca. raising me on her own.  In some ways I feel abandoned like I wasn’t enough to make my father stay but my mother insists otherwise.

When I was 12 years old and wouldn’t give up on the fact of my father leaving me, my mother gave in and told me the story of my father, odysseus of Ithaca. Because of how well known and skilled he is a soldier he was very much needed when a war broke out in troy. He had tried to say even pretended that he had gone insane. He was so desperate to stay and witness his new born baby’s upbringing. Aware that the military recruiters were on their way he decided to play up this act of his and brought the plower onto the beach walking around in random directions. The recruiter came and had sensed that this wasn’t how odysseus really acted to test exactly this he put me infront of the mower knowing I would be killed if odysseus really was insane and kept going. Of course he stopped and was soon sent of to troy to fight.

 Knowing this really made me feel better about my long lost dad but it keeps up my faith of him coming back. H tried as hard as he could to prevent this from happening but when my life was put in danger he refused to go through with it. My father odysseus is an honorable man, a very skilled man, and a caring man. Even knowing just this little bit helps me feel better about my situation.

Suitors Arriving- 2

Hundreds have come already and never leave. These men have arrived with gifts trying to win over my mother.  They call themselves suitors as if they are even good enough. They bring gold platters and extravagant gifts because they know that if they do win over my mother they become king and can live in our beautiful palace. I hate having them here because they make it seem as if my father is never coming back. I know he is though he has to and once he does these suitors will finally be able to leave.

My mother Penelope is also having a rough time dealing with all these selfish men. They bother her constantly, never leaving her alone. They expect top notch treatment from our poor maids. The demand the most expensive wine and the comfiest beds and accept nothing less. The men are getting to my mother she is now acting more restless and stressed out than she has ever. If only we could get rid of them somehow…

If it weren’t for these mandatory greek ideals we could be free from these rude men.  If we were to go against these ideals the gods will wish harm on us and because of their superiority can control all aspects of our life. The hardest is Xenia, we have no choice but to accept these strangers into house. We have to be hospitable and accepting no matter how rude they treat us. We are courteous of or ruthless guests and wait on them hand and foot. Every night is a party for them always so disruptive and loud.  Reciprocity also requires us to accept these enormous gifts much of which we don’t want.  They give us these extensive gifts and we let them stay in our home. I can’t wait for them to leave if only my beloved father would come back home.

Penelope's Announcement to Suitors- 3

I found out today terrible news. I knew that these suitors were getting to my mother’s head. She reminded herself and unfortunately me that of something my father made her promise. She promised that if he had not returned by the time my beard was starting to form, she would marry another man and not wait on him. This news is so depressing I do not even know what to think of it. I feel hopeless. I don’t have any control of when he come homes and I can only hope it will be soon.

Recently in order to solidify this legitimate search for a new man my mother announced to all the suitors what they had to do in order to win my mother. These suitors needed to be able to string my father's bow and once they did this they had to be able to shoot and get the bow through all 12 axes. I know how difficult of a task this is and how unlikely it will be for him to get it, but even so what if one of the suitor does do this. I will be miserable if I have to live with a new father I refuse to accept this offering.

The suitors hear this finding hope and decide that even if no one can accomplish this task they will still refuse to leave until one suitor Is chosen. These ignorant men are so closed minded and hearing this breaks my heart. Them already assuming my father won’t come back and having to live with one of these crazy men. I do not know if I could ever bear it.

Coming Up With The Plan- 4

I talked to my dad today.. even though I am overwelmed with joy after his homecoming knowing that the suitors are still here is really making me nervous. Even though I am hopefull and confident in the fact that my  father will be able to get my mother back there is still the remaining fear that the suitors will be able to prevent him from doing this.

Notifying my dad of this he realized the obstacle we would need to overcome in order to reunite my parents, this obstacle being the suitors. My father immediately  brought up the idea of simply killing all of the suitors to get them back. Man will that let all my anger towards them. Even though this will be extremely satisfying it worries me a little bit to know the greek ideals we will be breaking.

We will be breaking Xenia which is the greek ideal of hospitality. For this ideal you need to be very hospitable towards your guests and extremely welcoming. Failing to do so may result in the greek god turning against you. Once this occurs not many things go your way considering the ultimate power of the gids. Lets hope that even though we are totally ignoring this one ideal we may get a break because of the circumstance we are put in.

Attack Against the Suitors- 5

Today we are executingt the attack against the suitors. Now that my father has come home before anything else we need to get rid of the suitors. By getting rid of them my father will finally be able to get the attention of my mther so that the suitors aren’t constantly tyring to win her over. Also by killing all the suitors we can get back at these ruthless men who came extremely close to tearing apart our family.

We plan on putting penelope to sleep with a posion that will be given to her during breakfast this morning. This posion will put her into an exytremly deep sleep that will keep her in bed for several hours while my father and me launch our attack. This way my mother will have no concerns during our battle and no idea of what is actually occuring. We plan on telling her what will have just happened after we have finished off all the suitors and my father is ready o approach her.

Reunited Again- 6

Today dad approached mom to tell her the truth. He told her of his disguise and that it was really him. He said he had been in disguise this whole time stalling to devise a plan. That he had killed all the suitors gotten rid of them all, just for her, my mom Penelope, and queen of Ithaca. She was tentative unaware if she should fall for yet another Odysseus. But this time it was different she wasn’t acting the same as she had with all the other men. Even though she wasn’t totally falling for him and believing him, she was different. It was as if she wanted to believe him and have her precious husband back home. Even though she wanted to believe him she couldn’t just yet, she couldn’t let her wall down.

To test whether he was an imposer she did the only thing she could. When my father had just married Penelope he built an oak bed for the two of them and was extremely protective of this treasure he had created. Knowing what frustration she would have if he in anyway harmed this headboard she quickly told her maids to bring the headboard outside and nail it up against the tree. Once they had done this, Penelope took Odysseus over to the bed. My dad went frantic so concerned of what my mother had done. How could she have ruined such a precious and hard worked item that he had created for her?

A smile immediately rose to my mothers face as she realized my father was finally home after his 20 yr long journey. He had made it home after so long, just as my mother was losing hope she found out the truth. She sprinted over to embrace her long lost husband who was finally home. Once my family was reunited you could even tell the reduction of tension in the house and how at peace everyone was at last. No longer did anyone have to worry about the suitors getting in our way.