Essay on Cosmic Irony in The Odyssey - 615 Words

The first element of cosmic irony is fate, and fate has a role in book nine of The Odyssey. It typically involves a powerful deity (or something fate itself) with the ability and desire to manipulate or even control events in a character’s life. Fate is demonstrated from many characters. An example of fate is when Odysseus, son of Laertes, blinds Polyphemus, one of the cyclops, after Telemus, Eurymus’ son, tells Polyphemus this. â€Å"Oh no, no-that prophecy years ago . . ./it all comes home to me with a vengeance now!/We once had a prophet here, a great tall man,/Telemus, Eurymus’ son, a master at reading signs,/who grew old in his trade among his fellow-Cyclops./All this, he warned me, would come to pass someday-/that I’d be blinded here†¦show more content†¦The reality of the situation is that Odysseus must see the Cyclops, which shows his false sense of freewill. Another example is when Odysseus thinks he is being smart when he chooses no t to kill Polyphemus and blind him instead, â€Å"who’d brave it out with me/to hoist our stake and grind it into his eye/when sleep had overcome him?† (9.371-373). In reality, he must not kill the Cyclops because he must blind him instead since that was what Telemus said it would happen. This defines false sense of freewill because Odysseus thinks that he is brave and smart for coming up with that plan, but he has no other choice than blinding Polyphemus even though he does not know. Really it is a sad example of a cat toying with a mouse; fate is in control of the situation, and Odysseus falsely believes that he can escape the danger and avoid destruction. Cosmic irony also involves two characters playing a game of cat and mouse. It can be defined by the deity of toys with the character much as a cat might with a mouse; the outcome is clear to the disinterested observer, but the mouse hopes desperately for escape. An example of this is between Odysseus and Poly phemus when they keep battling back and forth while Odysseus and his crew are leaving the island. At first Odysseus showing his pride taunts at the Cyclops, â€Å"So, Cyclops, no weak coward it was whose crew/you bent to devour there in your vaulted cave-/you with your brute force!Show MoreRelatedShakespeares use of the Renaissance Idea of Fatalism and Imagery in King Lear3108 Words   |  13 PagesShakespeares use of the Renaissance Idea of Fatalism and Imagery in King Lear In a play about individual tragedies, fatalism plays an important part. Shakespeare effectively uses cosmic imagery to define his characters and to explore the idea of journeys linked to self-discovery by relating it to the imagery of rotating circles. Shakespeare uses Renaissance theology to explain character motivation. In the 16th century there was a great belief in astronomy. People believedRead MoreAnalysis Of Stanley Kubrick s The And The Post Strangelove Films4422 Words   |  18 Pages polar opposites but made up of the same spectrum. This duality of colour echoes the duality of man in Full Metal Jacket and 2001 and on a less obvious way his other films. Kubrick returned to color film stock for his masterpiece â€Å"2001: A Space Odyssey.† In the Hal 9000 computer room scene, Kubrick stages actor Keir Dulea (Dr. Dave Bowman) in an ominously red room. The actor’s face is lit with a blue-green light. This draws your eye naturally to his face. Kubrick’s groundbreaking film would heavilyRead MoreThe Films of Stanley Kubrick Essay2151 Words   |  9 Pagesinto cinematic concepts due to certain construction processes used in the making of his films. This distinguishes Stanley Kubrick as a film maker and also places his films in their own genre. Analysing the two films 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and A Clockwork Orange (1971) the production processes will be examined to determine how they bring about the construction of a Kubrick film. The codes and conventions of film making and their purpose will also be identified asRead More The Thought-experiments in Kurt Vonneguts Slaughterhouse Five or the Childrens Crusade: A Duty Da3375 Words   |  14 Pagesfirst person or third person? Such questions perhaps come to mind for readers who seek scientific justification to the premise of Slaughterhouse Five. Thus when one compares Vonneguts Slaughterhouse Five with The Martian Chronicles or 2001: A Space Odyssey, one can see that Slaughterhouse Five was never intended to be a work of science-fiction. Then why does Vonnegut risk detaching the reader, without the reward of writing a legitimate science fiction novel? When one examines the first chapter of