Sunday, December 2, 2018
"The Odyssey" In Vase Art?
In viewing the following black and red figure vase art, Odyssey In Art; Odyssey In Art Part II, what do you notice about the artists' message concerning The Odyssey?
What symbols, manifestations, heroic elements, and other ideas we
discussed can you critique and comment upon. Your response is due during
class on Wed., Dec. 12th.
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23 comments:
Odysseus it made out to be this great, genuine hero. He is created to be seen as the "perfect person" fighting monsters. The goddess Athena is also on a vase, and she plays a strong part in "The Odyssey". Odysseus is portrayed to always be in the right in these artifacts. He is made out to be not be able to do any wrong. In the book, Odysseus is not all he is built up to be. He makes poor decisions, sacrifices, and wavers from his wife. Odysseus makes awful choices that have even worse consequences, like his men dying when he is going against the two sea monsters.
Odysseus tries to make them think about what he can do with his tricks and talents. He thinks he is the most favorable person so he wants everyone to be on his side and with him through his journey. In the book, he has a nickname "Noman" or "Nobody". Apollo has his friends that he uses to bring pleasure to Athena so he could be the favorite instead of Odysseus. They both didn't pray to Athena. They just went with the sheep and hung onto them so they could get out easily without dying.
Odysseus tried to trick him with magic. that didn't happen in the book. the book he goes by a fake name not nobody. Polyphemus had three drinks not only one. they didn't pray to Athena. Polyphemus didn't open the cave right away. they rode sheep instead of dressing up like them. odysseus was self centered and ate his food and was rude when he escaped revealing himself
Both of these vases display scenes and stories that also happened in the story. Some other symbolism in this story is one of the vases is made of olive wood, just like one of Odysseus' rafts/ships. There are lots of flaws in the vases, just like Odysseus. On one of the vases, Athena is looking left, which could represent humans or mortals. On one of the vases, Athena is looking left, and her helmet is going up into the other symbols, which represents the goddess of upholding. One last symbolism between the vase and the story are Circe and Odysseus are next to each other, and Odysseus is threatening her, because of some of the evils she did.
I noticed on some of the art, the characters are depicted as very strong, or over exaggerated. There are different places that drawings are placed on the vase that describe the person, or their status. The drawing of olive wood is a symbol for Athena, and when the wood is seen in the pictures, she might have had a part in the story. The drawings on the vase always depict the gods as kind and heroic, and do not always show the lower elements of their stories. There are small details in each vase that refer to the story, and give background information
The images of the vase art describe some scenarios in the Odyssey, such as one of the images shows Odysseys son standing in front of his mother and his mother looks as if she is not doing well. She is sitting in morning because she is sad that she lost her husband. Another vase is Penelope sitting on a chair accepting suitors gifts, such as she gets jewelry, another gift was woven cloths, and a bowl, and a bronze mirror. Overall every vase has a different part of the story and every vase is unique and tells cool stories of Odysseys.
Odysseus has caused some destruction to his crew in one of the pictures. The pot with Athena on it is symbolizing how she wants to help humans by looking to the left. She loves to help humans and she is very strategic in her ways.
In this art, Athena is seen favoring Odysseus. Circe and Calypso are portrayed as powerful women. Circe transformed Odysseus' men into wild beasts, and Calypso is seen standing above Odysseus and gives him gifts for his travels. In all the vase art, the artists portray Odysseus as a strong man who has control over everything. In one of the vases, Odysseus is trying to kill Circe for turning his men into wild animals, and this shows that he is powerful.
In the piece of art from Athena she is looking to our left and on the left was the mortal side. She is talking to favore the humans, she is looking to pull Odysseus over. She has to disguise herself because otherwise if she shows herself to the humans, she will kill them. Odysseus tried to make them think about what he can do with his special talents and tricks, but that didn't happen in the book. He thinks he is the most favorable human so he wants to have everyone be on his side along his journey. Apollo and Odysseus didn't pray to Athena. They just went with the sheep and hing onto them so they could get out without dying.
I notice by looking at the artist art comparing to the Odyssey is that In the piece with Athina in it she looking looking to the right. This could represent that she is looking more towards the human or mortal side if everyone that is around he. And it also looks like in the picture or the painting she is also has maybe some of the Olive wood. The could compare to Odysseus because throughout the story many of the objects that he uses are made out of olive wood. Like his bed frame and the thing they poked the cyclops eye with.
While looking at these vase art, I keep noticing that Odysseus is always holding a sword. Which can symbolize a hero or more of a war face. Also when looking at them the ones with Athena she is looking towards the left side which symbolizes mortals, so she is looking out for Odysseus her hero she wants to win. When looking at Athena she wants to support Odysseus because she sees him as a hero, and Odysseus in these arts look heroic.
The art pot that is shown represents the story "Odyssey" with one of the pots. Where a girl is in the middle of two men and one is protecting the women which represents Odysseus protecting his wife from the other men from taking her away. Athena also is represented in many of the pots. Symbolizing the favor in Athena by Odyessus and in the pots, she turns toward the humans. Overall these pots represent many things.
I think the artists were trying to show the strength of Odysseus and how he was continuously saved by Athena in many different parts of his journey. On one of the vases, Athena seems to be protecting Odysseus. This vase could suggest how clever Athena is to solve a problem that Odysseus couldn't. On another vase, Odysseus is standing above the humans/mortals. This vase could suggest Odysseus' strength.
The artists of the vases were trying to convey the story of Odysseus. They did this through making part of the story. They included the symbols of the gods. for example, both artists made the goddess Athena look divine and cunning. they included her symbol of the olive branch in lots of places in their art. Some of the vases show Athena protecting Odysseus which could show how Athena solved problems that Odysseus couldn't, therefore helping him reach his destination.
Odysseus does many things that are wrong and he faces the terrible consequences. In the ancient artifacts, it seems like Odysseus is made up to be a perfect man, and never does anything wrong. The goddess Athena is also pictured on one of the vases. Odysseus is favored by Athena and it seems like Athena is always there is help Odysseus.
Many of the vases show Athena's favor of Odysseus. In one vase, Athena is seen standing in between a vulnerable Odysseus and a princess in order to protect Odysseus. Athena has protected and helped Odysseus throughout his life, and we see this in the book and in the vases. Because of the Goddess of Wisdom's admiration for the hero, Odysseus is able to defeat his enemies and overcome the challenges he faces. Odysseus's heroic attributes and Athena's esteem for the leader is seen all over the ancient, Greek pottery.
The various art painted on the historical contains symbols that consist of may symbols but some that stood out was looking to the left, this symbolizes them looking to the mortal side, god looks to the left favors the humans or mortals. Olive branches are brought up on some vases, this shows that Athina was indirectly present in that story that the story that vase was portraying. Finally, Penelope crossing her legs and bowing her head in sorrow shows her faithfulness to Odysseus and the pain he causes her.
From both the book and the vase art, we have seen that Athena seems to favor Odysseus. Throughout the story, Athena gives Odysseus the tools and symbols that he needs in order to return to Ithaca. We also notice a sort of muted battle between Poseidon and Athena. While Athena is in favor of Odysseus' victory, Poseidon has bad blood with Odysseus because of the damage done to the Cyclops. In the end, Athena will prevail in allowing Odysseus safe passage home.
I saw lots of similarities between the vases and both. For example, Athena seemed to chose Odysseus and maybe favor him over others. Like, when Athena looks towards the left, which shows that she cares for mortals and is rooting for Odysseus and humans ti prosper, like in the book. But Odysseus kept trying to trick them into thinking he had all these magical powers and tricks.
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