Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Juxtaposition of T's and O's Cycle of the Hero

The question on the test about the Cycle of the Hero is asking for an analysis of the cycle when Telemachus and Odysseus become like one hero ("Team TO"). Your task is to analyze their cycle together starting with their call to their adventure to kill the suitors. The following chart is an analysis of the cycle of the two individual heroes.

Juxtaposition of The Hero Cycle for Telemachus and Odysseus

Telemachus Cycle
Call to Adventure – Athena says go find your father
Helpers: Athena and Eurycleia (the “nanny”)
Threshold Crossing – goes into his father’s house to stand up to the suitors (steps into his father’s shoes)
Tests: dealing with the suitors’ insults; challenging the townspeople to support him. we have not read the books where he has to go to several different city states to talk to the kings who served with Odysseus on
Helpers: Athena
Triumph –what he is going after = Father Quest (search for his father)
Threshold Crossing: crosses back over the seas to get to Ithaca

Odysseus Cycle
Call to Adventure – Trojan War is over – Odysseus’ heart calls him home
Helpers: Other Greek kings; Athena
*Threshold Crossing – gets on his ship to sail back to Ithaca (but is thwarted by Poseidon)
Tests: all the stuff he goes through in the flashbacks
Helpers: Athena
Triumph –what he is going after = sacred marriage
Threshold Crossing: Poseidon’s last “hit” before Odysseus can be at home

Below are the elements of the cycle that you must identify for Team TO's cycle:
Telemachus and Odysseus (Team TO)Combined
Call to Adventure for Telemachus and for Odysseus:
Helpers:
Threshold Crossing into their combined adventure:
Tests:
Helpers:
Supreme Ordeal:
Threshold Crossing for Telemachus:
Threshold Crossing for Odysseus:
The Triumph for Odysseus:
The Triumph for Telemachus:

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