123 School Work

Representing Social Order with Imagery in Homer s The Odyssey

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  Odysseus' arrow hit him under the chin
  and punched up to the feathers through his throat.
  Backward and down he went, letting the winecup fall
  from his shocked hand. Like pipes his nostrils jetted
  crimson runnels, a river of mortal red,
  and one last kick upset his table,
  knocking the bread and meat to soak in dusty blood. (409)
  
       This is the type of imagery that Homer uses to show that upholding the social order is a necessitate, and for this to happen the unwritten rules should be followed intently. In The Odyssey Homer uses imagery countless times to show how either the social order is upheld or not. It is enlightening to analyze the Greek social order in 3 of its most essential aspects: laws of hospitality, deus ex machina, and punishment.
       Homer applies profoundly graphic imagery to show laws of hospitality, and what occurs if the unwritten laws are disobeyed. Laws of hospitality are the unwritten rules that if a stranger comes upon your land, you must first feed, cloth and house them before asking them where they are from, and what they are doing there. When Odysseus and his men get to the land of the Cyclops, they immediately proceed into a cave not to far away from where they hit ashore, and are ill met by a beast, the beast shows no respect towards Odysseus and his men, the Cyclops will pay.
  Straight forward they sprinted, lifted it, and rammed it
  Deep in the crater eye, and I leaned on it
  Turning it as a shipwright turns a drill
  In planking, having men below to swing
  The two handled strap that spins it in the groove...