Intro: Could there be a time when nothing was recorded in history? Well, there is. This period was called the dark ages. It occurred during 1100-750 BC. This period is not known as the dark ages because it was always dark, instead the period became known for the dark ages because it was a time of depopulation, poverty, loss of culture, the spread of illiteracy, and cultural remoteness. Although all this was going around in Greece, there was one blind man who had not lost his rich culture. This man was Homer, a poet who lived around the 8th century BC in Ancient Greece. Not much is known about this blind poet except that he wrote some of the most famous novels The Iliad, and The Odyssey. Although it is not certain that Homer wrote both of these epics, they are both considered excellent works of literature. There are many reasons as to why The Odyssey is considered such an extraordinary book of its time. Even though literacy was lost during the dark ages, and history couldn't be recorded, a reader can understand the Greek culture and lifestyle around that era. A part of the Greek lifestyle that really stands out is the relationship of a family.
Thesis: In The Odyssey, Homer illustrates the imperishable bond shared between a father and son.
Subject/focus: The unbreakable bond that a father and son have.
Topic Sentence 1: As displayed in The Odyssey, a father and son may not spend much time with another, but through the thick and thin, they always come through to avenge one another.
Sub Topic Sentence: When Agamemnon is murdered by his own wife and her lover, Orestes, Agamemnon's son comes to even the score with his mother and her lover.
Examples: Orestes was still a boy in the prime of his childhood when his mother Clytemnestra, was unfaithful to her husband with her husband still away at the Trojan war. She had a lover just a few years after Agamemnon went off to the Trojan war. The main cause of the Trojan war was to bring Helen back to Menalaus. Menalaus is the brother of Agamemnon. Agamemnon was the ruler of Mycenae. After about 15 years of fighting, the Greeks finally win and sail back home. Little does Agamemnon know what is awaiting him when he comes home. He expects a homecoming party, although what he finds is death waiting for him on the island of Mycenae. As soon as his ship arrives at port Aegisthus invites Agamemnon to his palace for a feast. Aegisthus is also Agamemnon's cousin. After Agamemnon is seated with all of his loyal men who fought beside him in the war, Aegisthus and Clytemnestra start to slaughter all of the invited guests of the feast including Agamemnon. None were spared "So I died-a wretched, ignominious death-and round me all my comrades killed, no mercy, one after another, just like white-tusked boars butchered in some rich lord of power's halls."(Homer, 262) Agamemnon needs to get his vengeance on his wife and here lover, so he counts on Orestes to do that for him. Orestes first goes as far away from Mycenae as he can for he knows that he will be subject to murder also if he stays on the island. Not long after he comes back to avenge his father by killing his mother and her lover.
Sub Topic Sentence: The bond is not only shown when the son avenges his father, it is also shown when the father avenges his son.
Example: Even though Agamemnon was a father who needed to be avenged; Poseidon the father to a Cyclops named Polythemus avenges his son. Polythemus is a Cyclops, meaning that he has only one eye. He captures anyone who steps foot on his island and eats them. Odysseus was traveling on his way home but because of his curiosity and need for adventure, he ventures on the island of the Cyclops. He amazingly enough subdues the Cyclops by tricking him into a sleep by getting him very drunk. Then he sharpens a spear and with his men blind the Cyclops by piercing his one eye. That would be considered a lethal combination to a person with only one eye. Especially considering what the Cyclops lacked in brain he was abundant in size. But how could he use his enormous strength if he couldn't see? He could not take any revenge on Odysseus because he couldn't see anything, so he called on his father to help him "prayed, hear me Poseidon god of the sea-blue mane who rocks the earth! If I am really your son and you claim to be my father, come, grant Odysseus, raider of cities, Laertes' son who makes his home in Ithaca, never reaches home. And let him find a world of pain at home!" (Homer, 228) Poseidon really did help out his son, because he prolonged Odysseus's voyage by using his powers as a god. This obviously means that Polythemus may not have a direct relationship with his son, although when there one is in a sticky situation, they help each other out.
Concluding Sentence: A father and son may not have a direct relationship as Agamemnon was away at the Trojan war, and Poseidon has other duties to attend to, a father and son's bond becomes even stronger when one has to help the other out by getting revenge.
Topic Sentence #2: The bond between a father and son is strongest when both the son and father are being good.
Sub Topic Sentence: A father is good when he displays his true personality and character and teaches his son important morals.
Example: Odysseus is not a great father because he wasn't there when his son was first born. Odysseus of course couldn't be there because he was off at the Trojan war fighting for Helen. Although later when he comes back home to Ithaca, he becomes the father that Telemachus never had. As soon as his ship lands port he meets up with his long lost son. When they first meet up, "No, I am your father- the Odysseus you wept for all your days, you bore a world of pain, the cruel abuse of men, and with those words Odysseus kissed his son and the tears streamed down his cheeks and wet the ground, though before he'd always reined his emotions back."(Homer 344) This truly shows how Odysseus is sorry for all of the times he wasn't there for Telemachus. This is also the time when Telemachus finally transforms from a weak boy into a man. He does this final transformation with his father present. Telemachus could not believe that his father was finally home. Odysseus in a way makes up for all of the lost time with his son by working mutually with his son and successfully getting rid of the suitors. Odysseus tries to show male ego although is stopped because he has to show a good example for his son. By the end of the book, Odysseus turned out to be a good father because of how he helps Telemachus become a man.
Sub Topic Sentence #2: Not only is it important for a father to be good, it is also important for a son to be good.
Example: A member of Homers audience would receive several different messages about being a good son. Like Orestes did to avenge his father is a perfect example of a good son. He helped his father out when he was in need. Telemachus also did something much like what Orestes did. He fought beside his father in the war against the suitors of Penelope. Odysseus probably couldn't hold off all of the suitors by himself. A good son in Greek Society would be one who listens to his dad, and also helps him out in times of need. In Homers poems, a good son is one who doesn't have his dad around when he is a child although when he is ready to become a man, his father will be more than willing to help him. A son doesn't really have a male ego, but he may as soon as he becomes a father himself.
Concluding Sentence: Overall, A father and son can both be good if they work together and show good morals.
Concluding paragraph: A father and son may have a strong bond while they are avenging one another, although they have the strongest bond when they do things together. Homer tries to make this point in several different parts of the book. Every single event in the Odyssey has been building up for Telemachus and Odysseus to kill the suitors. After this the relatives of the suitors want to get their revenge on Odysseus and Telemachus. What they don't know is that he isn't going to be the only one on their side. Laertes kills Antonious's father. The bond turns out to be invincible because it truly shows how when father and son work together there is nothing that can make them falter.