A study of the characters Odysseus and Poseidon as depicted in Homers Odyssey

A study of the characters Odysseus and Poseidon as depicted in Homer's Odyssey After the events of the Trojan War, Odysseus and his men headed back home to Ithaca. En route, they unknowingly stopped at the island of the Cyclopes to gather supplies for their long journey home. Unfortunately, the inhabitants of the island were not very friendly – particularly one Cyclops named Polyphemus. In an attempt to hide from the other giants, Odysseus and his men hid in Polyphemus’s cave. Polyphemus then trapped the men inside with a massive boulder blocking the only way in and out. One by one, Polyphemus ate Odysseus’s crew. Odysseus, keeping a level head, came up with a plan to escape. Odysseus had some undiluted wine on his person, and cleverly offered it to Polyphemus without telling him how strong the wine was. Polyphemus eagerly took the wine, became drunk, and promptly fell asleep. Odysseus and his remaining men heated a wooden stake in a fire, and proceeded to blind Polyphemus’s one eye. After howling in pain, the men hid under the giant’s sheep, where they could not be felt and eaten. The next morning, when Polyphemus let his sheep out to graze, Odysseus and his men snuck out underneath the sheep’s wooly bellies, and escaped to their ship. Polyphemus realized that the men had escaped after Odysseus was already at sea. Polyphemus threw a (poorly-aimed) boulder at the ship, and called out to his father Poseidon for vengeance. Poseidon, in his rage, destroyed Odysseus’s ship, as well as his entire crew, over a ten-year journey back to Ithaca. Odysseus only survived becaus e he had Athena’s favor and protection. Odysseus’s Argument: Odysseus was acting out of self-defense. As captain and king, he had a duty to protect himself and his men at all costs. He used his wits to escape a life-threatening situation. He also did not know that Polyphemus was son of Poseidon. Regardless of who Polyphemus was, Odysseus did not kill him, despite the threat against Odysseus and his crew; it would have been just as easy to kill him while drunk or asleep. Poseidon, being a god, acts out of extreme emotion, and decides that the injury of his son warrants mass-murder. Odysseus thought rationally and spared the man-eating Polyphemus; Poseidon acted irrationally, and eradicated Odysseus’s crew. Poseidon could have been more merciful and wiped out Odysseus and his crew quickly. Instead Poseidon extended Odysseus’s punishment and caused him to suffer as he watched his entire crew die over the course of ten years. Furthermore, this extended journey caused turmoil in Odysseus’s Kingdom of Ithaca. When Odysseus left for Troy, his son, Telemachus, was too young to take the throne. This left Penelope running the entire country. While Odysseus was gone, suitors came to court Penelope, raiding his palace while they were there. Since there was no proof that Odysseus survived the Trojan War, the suitors constantly pressured Penelope to remarry. She did not want to, instead stalling the suitors until Odysseus returned because she believed that he was still alive. Poseidon’s Argument: Before Poseidon did anything to Odysseus, he had to get his idea approved by Zeus, king of the gods. Furthermore, Odysseus was in Poseidon’s domain, the ocean, for most of his journey, which puts Odysseus in a precarious position already. Poseidon’s intended target was Odysseus; the rest of the crew was collateral damage, but also emotionally hurt Odysseus. Odysseus knew he was in the domain of a deity that could wreck him on every level; he had plenty of opportunities to brace himself in case things went wrong. Poseidon, as a deity, demands more respect than a typical human. In Poseidon’s mind, this special treatment extends to his son. Injuring his son Polyphemus was considered a personal insult. Unknown to Odysseus, he had divine protection from Athena – a rival deity to Poseidon. Therefore, Poseidon already did not like Odysseus; stabbing Polyphemus in the eye just added to Poseidon’s hatred. Poseidon did not harm Odysseus, but made him suffer, just like his son, by killing his men slowly. Let the punishment fit the crime. Moreover, there are times when Odysseus was not only selfish, but genuinely irreverent. While Penelope was upholding her marriage vows, Odysseus had an affair with Circe, a sorceress who had turned his men into pigs while he had his fling. He also deliberately went past the island of the Sirens, just because he wanted to hear their song for himself. Finally, he allowed his men to eat sacred cattle of the god Helios for a week. This one act condemned his entire fleet, ship and men, to destruction. Zeus struck the ship with lightning, forcing Odysseus to swim to an island and live with a Calypso, a sea nymph, for seven years. The rest of his men drowned. This shows that Odysseus did not always respect the gods, and acted selfishly whenever it suited him.

Efficiency in the Market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Efficiency in the Market - Essay Example It requires goods to be produced in the least cost way. The firms are forced at the minimum level of average cost in the long run. The consumers are benefitted under productive efficiency as they are required to pay the lowest possible product price. Allocative efficiency is given by the equality between price and marginal cost. It requires firms to take that production path that is the need of the society. When the firm is not able to increase its welfare by producing more of one good then a situation of efficient allocation is said to exist. A firm can achieve such efficiency by equating marginal cost and price. Marginal cost is regarded as the amount of satisfaction foregone due to the production of another good. If P=MC then value of produced goods is equal to the value of not produced goods. Considering a hypothetical country and a firm who is a price taker, the firm will produce at the profit maximizing quantity which will equate price and marginal cost. The firm will face U-sh aped cost curves and horizontal demand curve. 1 Perfect competition can efficiently allocate resources in the long run. The following is the long run equilibrium condition: P=SRMC=LRMC=SRAC=LRAC This equation states prices to be equal to marginal cost and average cost both in the long and short run. With P+MC no firm has the motive to make adjustments in quantity. Again with P=AC each firm earns only normal profit. This is a situation of no economic profit-loss situation. The long run condition is satisfied only at the minimum of LRAC curve. This is also termed as the minimum efficient scale. The minimum efficient scale provides the economy to utilize resources in optimal and efficient fashion. Two types of agents participate in the competitive market. The other participant is scarce resources. In the economy framework a resource is defined as the item (goods or services) that is valued by the agents. It is the scarcity of resources which calls for efficient allocation of resources to satisfy all the participating agents. The decisions on allocation are of prime importance in this market principle. A market is defined as the place where buyers meet sellers. The mode with which the exchange takes place is called price. The main characteristic of competitive market is the adjustment of prices until supply is equal to demand. The price sets the market in equilibrium and such a situation is called Pareto optimal situation. In a decentralized economy the equilibrium price is determined by tatonnement process. Prices tend to rise if demand is greater than supply and decrease when demand is less than supply. An adjustment to occur the demand and supply at the current prices must be known beforehand. Consider the case where there are many independent sellers. If there access to full information to both the buyers and the sellers then price of the product will set at the equilibrium. Now suppose a high price and a low price is charged for the product. The consumers may opt firms selling their products at high price to offer at some price level which is the difference between the high and low price. Such a situation will offer a better off situation for both parties. The quantities are in the Y-axes. The equilibrium price is denoted as p*. At this price the buyers will be willing to pay at least this amount of price to buy the products and the firms will be able to sell their products at the market rate. If the price is less than the equilibrium p

The EU legislation and Labour movement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

The EU legislation and Labour movement - Essay Example Moreover, while there has been progress in the study of managerial leadership behaviour in various countries of the globe (Den Hartog, House, & Hanges, 1999; Kuchinke, 1999; Maczynski & Koopman, 2000), world wide research in leadership styles of entrepreneurs is minimal (Ardichvili, Cardozo, & Gasparishvili, 1998). Lastly, while there have been several studies that have been undertaken on psychological and behavioural distinctions between entrepreneurs and managers within a Western setting (i.e. the UK) (e.g., Brockhaus, 1982; Brockhaus & Nord, 1979; March & Sharipo, 1987), there is a dearth of literature on the comparison of leadership styles of Western and non-western entrepreneurs and managers. While there is a wealth of literature discussing leadership styles across countries, there is a dearth of research specifically tackling the topic of entrepreneurial leadership. The fact that legislation is a catalyst for economic growth and development is well known. Differing economic, cultural and political circumstances abroad also suggest the need for a better understanding of employees with a broad context is important. Fortunately, the ability to study the implications of policies on economic growth abroad is expanding rapidly as a result of the emergence of global private equity markets and micro finance. International entrepreneur ship spans cultural boundaries and involves a variety of stakeholders, including the entrepreneur, investors and policy makers (Asel, 2003). "Social considerations must be given the same status as economic, financial and environmental concerns in a holistic approach. It is time for global thinking and local action. The implementation of the Core Labour Standards and the laws and regulations that give effect to them at national levels can be significantly enhanced if the capacities of national labour inspectorates are buil t up and strengthened. Labour inspectors have a crucial role to play because they are the only ones with the authority to directly access and impose changes in the workplace."(Albracht, 2005) The European union was expanded in May 2004 having 25 members. The aim of the creation of the union was to create the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of substantial economic growth with more, and better, jobs and greater social cohesion (Elizabeth Hunt Recruitment). All the member states of the EU have to follow common trade and employment laws, which on the one hand provided them with the ease of free trade and larger availability of work force and a vast product market on the other. Working Time in Europe: "According to the EU Working Time Directive (93/104/EC), implemented on 23rd November 1993 and laid down the following: - There should be a minimum rest period of 11 consecutive hours for every 24-hour period. - There should be a rest break if the working day is longer than six hours. - There should be a minimum rest period of one day per seven-day period. - There should be a minimum of four weeks' paid annual leave. - There should be an average of no more than eight hours work per night in a 24-hour period. Although there are significant variations relating to paid holiday leave across the member countries; in all cases the average paid annual