Monday, May 12, 2014

"The Simpsons" And "The Odyssey?"

How is The Simpsons' video clip a parody and/or satire of The Odyssey and heroes in Greek Mythology?  Please list at least one specific from the Heroic Code as you explain and defend your assessment and thinking.  This response is due during class today.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Simpsons clip did a good job of describing some of the parts of the guest/host relationship with the struggles of Penelope and all her many suitors. They also took it to the next level with the relationship with Penelope and Odysseus. She did forgive her husband but really they had a normal husband wife relationship.

Anonymous said...

The Simpsons' clip is based on The Odyssey, which is what backs it to be a parody. Homer Simpson takes the place of Odysseus in this spoof, and his wife takes the place of Penelope. It relates to the Odyssey in the way that the story is played out, although there are some added traits to draw the audience in. For instance, when "Odysseus" sees his men turned into pigs he devours them, but in the Odyssey Odysseus never does that. Homer, or Odysseus, shows a varied image of the heroic qualities in this clip. He still "battles" his way home, just in a very different way than depicted in the Odyssey.

Anonymous said...

It satirizes the guest/host relationship when Odysseus and his crew land on the island of Circe. When she offers them a drink from her cauldron, they take advantage of the offer and it winds up turning them into pigs. Homer as Odysseus then eats his friends and complains that he's still hungry, an example of excessive greed in the face of his host.

Anonymous said...

“The Simpsons” clip is a satire of Iliad. They make fun of many different aspects of the poem, including names of the cities, the men turning to pigs, the underworld, etc. But one thing they do make fun of is how heroic Odysseus was. In the poem when he returns he must heroically win the suitor challenge to regain his wife’s love. He is the only one to complete it, but in the clip Homer throws a spear through all the suitors, non-heroic making fun of the idea of a heroic ending.

Anonymous said...

The simpsons short had poked fun at the odyssey by incororating modern day tropes. For an example the syrans that tempted odyseous and his cruew by hearing a take on the copa cabana song. When they finaly meet them they find out that the syrans are ugly hags and the emidiatly reterate. The second one was when his crew is rude and detray the qest host relation.After this homer eats the pigs.

Anonymous said...

This video makes fun of the guest/host relationship when Penelope’s suitors stay the entire 20 years in her house. It makes fun of it because, it seems that they overstayed their welcome, and when Odysseus returned home he “took care” of them.

Anonymous said...

The Simpsons' video clip is a parody of The Odyssey because they poked fun at Odysseus and didn't make him much of a hero. Homer, who plays Odysseus, does show excessive greed when he eats his friends and complains about being hungry and also when he comes home and Penelope asks him about his journey, he complains that she's too overwhelming. Other than that, the video clip did a good job of staying true to the actual story.

Anonymous said...

The Simpsons' video clip is a parody of The Odyssey because they poked fun at Odysseus and didn't make him much of a hero. Homer, who plays Odysseus, does show excessive greed when he eats his friends and complains about being hungry and also when he comes home and Penelope asks him about his journey, he complains that she's too overwhelming. Other than that, the video clip did a good job of staying true to the actual story.

Anonymous said...

The Simpsons version of the Odyssey pokes and makes fun of the Syrens who were hideous enough to drive away the heroes away and as they get closer to home Posiedon desides to push them back to a island were they are turned to pigs Homer eats all of his friends while in the true story they are just turned to pigs. Odysseus eventually after 20 years comes home to kill the suiters he threw a spear threw all of them but in the Odyssey he just kills one suiter with the spear.

BaileyCal said...

"The Simpsons" Odyssey clip poked fun at Homer's Odyssey and made it seem like a joke. The sirens that were supposed to seduce his crew turned them away faster that Homer could say donuts. When Marge made a comment on Helen of Troy's face and how it launched 1,000 ships in the other direction and that Homer had to cross the River Styx, while Styx played and created a true Hell.

Anonymous said...

In this Simpsons clip it satirizes the guest/host relationship with Odysseus and Penelope. It shows how homer sees his men get turned into pigs and eats them, when they run into the singing women but they are ugly so they get out of there really fast. Also he still fought his way home to his wife.

Anonymous said...

The Simpsons' clip is a satire of "The Odyssey" by how their path seems to have been changed by a God's hand and the different heroic characteristic of the true hero. They were flicked by the finger of a God when they actually were thrown off coarse by the water. The finger flick is kind of a humorous view of the God, Poseidon keeping them off coarse. Second, in the clip Odysseus seems to not have done much to get back to his home, but in the story he was brave and smart of how to come back home.

Anonymous said...

The Simpsons satirical clip encapsulated many elements of the story of the Odyssey. Though playfully mocking it, the river styx was suppose to be this hellious place, but was filled with rocker skeletons jamming out to the band the Styx. And the sorcerer Cerceyx's cauldron was surrounded by skeletons. The video did a good job of representing a few of the Odysseys elements, while pointing out some witty flaws in the story.

Anonymous said...

Parody will always be The Simpsons main forte. It was only a matter of time till they did a parody of ancient Greek literature. The Odyssey's main character was played by homer Simpson. The character throughout the short ignores all signs of obvious danger, humorously, which satires the fact that Odysseus goes straight into the eye of danger even though death is present. It also makes fun of the sirens which are supposed to be beautiful creatures but are instead ugly in this one, which ultimately saves their lives from them.

Anonymous said...

The Simpsons' Clip is clearly a parody of the The Odyssey. Homer sails over the seas encounters the sirens whom are usually beautiful and unresistant, but they are ugly and it drives the crew away. Poseidon also flicks them back to the island instead of the raging seas becoming more dangerous and pushing them back. This makes Odysseus look like a wimp. When he is on the island he ate his friends because he was hungry, which was not done in the reading. When Homer returned home he didn't prove his love the Penelope he "took the trash out" and went to Moe's. When he would usually have to complete a challenge that only he knew how to succeed.

Anonymous said...

The Simpsons clip and Odysseus are satires of each other because in The Simpsons, Homer who plays the main character ignores all signs of obvious danger which is similar to Odysseus who goes straight into many dangerous situations even when death is a major possibility.

Anonymous said...

The Simpsons clip did a good job of showing a guest/host relationship and the struggles that many had to come through to get done what they needed to be done. It took the next level with Penelope and Odysseus relationship.

Anonymous said...

The Simpsons clip did a good job of making fun in some way of showing a guest/host relationship and the struggles that many had to come through to get done what they needed to be done. It took the next level with Penelope and Odysseus relationship. Odysseus left his family and didn't tell them when he was going to return, then just showed up and started to "take" care of his family again.

Anonymous said...

In the Simpsons it does a good job describing the guest host relationship. I shares similar characteristic as the relationship between Odysseus and Penelope. They share some of the same problems.