The heroic tale the Odyssey, birds are presented throughout the adventure, perhaps as a image. Understanding the meaning of birds in the story could be crucial to the comprehension of Homer's whole purpose for writing the world-known masterpiece. Gods are immortal, and they rule over the mortal men that live on Earth. In The Odyssey, birds, resulting in mortal understanding, represent the gods behaviours.
In many instances, birds represent gods' behaviours. One example is when the suitors are discussing the different routes that they have for murdering Telemachos. On page 230, they all look up and "spied a bird on the left, an eagle flying high with a trembling dove in his claws." Think of a god: always destroying the mortals, and eating them alive, just as this eagle does here. Another illustration that birds represent the God's behaviours is held in the situation when Penelope is telling Aithon (Odysseus in the disguise as a beggar) about her dream.
Mnêstêrophonía: slaughter of the suitors by Ody...
Sleeping Caribbean Flamingo at the Metro Toronto Z...
Telemachos im Palast von MenelaosOn page 184, she tells Aithon "... a great eagle from the mountains swooped down and broke their necks with his curving claws and killed them." The gods of The Odyssey are extremely violent, and as you can see here, this bird is also being violent, unless slaughtering a bunch of geese is an innocent act of kindness. Another example that birds represent the god's behaviours is in the description of gods. On page 184, Homer states "...for the Gods do not show themselves manifestly to everyone." Think of a bird: flying above our heads, above our site, and hiding in those trees of theirs. When a bird wants to show themselves "manifestly," it finds a way to do so: singing, chirping, and just plain out flying right to someone's hand or shoulder. There is definitely proof that birds...