Secondary Character Saturday: Sean Bean: Odysseus

Today is week three of Sean Bean month on Secondary Character Saturday! . Click HERE  to see the blog on Boromir or HERE for the bog on Ian Howe (from National Treasure). Today’s blog owes a special thanks to my rather amusing and sarcastic family. They had a lot of fun “helping” me write all about Odysseus. Enjoy!

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Speak to me oh sages, oh great Athena, Keeper of Wisdom, that my words may bring to life the tale of  (Sean Bean as) Odysseus, that hero of old.

WHO:  Odysseus

[Image courtesy Fanpop.com]

FROM: The Iliad and The Odyssey and the movie TROY

BY The Iliad and The Odyssey were written by Homer,  The Iliad was roughly adapted  for the screen and renamed “Troy” by  David Benioff

WRITTEN / RELEASED:  The epic poems were “written 800 B.C.E” [The Internet Classics ]; The movie came out in 2004.

PROS: Odysseus is …brave, smart, creative, loyal, realistic, cunning, and an eloquent speaker. He’s good with a weapon and never gave up. He (at least as played by Sean Bean) looks fine in a leather skirt. And he had a large book written about him that we got to read in high school.

The Resourceful Odysseus,… was the trusted advisor and chief lieutenant of Kings Menelaus and Agamemnon throughout the course of the war.  He would fight at the forefront of battle, restore order to the camp when necessary, and his speeches strengthened the resolve of the Greek soldiers to continue their struggle against the Trojans.  When Achilles fell in battle, it was Odysseus who fought his way through the hordes of enemy soldiers and retrieved his body.  At the funeral games following Achilles’ burial, Odysseus defeated Ajax the Greater in a wrestling match to win the title “Bravest of the Greeks”. [Bad Ass of the Week]

CONS: He’s stubborn and a bit quick tempered (just ask the suitors). He went over budget on the Trojan “Horse”  and it doesn’t even LOOK real. He gets along a little too well with the “ladies.” He doesn’t eat bacon — when any chef can tell you EVERYTHING is more epic with bacon. He had a large book written about him that we  HAD to read in high school.

Dispute between Ajax and Odysseus for Achilles’ armour. Attic black-figure oinochoe, ca. 520 BC. Kalos inscription. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

MOST SHINING MOMENT: By inventing the Trojan Horse and bravely leading the men inside it he was the game changer in the Trojan War. One does not simple walk into the gates of Troy, you need a plan, and, Odysseus’ plan was both bold and brilliant.

LEAST SHINING MOMENT: Getting drunk with Calypso. Doh!

WHY SEAN BEAN IS SO GOOD IN THE ROLE: In the movie TROY the focus and camera stay sharply on a buffed and bulging muscles of Brad Pitt and the dark eyes of Eric Bana. Our boy Sean Bean just barely makes secondary character status. But when he IS on screen he steals the scene. He’s the one person on the shores of Turkey who seems in touch with reality. And in a movie that strives for epic status he gives a very human performance. He’s open with his emotions. You can see every bit of angst on his face. With Pitt there  is a blankness akin to blandness (that led me, at least,  to boredom.) Maybe that was an acting choice on Pitt’s part — play the demi god with an air of detachment — but for me? I’d rather watch more of Odysseus’s story.

To read the Iliad on line click HERE.

To read the Odyssey on line click HERE.