Essay: Seemingly Insignificant Characters

In a lot of stories, there is a protagonist, an antagonist, plots, themes, and a climax. In every story there are also the characters that get around two minutes of fame and are left forgotten by the reader. They are the shrimp who decided to play in the big leagues, but are declined the opportunity to even get off the bench. So, to the kids who were picked last at recess and the pimply prom prince who gets rejected by the girl of his dreams over and over, here's to you.

In Homer's Odysseus, there is a specific character about whom I am thinking. The name is Elpenor, idiot Elpenor. Actually, I made that up, his name is just Elpenor... But for the record, he is an idiot. He is mentioned twice and plays no significant role in the storyline (seemingly), but he is worth mentioning.

You can read about it in The Spirit of Elpenor, but Elpenor was a young, inexperienced war monger who probably had no business being on Odysseus's crew. He was first mentioned because of the fact that he died from drunkenly falling off the roof of an enchantress. In fact, his renown in America's high school English classrooms is as a drunken idiot. (I secretly believe he should be the first winner of a Darwin Award, and if you don't know what that is then PLEASE go look it up.)And I want to convince you of why that in and of itself is important to epic stories.

Humor is integral to a story. And luckily for Homer, 99% of people find drunk people hilarious. Everyone can appreciate a good drunk story, and Elpenor obliged for us. If The Odyssey didn't have any respite from the constant death and depression, a large portion of the population would find it less entertaining. The comic relief provided by the insignificant, forgotten characters actually shape the story much more than it appears.

I urge you to keep your eyes peeled in the future units you read for the Elpenors in each respective story, so you can figuratively give them a pat on the back for bringing you the smile and laughs within the drama.

Now, go out in the real world and open your eyes for modern-day Elpenors. Befriend them, for your life will be spiced up!

Darwin awards summed up in a photo.

Image credit: Hahastop.