while odysseus spoke an old hound, lying near, pricked up his ears and lifted up his muzzle. this was argus…

while odysseus spoke an old hound, lying near, pricked up his ears and lifted up his muzzle. this was argus, trained as a puppy by odysseus, but never taken on a hunt before his master sailed for troy.... abandoned there, and half destroyed with flies, old argus lay. but when he knew he heard odysseus voice nearby, he did his best to wag his tail, nose down, with flattened ears, having no strength to move nearer his master... but death and darkness in that instant closed the eyes of argus, who had seen his master, odysseus, after twenty years. -the odyssey, homer who or what functions as a symbol in this passage? ○ flies ○ troy ○ odysseus ○ argus

while odysseus spoke an old hound, lying near, pricked up his ears and lifted up his muzzle. this was argus, trained as a puppy by odysseus, but never taken on a hunt before his master sailed for troy.... abandoned there, and half destroyed with flies, old argus lay. but when he knew he heard odysseus voice nearby, he did his best to wag his tail, nose down, with flattened ears, having no strength to move nearer his master... but death and darkness in that instant closed the eyes of argus, who had seen his master, odysseus, after twenty years. -the odyssey, homer who or what functions as a symbol in this passage? ○ flies ○ troy ○ odysseus ○ argus

Answer

Brief Explanations:

In literature, a symbol is an object, character, or place that represents something beyond its literal meaning. In this passage from The Odyssey, Argus is not just a dog. He was trained by Odysseus as a puppy but was abandoned. When Odysseus returns after twenty years, Argus recognizes his master. Argus symbolizes loyalty (he still remembers and tries to greet Odysseus after all those years of abandonment) and the passage of time (he is old and half - destroyed, showing how time has passed since Odysseus left). Flies are just a detail of his physical state of being abandoned; Troy is a place and not used symbolically here in the context of the question about the immediate elements in the passage related to the symbol; Odysseus is a character, not a symbol in this particular analysis of what functions as a symbol in the passage.

Answer:

Argus