“Human motivation, itself, is a complicated thing.” (Kira Salak) Truth be told, it is. Why do we do the things we do? What really motivates us? In some cases, it is our character traits that push us towards a daunting task or journey. The Odyssey is an epic poem written by Homer. It tells the story of Odysseus, who is lost at sea and cursed by the Gods after fighting in the Battle of Troy. Odysseus struggles to get home to Ithaca through challenges like sea monsters and dangerous islands. The Cruelest Journey is a poem written by Kira Salak. It recounts Salak’s trip 600 miles in a blow-up kayak on the Niger River. People undertake journeys because of their determination and throughout their journey, they learn more about themselves, in cases
…show more content…
In both The Odyssey and The Cruelest Journey, the characters determination leads them to embark on journeys to reach a certain goal. If one has determination, it means the they have willpower, energy, and dedication towards something specific, so it’s easy to understand how this trait can lead someone onto a journey. Odysseus, the main character of The Odyssey, starts out lost at sea after fighting in Troy. He has one goal, to reach home, but being cursed by the gods restricts this ability. Continuously getting sent into dangerous situations over and over, even the readers begin to lose hope for him. At one point in the story Odysseus is instructed to go the underworld, and talk to a certain prophet named Tiresias. While searching, he sees the ghost of his mother, a woman he loved greatly. “Now came the soul of Anticlea, dead, my mother, daughter of Autolycus, dead now, though living still when I took ship for holy Troy. Seeing this ghost I grieved, but held her off, through pang on pang of tears, till I should know the presence of Tiresias.” (Homer 11. 60-65) Odysseus has so much determination to get to Tiresias that he pushes his deepest love and most important person to …show more content…
From the first part of the book, it was perceived that Odysseus thought of himself as very powerful over others, particularly his men. Many times he does achieve this power, but those being small scale events that the men didn’t need much instruction. At one point though, after losing many of is men on multiple accounts, the ships come to an island that Odysseus knows not to touch.“Odysseus tries to persuade his men to bypass Thrinacia, the island of the sun god, Helios, but they insist on landing. Driven by hunger, they ignore Odysseus’ warning no to feast on Helios’ cattle.” (Homer, page 398) Slightly after this, Helios sends a thunderbolt to strike the ship, killing all the men but Odysseus. This is a pivotal point in the book and a huge event making it very obvious to Odysseus that his power is not as large as he thought. In many other smaller cases throughout the story, similar scenarios occur where Odysseus attempts to take authority over others, but inevitably fails. Each helping to build up to the overall lesson he learns about himself and his traits, that he is not as powerful as he thought. Salak also learns about herself during her own journey, but the lesson is a little different. At one point in book one, Salak encounters a storm. Although it would ensure safety for her, she does not stop paddling and stay in a town along the
In both The Odyssey and The Cruelest Journey, the characters determination leads them to embark on journeys to reach a certain goal. If one has determination, it means the they have willpower, energy, and dedication towards something specific, so it’s easy to understand how this trait can lead someone onto a journey. Odysseus, the main character of The Odyssey, starts out lost at sea after fighting in Troy. He has one goal, to reach home, but being cursed by the gods restricts this ability. Continuously getting sent into dangerous situations over and over, even the readers begin to lose hope for him. At one point in the story Odysseus is instructed to go the underworld, and talk to a certain prophet named Tiresias. While searching, he sees the ghost of his mother, a woman he loved greatly. “Now came the soul of Anticlea, dead, my mother, daughter of Autolycus, dead now, though living still when I took ship for holy Troy. Seeing this ghost I grieved, but held her off, through pang on pang of tears, till I should know the presence of Tiresias.” (Homer 11. 60-65) Odysseus has so much determination to get to Tiresias that he pushes his deepest love and most important person to …show more content…
From the first part of the book, it was perceived that Odysseus thought of himself as very powerful over others, particularly his men. Many times he does achieve this power, but those being small scale events that the men didn’t need much instruction. At one point though, after losing many of is men on multiple accounts, the ships come to an island that Odysseus knows not to touch.“Odysseus tries to persuade his men to bypass Thrinacia, the island of the sun god, Helios, but they insist on landing. Driven by hunger, they ignore Odysseus’ warning no to feast on Helios’ cattle.” (Homer, page 398) Slightly after this, Helios sends a thunderbolt to strike the ship, killing all the men but Odysseus. This is a pivotal point in the book and a huge event making it very obvious to Odysseus that his power is not as large as he thought. In many other smaller cases throughout the story, similar scenarios occur where Odysseus attempts to take authority over others, but inevitably fails. Each helping to build up to the overall lesson he learns about himself and his traits, that he is not as powerful as he thought. Salak also learns about herself during her own journey, but the lesson is a little different. At one point in book one, Salak encounters a storm. Although it would ensure safety for her, she does not stop paddling and stay in a town along the