The Journey Of Odysseus In Homer's The Odyssey

In the book, The Odyssey, by Homer, the main character Odysseus endures many hardships. He wanders from place to place, overcoming trials which cost him dearly. Odysseus ends up spending many years at sea, without seeing his homeland once during that period. He spends a year at Kerke’s island because of the many tempting things she offers. And later Odysseus spends four years willingly on Kalypso’s island. Odysseus also visits many other islands where he and his men face dangerous battles. Some crew members lose their lives. Through Odysseus’ journey, he learns to value things that he previously had not. Because he was away from his family for so long, Odysseus learns to value them. During his journey, Odysseus undergoes many challenges, …show more content…
When he starts his journey Odysseus does not exercise much caution. When Odysseus is fleeing from the Kyklope Polyphemus, he shouts his name out so that all may know and remember who it was that hurt Polyphemus. As a result of that Polyphemus askes Poseidon, his father, to curse Odysseus. Poseidon later almost drives Odysseus to his death, by creating a large and powerful storm when Odysseus tries to sail to Phakia. Odysseus’ grab for glory by shouting his name regardless of consequences could hold consequences for him. When Odysseus lands at various islands, he goes to explore them with little thought to the possible consequences. At the island of the Lotos eaters, all his men went wandering and some proceeded to eat the Lotos flowers, they proceeded to forget their purpose and become carefree. At the next Island he met the Kyklope named Polyphemus, who slaughtered six of Odysseus’ men and ate them. At each of these islands Odysseus lands without knowing anything about the place he is visiting, and by the end each of them end up having awful consequences for Odysseus. This leads him to not trust the land he is visiting, because Odysseus doesn’t know what to expect. When Odysseus is in the court of the Phakians he does not announce his name immediately, even though his name is well known now as a war hero. Instead Odysseus has to be prompted repeatedly before he will tell his name and story. This shows that instead of immediately boasting about his deeds to get fame, he now exercises caution in what he shares with the world. When he met Athena face to face in Ithaka, he showed that he no longer trusted quickly. Rather than immediately trusting the word of a goddess, Odysseus instead asks her again because he no longer trusts