Examples Of Perseverance In The Odyssey

In The Odyssey, one important idea that is communicated is perseverance. Closely entwined with patience, perseverance is the act of getting back up on your feet after an emotional, or physical disaster. The Odyssey teaches that you have to keep going even when your plan gets destroyed, to never stop. If Odysseus did not have perseverance, would he have kept going after his crew released the air bag or ate the sacred cattle? Would he have pushed forward when Polyphemus the giant trapped him and his crew in a cave, or when Calypso made him stay on her island for 7 long years? One of the sparks that makes humans different is the ability and want to persevere. Humans are geared towards persistence with the ability to walk for days on end and survive …show more content…
They discover that it belongs to King Aeolus, Keeper of the Winds. Aeolus graciously welcomes Odysseus to his feast and when he and his crew turn to depart he is kind enough to capture up the winds and binds them up in a great bag made from a full-grown ox, sealing the neck with wire so nothing could escape. But he left the west wind free to blow us straight on our course for home. Odysseus stays up for nine days manning the helm, determined that nothing would stop him from reaching home. His crew sights land, Ithaca! Odysseus thinks his troubles are over and leaves the helm to rest his legs, slowly drifting off to a peaceful sleep. His crew thinks that the bag given by King Aeolus contains gold and riches, which Odysseus plans to keep for himself. They open the bag to see what’s inside and poof, their ship is blown all the way across the sea to back to Aeolus’s Palace. In the story itself Odysseus says, “In my grief I thought that I should cast myself overboard and drown, rather than suffer such tragedy. But my spirit held me, made me cling to the rail and endure it all” (111-113). This is Odysseus talking about the will to carry on. His crew has made life harder for him by opening the bag of wind for their own selfish greeds, but like some humans he gets up on his feet and keeps …show more content…
The island is full of signs of habitation, and they decide to investigate, finding a deserted cave shortly after. Inside they discover pens filled with lambs and an array of pails and baskets for making cheese. His men want to steal the fine cheese and hastily return to the ship, but Odysseus refuses wanting to see if this mysterious owner will offer them hospitality. A cyclops wanders into the cave, his strength and bulk terrifying the men. He milks his lambs, lights a fire, and turns around and spies Odysseus and his men hiding behind a rock. Odysseus tries to negotiate with the cyclops, reminding him that they are under the protection of Zeus. The cyclops fears no God and leaves them trapped. Odysseus needs a plan to kill this monstrous beast. He picks up a massive staff of wood in the cave and starts whittling. After the cyclops has dinner, Odysseus approaches it and tells him his name is Nobody. That night as the cyclops slept, Odysseus and his crew stab him with the pointed staff of wood, making the cyclops blind. The cyclops cries out that Nobody is killing him and the other cyclopes thought he was sick and go back to sleep. (93-115). Odysseus made a plan once he knew that his journey was going to be delayed. He did not grieve about what has happened but went immediately to action, crafting and executing a clever plan. The cyclops did not crush his spirit and that enabled him to carry