In How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster, he informs his audience that the real reason for a quest is always for the character to gain self-knowledge. A quest is a long journey, in which a character searches for something. On Odysseus’ quest in The Odyssey by Homer, he learns the importance of patience. Odysseus, at the beginning, is very determined to get home and he would do whatever it took to get there. In “Calypso, the Sweet Nymph,” Calypso asks Odysseus to stay with her, but he refuses. He kindly puts her down by saying “each day I long to be home,” after being offered immortality (Homer 117-118). Odysseus’ determination but impatience is shown since he could have stayed with Calypso and lived forever, but did
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In “The Meeting of Father and Son,” Odysseus is disguised to look like a beggar after he finally returns to Ithaca, by the goddess Athena. Odysseus is at Eumaeus’ house, and Eumaeus is waiting for Telemachus, Odysseus’ son, to return from his search for Odysseus. Odysseus sees Eumaeus and Telemachus’ relationship, which mimics how he and his son’s relationship should be. Of course, jealous Odysseus watches, but eventually tells Telemachus who he is, and with the help of Athena, is transformed from a beggar to his normal self while Eumaeus is gone. Telemachus does not believe Odysseus once he tells him who he is, but Odysseus assures him that he is really Odysseus by saying “No other Odysseus will ever come, for he and I are one... I am back again on my own land...” (Homer 1023-1024, 1027-1028). After Odysseus sees how Ithaca is, he realizes that people may not be as accepting of his as he thought. In “The Test of the Great Bow,” Penelope test the suitors to string Odysseus’ bow, and she will marry that man. Of course, no one could string the bow, but Odysseus. Since Odysseus was back being disguised as a beggar, he decides to join the suitors in their challenge as he comes up with a plan to get his throne back. The suitors doubt that he can do it, but he does, so they despise him. So as Odysseus comes up with his plan, he comes to the conclusion that it will be hard for him to be accepted again. Because …show more content…
Even after Penelope is convinced that the beggar is really Odysseus after the test of the great bow, she does not automatically accept him since he has been gone for 20 years. Even though she is very devout to Odysseus, she test him again to be confident in her decision. Odysseus understands why she would do this, but Telemachus does not. Telemachus tries to get Penelope to rush back into Odysseus’ arms as if nothing happened. Unlike the old Odysseus, he goes along with Penelope’s test, and he passes it. His maturity is evident because in this things did not go the way he planned it to be and he permitted that. By the end, Odysseus and Penelope are together again, like Odysseus hoped for, but only with
In “The Meeting of Father and Son,” Odysseus is disguised to look like a beggar after he finally returns to Ithaca, by the goddess Athena. Odysseus is at Eumaeus’ house, and Eumaeus is waiting for Telemachus, Odysseus’ son, to return from his search for Odysseus. Odysseus sees Eumaeus and Telemachus’ relationship, which mimics how he and his son’s relationship should be. Of course, jealous Odysseus watches, but eventually tells Telemachus who he is, and with the help of Athena, is transformed from a beggar to his normal self while Eumaeus is gone. Telemachus does not believe Odysseus once he tells him who he is, but Odysseus assures him that he is really Odysseus by saying “No other Odysseus will ever come, for he and I are one... I am back again on my own land...” (Homer 1023-1024, 1027-1028). After Odysseus sees how Ithaca is, he realizes that people may not be as accepting of his as he thought. In “The Test of the Great Bow,” Penelope test the suitors to string Odysseus’ bow, and she will marry that man. Of course, no one could string the bow, but Odysseus. Since Odysseus was back being disguised as a beggar, he decides to join the suitors in their challenge as he comes up with a plan to get his throne back. The suitors doubt that he can do it, but he does, so they despise him. So as Odysseus comes up with his plan, he comes to the conclusion that it will be hard for him to be accepted again. Because …show more content…
Even after Penelope is convinced that the beggar is really Odysseus after the test of the great bow, she does not automatically accept him since he has been gone for 20 years. Even though she is very devout to Odysseus, she test him again to be confident in her decision. Odysseus understands why she would do this, but Telemachus does not. Telemachus tries to get Penelope to rush back into Odysseus’ arms as if nothing happened. Unlike the old Odysseus, he goes along with Penelope’s test, and he passes it. His maturity is evident because in this things did not go the way he planned it to be and he permitted that. By the end, Odysseus and Penelope are together again, like Odysseus hoped for, but only with