The epic poem, The Odyssey, is written by Homer in 800 B.C.E., and is full of adventure, including ships lost at sea, terrible monsters and gods who take out their revenge on mortals, and even a hero named Odysseus who after twenty long years eventually makes it back home to Ithaca. But really, Odysseus’ homecoming is what The Odyssey is all about. Time and time again, Odysseus desires to return to Ithaca, the land of his heritage, and he longs to return to his wife, Penelope, and his son, Telemachus. Everything that happens in The Odyssey revolves around this desire, including his mistakes. His cunning, strength, and even divine intervention eventually bring Odysseus home again. In fact, Odysseus’ character and relationships within his roles
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The gods favored and respected him and the mortals admired him. An intellectual, Odysseus used logic to make his choice after evaluating a situation and ultimately regaining his kingdom. For example, it had been 10 years since the close of the Trojan War and Odysseus wanted to go home to Ithaca where he was king and his wife, Penelope, was delaying several suitors because she still had hope that her husband was still alive. When Odysseus finally made it back home disguised as a beggar, he checked things out and plotted to kill all the suitors, with the help of his son, Telemachus. In Ithaca, he was committed to get rid of all the suitors that stole his possessions and dishonored him by trying to marry his wife, Penelope. In some ways, his story can be compared to young King Josiah in the Bible who was also committed to cleaning up Judah of it’s corruption and sin. In the Bible, 2 Kings 23:25 says of King Josiah, where, “like unto him there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might.” Odysseus was a committed husband who could be both merciful (by sparing the bard Phemius) but also brutal (in how he dealt with his wife’s dozen of disloyal maidservants). Unfortunately, Odysseus’ conflict with the suitors turned into revenge giving him many reasons for wanting to kill the suitors: “[They] destroyed [Odysseus’] home, outraged [his] …show more content…
Their father/son bond was deep, and this led Telemachus in search of his father. Says Telemachus, “My father is Odysseus-if ever such there were! But long ago he died, a mournful death; so I, with men and a black ship, am come to gather news of my long-absent father,” (page 147). This deep bond was also evidenced by Telemachus defending his father’s name and also receiving Odysseus back into his life with joy and little hesitation. Upon his return to Ithaca, Odysseus was an involved father to Telemachus. Together, their heroic traits of bravery, strength, determination, and cunning helped them come up with a plan to defeat their enemy, the suitors who were at their house surrounding Penelope, Odysseus’ wife and Telemachus’ mother. A similar father/son relationship existed in the Bible between Joseph and Jacob who were separated for many years. But after years of prison, Joseph stayed true to his father and invited him and his family to live in Egypt with him. Nearing the end of his life, Jacob asked his son Joseph: “If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, they hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt,” (Genesis 47:29), which Joseph sore to him to bury him with his fathers out of Egypt. Jacob also blessed Joseph’s sons Manasseh and Ephraim, that they would be fruitful and multiply into a multitude of
The gods favored and respected him and the mortals admired him. An intellectual, Odysseus used logic to make his choice after evaluating a situation and ultimately regaining his kingdom. For example, it had been 10 years since the close of the Trojan War and Odysseus wanted to go home to Ithaca where he was king and his wife, Penelope, was delaying several suitors because she still had hope that her husband was still alive. When Odysseus finally made it back home disguised as a beggar, he checked things out and plotted to kill all the suitors, with the help of his son, Telemachus. In Ithaca, he was committed to get rid of all the suitors that stole his possessions and dishonored him by trying to marry his wife, Penelope. In some ways, his story can be compared to young King Josiah in the Bible who was also committed to cleaning up Judah of it’s corruption and sin. In the Bible, 2 Kings 23:25 says of King Josiah, where, “like unto him there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might.” Odysseus was a committed husband who could be both merciful (by sparing the bard Phemius) but also brutal (in how he dealt with his wife’s dozen of disloyal maidservants). Unfortunately, Odysseus’ conflict with the suitors turned into revenge giving him many reasons for wanting to kill the suitors: “[They] destroyed [Odysseus’] home, outraged [his] …show more content…
Their father/son bond was deep, and this led Telemachus in search of his father. Says Telemachus, “My father is Odysseus-if ever such there were! But long ago he died, a mournful death; so I, with men and a black ship, am come to gather news of my long-absent father,” (page 147). This deep bond was also evidenced by Telemachus defending his father’s name and also receiving Odysseus back into his life with joy and little hesitation. Upon his return to Ithaca, Odysseus was an involved father to Telemachus. Together, their heroic traits of bravery, strength, determination, and cunning helped them come up with a plan to defeat their enemy, the suitors who were at their house surrounding Penelope, Odysseus’ wife and Telemachus’ mother. A similar father/son relationship existed in the Bible between Joseph and Jacob who were separated for many years. But after years of prison, Joseph stayed true to his father and invited him and his family to live in Egypt with him. Nearing the end of his life, Jacob asked his son Joseph: “If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, they hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt,” (Genesis 47:29), which Joseph sore to him to bury him with his fathers out of Egypt. Jacob also blessed Joseph’s sons Manasseh and Ephraim, that they would be fruitful and multiply into a multitude of