The story of the Odyssey is most simply the story of a man returning home. It is an embodiment of the Greek concept of nostos. Odysseus’s journey in the Odyssey provides a transition from the epic scale of war to the more mundane life at home. He is stopped and delayed at multiple points throughout this journey, but ultimately as time progresses he becomes closer and closer to his destination. Just as the Odyssey as a whole addresses this transition from the large and grandiose to the simple and human, so does the adventure in Phaeacia.
The differences in the first adventures of Telemachus and Odysseys presented in the Odyssey juxtapose the mortal and divine worlds well. The first immediate difference between Phaeacia and the lands traveled …show more content…
Telemachus arrives at each land he visits to observe a great number of people participating in a ceremony of sorts. In Pylos: “the people lined the beaches, sacrificing sleek black bulls to Poseidon” (107). In Sparta: “they found the king inside his palace, celebrating with throngs of kinsmen a double wedding-feast for his son and lovely daughter” (124). While these events may have been large and full of opulence, they were entirely human in nature. Meanwhile, Odysseus is still traveling the tale of a hero in the gods’ world. Not only is his destination predetermined by Zeus, but on his way sailing there he is delayed by Poseidon: “but now Poseidon, god of the earthquake…rammed the clouds together—both hands clutching his trident—churned the waves into chaos, whipping all the gales from every quarter” (161). However, he was rescued by another goddess, Ino, because “she pitied Odysseus” (162). He was provided a scarf that would allow him to swim to his destination and was then assisted by an unnamed river god before finally arriving on land. It is here that another juxtaposition occurs. Odysseus arrives and is alone. The only thing around him is the shore and the woods; no other humans are to be
The differences in the first adventures of Telemachus and Odysseys presented in the Odyssey juxtapose the mortal and divine worlds well. The first immediate difference between Phaeacia and the lands traveled …show more content…
Telemachus arrives at each land he visits to observe a great number of people participating in a ceremony of sorts. In Pylos: “the people lined the beaches, sacrificing sleek black bulls to Poseidon” (107). In Sparta: “they found the king inside his palace, celebrating with throngs of kinsmen a double wedding-feast for his son and lovely daughter” (124). While these events may have been large and full of opulence, they were entirely human in nature. Meanwhile, Odysseus is still traveling the tale of a hero in the gods’ world. Not only is his destination predetermined by Zeus, but on his way sailing there he is delayed by Poseidon: “but now Poseidon, god of the earthquake…rammed the clouds together—both hands clutching his trident—churned the waves into chaos, whipping all the gales from every quarter” (161). However, he was rescued by another goddess, Ino, because “she pitied Odysseus” (162). He was provided a scarf that would allow him to swim to his destination and was then assisted by an unnamed river god before finally arriving on land. It is here that another juxtaposition occurs. Odysseus arrives and is alone. The only thing around him is the shore and the woods; no other humans are to be