The word “grief” shares many similarities to “sadness”, but just as both terms are used to describe a state of unhappiness, to be grieving carries with it connotations of a deeper-rooted pain stemming from the mourning of a loss, or an emotional loyalty to the subject of the grief. The characters in the Greek epic The Odyssey are no strangers to grief, as it is a word woven throughout the text both physically and as an underlying theme. Just as the heroes of the Trojan War long for home, the women they left behind pine for their missing loved ones through constant articulation of grief, bouts of weeping, and sometimes even the need of literal unconsciousness in order to forget their pain. For the wives of The Odyssey, the amount of grief they…
He cannot return to his palace because he knows that he can’t face all the suitors by himself and he does not want anyone to know of his return to Ithaca, so he goes to Eumaeus house, the swineherd. When asking if he can stay, Eumaeus replies, “Stranger, it would be wrong for me to turn a guest away,... since every beggar and stranger is from Zeus, and a gift, though small, from such folk as us is welcome” (14.xxx-xxx). Without the hospitality of Eumaeus, Odysseus task of getting rid of the suitors would have been near…
Have you ever been ungrateful for the things you have or accomplished? Many stories today teach us lessons through conflicts the characters go through; for example, The Boy Who Cried Wolf. However, one story that is known by many people today is called The Odyssey by Homer. It teaches the reader about internal conflict and appreciating the things you have.…
In Book X of Homer's The Odyssey translated by Robert Fizgerald, Odysseus and his men arrive to the island of the goddess Kirke. Once they had arrived to a cove, Odysseus notices smoke coming from Kirke's hall. He becomes curious, but decides against exploring until after he had given his men breakfast. After Odysseus had given his men venison and a short speech, he divided his men into two platoons, with him as the head of one platoon, and his companion Eurylokhos as the head of the other one. After he and Odysseus had "shook lots in a soldier’s dogskin cap and his came bounding out" (218-219), Eurylokhos took his twenty two men to explore the island.…
What is suffering? Suffering is an emotional, physical, and mental sensation we experience in times of distress. People suffer everyday for different reasons, some suffer due to hunger, while others suffer loss of a loved one. We all experience it and we all cope with it in different ways. Some people wish to remove suffering from their life entirely, but is it possible?…
He returns back home after enduring many physical and intellectual trials while learning important lessons which eventually help him to transform into a modern-day hero. Odysseus accomplishes his goals and turns into a greater man, not…
In the Odyssey, Odysseus travels a long journey back to his home, Ithaca, after fighting in the Trojan War for 10 long years. However, I strongly believe Odysseus himself was the reason that he witnessed a long journey returning to his homeland. If he hadn’t made specific decisions, I’d expect that Odysseus would be able to return earlier. In the epic, I believe that three major decisions could’ve helped Odysseus sail back towards home sooner if he had chosen the right choice. One of the significant decisions is Odysseus’ accord to rest on the Cyclops’ island and approach the Cyclops’ cave.…
It is during this time that we see that happiness for Odysseus could never be as simple as respite alone. If being in a peaceful environment away from the struggles of his travels were all that would make him happy, he would have stayed with Kalypso forever. The island is clearly no shanty town. “Even a god who found this place would gaze, and feel his heart beat with delight” (V: 79-80).…
Here he must be reminded by his men of his home and how much he misses his wife. Odysseus forgets about home and wants to stay where he is at, because he was brainwashed into forgetting about his home. Odysseus is a very conflicting character. He is portrayed as a hero while others deny this claim. He loves his wife and wants to return home to her, however, he sleeps with the goddess Calypso where it is believed he even has fathered a child.…
No matter how hard, how far, and how many obstacles Odysseus faced, he’s still alive, went back home and he reunited with his family. Imagine how tiring it is to wait for years. He never saw his son Telemachus growing up because he left their kingdom to conquer Troy. It’s very hard…
Throughout this voyage, Odysseus constantly speaks and thinks of returning home to Penelope and their son Telemachus, a thought that allows him to persist through all odds for twenty years. Odysseus’ absence from his household has left it unprotected and vulnerable to forces that might ruin its integrity, a great fear that makes his need to return home so urgent and strong, as Odysseus describes: “‘Yet, it is true, each day I long for the sight of home. If any god has marked me out again for shipwreck, my tough heart can undergo it. What hardship have I not long since endured at sea, in battle! Let the trial come’”(V.228-33).…
What makes a true man? His strength, Good looks, or maybe the power he holds? All of those are fine characteristics to have, but most of all, you must know the essential key values of life. In the Odyssey, Odysseus, is what makes a “true man” and today people could strive to be more like him in there lives. The Odyssey shows many key values that are essential today including, loyalty, courage, and strong family morals.…
Odysseus loves the attention he receives from Circe so he stays there for a year. He does this for himself, and is narcissistic and senseless once again. With the help of Circe, he resumes his voyage home. After some more difficulties on his journey home, Odysseus alone survives and washes ashore on Calypso’s island, and soon arrives on the land of the Phaeacians. All of these obstacles are Odysseus’s biggest tests.…
These traits allow Odysseus to continue his journey and finally return to his beloved…
The Epic Poem, “The Odyssey”, written by Homer, shows when the journey is more important than the destination in several different places. One example that shows this in the text is in the section, “Sailing From Troy”. In this section, Homer relates through his words of how Odysseus and his men are blown by the winds to Ismarus, on the coast of Cicones. He writes that Odysseus and his men “stormed that place and killed the men who fought(Homer 44). They proceed to plunder the place and divide the loot between themselves.…