“Luck is not chance-
It’s Toil-
Fortune’s expensive smile
Is Earned” – Emily Dickinson
I have chosen a relatively philosophical problem to discuss. We find a lot of people giving up on their pursuits and goals. As subtle as this may seem, if one thinks about it, just one person giving up on a single pursuit because the going got tough, can have an exponential amount of consequences. From a change of field of study to committing suicide, giving up is never justified. Some may object that how can a change of field of study have consequences. The funny thing is, these consequences can never be predicted because there are unlimited possible outcomes of the choice of giving up or carrying on. For example, let us assume that President Obama had found …show more content…
Countering that, I would like to state that the involvement of the Gods to help Odysseus was almost as subtle as the sudden idea to make a small twitch in the circuitry of bulb number 1001 that finally gave Edison the result he wanted. As seen in Book X.305-345, when Hermes shows up by Zeus’ order and guides Odysseus by a considerably elaborate song. If one thinks about it, Zeus could have struck down Circe in an instant. Even Odysseus is seen praying to Athena in Book IV.341-346 and to Zeus in Book XII.426-434 when Odysseus and his men are stuck on Hêlios’ island and the storms continue for several days. But Odysseus realizes later the Gods had not helped him. Instead he says, “—but they, for answer, only closed my eyes under slow drops of sleep.” Following this, we see that his men disobey his direct orders and eat the cattle which makes Hêlios really angry and he asks Zeus to punish. Zeus strikes them with thunderbolts, damaging the ships and killing a steersman in a really gruesome manner.
Odysseus would most definitely comment on the difficulty to persevere in today’s world. Although the general public seldom has life or death struggles, but considering the fact that we do not live in a colonized and war infected world, our struggles are not very different. He would agree to the fact that today, man has to struggle every day to earn his living, otherwise he is as good as dead because our world …show more content…
We see Odysseus not giving in to tantalizing temptations. The offer to be immortal and have sex with an extremely beautiful Goddess Calypso for eternity would most definitely be really tempting for a man who spent a long time fighting for his life. Granted, he sleeps with Circe and spends a year on her island. This event actually gives a bit of realism to the story because after a long struggle of staying alive, any sane man would want some peace. But Odysseus leaves this island too. Today, Odysseus would have one message for the people who have recently given up because they were exhausted. Although Odysseus had not given up, but he was exhausted so he would probably say that it was time to get on with the struggles again and try to achieve our goals.
Odysseus would also suggest to be committed to someone because it gives a lot of motivation. Like he was committed to his family, especially his wife, Penelope. We see him crying on the island of the goddess Calypso, longing for his family. It certainly seems like getting back to Penelope is the main driving force behind his perseverance. He will also ask us to forget our failures and move past them just like he moves past the fact that he lost twelve ships full of men and leaves for
It’s Toil-
Fortune’s expensive smile
Is Earned” – Emily Dickinson
I have chosen a relatively philosophical problem to discuss. We find a lot of people giving up on their pursuits and goals. As subtle as this may seem, if one thinks about it, just one person giving up on a single pursuit because the going got tough, can have an exponential amount of consequences. From a change of field of study to committing suicide, giving up is never justified. Some may object that how can a change of field of study have consequences. The funny thing is, these consequences can never be predicted because there are unlimited possible outcomes of the choice of giving up or carrying on. For example, let us assume that President Obama had found …show more content…
Countering that, I would like to state that the involvement of the Gods to help Odysseus was almost as subtle as the sudden idea to make a small twitch in the circuitry of bulb number 1001 that finally gave Edison the result he wanted. As seen in Book X.305-345, when Hermes shows up by Zeus’ order and guides Odysseus by a considerably elaborate song. If one thinks about it, Zeus could have struck down Circe in an instant. Even Odysseus is seen praying to Athena in Book IV.341-346 and to Zeus in Book XII.426-434 when Odysseus and his men are stuck on Hêlios’ island and the storms continue for several days. But Odysseus realizes later the Gods had not helped him. Instead he says, “—but they, for answer, only closed my eyes under slow drops of sleep.” Following this, we see that his men disobey his direct orders and eat the cattle which makes Hêlios really angry and he asks Zeus to punish. Zeus strikes them with thunderbolts, damaging the ships and killing a steersman in a really gruesome manner.
Odysseus would most definitely comment on the difficulty to persevere in today’s world. Although the general public seldom has life or death struggles, but considering the fact that we do not live in a colonized and war infected world, our struggles are not very different. He would agree to the fact that today, man has to struggle every day to earn his living, otherwise he is as good as dead because our world …show more content…
We see Odysseus not giving in to tantalizing temptations. The offer to be immortal and have sex with an extremely beautiful Goddess Calypso for eternity would most definitely be really tempting for a man who spent a long time fighting for his life. Granted, he sleeps with Circe and spends a year on her island. This event actually gives a bit of realism to the story because after a long struggle of staying alive, any sane man would want some peace. But Odysseus leaves this island too. Today, Odysseus would have one message for the people who have recently given up because they were exhausted. Although Odysseus had not given up, but he was exhausted so he would probably say that it was time to get on with the struggles again and try to achieve our goals.
Odysseus would also suggest to be committed to someone because it gives a lot of motivation. Like he was committed to his family, especially his wife, Penelope. We see him crying on the island of the goddess Calypso, longing for his family. It certainly seems like getting back to Penelope is the main driving force behind his perseverance. He will also ask us to forget our failures and move past them just like he moves past the fact that he lost twelve ships full of men and leaves for