Drinking Life to the Lees

When taking a look at major literature, the myth of Odysseus, or Ulysses, is very important. Ulysses was the warrior who thought of the Trojan horse as a way to sneak into the gates of Troy and destroy the city. Once the ten year war complete, he started his voyage back home, which ended up taking another ten years because of various obstacles and stops that were made. But once he reaches his hometown of Ithica, the story ends with him winning back his kingdom and living happily with his wife and son. What we’re all left to wonder though is what happened to this great hero further into his life? Neither Greeks nor Romans proceeded to continue writing about this topic in the myth until one author, Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote the dramatic monologue Ulysses. In Tennyson’s Ulysses, there are three important messages: Ulysses’ purpose, his feelings about aging, and his overall attitude toward life.

To begin, the first message is Ulysses’ purpose for his speech in the monologue. Because Ulysses was such a known traveler and hero, he refuses to give up his journeys. Wanting to begin another expedition, he gathers his old mariners and tells them that it’s not too late to find a new world. According to Homer, Odysseus or Ulysses, was the only survivor of his crew. But here we have his mariners still surviving. Tennyson knew the story, so he didn't just slip up. The mariners were the ones who went through battle and on the ship with him. They are the ones who know him, so Tennyson changes the story so that some survived. (Hampton) He continues by saying, “For my purpose holds to sail beyond the sunset, and the baths of all the western stars, until I die.” (Lines 59-63) He is unsatisfied with being an idle person and longs for more adve...

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...ook back on the years and people we shared the experiences with and be content and have no regrets. Every obstacle or reward in life happens for a reason, there are no insignificant moments in life.

All in all, Tennyson’s Ulysses focuses primarily on three important messages: Ulysses’ purpose, his feelings about aging, and his overall attitude toward life. Ulysses makes it very clear that he doesn’t care how long he’s been out at sea on his past journeys, he plans to travel even more because he hates being in one place for a long period of time. He addresses his age because as an older man, you would think he would want to settle down and just watch over his kingdom, but that isn’t his plan. Ulysses makes a point to continue to do what he loves until the day he dies. So how will you choose to live your life? Sit around and wait to die, or embrace every last second?