Odysseus Lessons Analysis

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Lessons Learned Author Ursula K. LeGuin once said, “It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end.” The Odyssey is an epic poem told by Homer that is about a hero named Odysseus who faces many challenges on his journey home from the Trojan War. Even though Odysseus is a smart and strategic man, he still has many lessons to learn on his journey. While Odysseus is trapped on Calypso’s Island, he learns that people should have hope even in their most depressing days. Calypso holds Odysseus captive for seven years and he has been eager to get home. When Zeus commands her to release him, Calypso tells Odysseus, “Here you need not grieve no more; you need not feel your life consumed here; I have pondered it, and I shall help you go” (Homer 1.91-93). Odysseus keeps hope and prays that his captivity comes to an end. Although he fears he would be there the rest of his life, he never loses the hope of getting back home and being emancipated. Another example is when Odysseus reveals himself to his wife Penelope when he finally makes it home,but she does not believe it is Odysseus standing before her. When he proves himself to her, “ her knees grew tremulous and her weak, her heart had failed her. With eyes brimming with tears she ran to him, throwing her arms around his neck, and she kissed him” (Homer 3.501-504). He learns not to lose faith from this when he notices his wife has lost her faith in his return. Penelope is willing to marry again before she realizes Odysseus is back. He learns to keep faith because he is disheartened when his wife has when she denies his presence in the manor. Calypso and Penelope both teach him the lesson of keeping faith in something. When Odysseus hears the p... ... middle of paper ... ...s, a prophet, and Circe, a Nymph, that he would be the only one to survive the voyage home. First, Scylla takes and eats six of Odysseus’ men and after they stop on Helios’ Island, the men eat Helios’ cattle. He tries in every way he knows to keep his men alive, but they did not abstain themselves from eating the cattle, so they perish. Odysseus is a wise and strategic man who becomes a better person because of the lessons he learns on his journey. Odysseus learns to have hope and he learns not to have so much pride in himself. He also learns that people cannot change their fate, and that years of grieving can create a hard heart.It is hard for people to enjoy their goals in life if they do not think about the journey they took to get to where they are in life. After all, people learn a lot on the journeys they venture through and become stronger people from them.

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