Overcoming Challenges In The Odyssey

Author Kemi Sogunle once said “The tests we face in life's journey are not to reveal our weaknesses but to help us discover our inner strengths. We can only know how strong we are when we strive and thrive beyond the challenges we face,”(Quotes About Overcoming Challenges). In both The Odyssey and “The Journey” the characters go on journeys to overcome challenges and discover their own strength. Homer’s The Odyssey tells of Odysseus’ trip home to Ithaca, the beasts and creatures he encountered and the many places he went. Mary Oliver’s poem “The Journey” is about how the narrator overcame the negative affects and the pressure of society and focused on herself. The authors use characterization, diction, metaphor to portray that people undertake

They are very curios and go to explore but they end up trapped in the cave by a giant boulder that only the Cyclops can move. The Cyclops began to eat the men and Odysseus’ instinct was to, “stab him were the midriff holds the liver”(378), but Odysseus decides against this. He realized, “if I killed him we perished there as well, for we could never move his ponderous doorway slab aside”(378). Odysseus rather than acting on impulse is thinking through his actions and being careful. One wrong move in this situation could cause him and his men their lives. It takes great strength and patience to be cautious and Odysseus finds this strength because of the challenges he is facing. Odysseus and the rest of his men later venture to The Land of the Dead. There they meet Tiresias, an old prophet, who tells Odysseus of his future and his fate. Odysseus is told, “I see destruction for your ship and crew. Though you survive alone...Then a seaborne death soft as this hand of mist will come upon you,”(Homer page#390-391). Odysseus is told that he is to be the only survivor of his crew. Despite this, he does not tell his crew that they are going to die. He doesn’t want to worry them and says, “I told them nothing as they could do nothing,”(396)As their leader he wants to be strong and encouraging. He wants his men to fight until their last minute and die honorably if they must die. Odysseus learns about his

but you didn’t stop(Oliver, Mary line#10-12)” The shouting voices are a metaphor for the pressures of society’s expectations and opinions. The narrator by ignoring these voices is overcoming the pressures of society and starting to find her inner strength. She then hears “A new voice which was slowly recognized as your own”(27-29) Hearing this voice represents self discovery. The narrator finally finds her inner strength and by doing so is able to progress in life. She goes “deeper and deeper into the world, determined”(31-33) instead of being held back by the “tug at your ankles”(8-9) of society. The author uses diction by describing her character as “determined”. She is viewed by the reader as strong, powerful, and independent which conveys how she has persevered and found her inner strength. By using the personal pronoun “you” the author connects the feelings and thoughts of her character to that of the reader helping them to understand the character and maybe even connect the story she tells to challenges in their own life. Oliver illustrates through her character that overcoming challenges can lead a person to realizing their inner