Homer's Odyssey the Odyssey or Term Paper

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Although each of them has a different method of enticement, they all have the same goal: to hinder him in his way back. Even if he does not have prior knowledge of their powers he does not give in to temptation, he has the power to fight them even if curiosity, one of his major "faults," is the root of all his problems (he insists on hearing the Sirens call, even though to do so, he must have himself go through excruciating torments, strapped to the mast of his ship).

The important thing to bear in mind from all this is that people are weak and easy to influence and that there will always be dark forces to impede them from the right way, the only thing that makes the difference is how hard they fight to remain on the right track.

A powerful symbol of the epic is Ithaca which symbolizes home, the end the journey, the goal of the mythic track. Home was everything he wished to reach, the last twenty years. Here he must pass his ultimate test. Initially Odysseus must enter his home in disguise because it had been invaded by the enemies, the suitors. Being a military leader, he first gathers pertinent information and than plans the time and place of his attack. Helped by his son and two loyal herdsmen he wins the fight but not without Athena who intervenes only to encourage his victory as long as Odysseus fights well. As a reward for his courage he joins his wife and Homer describes the deeply moving reunion of the couple with elegant and meaningful simile-filled language:" as the sight of land is welcome to men who are swimming towards the shore, when Neptune has wrecked their ship..

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.even so was her husband welcome to her as she looked upon him, and she could not tear her two fair arms from about his neck" ("The Odyssey," translated by Samuel Butler, Book xxiii).

This was his last and hardest fight because it granted him eternal happiness, exactly as every man must pass his final test in order to achieve his goal. People's journeys are long and hard but are worth fighting for. Peter Jones remarks in his introduction to E.V.Rieu's translation of the poem: "The Odyssey -- the return of Odysseus from Troy to reclaim his threatened throne on Ithaca is a superb story, rich in character, adventure and incident...and making his household, rather than the battlefield the centre of its world" ("The Odyssey "by Homer, Peter Jones - introduction, E.V.Rieu - translator, p xi)

The call to adventure is every hero's first step on his or her journey; the hero has to choose to answer or refuse the call. The journey is vital and its importance in one's life resides in the fact that one has to undergo a personal transformation that will make one worthy of attaining one's goal. By refusing the call, he or she is refusing to be a hero. This is also true in everyday life, when we choose not to help the person who needs us, we choose not to be a hero. There still remains one question: Are we really prepared for our own life's journeys?.....

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