Odysseus Reflection

To this, Telemachus replies, “... do not keep me here on a lengthy visit. It is true that your tales and talk so delight me that I could easily stop with you for a year and never feel homesick for Ithaca or my parents. But my friends must already be waiting for me in sacred Pylos; and now you prolong my stay” (4.592-600). Despite the opportunity to relax in Sparta and not face the problems that plague Ithaca, Telemachus decides to continue on with his difficult journey in hopes of finding his father. His maturity is displayed in his refusal to take the easy route, and instead choose the more difficult path. This maturity has helped Telemachus please Athene and make friends with both Kind Nestor and King Menelaus, the latter of which provides an expensive gift for Telemachus. Also, this new wisdom Telemachus has also may help him come up with a plan to rid Ithaca of the suitors. All in all, Telemachus’s gain of respect and maturity on his journey can help him find his father, make new connections, and drive out the suitors from

While King Menelaus of Sparta is meant to serve as a mentor and fatherly figure to young Telemachus, he subverts his role by questioning the importance of his own accomplishments, and therefore, the values conventionally associated with the epic hero. Although readers are primarily focused on the story of Telemachus who is on a quest to find his father, Odysseus, and his own identity, hearing Menelaus’s tale not only advances and adds depth to the basic plot of the text but inserts another layer to Telemachus’s journey into manhood. His story is a classic example of hubris, the excess of ambition and pride, which eventually leads to his downfall and sorrow. The king, as witnessed by the protagonist, holds an impressive past. After fighting

Ten years have passed since the Trojan War ended, and yet Odysseus has yet to find his way home in Ithaca. A large mob of suitors has overrun the palace hoping to take the Queen’s hand in marriage, yet she tries to remain faithful. This is because they all believe he is dead since everyone else has returned from the war. Through a few decisions Penelope makes, such as an archery contest that only Odysseus can win, she shows that no matter where her spouse is, she will remain true. Odysseus’ and Penelope’s son, Telemachus, decides to try to stop these suitors, but he is neither tried or true in his fighting skills or maturity, so he goes on a journey to refine himself as both a leader and a son. Odysseus struggles in a few different places such as Calypso’s island and the cyclops' cave. We see how Telemachus goes on a treacherous journey all for the sake of his mother and ultimately, his family, the key theme in the book. Without the importance of family being recognized, then this book would not have been possible.

In The Odyssey, the stories of Odysseus and his son, Telemachus, are explained to the reader in ways that create contrasts between the two characters. These contrasts provide an opportunity to observe how the young Telemachus developed a stronger sense of self confidence and traits that form the foundation for heroism, which is likely part of the reason why he was included in the story in the first place. The following discussion compares and contrasts Telemachus with his father, the hero Odysseus, to show how Telemachus grew from being an insecure child to being set on a path to follow his father’s footsteps. While he does not quite make it there by the end of the story, he still shows a lot of growth that makes his part in the story a lesson to young men who read it.

Telemachus and Odysseus meeting for the first time is another emotional situation that Odysseus goes through. When they meet, Odysseus gets so excited that he kisses Telemakos on the forehead, and begins to cry. He hadn 't seen his son since he was a baby, and he was surprised to see that he was still alive. After they reunited and spoke about the things that were going on back home in Ithaca; they decided to plan a surprise attack on the suitors that are taking over their house. Although Odysseus was not directly in Telemachus ' life, Odysseus did teach Telemachus how to be a man. It was Odysseus ' absence and hope of his return that kept Telemachus looking for his father, and which made him eventually grow into manhood.

Ten years after the fall of Troy, the successful Greek saint Odysseus has still not came back to his local Ithaca. A band of raucous suitors, trusting Odysseus to be dead, has overwhelm his royal residence, pursuing his devoted - however debilitating - spouse, Penelope, and experiencing his supply of nourishment. With authorization from Zeus, the goddess Athena, Odysseus' most prominent godlike partner, shows up in mask and urges Odysseus' child Telemachus to look for news of his dad at Pylos and Sparta. Be that as it may, the suitors, driven by Antinous, plan to trap him upon his arrival.

“Ah, well there were some obstacles on the way back from my long and tiring trip. I’ll tell you over lunch,” Odysseus said. They gave Odysseus lunch and he started to talk about his story, “So this is how it started.”

Odysseus’s son Telemachus was a child when he left to got to war with Troy. His son did not have the guidance that most kings’ son would have as Odysseus was gone for over 10 years. It came to a time that Telemachus had to take charge of his father’s kingdom with no confidence and training, but Athena tells him “You must not cling to your boyhood any longer—it’s time you were a man.” (Homer p.87) His journey to manhood has begun with the help of Athena. He shows the changes in him, first with his mother when he tells her ”[...] I hold the reins of power in this house.” (Homer. P89) Then with the suitors “[…] You must leave my palace? See to your feasting elsewhere, devour your own possessions, house to house by turns. […]” (Homer p.89) This did not go over with the suitors. They came back with a threat “[…] Well, Telemachus, only the gods could teach you to sound so high an mighty! Such brave talk. I pray that Zeus will never make you king of Ithaca.” (Homer, p.90)

Odysseus’ journey was filled with a multitude of hardships and decisions. He had to make a lot of tough choices and did end up losing all of his crew by the end of his journey, but he made it home through all the trouble. He couldn’t control what happened even though he tried his best to prevent those terrible things from happening to his crew members. Though he had good times, he still missed out things happening at his one true home. That’s kind of how life is though. You go through hard days and good. Sometimes the hard outnumbers the good. You make hard choices and every choice has a consequence, whether good or bad. You can try to stop things from happening but sometimes you don’t have control over it. Just like in Odysseus’ journey, I know I will need to make a lot of serious, complicated, and trying decisions to get where I want to be. My goal is to become a Zoological Veterinarian with a minor in wildlife rehabilitation. I know what I want to do, I now just have to do my hardest to make the right choices to complete my journey.

It's been a couple months since Enkidu has passed away, and I still don’t know what to do. I heard about a town called Troy which just had a war. I might go there and helped out to get my mind of everything, I need some answers about life and death.

Trying to decipher a person is a difficult task, perhaps impossible. We can, however, observe

Put yourself in these shoes and decide what you would based off the cards you were dealt. First, you go off to war leaving a beautiful baby boy at home with nothing but a mother to care for him. After the war is over you get trapped by a lady who soon plans to wed you and hold in captive for 7 years. Once you finally break free with the help of a god would you return home in the quickest manner possible or would you make multiple stops throughout your way home making your 20 year absence already longer than it is. Well think no further throughout The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus has done many things that define his as a character one of those things include making his 20 year voyage longer than it already is. He gets put in difficult situations where he

The second episode, which brings a change in Odysseus, takes place on Helios` island. As I previously mentioned his unwillingness to tell a simple lie cost him the life of all his crewmembers and delayed his homecoming by another seven years. Granted, he saved himself but a meek lie would also have saved him nonetheless. He had plenty of time to reflect on this action. Consequently, I feel that Odysseus learned that the safety of his fellow companions would have taken precedence over telling a simple lie, even in regards to virtue. As a result, Odysseus` eagerness to lie to others blooms fully as he realizes that lies are not acts in themselves, but rather they are tools to protect or harm those they are directed towards. Thus, with this seemingly small change, Odysseus turns into one of the biggest liars, not with the intention to swindle others to get his way but to fulfill the virtues that he feels are important.

In Sophocles Oedipus The King, Oedipus’s wife, Jocasta, enters and convinces Oedipus that he should not kill or exile Creon, though the cautious king remains convinced that Creon is guilty. Creon leaves, and the Chorus tells Oedipus that he will always respect him. Oedipus explains to Jocasta how Tiresias convicted him, and Jocasta says that all prophets are wrong. As proof, she tells the fact that the Delphic oracle told Laius he would be killed by his son, while actually his son was moved out of Thebes as a baby and Laius was killed by a group of thieves. Her historical of his murder, however, sounds more like what Oedipus heard, so he asked Jocasta more about his death.

The messenger enters telling the king that “They’re dead” meaning Haemon is dead. The Chorus leader asks the messenger who the killer was but, the messenger responds that Haemon took his own life. Haemon was impelled to kill himself because of his father, Creon. When the messenger announces the news the chorus leader asks, “And who is the killer, who the killed? Speak! Haemon has fallen, bloodied’ by no stranger’s hand. Whose hand? His father’s, or his own? His own, driven by the death his father caused...Look, now, I see poor Eurydice, Creon’s wife on her way here out from the palace: has she heard about her son or has she come by chance?” (318) Eurydice enters the palace learning about the deaths of Antigone and Haemon. We can see how once again learning and gaining wisdom leads to suffering. After learning of the deaths of Antigone and Haemon Eurydice becomes suicidal and kills herself. Just like in Antigone how learning and gaining wisdom leads to suffering it can also be seen in Sophocles Oedipus the King.