Although Ulysses and Odysseus share similar traits, Homer would not agree with Tennyson 's portrayal of Odysseus in the poem "Ulysses". Whereas Odysseus wishes to complete his journey and find relief, Ulysses seeks to continue on a never-ending one.
Homer 's Odyssey and Tennyson 's "Ulysses" have different desires and their desires lead them on contrasting quests. The hero in Homer 's depicts Odysseus as a hero in the process of completing a journey home. The portrayal of Ulysses is a hero that has already completed his journey, but he wishes to go back on another journey.
Odysseus 's longing for his homecoming is wrought with temptation to swerve from his goal but he resisted it due to his desire to return home. He actually left the
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Both Homer and Tennyson portray their hero 's needing a second journey after their completion of the journey. Ulysses has not completed his understood journey the thirst for knowledge while Odysseus has, and Ulysses has now fallen into a state of indifference as a result of his desire for a second journey.
Both yearn for learning and wish to gain wisdom through adventure, they both wish to expand their minds. Ulysses, like Odysseus, would rather use his mind then use his muscles. "And this gray spirit yearning in desire to follow knowledge like a sinking star, beyond the utmost bound of human thought." (Tennyson Ln. 30) This is a link to the modern hero, because Odysseus and Ulysses both seek to constantly renew themselves, Ulysses through words and Odysseus through actions. The only problem is that Ulysses goes about it the wrong way, he seems to be reflecting more than acting and Odysseus does exactly the opposite. Odysseus is the complete representation of the ideal hero, while Ulysses seems somewhat similar to the hero; he doesn 't exhibit the type of submission to others and himself that is required of a hero. "The hero is the man of self-achieved submission" (Campbell "Myth and Dream" 17).
Homer in his epic tale has Odysseus meet the prophet Teiresias. This blind prophet tells him that after he achieves his homecoming he will need to take yet another journey in which he
In the poem it reads, “The crew reminded me of home. . . . The gosses [said] ‘You will never see you're home again . . . by sailing there directly. You must detour to the land of Death, there to consult the blind prophet’” (Homer 10). A trait of a Epic hero is that they always strive to complete their goals no matter what situation is put in front of them. When Odysseus is traveling home, more and more obstacles attempt to divert his path. However, Odysseus never stops his quest to return to his home and reunite with his son and his wife. Since Odysseus has such an extensive amount of resilience, he fits his hero
For one month Odysseus refuses to leave his safe home on Ithaca. We are not told of the rationale behind his final decision to join the war; however, we must assume that he believes he will be successful, returning home with many spoils of war. His decision to leave Ithaca cannot be merely an external one: he is a young king, and while he rules his land with great strength, he is inexperienced (he does not wish to go off to battle (Book 24, ll. 126-128)). In part, his reasons for initiating his journey must include the experience and maturity he will gain fighting the Trojans.
Homer 's Odyssey chronicles the journey of the great Greek hero Odysseus and the setbacks he encountered on his way home from the Trojan war. Odysseus
Another undeniable parallel between both tales is the importance of one’s journey. Homer’s Odyssey is far more than an epic of a man “who wandered far and wide” across the sea, it is rather an archetypal journey with universal, as well as timeless themes. That is
In “The Odyssey” by Homer, Odysseus is on a journey home to Ithaca after helping the Greeks win the Trojan War. The “Hero’s Journey” by Joseph Campbell represents the difficult journey a hero must go on to defeat the “final battle,” meaning that he must overcome a really difficult challenge to complete his journey and restore the world. In “The Odyssey” by Homer, Odysseus experiences significant events on his journey home to Ithaca which includes Entering the Unknown; he receives Supernatural Aid; and he experiences the Supreme Ordeal related to Campbell’s “Hero’s Journey.”
Odysseus is the main character in an epic poem called the Odyssey. In the poem Odysseus has had some bad luck getting home, with some of the gods helping him and some hindering him; his journey towards home is a constant struggle. In this poem we see a man being broke and rebuilt, through constant irony his faith was damaged and without the help of Athena he probably would have given up on his journey. Through his hard work and wise spirit he finally does achieve his goal.
The presentation of Odysseus in Book 10 of Homer’s Odyssey differs from that in Book 9 and reveals a change in the hero. From a man driven primarily by a desire for kleos (fame and glory) in Book 9, Odysseus’ motivation shift toward a desire to return home (nostos) and ensure the safety of his crew. His interactions between Polyphemus in Book 9 and Circe in Book 10 emphasise his move towards caution and a triumph of metis (cunning, intelligence) over bia (energy, force, power) in his dealings with each antagonist.
Lord Tennyson’s view on what Odysseus would do after his return to Ithaca in his poem, “Ulysses” is unique. In his view, Lord Tennyson asserts that Odysseus, after returning to Ithaca would feel the need to leave again and continue journeying the seas. Although logical in its own regard, it does not reason with the events in the book, where Odysseus states his need to return home. A more logical standpoint would be that Odysseus would stay in Ithaca and give Telemachus his position as king.
A hero who left everything behind to end a war needs to get back to his homeland and return to a normal life. This is the story of Odysseus, the hero. Homer’s “The Odyssey”, tells the story of Odysseus and his journey home from the Trojan War. He is faced with many difficult challenges that he must overcome in order to get home to the people he loves. Despite these troubles, he perseveres with the help of his men and the gods.
Greek mythology, stories with gods and heroes, take readers to a whole new world and introduce many heroic characters. In the epic poem, The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus travels the world with his men and face many obstacles. The warrior is sent on a ten-year journey to Troy and takes ten years to make it back to his hometown, Ithaca. He travels the world and face challenges who shape him to be wise, fearless and prevailing.
The poem “Ulysses” is written in exactly seventy lines and in these seventy lines the poet uses synecdoche, personification, meter, and metaphors. All of these are used in hope of making the last line climatic. The last line is a quotable ending phrase “to strive, to seek, to find and not to yield.”(4, 70) The indecisiveness of the speaker when struggling to decide whether to stay or leave Ithaca to voyage to the “untraveled world” (2, 20) summarizes the poem. Throughout the poem it is obvious which stance Odysseus’ heart heavily sways towards but it is not till the last line is his decision made clear.
“Think you're escaping and run into yourself. Longest way round is the shortest way home” (James Joyce). A profound summary of the themes in Joyce’s Ulysses, the quote above deals with journey, escapism, identity, and nostalgia; all important parts of everyday life. Ulysses, however, was far from the first literary work to deal with themes such as those. Indeed, the works of Joyce, as well as Dante, Milton, and Virgil can be directly traced to the works of Homer, specifically the Odyssey. One of the most translated, discussed, and taught literary works of all time, the influence of Homer’s Odyssey cannot be understated. Although Odysseus’s journey is magnificent and supernatural, the epic discusses the deeply personal struggles of one man, swept up in forces beyond his control, as well as telling one of the first, if not the very first, coming of age stories. The account of Odysseus and Telemachus deeply influenced not only western literature, but also music and media. In addition, the Odyssey contains numerous insights into the culture of the ancient Greeks, the originators of Western Culture as a
As eighth century BC came to a completion so did the writing of Homer’s The Odyssey. The Odyssey is an epic poem that is the sequel to the Iliad, which is the story of the Trojan War that was fought between Greece and the city state of Troy. The sequel is about a man named Odysseus, his family, and his lifelong journey home. The Iliad was an epic poem that got its toes wet with topics such as human thought and introspection, but that was all secondary to the actual themes which were power and war. Homer’s Odyssey is exactly like its prequel because it is also an epic poem. Aside from that one large similarity the two stories could not be further apart. Rather than delving back into the topic that is human interaction and conflict Homer chose to write about much deeper thought inducing themes such as emotion, knowledge, and despair. Themes that have changed and molded the world into what is seen in today’s society. Whether Homer knew it or not he wrote a piece that is so timeless that it will most likely be told to people all over the world for even more centuries to come. This is most evidently seen throughout Odysseus’ travels and what he is able to learn, gain, and accomplish during his seemingly endless journey through life.
In “The Odyssey” Homer presents us with an epic hero, Odysseus. A man who fought in the Trojan War and won. All he wants is to return home and be with his family. He was given a prophecy by the seer Tiresias, that determined his destiny, and it read:
In Ulysses, Tennyson describes the views he has after his homecoming and the Odyssey ends after he has been back home, and doesn’t go any further than that. Both of these stories explain Ulysses/Odysseus in various ways but with the same mindful curiosity. They both long/longed for adventure and to see other cultures and oversee other peoples lifestyles. In the Odyssey, it is all about the adventure in store and where he is going and what he is going to see on his way home, but in Ulysses it is all about the trials and adventures as a whole and how he felt about it all. Ulysses thought of returning home is unappealing to him but in the Odyssey he longs for his return and cannot wait for that day to come. Ulysses longs for the movement, the journey to keep him moving, not stopping. Here, old age has made him look at it in a different perspective; he values the journey more than that of in the odyssey. When Denying Calypso’s invitation for living like a god with complete immortality, he contradicts himself and chooses the metaphor. So in Ulysses, he reminisces on all of his work and how he will be remembered when he is long gone through his great trails and achievements, be remembered through his fame, the metaphor. He mentions that his son will take over after him and continue his fame with the family name. In Ulysses he says how that since he is getting old and nearing his death that his son who he realizes is older now will help him after he is gone. In the Odyssey, he doesn’t like just sitting back and watching his son slowly take over, which causes him to leave in the first place. When he is nearing death, the Odyssey it is predicted that he will die peacefully and quietly in Ithaca but in Ulysseys, at the end of Tennyson’s poem he is not peaceful at all and is getting weaker