The Significance Of The Hero's Journey In The Odyssey

As the noble Odysseus’ returns to his beloved homeland of Ithaka, he comes to find a sea of suitors awaiting their chance at marrying his wife Penelope and taking his home as their own. After enduring a twenty year long odyssey, the Trojan war hero has run out of patience and seeks only to reunite with his family. Following his return, Odysseus and his son Telemachos plot to take their revenge on the suitors and retake their home. Their plan proves to be a success and their goal is reached, however a dilemma is now presented to the readers- did Odysseus and Telemachos go too far in seeking their justice? Post battle, it becomes evident that Odysseus and Telemachos’ actions were justified and rational due to evidence provided by Halitherses,

Homer shows that Odysseus has feelings too, though he went through his journey without heartache. When Odysseus reunites with his son, Telemachus, he begins to shed tears of sadness and joy because it has been forever since he has seen him. As well he shows anger towards the suitors and Penelope because the suitors disrespected his wife and his home by trashing the home, eating his food, and plotting to kill Telemachus who is heir to the throne. Odysseus was also mad at Penelope because she devised a test to see if Odysseus was the real Odysseus which made Odysseus furious because nobody except for a god could move his

With no regard for Penelope’s happiness nor her desire to be with Odysseus, the suitors pursue the principle they deem most important, political power; but this conflicts with Odysseus’ values to regain political stability and his desire to be with Penelope. Odysseus must then confront the suitors if he is to achieve his values, and decides he must slaughter all of the suitors. As the novel progresses, even Odysseus is found to prioritize his principles over others, as evident with his shipmates. When Odysseus’ ship must traverse past Scylla and Charybdis, he is faced with a decision, to either “mourn / six men” or “lose them all, and the ship, too” (Homer, Odyssey, 12.119). In this case, Odysseus must place his values of his return home and his life, over the lives of the six crew members.

Odysseus’ Journey as a Hero In the epic The Odyssey, Odysseus is our main character and hero. An epic is a long poem narrating the deeds and adventures of heroic or legendary figures. Odysseus has many heroic qualities such as being courageous, noble, caring, brave, humble, determined, and fearless. In this epic, Odysseus shows qualities.

Ithaca received two visitors this weekend. An unexpectedly powerful Telemachus who addressed the hundreds of suitors awaiting Penelope to leave his estate. Telemachus also has sought out to Pylos and Sparta for news of his father, Odysseus, who after his victory in Troy has never returned home. This all comes after Mentes, one of Odysseus’ friends has decided to lead Telemachus to the man his father would have made him. A source of the family tells us exclusively that some of the suitors questioned the identity of Mentor.

Telemachus Growing into a Strong Mature Man Samuel Ullman, an American businessman and poet, once said, “Maturity is the ability to think, speak, and act your feelings within the bounds of dignity.” Samuel’s words hold true in Homer 's The Odyssey. In this extraordinary poem, Telemachus, the Son of Penelope, queen of Ithaca, and Odysseus, king of Ithaca. While Odysseus is at war fighting, Telemachus losing fait about his father coming home. He soon starts to question that he could be dead or alive.

Telemachus has lost all hope that his father is still alive so he believes there is no way of getting rid of the suitors. Telemachus tells Athena, “Yet, were Odysseus to return,

In the epic story the Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus is returning from the Trojan war, and on his way home he finds many obstacles ahead of him. Odysseus is the ruler of Ithaca and he is trying to return home to his land. Many creatures try and stop him from achieving his goal of returning home, but he and his crew have to push through and get home. Odysseus portrays bravery and courage leading his crew through these tough challenges. Odysseus heroically leads his crew and himself through dangerous obstacles, but also foolishly endangers them during the journey home.

At the end of the story, it is evident that, the character of Telemachus is fully developed. He is no longer the young powerless and weak boy who his mother’s suitors took advantage of in his father’s absence. At the end of the text, he depicts a character with great change after leaving Ithaca and in his own odyssey; he was able to prove his worth. Telemachus is a character who undergoes constant transformation and development throughout The Odyssey. His expedition was an initiation into the heroic world of his father, and a voyage that managed to endow him with the familiarity and essential virtues needed to become a future monarch.

Telemachus was scared and frightened to approach the suitors because of his his eagerness for them to leave. Telemachus is worried and has lost his hopes that his father will never return back. “Yet, were Odysseus to return, were they to see him here again, they would not only pray for gold or richer clothes-just faster feet. But he has died by now, died wretchedly” (page 8).

The Heroes Journey, identified by American scholar Joseph Campbell, is a pattern of narrative that describes the typical adventure of the main hero, whether that be a fiction or nonfiction hero. The first step is the call to adventure, where something shakes up the hero’s current situation and the hero starts experiencing change. Consequently, this theory is also applied to the fictional hero Odysseus in The Odyssey and the real-life hero Martin Luther King Jr., a civil rights activist. In The Odyssey, Odysseus embarks on a 10-year voyage from Troy to Ithaca and encounters many monsters along the way including a gigantic Cyclops described as “…a brute so huge, he seemed no man at all…” (9 89-90).

As a result, Telemachus embarks on the search for his father and brings him home, ultimately preventing his mother from marrying one of her

In essence, Athena transformed Odysseus several times to reconcile him with his son, and gave them the opportunity to conquer the suitors in the archery contest. Finally, Athena resolves the entire story by returning Odysseus safely home and reuniting him with his family. While Odysseus has been struggling with the many obstacles he faced on his journey home, his wife Penelope was losing hope of the possibility of him ever returning home.

The Odyssey is often cited as an epitome of the hero’s journey and the monomyth. The hero of the story, Odysseus is on a 10 year battle homeward from the Trojan War to see his wife and son again. With the help divine intervention, Odysseus is able to return home and save his wife from the evil suitors who have continuously tried to win her. One could easily argued that Odysseus is an exemplar of the hero, but there is another story: Odysseus is the opposite of a hero and is not worthy to be called such. He is the villain where the gods are the hero.

In his journey, he gets help from Athena and wise knowledge from Menelaus. He takes risks, shows strength, confidence, and responsibility towards the end as he fights alongside his father. After enduring hardships and overcoming obstacles, Telemachus evidently matured into a man who made his father