The Arguement Regarding Odysseus' Fate

A detailed Summary of The Arguement Regarding Odysseus' Fate

The Argument Regarding Odysseus' Fate

The story is known worldwide. Odysseus, the great epic hero, leaves his beautiful Ithaca, spends ten years of his life fighting bravely against Troy, and then spends another ten years reaching home. At this point he leaves Troy again. He leaves his family and loyal subjects to go exploring and questing to satisfy the wanderer inside him. Everyone agrees of the facts, but they do not agree of what to make of Odysseus. Pindar, said to be the greatest of Greek poets, makes Odysseus into a deceitful villain. Philoctetes of Sophocles portrays Odysseus as a rascal who believes in telling the truth only when he can afford to. Odysseus is also seen as an uncaring, icy man as he justifies his sacrificing of Hecuba's daughter in Euripides' Hecuba. I am not sure of the reasons for these portrayals, but the thoughts and reasoning of Kazantzakis, Tennyson, and Dante are heartbreakingly clear. The works of these three men bring up some questions. Does ambition justify his leaving Ithaca again? Should he be damned to the Inferno, or does his actions prove to be his salvation? Kazantzakis believes that his second journey form Ithaca is his salvation and that he grows in spirit from the experience. Tennyson

and Dante do not share this idea with Kazantzakis. In fact, they believe Odysseus is damned. Thus, the argument begins.

Is Odysseus damned or saved? Is there anything wrong with his ambition and desire to wander and seek? Kazantzakis feels that Ulysses is completing himself by his constant wanderings. Tennyson and Dante feel that he's doing things for the wrong reasons, is deceptive, and not taking his place in nature. Who is right? Who has the most convincing argument? It all depends on how one looks at it and what one believes.

Tennyson developed his feelings about Odysseus from Dante. Tennyson's poem Ulysses is a demonic, dramatic monologue. For Tennyson, Odysseus is depicted as a deceitful character. He avoids the realities of his situation. Tennyson believes that Ulysses is trying to renew the past. He was untrue to himself, his family, and nature. For the same reasons Kazantzakis says Ulysses is natural, Tennyson damns him as unnatural. In Ulysses, the wanderer goes forth for knowledge, but seems to love no one and to scorn his wife and son. He thinks he is better than his people and speaks on them distantly, almost indifferently. What make the poem truly demonic and dark are the last words of Odysseus: "Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will/ To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." These words

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Approximate Word count = 896
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English