The Odyssey Academic Essay, 1500 word approx.
The Epic poem "The Odyssey" written in 720 BC by Homer involves the story of a war hero, Odysseus, who is sentenced to twenty years of tribulation after the bloody war of Troy before returning home to his wife Penelope and son Telemachus. The reason he faced the tribulation was for offending one of the gods, Poseidon, the god of the sea. As Odysseus was on his twenty year journey he learnt a lot about Himself. Also, his wife and son had the involuntary opportunity to do much self exploration. With no one to protect the rules of the house of Odysseus there were many people abusing the Greek customs of treating guests to the house as kings. Some of the guests took the liberty of staying for many years sucking all the riches that Odysseus had earned in his life. This forced Odysseus' family to learn much about themselves and how they react in hostile situations. As well as Odysseus had the chance to see how foolish he really was during his twenty years of tribulation. "The Odyssey" is a story of self discovery.Penelope had the opportunity to discover much about her self throughout the story. During the time that Odysseus was away at war she had much time to face many hardships that she probably would have not encountered h
ad her husband not left. Penelope discovered that she would have to be very patient and brave if she was to survive the many years that Odysseus was missing. Especially because the only remaining man of the house, her young son Telemachus was about to leave to attempt to find his father who had been missing his whole life. For the first while that her beloved son was away she hadn't even noticed that he was missing, but after a while she became aware and after a bit of crying and being depressed she realized that she would just have to be patient and hope that her son would return. Penelope also discovers that she is very caring and people care a lot about her. This is evident when Telemachus says "Now promise on your oath (Euryclia, the oldest and wisest maid) not to say a thing to mother for 10 or 12 days or you'll have her crying and spoiling her pretty skin." (Homer 30) later on after she had realized that Telemachus had left, she wondered why he had not told her and then Euryclia informed her that Telemachus did not want her to know because she would be sad. Another one of Penelope traits that became evident during the story was that she was very faithful to Odysseus. Although she wanted to continue on with her life and get married she would not do so until she was sure that her husband was dead. "There she was all day long, working away at the great web but at night she would unravel it by torch light."(24) This describes the dedication to Odysseus that Penelope had, she dedicated four years of hard work just to avoid the suitors from convincing her to marry them. As before she started to weave the web she had said that when it was finished she would pick a new mate. Penelope's journey throughout "The Odyssey" made her realize how much Odysseus really meant to her, and how much she needed him back. "The Odyssey" is a story of self discovery. Odysseus discovered that he, although a great war hero, knew very little about the way that the world works. Telemachus discovered that he was very immature, and that he greatly respected his father and the knowledge that he had accumulated over the many years that he wandered the world. Penelope realized that she was very helpless without he beloved Odysseus by
Some common words found in the essay are:
BC Homer, Odysseus Cyclops, Pylos Sparta, Telemachus Telemachus, Odysseus Penelope, Odysseus Odyssey, Proves Odysseus, , odyssey story, home family, return home, throughout odyssey, odyssey story self, odysseus discovered, son telemachus, home wife, twenty tribulation, fairly mature, return home family, story self discovery, string bow,
Approximate Word count = 1506
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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