In Book 18, Odysseus, still disguised as a beggar, “[a]nd the one who knew the world” (144), comments to one of the kinder suitors:
So I will tell you something. Listen. Listen closely.
Of all that breathes and crawls across the earth,
our mother earth breeds nothing feebler than a man.
So long as the gods grant him power, spring in his knees,
he thinks he will never suffer affliction down the years.
But then, when the happy gods bring on the long hard times,
bear them he must, against his will, and steel his heart.
Our lives, our mood and mind as we pass across the earth
turn as the days turn . .
as the father or men and gods makes each day dawn.
I, too, seemed destined to be a man of fortune once
and a wild wicked swath I cut, indulged my lust for violence,
staking all on my father and my brothers.
Look at me now.
And so, I say, let no man be lawless all his life,
just take in peace what gifts the gods will send (18.149-63)
What do the lines above reveal about the impact of Odysseus own journey on him? What has he learned? What insights has he gained? What values does he advocate? What other episodes in the poem up to this point contribute to the viewpoint expressed by Odysseus in these lines? Is Odysseus' journey similar or different to Telemachus' journey to manhood?
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Odysseus has come to learn the value of life and mortality through facing hardship, neglect, and the lonely passing of his days on his heartbreaking journey home to Ithaca. Odysseus whiled away twenty years in foreign lands and inhospitable seas and even upon his returning home, there was no welcome reception and happy days to come. Odysseus, disguised as a broken beggar, enters his house to find it in a state of neglect, corruption and also sadness due to the constant mourning of his mistreated wife, son, and loyal servants. When talking to the shameless, carefree suitors that court his miserable wife Penelope, he attempts to tell them what he has come to learn from the constant pain he has endured. Odysseus states that we must suffer affliction and hardship against our will, coming without warning when we think we are invincible and in control of our lives. He says that humans are weak, feeble, and subject to change our outlook based on the pain we suffer. I think that Odysseus has learned that humans are inevitably below the gods in strength and will and because of this, we must be accepting of the lives we lead and must embrace change, hardship, and the turning of tides. We are happy and carefree during the times of fortune and personal prosperity, but we cry for ourselves the day we lose it all. Though it means a lifetime of suffering to us, it is very minor and trivial work for the gods to change our fortune. And so, Odysseus is saying that we overvalue or prominence, our significance, and our control over the world around us. He further states “let no man ever be lawless in his life, / just take in peace what gifts the gods will send.” Here, Odysseus is making two intertwined conclusions; he is saying we must always be grateful for our fortune, family, and wealth, and he is saying that life is too short and priceless to act with a competitive mindset and demeaning behavior to others. As we are all below the gods in our power and esteem, we have nothing to prove to the others around us. We are all equally low, on the same level, and therefore we should be hospitable and forgiving to those around us instead of being competitive and reckless as it all comes to nothing in the end. Odysseus is able to make this conclusion through his recognition of his imminent mortality and his consideration of the painful experiences he has endured. Thus, Odysseus is able to truly value the happy events in his life, and all the while be content with any hardship and change that has already past, and that which is yet to come. Clearly, the suitors were not considerate of Odysseus’ advice as they never believed any harm would come their way.
ReplyDeleteI feel that Odysseus’s journey home to Ithaca is very similar to Telemachus’s journey to manhood. Odysseus in these lines, learns that life is very short and that family is the most important thing to him instead of Kleos. Then in the understatement, he is saying that family should be the most important thing to everyone, not just him. He believes that since the gods have the final say on everything and that the gods really don’t care about the humans, humans shouldn’t spend their times worrying and looking for kleos, because in the end the gods will somehow destroy everything they have found. So instead, Odysseus feels that humans should forget about kleos, though it is nice to have, and just focus on their family and how much more important they are than kleos. You can search and search for kleos, and some may never find it. But your family will always be their throughout everything.
ReplyDeleteWhen Telemachus grows up into a man, the first thing he wants is family. Odysseus was the same way. Back in the beginning of the book, Odysseus tried to fake being a mad person so he wouldn’t have to go to war. He was driving a carriage around like a crazy person and the only reason he gave himself away was when his son was set in front of the carriage and he had to stop so he wouldn’t kill him. That gave himself a way and he was sent off to Troy. Telemachus was never looking for fame. All he really wanted was his dad back. True he grew up with kleos, being a prince and all, and traveling around the world didn’t help either but he never stopped looking for his dad and Odysseus never stopped fighting to get home.
In Odysseus’s journey, he experiences a significant amount of hardship. He gains knowledge of substantial dangers of the world. Odysseus repeatedly avoids damaging situations (an example could be the Cyclops situation), although in the process he endures much pain and suffering. It finally occurs to him that he is not as invincible as he would like to believe. Odysseus learns to pay respect to the gods, because he cannot survive unaccompanied. They help him multiple times, but disrespect causes the gods to hinder his journey. Odysseus realizes that any situation could progress well or badly, because the gods can make those decisions. Through Odysseus’s realization of the way situations progress, he also learns the meaning of hardships and difficulties. No matter how intelligent or powerful a man is, he will eventually have to deal with hardships. He finally comprehends the fragile state of life, and that the gods have control over that. The gods can be merciful, and although they delay his journey home, he learns that it would be best to praise and respect them. He also becomes aware of the fact that he has to follow orders of his superiors to be successful. For example, he doesn’t go to the Island of the Sirens, as tempted as he is, and also he personally does not eat any of the cattle of the son. Odysseus has finally come to the conclusion that all mortals are subject to the gods’ will, due to the hardships he has had to endure. He also understands that he is not fully in control of everything because of the gods.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kate’s point about kleos and how family is more important then kleos in the end anyways. At then end, Odyssey does not care about the riches he could have gotten from other cities, all he wanted to do was to get home to his family in Ithaca. From the journey home from Troy Odysseus learns that nothing in the world could be more important than family. At first, Odysseus wanted to gain kleos( fame) or be very wealthy , but as you can see Odysseus says
ReplyDelete“ I, too, seemed destined to be a man of fortune once
and a wild wicked swath I cut, indulged my lust for violence,
staking all on my father and my brothers.
Look at me now”
From this you can see that Odysseus shows in a abstract way how he chose to live in peace and enjoy what he has now rather than be a man with fortune and wanting kleos.
I think that all of the awful things that happened to him trying to get home like the Cyclops, Sirens, ect. changed Odysseus’s viewpoint slowly from wanting fame and wealth to only wanting his family back. This point is especially emphasized on Calypso’s island where he was held hostage. There he realizes how he much he misses his homeland and since he lost almost everything by the time he is at Calypso’s island he sort of learns his lesson, family is more important than anything. In book 5 it narrates “ weeping, his eyes never dry, his sweet life flowing away/ with the tears he wept for his foiled journey home…./wrenching his heart with sobs and groans and anguish,/” This shows a sneak-peek at the sorrow he faced causing him to learn and reveal later on how the journey home from Troy impacted his views .
I agree with everyone a little. You will see what I mean……Through Odysseus’s journey across the world he learns many things. Odysseus not only gains knowledge of the world; including the many cities and people he sees but also gains experience and definitely gains much hardship. (After all his entire trip lasted almost 10 years long!) Throughout his trip he receives pain and at time suffers a lot. An example would be that he suffered all those years without his family. In this verse it shows the reader truly how much Odysseus learned and that through all his reckless and dangerous situations he got him and his crew into he understands his flaws. Odysseus realizes here that he just like everybody else, and that not everyone is perfect. He also learns to respect the gods, which is something he has not really done considering that most of the time him and his crew disobey them and do what they want. Part of the reason he suffers and gains so much hardship is from him not obeying the gods. He now understands, at the end of the book, that the gods control the humans. It finally comes clear to him. The gods can be hot and cold. Odysseus also learns as Kate and Grace said that kleos is not all that important. There are more things in life to worry about and one of those things is his family. I think that Odysseus has learned a lot and through this he learned to not only respect the gods but to respect everybody. I think that he now knows that if he ever went on another journey again the mortals are on the same totem as the gods but way lower than them. I think that Odysseus’s overall journey had similarities with Telemachus’s journey to find manhood. Odysseus learned many things that he can take with him in life just like Telemachus. The one thing they both have in common is that they never stop fighting for what they want.
ReplyDeleteVery good job. I agree with all of you. Charlie: you set the stage for everyone after you, including me, so I will focus on your post. Odysseus did have to learn about the consequences of life and, furthermore, the values of life. He turns down an offer that will set him free of his mortal life, which really causes him to face the facts of life and death. Because of this declined offer, every time he goes through a rough situation, for example the Cyclops) he will be reminded of how he could have just taken the offer and he would not have to worry about being torn apart as his comrades were experiencing already. He would not have even had go through the hardships of becoming a beggar, fooling his loved ones, and angering a large group of dangerous suitors. He would not have even made it that far, and if he hadn’t, he would not have learned anything. However, even if he had accepted the offer, he still could have not had the best time living with calypso for the rest of his immortal life, therefore he could have learned something in that situation also. He furthermore learned how to be independent, while still having people on his side. He spent good time thinking among himself how to escape the Cyclops’s rath. Meanwhile, countless numbers of his crew were being eaten and murdered by Polyphemus’ rath. Later on, he shows that he learned from his somewhat selfish mistake by warning his men not to eat Helios’ cows, but that did not get him anywhere wither, so he went back to being independent, which got him most of the way home and to the suitors (with only a little help, he only told one person that he was Odysseus in beggar form). This independence also seemed to give him a bit of a repertoire for telling stories, he told two different people (at Ithaca) two extravagant stories about who he was and where he came from. So furthermore, he learned how to be independent (generally), how to learn from his mistakes, and, more specifically, about the secrets of cunning, “weaving”, as Homer would call it.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Odysseus has learned many lessons. I believe that he learned the you must continue through hardship and stay dedicated to your goals. He stays VERY dedicated to his goals, but he gets a little side tracked. He stays at the Phaecians palace for a very long time, which cuts back on how soon he is going to get home. Some problems are ones that he cannot get out of. Calypso’s cave is an example of this. Calypso does not let him escape or leave, until Hermes is sent along by Zeus to set him free. This shows that he can not control everything that happens in his life, but he have somewhat of a choice. He could have chosen to eat the cattle like the rest of his crew, but he too, would have died with the rest of his crew. Fortunately, he decided to follow the fate of the gods, not eat the cattle, and did not die with the rest of his crew. He finally decides that it is the fate of the gods that keeps him going, and he states; “And so, I say, let no man be lawless all his life, just take in peace what gifts the gods will send” (18.161-63) This represents him letting the gods control his fate, and let fortunes or misfortunes from the gods also control his life. Finally, I think that he learned many lessons, like obeying the gods and their commands, and having the gods choose your fate and accept everything they do or give to you.
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