The Odyssey. Review of the Facts and Details - Essay Example

? 10 December The Odyssey Review of the Facts and Details Odysseus is a Greek hero that has not returned to Ithaka for ten years since the Troy’s fall (Pope). He is presumed by the rowdy suitors to be dead, so they not only overrun Odysseus’s palace, but also come to marry his faithful wife Penelope. Odysseus’s ally Athena convinces Odysseus’s son Telemakhos to find his father. While Telemakhos searches for Odysseus, Athena releases Odysseus from Kalypso’s island. Odysseus has blinded the sea god Poseidon’s son before, so the sea god conjures up a storm at Odysseus on his way through the sea as revenge, but Odysseus manages to reach Phaiakians with Athena’s assistance. The princesses Nausikaa likes Odysseus and offers him stay at her palace. Odysseus tells that after the Trojan War, Kikones caused his men a lot of losses and also that they had to be in the Lotos Eaters’ island. Odysseus’s men were overcome by Kyklops Polyphemos. Ailos, the wind god sent Odysseys a bag of winds but the crew opened it up and directed the ship to Laistrygonians who ate men. The goddess Kirke transformed Odysseus’s men into pigs, but the god Hermes helped Odysseus get his men back from the pigs. After staying on that island for a year, they moved on to reach the island of Helios. There, his men disobeyed Odysseus and touched the oxen. They were punished by Zeus at sea and all but Odysseus lost their life in a storm. After that, Odysseus reached the island of Kalypso. Upon the end of Odysseus’s story, the Phaiakians offer him gifts and send him home in a ship. Athena transforms Odysseus into a beggar and asks him to locate Eumaios, his old swineherd. Meanwhile, Athena recalls Telemakhos and with her assistance, Telemakhos is able to dodge the ambush prepared by the suitors and meet his father. Odysseus reveals his true identity to Tekemakhos and swineherd. He makes a plan to overpower the suitors. Odysseus remains in the getup of a beggar to be able to explore the palace. Recognizing the resemblance of the beggar with Odysseus, whom she presumes to be dead, Penelope plans a contest wherein she agrees to marry a suitor that strings the great bow of Odysseus and is also able to shoot an arrow from twelve axeheads. Nobody but Odysseus is able to make that happen. He shows up his true identity by shooting the suitor Antinoos. Odysseus has the support of Telemakhos, Philoitios and Eurnaios to lead the suitors’ massacre. Athena joins in to help him in the end. Odysseus and Penelope reunite and by winning over his once lost kingdom and wife, Odysseus proves to her that he is not a charlatan. Odysseus meets Laertes, his father outside the town but they are located by an army of the relatives of the suitors. However, before the progress of the battle and the break out of a war, Athena intervenes and tells both sides to be calm. The Interpretation The Odyssey is an extreme form of fiction that has no connection with reality. The culture of the gods has been defined in a way that numerous gods assist humans against one another. Intelligence is the key to success in the play The Odyssey. Although Odysseus does possess extraordinary physical power as he is the only man that is able to string the bow, yet it is fundamentally his use of intelligence that enables him to overcome all obstacles and regain his once lost hold and wife. Comedy is also an important theme of the play The Odyssey. One of the funniest facts of the play is that so many suitors tend to marry Penelope that was before a wife to Odysseus. Athena has played a very positive role throughout the poem. In the start, Athena prepares Telemakhos to commence the search of his father. She helps Odysseus free himself from the Kalypso’s hold and reach Phaiakians after being caught in the storm. Later, Athena transforms Odysseus into the beggar and helps him unite with Penelope. In the end, Athena stops Odysseus and the suitors to enter into another war, and tells the two to be calmed down. Analysis of all these events suggests that it is primarily Athena who is controlling everything from the start till the end of the poem. Another element of The Odyssey is adventure. From the start to the end of the story, Odysseus is caught from one adventure into another. He has got so many challenges to encounter. He has to free himself from the Kalypso’s island. He has to fight the storm caused by Poseidon. He has to get his men transformed back into humans from the pigs and undo the charm inflicted upon his men by the goddess Kirke. In the end, Odysseus has to fight all the suitors and get his palace and wife back. Although he is helped by numerous gods and goddesses along the way, yet the audiences enjoy the different adventures he goes through. Odysseus primarily wins the game by use of intelligence, but occasionally does make use of the physical strength to deceive the brute. For example, Odysseus uses violence to take Polyphemus’s eye out. The desire cultivated by Odysseus to get back home tempts him to enjoy his luxurious circumstances specially when he surrounded by beautiful goddesses. For instance, his one year stay at the island of Kirke is a very happy time in his life. That one year makes him forget the pain and misery of the eight years that he has spent in the prison while in the Kalypso’s island. His only fear is Penelope’s infidelity. Although he has been unfaithful to Penelope, yet at his heart, Odysseus always remains faithful towards her. In fact, it is fundamentally Odysseus’s longing desire to get back to Penelope that motivates him to cover the journey. Fidelity appears to be a cardinal theme of The Odyssey, particularly when Odysseus evaluates his servants’ loyalties and holds those accountable that he finds betraying. Works Cited: Pope, Homere. The Odyssey. London: Charles Rivington, 1760. Print. Read More